Between Love and Honor (Men of the Secret Service #3) - Tracy Solheim Page 0,73
feet. If Marilyn had left already, then there went her ride. But the florist’s keys were still where they’d hung the day before. Quinn sucked in a breath.
“Hullo?” she called.
A moment later, Marilyn appeared from the back of the shop. A broad smile spread over her face when she recognized Quinn.
“Well, hello there,” Marilyn said. “I was hoping you’d find your way back down here. I wanted to pick your brain about the flowers for the service. You have a natural eye for color and nature. If Miss Josslyn can’t go to Africa to get married, I want to bring a little bit of Africa here.”
Quinn’s heart stuttered. What would it be like to have someone care for her so much they’d do anything to make her wedding perfect? To come in from their retirement and work tirelessly to ensure her wedding matched her dream? This lovely woman was indeed the national treasure Josslyn made her out to be.
Too bad Quinn was going to use that kindheartedness against her.
She’d taken advantage of people like Marilyn countless times in her career. Benevolent individuals were typically the easiest marks out there. But this was the first time she felt a wave of guilt while doing so.
The end justifies the means. She would do anything, betray anyone, to keep Ben from harm.
“I’m happy to share my ideas,” Quinn said. “In fact, I had a few thoughts when we passed by the rose garden earlier. Josslyn is going to meet us out there shortly. But first, I wanted to take a few photos of the sample centerpiece.” She made a show of looking around for the camera bag she’d deliberately left upstairs. “Oh, blast. I must have left my camera in the sitting room.”
She looked expectantly at Dorothy. This was the tricky part. If the other woman didn’t bite, she’d have to resort to something a bit more drastic. And she wasn’t sure she could explain away locking the two women in the florist shop’s walk-in fridge.
“I can go get it,” Dorothy surprised her by saying.
“Perfect.” Quinn’s heart was beating out of her chest. “We’ll walk down to the rose garden and meet you there. Maybe you could bring down some cake for Marilyn and we can all enjoy a leisurely chat?”
She was pushing it, she could tell by Dorothy’s dubious expression, but she needed to do whatever she could to buy herself time.
“Oh, cake would be lovely,” Marilyn helped her out by saying. “Especially if Chef Marin made it.”
Dorothy hesitated a long moment. Quinn held her breath.
“Cake it is,” she finally said. She gave Quinn a pointed look. “We’ll see you in the rose garden.”
Quinn waved a jaunty salute then waited patiently until the other woman’s footsteps faded. She quickly turned to the florist.
“Marilyn,” she whispered. “Wouldn’t it be keen if we could get some El-Nino flowers for the rose garden? It would make the wedding feel a lot more like the Serengeti. And the colors would complement the roses perfectly.”
“That would be lovely,” the florist agreed. “But how could we get some here in time?”
“The florist at the botanic gardens is a friend of mine,” she lied. “I spoke to him earlier and he’s willing to let you borrow theirs.”
Marilyn’s smile lit up the room. “That’s so kind of you.”
“Anything for Josslyn. But I need your help pulling it off. I need to pick them out before they deliver them. Can you stall them in the rose garden while I dash out? I won’t be more than thirty minutes.”
“Well. . .” Marilyn looked a bit skittish now.
“Imagine how thrilled Josslyn will be? And you’ll be the heroine of the wedding. Everyone will be talking about your arrangements.”
“She will be so happy,” the florist agreed. “Okay, I’ll do my best.”
“Remember, if anyone asks, you don’t know where I’ve gone. It will ruin the surprise.”
Marilyn pantomimed zipping her lips shut and throwing away the key. With a quick hug, Quinn shooed her out the door. She didn’t bother mentioning she was going to commandeer the woman’s car to do her dirty work. Instead, she simply grabbed the keys and raced out into the courtyard. Once inside the car, she pulled on the big sunglasses Marilyn left in the console. She tucked her hair inside a baseball cap she found in the back seat. All she had to do was remember to drive on the right side of the road and she just might pull this off.