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“How old were you?”Lucas asked.
“Ten,” she said.“My father passed away the next year.”She looked down at her hands.“It was a dark time for me and my mother.To have lost my grandmother and my father within a year of each other…it was hard.Mom took it the hardest.I had to grow up fast to keep our remaining family of two afloat.”
Lucas reached for her hand and squeezed it gently.“That’s a lot for an eleven-year-old to handle.”
She shrugged.“We survived.After school, I worked for the ladies who used to own the only flower shop in Bayou Mambaloa.I’d sweep, mop and help sort through inventory.The former owners, Ms.Margie and Ms.Martha, let me watch them make beautiful arrangements.Soon, I was making them as well as they were.When I finished high school, I went to community college for a year but came home when Ms.Martha fell ill with cancer.Ms.Margie hired me full-time to run the flower shop while she stayed by Ms.Martha’s side through her treatments.”
Felina stared out the side window.
Lucas could see the sadness in her reflection in the glass.He knew what losing people you loved and cared about was like.He’d lost teammates in firefights.He’d held his battle buddy in his arms as he’d bled out from a fatal wound received from an IED explosion.The pain had eased over time, but he’d never forgotten the love.
“Unfortunately, the cancer won,” Felina continued softly.“When Ms.Martha passed, Ms.Margie didn’t have the heart to return to the flower shop without her dear friend and partner.Ms.Margie sold the shop to me for a ridiculously low amount that I was able to pay off in a year.I did the flowers for Ms.Martha’s funeral and every funeral in Bayou Mambaloa since.”Her lips twisted.“Including Mr.Crabtree’s.”
Lucas frowned.“How was Mr.Crabtree murdered?”
“He was stabbed during a Mardi Gras parade,” Felina said, “surrounded by thousands of people, and yet no one saw it happen.They didn’t realize he was dead until the crowd started to clear.Most people assumed he was a drunk who’d passed out on the street until a police officer came to rouse him, checked for a pulse and discovered he’d been stabbed in the chest.”
“That’s harsh,” Lucas said.
“Mrs.Crabtree was shocked.Her husband wasn’t even supposed to be in New Orleans.He’d told her he was going to some historical society convention in Baton Rouge that weekend.”
“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”Lucas shook his head.
“Yeah.His funeral was lovely.He’d been such a part of the reenactment community in the parish that many of his friends showed up in period costumes as part of his send-off.”
As Lucas parked in front of the flower shop next to a cherry-red Mustang convertible, Felina grimaced.“So much for getting to eat lunch.Trish is early for our one o’clock meeting.”
The door opened on the convertible.Felina’s friend, Trish, stepped out, wearing a pale pink mini skirt with a matching sleeveless shirt.Her sleek, sable-brown hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, emphasizing high cheekbones and luminous brown eyes.
The woman was stunning.Lucas could see where some men would fall for her looks.
Lucas, however, preferred strawberry blondes with moss-green eyes.Scratch that.He preferred one strawberry blonde with moss-green eyes.He hurried around the truck to help his fake girlfriend out of his truck by grabbing her around the waist and lifting her down, holding on a little longer than was physically necessary.
His protective instincts on alert, he wasn’t quite sure how to defend Felina from this threat, whom Felina called a friend.
Lucas brushed a quick kiss across Felina’s lips and slipped an arm around her waist before turning to face her boyfriend-stealing sorry-excuse-for-a-best-friend.
Chapter7
“You two are so cute together,”Trish said with a smile.“Why did I not know about this love match before last night?”
Felina leaned into Lucas, liking the feel of his arm around her.Warm and strong.“We’ve both been so busy we haven’t had time to talk.”
“No kidding.But apparently not too busy on your part,” she winked.“I’m so glad you’ve found your soulmate.It’s such a relief to be out of the dating scene.There are so many liars and cheaters out there, it makes you give up hope.”
Felina bit down hard on her lip to keep from pointing out that Marty had been one of those liars and cheaters.
Lucas reached into the truck and retrieved the now-cold platters of food.“We were just about to eat our lunch.”He held up the bag.
“Oh, don’t let me keep you from eating.I had a late breakfast and cleared my schedule until later this afternoon when I have to do highlights and a cut for Aurelie Anderson.She wanted to look fresh and sophisticated for one of her father’s political events.”
Felina led the way to the front door of her flower shop and inserted the key.“Is she still campaigning with her father?”
“She is.Since her mother’s death, she’s been at her father’s side.”
Felina opened the door.
Lucas stepped inside and held the door for the ladies.
