Page 18 of Trouble Comes in Threes

I was incredibly lucky to have her in my life.

“What are you two up to today?” she asked, walking around the counter to greet us. She was wearing jeans and a flowy floral top with her Gardner Sisters Nursery apron over both.

“We dug up a box on a jobsite,” Neely Kate said. “We’re trying to find out who it belongs to.”

Maeve grinned. “You girls are solving a mystery? It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Too long,” Neely Kate said.

“I thought I’d stop by and see if the Beetham’s plants showed up today. Bruce Wayne will be starting their job in a couple of days.”

“They delivered them about an hour ago. I think Anna’s out back, looking over the order right now.”

Anna was Bruce Wayne’s wife, and he’d met her after she’d started working at the nursery several years ago.

I glanced at the wall clock. “If there’s anything missing, can you have her call me? If the greenhouse gets the order wrong, we’ll have time to get it fixed before Bruce Wayne’s crew starts working.”

She frowned. “Anna tells me there’ve been problems with some of Bruce Wayne’s new hires.”

While we liked to work year-round, there were times when we didn’t have enough work, so it wasn’t uncommon for some of the new guys to move on to more steady jobs. Which meant Bruce Wayne was always looking for new workers come early spring. “We only had one quit so far, so that’s better than last year, but I know a couple of them aren’t working out as well as he’d hoped.”

“Good help is hard to find,” Neely Kate said.

“That’s true,” Maeve said. “Anna’s amazing, but the other people I hire don’t seem to last long.” She smiled. “Moving on to happier things. Is Mikey excited about his game tonight?”

I laughed. “If you’d call him waking us up at the crack of dawn and asking how many hours were left until his game excited, then yes.”

She laughed. “I love that little boy. He goes through life excited about just about everything.”

Warmth flooded my chest. Her description fit him to a tee. “He sure does.”

“Well, tell him that Nana Maeve is definitely coming, even if I’m a few minutes late, but I’ll have something special for him after the game.” She winked. “And for the others too.”

“They’ll be excited, but you know they’re excited just to see you. In fact, Joe said he’s taking us all out to dinner after the game. Would you like to join us?” I turned to Neely Kate. “You, Jed, and Daisy are welcome too.”

“I’d love to come,” Maeve said. “And Mikey’s gonna have his own cheering squad at the game.”

She was right, and after my lonely, loveless childhood, it felt like a dream come true.

Chapter Six

After I dropped Neely Kate at the office so she could retrieve her car, I headed to the church to pick up the kids. Ashley and Mikey took a bus to the daycare after school, which made the pickup routine so much easier because I only had to make one stop. Today, I was especially relieved Ashley didn’t have to stay at the school longer than necessary. I was anxious to hear how her day had gone and to see if it had changed from my vision.

I went to the elementary kids’ area in the multipurpose room first. Some children were outside playing on the playground, but Ashley was sitting at a table with other kids who were working on homework. As if sensing I was there, she lifted her head. When she saw me, she jumped out of her seat and ran for me, throwing her arms around my waist.

This didn’t match my vision.

My heart stopped. Had there been another incident?

I squatted and looked her in the eyes. “How did today go?”

She glanced away. “Okay.”

“Really okay, or not really okay?”

She shrugged.

“Did Oliver say anything else?”

---