Love Can Be Murder

hadn't completely sunk in. Oh, her mind was processing the information rationally, but her heart seemed to be lagging woefully behind.
    "And soon you'll be expanding with your garden," Marie pointed out. "You'll probably make a killing this week with the festival. You're sitting on a gold mine here—and you did it all without freaky Deke."
    Penny sighed. "Actually, in spite of him. Deke was never particularly supportive of the business."
    "I wish all men were like my Kirk," Marie said dreamily. "He always encourages me to try new things."
    Penny tried not to roll her eyes. Ever since Marie had begun working at The Charm Farm, she had regaled Penny with the virtues of Kirk, her long-distance boyfriend. The man was, among other things, a real estate baron, pilot of his own private plane, an accomplished sailor, a martial arts expert, a big-game hunter, a world-class chef, and a poet. Marie was vague about how they'd met, and they corresponded via e-mail, text, and webcam. Penny had begun to believe that, at best, "Kirk" was simply a figment of the young woman's imagination or, at worst, a predatory con-man. But she tamped her skepticism and murmured, "Lucky you."
    "What did you do before you had this business?" Marie asked.
    "I worked in Deke's law office."
    "Ah."
    Penny could see the words going through the young woman's head—the business had contributed to her marriage breakup. Words that Deke's mother, Mona Black, had uttered often enough in Penny's ear: "If you don't give up on this fool notion of running your own business, you're going to lose Deke. You should be working to build his business, or go home and have children, like a proper wife."
    One upside of the divorce, Penny acknowledged, was breaking familial ties with the overbearing woman. Of course, since Mona was also the mayor of Mojo, Penny couldn't escape her grasp completely.
    "I don't think our marriage would have lasted even if I hadn't opened this business," she said in her defense, which was ridiculous because she didn't have to convince Marie. Was she trying to convince herself? "Deke and I were so different, all the way down to our diet."
    Marie laughed. "I'm not sticking up for Deke, but I don't know anyone who eats as healthy as you do."
    "Junk in, junk out." Penny knew she sounded prim, but it was important to her that she lived the lifestyle that she touted to her customers. She'd always been health conscious, but little by little, since she'd opened the store, she'd given up red meat, white meat, trans fats, caffeine, refined sugar, alcohol, and dairy products. Now she took a multi-vitamin, calcium, extra vitamin B, C, D, and E, fish oil, St. John's Wort, and grape seed extract, along with downing flaxseed, steel-cut oats, bran, tofu, and green tea. She ran three miles a day and did Pilates five times a week and slathered on sunscreen with SPF 40 even on cloudy days. By all rights, she should live forever...if the stress of divorcing Deke didn't kill her. She walked back to the window and fingered open the blind.
    Marie grunted. "Okay, so you'll have the last laugh because you'll outlive Deke by forty years. But the important thing is now that the divorce is final, you have to get on with your life."
    Penny bristled and turned her head. "I am getting on with my life."
    "No—you're standing at the window and spying on your former life."
    Penny stepped back, and the blinds rattled. Her cheeks flamed as she avoided the gaze of the younger woman. She suddenly wished she had maintained more of a professional distance with her employees. They knew too much about her affairs; conversely, she knew very little about their personal lives....
    Marie made a sympathetic noise in her throat. "I know it's hard, but that's why I'm throwing you a party—to celebrate a new phase of your life. New digs, new business...new man."
    "Whoa—slow down."
    Marie wiggled her blue eyebrows. "Rebound sex is the best."
    Penny gasped, then tried to look haughty. "How do you know I haven't already had rebound sex? Maybe I'm rebounding every single night." In truth, Deke had been the last man she'd slept with, and that had been over a year ago.
    Marie gave her a pointed gaze. "I'll bet you ten dollars that the next person who walks through the door is having more sex than you."
    Once again, the thought flitted through Penny's head that Marie had ESP. A chime sounded, signaling the arrival of a customer. Penny turned, then bit back a smile when she saw Jules