who you are, Magistrate. I’m so pleased you stopped in. You must tell me your favorite flowers so that I can keep them stocked.”
I held up my hand. “I’m not here for myself today. You know Brad, right?”
She blinked and looked in the direction of The Silver Braid. “The dwarf, Brad? Yes. I know him.”
“I want a suggestion for a bouquet for Brad. Something huge and fabulous. What do you think he’d like?”
I could see the wheels turning. “Stems of yellow orchids.” She gestured toward a large bucket in the glass-front cooler. “Trailing green moss. Tree fern. Variegated ivy.”
“Sounds very unusual. And very pretty. How long will it take you to put that together?”
“Ten minutes?”
“Excellent. Can I watch?”
“I’d love to have you watch. I don’t often get an audience and I might be a bit of a performer at heart. There’s a stool if you’d like to sit.”
My eyes followed the gesture she’d made with her head and spied an old wooden stool painted with flowers and vines on a blue background. I dragged it over where I could sit and watch her work her magic, so to speak, at the long table that was her workspace.
“Your shop is lovely, Lily.”
“Thank you,” she said as she was gathering things. She pointed to large vases. Green glass and clear glass. “Preference?”
“I don’t know. What do you think?”
“Flowers for a male dwarf? Is it for the shop?”
“I’m going to take it to the shop, but he can do what he wants with it afterward.”
“I’d bet he’ll keep them at the shop. The clear glass will go with the overall feel of the place.”
“Agree. Let’s do that.” She went straight to work. “So. Lily. How long have you been a Hallow Hill florist?”
“Not long. About thirty-five years. By local standards I’m a newcomer.”
“Do you like it here?”
“Oh certainly. It’s just the right mix of quiet and festival.”
“Festival?”
“You know. Court Weeks. The village fills up with magic kind. And, even though the trials are serious, there’s a lot of celebrating, too.”
“I see. Please don’t be offended, but you look human.”
She laughed. “I do in this form, but I’m pixie. Ivy and I are sisters.”
“Really!”
“Hm-hmm.” She nodded.
There was a strong family resemblance. I don’t know why I didn’t see it before.
“This morning I was walking by Ivy’s house and couldn’t help noticing that the garden is gorgeous. You must both have an affinity for plants and, um, flowers.”
Lily brightened with a sunshiny smile that was Tinkerbellish. “Oh. We do. It’s a pixie thing.”
She worked quickly to create an arrangement that surely would have won a blue ribbon at any competition. It was out of this world.
“Lily,” I said, “I don’t know how much you’re going to charge me for this, but I suspect it’s not enough. This is the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.”
She beamed like I’d given her the coordinates to the end of the rainbow.
“I’ll get Maggie to settle up,” she said.
Settling into my role as a person who has things done for her, I decided I wouldn’t even ask the price. I felt confident that Maggie was uber-capable of protecting my financial interests.
There was a little stand of folded cards for all occasions to be attached to a plastic trident amid the greenery. I chose one that was blank and plucked one of the pens out of the cupholder. I wrote, Flowers for the living. – Rita. Then handed the card to Lily so that she could place it artfully.
When it was ready to go, I put both arms around the vase and shifted it toward my left, just enough so that I could see around it to walk.
“Um, can you get the door?”
She laughed. “Let me walk with you and get the Braid door, as well.”
When we were on the sidewalk, I said, “Lily. Do you have plans for lunch? Can you close the shop for a little bit at noon?”
“No. And yes. Why? What are we doing?”
“I gave Olivia a cooking challenge and told her I’m bringing Maggie and Dolan for lunch today. In my kitchen.” It was the first time I used a possessive pronoun and didn’t have an urge to qualify with ‘if I stay’. “Come join us.”
She put her hands together and jumped a little like a schoolgirl. “That sounds like a wonderful way to mid-day. I’ll be there.”
“Okay. Just don’t tease Olivia if it’s not good.”
Lily laughed out loud. “Not good? That’s impossible.”
I smiled, hoping she was right, as we reached ‘The Braid’. She opened the