Page 7 of The Marriage Deal
I clear my throat. “Flowers. She steals flowers.” I point to the window where a pot of flowers sits outside. “From businesses.”
Wry amusement brightens the watery blue of her eyes. She leans back in her chair. “Is that so?”
“It is.” I nod matter of fact, gesturing back to the woman in question as she lifts the to-go cup to pink lips that smile athim. She takes a sip, shoots the man a wink and dances around the counter and across thecafé to the door without ever glancing in my direction. “And apparently coffee, too.”
The old woman laughs, rich and hearty. “Lilah,” she says. “Her name is Lilah Bellamy, and she works forSunrise Blooms. Most businesses on main street pay Sunrise Blooms to care for the flowers, and Lilah cuts small bouquets for the businesses who enroll in the care subscription. She rotates who she gives the bunch to, but today just so happens to be The Tasty Rise’s turn.” She clears her throat as I listen to the information she gives me, wanting more. Craving more. She doesn’t disappoint. “This café is her family café, and that man—” She points a long, frail finger to the tan man with the long black hair behind the register. “Is her adopted brother, Dakota Bellamy. He works construction, taking him mostly to Penticton and sometimes Kelowna, but he helps in the café when he’s needed.”
Huh. So, the woman isn’t a thief, after all. But she’s still the definition of trouble. I should steer clear of her. So, why is it that all I want to do is chase her down the boardwalk? To make her see me? To spar with her with words?
I grunt around the dregs of my coffee. “The woman’s a menace to society.”
The old woman laughs, catching the gaze of more than a few patrons. Glares turn slightly curious as she reaches across the small distance between our tables to pat me on the shoulder. But it’s under her breath thatshe tells me, “Lilah might be a little wild, but she’s got a big heart full of big love. One day she’ll find herself a man who deserves that big love, and he’ll be the luckiest man to ever breathe.”
With a parting pat, she leans back to her side and resumes penning in her crossword. As for me, I’ve been stung by the bite of curiosity that demands I get to the bottom of a particular little woman who lives on the edge of lunacy. A woman named Lilah.
4
ICE MAN
LILAH
The town is in a tizzy, Mom and Dad included. After Daniel Alder’s passing, and it became clear he’d left his land and business to his estranged city-slicker son—Dad’s words—the town began to fret.
What would happen to Sunset Falls if the man—if Briggs—chose to dismantle Alder Wines? What would happen if he subdivided the land currently sprawling with stunning vineyards, providing jobs to the townsfolk, into lots for looming estate builds. It would hike up the cost of living in Sunset Falls without balancing that rise by bringing in monetary gains for the current population. On top of that, the job loss would be devastating. Crippling.
Now, the town is fretting for an entirely new reason. From one extreme to another, we’ve gone.
I cross my arms over my chest, thankful for thefact our tiny town is teeny enough that meetings such as these still welcome the input of the townsfolk. Had we lived in another, larger town in the Okanagan, this meeting would be behind closed doors. The results would be decided well before it reached the public.
“The man needs to go back to Alberta where he belongs.” I roll my eyes at the sharp words from the bitter woman behind me. Agatha Willerby has never liked change.
Even something so small as switching up the typical pots of petunias that dotted the boardwalk for stem flowers that could be cut and appreciated elsewhere had nearly sent her into a tailspin. I’d had to assure her the petunias would be planted from the pots which hung from the covered porches connecting the row of businesses on Main Street. She’d then demanded, wrinkled hands-on the flared hips that brought her four babies, all of whom made homes elsewhere, that the big old traffic circle smack in the middle of Main Street would have her beloved petunias. She decreed they’d be planted in the pots which hung from the charming black lantern that illuminated the circle at night.
I’d agreed, of course, because fighting with Agatha Willerby is rarely worth it, even if petunias, as pretty as they may be, are extremely high maintenance in the world of deadheading.
“He’s arrogant.” The sharp slap that is the fall ofAgatha’s hand on her thigh is enough to echo in the dull but rising chatter. “He’s going to ruin this town.”
Beside her, Tom Willerby mutters an uncommitted, “Mmm.”
My gaze catches on Opal and May Kennedy. Opal’s arm is tucked into the circle of her daughter, May’s, as they walk together toward the line of chairs in front of our own. May gives Mom a head nod while Opal flashes me a spry grin that wobbles with the tremors of age. I return her grin with a wide smile of my own.
I’ve always liked Opal and having grown up next door to her my entire life, she feels a bit like family. May, however, not so much. She moved back in with Opal after Walter Kennedy passed away nearly ten years ago.
They settle in their chairs, May leaning closer to Agatha to mutter, “This man is going to change everything.”
Agatha’s tailspin turns into full blown hysteria.
I lean into Dakota, muttering under my breath, “Now they’ve really set her off.”
Dakota chuckles, rolling his shoulders as he adjusts in the chair. “I think it’s worth hearing him out.”
My head notches back. “You do?”
“Yeah.” He rubs the back of his neck under the tie of his low ponytail. “I mean, everyone knows Sunset Falls has been struggling for years. The town is kept on the dime of the people’s pride, you know?”
I nod, because he’s not wrong. The towniskept on the people’s pride. Every two years, everyone on Main Street gets together to repaint the face of the town, to touch up what needs touching up. To repair what’s been broken.
The town manages, but it’s a struggle. It’s a struggle when little businesses have to rely on struggling townsfolk to make ends meet. When those same people can take a drive a few towns over and find what they need for cheaper. It’s a struggle when jobs are few and far between, forcing those same people outside the boundaries of the town limits to seek employment. It’s a struggle when we’re so secluded by the desert mountains that surround us.
