Page 58 of Little Shattered Dreams

“San Francisco.”

“And did Quinn live in the city too?”

“All of her adult life, from what she told me.”

“Did she have any children at the time?”

Margie shook her head.

“What about her parents?” I asked. “Did she ever mention them?”

“Here and there. Back then, they lived in Cambria. I believe that’s where she grew up.”

“That’s where I live now. Were her parents still alive when you worked together?”

“When we met up for lunch, she said her dad had passed. I don’t know if her mother’s still alive.”

“Quinn has a daughter named Faith. She was also at the retreat this week.”

Margie pressed a hand to her chest. “I had no idea Faith was her daughter. Nice girl. I chatted with her for a few minutes earlier in the week.”

“No one here knew Faith was Quinn’s daughter,” I said. “Not until after she died.”

“All of this … it seems mighty strange to me.”

“Me too,” I said. “Back when you worked together, did Quinn have any enemies?”

“I don’t believe so.”

“What did you do after the floral shop closed?”

“I spent some time off the grid. And by off the grid, I mean I went back to help my family on their farm for a while. Didn’t have any communication with the outside world for a long time.”

“Why?”

“Why not? Sometimes it’s good to unplug. Speaking of unplugging …”

Margie’s phone buzzed and she stood. “Well, I better scoot. I told my husband I’d call him when I left, and that was supposed to be twenty minutes ago.”

I thanked Margie for her time and asked if she’d leave me her contact information, which she did. I walked out the door thinking about how forthcoming she’d been, how pleasant. Maybe a littletoopleasant.

CHAPTER30

I left Margie’s place and gave Hunter a call. She did a quick search and confirmed what I’d suspected. After closing the floral shop, Quinn had moved away from San Francisco. Six months later, she married, changing both her given name and her surname. A year later, Faith was born. Quinn’s mother died a year after her father.

After we ended the call, I stopped by Grace’s office to ask a few more questions. I found her with her feet kicked up on top of her desk, head back. A thick, damp cloth was draped over her face. In the corner of the room, a diffuser was pumping a fine mist into the air. It smelled like lemon and lavender.

“Are you all right?” I asked.

She pulled the cloth to the side and peeked up at me. “No, I’m not. They’re gone.”

“What do you mean they’re gone.Who’sgone?”

She removed the cloth, tossed it into a wastebasket, and sat up. “The guests. All of them left after the meeting this morning. Aside from you and Simone, my employees are all that remain. And I suppose they’re still here because they have nowhere else to go. Even so, part of me is worried they’ll leave too.”

I took a seat across from her. “Your employees are the reason I’m here. I have a few questions.”

“Go on.”

---