Lavender and Larceny (PAPERBACK)

Lily Lodge was shaping up beautifully for the annual lavender festival in Cedarbrook. Ever since we finished the hotel expansion, we’d been hosting more events, all according to plan. Mine and Mom’s dream was for the hotel to be a hub of activity for our small community. Today was the setup for the big launch tomorrow. I had done a ton of advertising, far and wide, to draw crowds for our little shindig. I only hoped we were ready for the throngs. This was the first year for an indoor component of the festival. My sister and her boyfriend’s lavender farm had been the hosting site for years. But now that we had the lodge, we hoped to double the attendance, at a minimum.

The lodge smelled like I took a dive into acres of lavender. There truly was something relaxing about that fragrance. Purple ribbons adorned the banister. Display tables for our vendors rimmed the perimeter of the first floor. I had worked my tail off to fill every slot—and then some. It was packed. Now all we needed were paying customers.

Max and I surveyed the room as everyone situated their products on their display tables. I was so pleased my friend Caroline was here with her new wares. She had some tough times recently in her business, but she’d worked hard to turn that around and now had huge plans to expand.

“Caroline, everything looks wonderful,” I said. Max approached her table and set his chin on top of it, his eyes darting between Caroline and me.

She chuckled. “I’d never forget you, buddy.” She reached under the table and brought out Max’s favorite treat, gingersnaps.

He had her trained. He sat on his haunches, all mannerly, waiting to be served. Caroline came to the front of the table and placed three cookies on the floor. Max looked at me. I nodded, and he scarfed down the treats.

“Thank you for always thinking of him,” I said and reached to pet my faithful companion. Max had come into my life at just the right time. He had filled a hole I didn’t even realize I had. We had become quite the duo at business—and crime-solving.

Caroline wiped her hands on her apron and returned to the other side of the table. “So Chloe, that was quite the wild cruise you and your mom had.”

I picked up one of Caroline’s boxes of lavender cream and helped her unpack. “Way more than I anticipated. The really fun part of it was how much Mom enjoyed it. You saw her energy level at the garden club when she was telling those stories. I was skeptical she would go at all.”

Caroline stacked the jars on one side of the table. “And wanting to do another cruise. I admire that woman’s sense of adventure.” She placed the empty boxes behind her and got out another package.

I picked up one of Caroline’s sample jars of lavender cream and smelled it. I inhaled and closed my eyes. “I think I might have to buy you out of this stuff. Does it really work?”

She handed me an unopened jar. “Here, try it for yourself.”

I took it and held it to my chest like a found treasure. “No, I’ll pay for it. But give me two. I hope you can keep up production. These are going to be a big hit.” I reached down for Max to sniff the sample. He inhaled and closed his eyes, Zen overcoming him.

Caroline continued heaping her lavender products on the table. She could have filled two vendor spots with all of that stuff. “I’m optimistic we’re going to get a good crowd. Even the buzz from Emerald Hills indicates we’ll be enormously successful.” Our small town was becoming the destination for tourist activities, even beating out the larger neighboring towns.

“Well, you’ve done an amazing job at marketing. I mean we’re packed wall-to-wall in here.” Caroline swept her arm around. Her eyes landed on a table on the opposite side of the room.

I followed her gaze, and my glance stopped at another vendor with similar lavender products. Andrew Charleton had a fledgling coffee shop in town, nowhere near the success of Caroline’s business, despite her recent troubles.

I looked back at Caroline. “It looks like he has similar products as you. How can that be?”

Caroline continued placing products on the table, covering every spot. She shrugged. “I don’t know. I heard rumors that he was trying some things. Look, I’m for everyone. There’s room enough for all of us. But he’s taking a direct hit.”

“Well, the proof’s in the pudding. You’ve won competitions and established yourself as the authority.” I walked to stand at the side of Caroline’s table, getting a better look at all of the vendors setting up.

She stopped what she was doing. “I know. I wasn’t worried about it. I’ve got a tentative agreement with Luxuries, Inc. to mass produce. But I’ve heard he’s getting better. If he undercuts my price with essentially the same product, I’m out a lot of investment money.”

“That’s a lot of ‘ifs,’ Caroline. I wouldn’t worry about it. You’ve got your proven recipes with patent pending. I think you’ll be OK.”

Caroline leaned in and said, “I hope you’re right, Chloe. I wish I had your confidence.” She turned toward Andrew’s table and shook her head.

She had leveraged a lot of her business for this new product line. Everything was going so well. It really was a million dollar, or more, idea.

Caroline stacked all of the boxes neatly behind her and rubbed her hands together. “Enough of that. Tell me about Mabel’s new business venture.” She tipped her head and smirked.

I didn’t know how to respond. It was so kooky and wild, but it just might work. And those gnomes were a passion for her. “You know how she collects these garden gnomes.”

Caroline nodded. “Collects? They’ve invaded our town. I feel like they’re multiplying like rabbits. I see them everywhere.”

“Exactly. They overtook her house and yard. When we started decorating the treehouses for renovation, she snuck a couple in.”

Max barked. His initial response to those little creatures was to pee on them. Mom was not happy about that.

“Yeah, Max was not a fan at first either. But they grow on you. She’s put as many as I can stand at the hotel, and she just keeps collecting more.”

Caroline came out from behind her table, glancing toward Andrew, sighing.

“Just keep doing what you do best, Caroline. It will be OK.”

“I know. It’s just a tough pill to swallow. I guess people try to imitate success so I should be flattered in a way. Keep going with Mabel.” She extended her arm, encouraging my continuation of the story.

“She and Paul have teamed up.” I took a step back to see Caroline’s reaction.

Her head snapped in my direction. She reached out and put her hand on my arm. “No way! What are they doing?”

“They’ve been so busy, I’ve hardly seen them for days. It’s actually pretty sweet. Paul is so good with her. He talked her into creating her own collection of garden gnomes. And he’s helping her create some prototypes. That’s what she’s selling here. To see if anyone wants them. I’m so torn. I want her to do well. But an explosion of gnomes? Can I handle it?”

Caroline clasped her hands in front of her mouth, unable to fully disguise her huge grin.

“Yes, I know what you’re thinking.” I matched her grin.

“Well, this just made my day a whole bunch better. Are things getting more serious with Paul?” She raised her eyebrows and tipped her head.

My cheeks flushed, and there was no hiding my joy. “I think so. I really like him.”

“I’m so happy for you. You deserve all of that happiness. And I’m totally catering your wedding as a gift to you both.” She practically skipped back behind her display table. “Here’s to better days.” She handed me another jar of cream.

“Agreed. I’ll leave you to finish up. We have a big day tomorrow with the opening. I expect a monstrous crowd lining up before we’re even open.”

Max and I left Caroline’s table, and I was feeling buoyed about the hotel business and my life. I really was in a happy place.