Blue Dahlia

nerves and desire in her belly, the kinds that were usually reserved for a lover.
    “I didn’t want the retail end of this near the house,” Roz said as she parked the truck. “I didn’t want to see commerce out my parlor window. Harpers are, and always have been, business-minded. Even back when some of the land around here was planted with cotton instead of houses.”
    Because Stella’s mouth was too dry to speak, she only nodded. The main house wasn’t visible from here. A wedge of natural woods shielded it from view and kept the long, low outbuildings, the center itself, and, she imagined, most of the greenhouses from intruding on any view from Harper House.
    And just look at that gorgeous old ruby horse chestnut!
    “This section’s open to the public twelve months a year,” Roz continued. “We carry all the sidelines you’d expect, along with houseplants and a selection of gardening books. My oldest son’s helping me manage this section, though he’s happier in the greenhouses or out in the field. We’ve got two part-time clerks right now. We’ll need more in a few weeks.”
    Get your head in the game, Stella ordered herself. “Your busy season would start in March in this zone.”
    “That’s right.” Roz led the way to the low-slung white building, up an asphalt ramp, across a spotlessly clean porch, and inside.
    Two long, wide counters on either side of the door, Stella noted. Plenty of light to keep it cheerful. There were shelves stocked with soil additives, plant foods, pesticides, spin racks of seeds. More shelves held books or colorful pots suitable for herbs or windowsill plants. There were displays of wind chimes, garden plaques, and other accessories.
    A woman with snowy white hair dusted a display of sun catchers. She wore a pale blue cardigan with roses embroidered down the front over a white shirt that looked to have been starched stiff as iron.
    “Ruby, this is Stella Rothchild. I’m showing her around.”
    “Pleased to meet you.”
    The calculating look told Stella the woman knew she was in about the job opening, but the smile was perfectly cordial. “You’re Will Dooley’s daughter, aren’t you?”
    “Yes, that’s right.”
    “From ... up north.”
    She said it, to Stella’s amusement, as if it were a Third World country of dubious repute. “From Michigan, yes. But I was born in Memphis.”
    “Is that so?” The smile warmed, fractionally. “Well, that’s something, isn’t it? Moved away when you were a little girl, didn’t you?”
    “Yes, with my mother.”
    “Thinking about moving back now, are you?”
    “I have moved back,” Stella corrected.
    “Well.” The one word said they’d see what they’d see. “It’s a raw one out there today,” Ruby continued. “Good day to be inside. You just look around all you want.”
    “Thanks. There’s hardly anywhere I’d rather be than inside a nursery.”
    “You picked a winner here. Roz, Marilee Booker was in and bought the dendrobium. I just couldn’t talk her out of it.”
    “Well, shit . It’ll be dead in a week.”
    “Dendrobiums are fairly easy care,” Stella pointed out.
    “Not for Marilee. She doesn’t have a black thumb. Her whole arm’s black to the elbow. That woman should be barred by law from having anything living within ten feet of her.”
    “I’m sorry, Roz. But I did make her promise to bring it back if it starts to look sickly.”
    “Not your fault.” Roz waved it away, then moved through a wide opening. Here were the houseplants, from the exotic to the classic, and pots from thimble size to those with a girth as wide as a manhole cover. There were more accessories, too, like stepping-stones, trellises, arbor kits, garden fountains, and benches.
    “I expect my staff to know a little bit about everything,” Roz said as they walked through. “And if they don’t know the answer, they need to know how to find it. We’re not big, not compared to some of the wholesale nurseries or the landscaping outfits. We’re not priced like the garden centers at the discount stores. So we concentrate on offering the unusual plants along with the basic, and customer service. We make house calls.”
    “Do you have someone specific on staff who’ll go do an on-site consult?”
    “Either Harper or I might go if you’re talking about a customer who’s having trouble with something bought here. Or if they just want some casual, personal advice.”
    She slid her hands into her pockets, rocked