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“We can’t take turns?” asked Dawson. “We’re both very busy people. We have careers, livelihoods that we can’t ignore. Surely, it would make more sense to take turns.” He lifted his fingers in the air to emphasise his point, then gave a shrug. “That’s surely still working together.”
“There is no taking turns,” said Ms. Sully, her voice abrupt and laced with impatience. “And, no, that is not working together.” She mimicked his actions back at him. “You do this together, or not at all. And there’s a time limit. From the date you receive the first clue, you have twenty days to solve them all.”
Piper was starting to get warm. Uncomfortably warm. She was in the midst of a big contract. She had to collect a lot of data on the plants in order to fulfil the terms of her contract. It was easy for her to put in sixty hours a week in the run up to holidays. “I… I’m not sure about this,” she admitted. “Twenty days doesn’t seem like very long.”
Dawson shot her a hard stare. What was his problem? She was quite sure he didn’t want to work with her, any more than she wanted to work with him.
Mr. McNally looked at her with serious eyes. “Well, I guess it’s time to decide. If it helps, I can tell you that the answers to all the clues will be found in Chicago. No further travel involved. If both of you decide you can’t work on these clues and solve them together, then I guess there’s nothing more to talk about.”
He stared tidying the papers on his desk, lifting the two envelopes and putting them on the top of the pile.
“Wait.” Piper lifted her hand and swallowed, trying to hide an enormous sigh. “I think you’ve just overwhelmed me with all this. I didn’t expect Margaret Smith to leave me anything at all. I didn’t even think she would remember who I was. But the land, the gardens, the greenhouses…” She took a deep breath. “They’re special. And I have no idea what I”—she shot a nervous look at Dawson—“what we, might decide to do with them, but I think if Margaret went to the trouble to name us both in her will, and make clues for us to solve, we should at least try.”
Her mouth was dry. She was kind of wishing she hadn’t dropped that coffee all over herself.
Dawson cleared his throat. “That sounds reasonable to me.”
A truce. He was calling a truce.
Mr. McNally gave a nod of his head and handed one envelope to her and the second to Dawson. “I expect to hear from you both, after you’ve solved each clue. We’ll need evidence before we can give you the next clue. A photo should be sufficient. It will let me know how things are going.”
There was a twinkle of something in his eye, and for the first time, Piper felt a bit suspicious. She buttoned her coat, covering the smudges on her blouse and fixing her scarf at her neck. What on earth had she just agreed to?
“Thank you,” she said to them all, the letter practically burning a hole in her palm. She’d never wanted to read something so badly in her life.
Dawson held the door open for her. “Buckle up, Nancy Drew,” he muttered under his breath, “I think we’re in for a wild ride.”
Chapter Three
The wild ridetook them to the bar across the street. It was clear that both of them wanted to read the clue immediately, and after the hint of mischief in Mr. McNally’s eyes, Piper wanted to ensure that their clues did actually match like they were supposed to.
They sat at a table and Dawson ordered two beers. As the barman put them on their table, he clearly realized his mistake. He nodded to the beer. “Tell me you’re not driving.”
She shook her head. “That’s why I was late. Car trouble.”
“You didn’t get it started?”
“Roadside assistance was going to take two hours. My car is still sitting in my driveway with a flat.”
“You don’t know how to change a flat?” He let out a laugh as he took a swig of his beer. “Nancy Drew would be disappointed.”
She tightened her grip around the neck of the bottle. “Of course, I can change a tire. Just like I can check my oil, fill my water, and change my windshield wipers. Trouble was”—she looked down at her smeared blouse—“I wasn’t really dressed to change a tire. No matter what I did, I was going to end up being late.”
She stared down at their matching envelopes. Both were sitting on the table in front of them. Neither of them had been touched.
She bit the inside of her cheek. “What do you make of all this?”
Dawson leaned back in his chair. It was the first time she’d actually had a chance to consider him. Of course, she’d seen him on her TV screen at various points over the years, but this was the first time she’d seen him face-to-face since all those years ago.
And, darn it, the years had been kind to Dawson McLeod. His blond hair had darkened, but his bright green eyes were just as startling as they’d ever been. The kind of eyes that made you take a second look. He’d filled out in all the right places, and she wondered which of the sports he commentated on, that he actually played. “Didn’t you win sexiest butt a few years ago?” she asked, as soon as the thought came into her head.
Dawson choked. He actually choked on his beer, coughing hard, his skin turning red as she leaned over to give him a few slaps on the back.
“Did you actually just say that?” He wheezed, his eyes starting to water.
Piper gave a shrug. “I did.”
He narrowed his gaze in an appreciative manner. “So, you’ve been following my career?”
