Red Lily

think she could stand making inane chat with another living soul, she went into Stella’s office to throw herself on her mercy.
    “Give me some manual labor, will you? Something hot and sweaty. Get me off the counter, please. I keep feeling this bitch attack coming on, and I don’t want one to spew onto the customers.”
    Stella pushed back in her chair to give Hayley the once-over. “Why don’t you take a break instead?”

    “I stop doing, I’ll start thinking. Then I’ll start seeing those pictures of Harper’s kitchen in my head again.”
    “I know it’s upsetting, Hayley, but—”
    “It’s my fault.”
    “How is Harper’s kitchen getting trashed your fault? And did you have anything to do with the broken vase in my living room, because no one in my house is taking responsibility. At the moment, I Dunno is taking the rap.”
    “I Dunno is the classic whipping boy.”
    “Between him and Not Me, nothing is safe, nothing is sacred.”
    Blowing out a breath, Hayley dropped into a chair. “All right, I will take a break, just for a minute. Can you take one, too, talk to me?”
    “Sure.” Stella swung away from the spreadsheet on her computer monitor.
    “When I left your place last night I went to Harper’s. I talked myself into taking some action, making a move, going up a step, you know? He wants to think of me as Cousin Hayley, or Lily’s mama, or whatever the hell he thinks, fine. But I’ll give him a taste and see what he thinks of that.”
    “Woo-hoo. And?”
    “I laid one on him. Standing right there in his kitchen, moved in and gave him one of those here’s-what-you’re-missing-so-why-don’t-you-come-get-it kisses.”
    Stella’s lips quivered up into a smile. “And did he? Come and get it?”
    “You could say. The kiss he gave me back was more of the since-you-opened-the-gate-I’m-galloping-right-on-in variety. He’s got a really amazing mouth. I sort of figured he did, but having a couple of good samples made me realize I’d underestimated. Considerably.”
    “That’s good, isn’t it? It’s what you wanted.”

    “It’s not about what I want. Or maybe it is.” She pushed back to her feet, but there was nowhere to pace in the tiny office. “Maybe that’s just the point. In his kitchen, Stella. I kissed him in his kitchen, and a few hours later, she’s in there wrecking the place. It doesn’t take a math whiz to put that two and two together. I opened the gate, all right, but she’s the one who came in.”
    “You’re mixing metaphors. I’m not saying you’re entirely wrong,” she added, and stretched out from the chair to open her little cooler for bottled water. “But I am going to say it’s not your fault. She’s a volatile presence, Hayley, and none of us is responsible for her actions, or what happened to her.”
    “No, but try telling her that. Thanks,” she said when Stella handed her one of the bottles.
    “What we’re doing is trying to find out, maybe to make it as right as it can be made, but we have to live our lives while we do.”
    “It’s about sexual energy and emotional attachments. That’s what Roz thinks, and I think she’s on to something.”
    “You told Roz about you and Harper.”
    She took a long, deep drink. “No, no, I mean in general. And there isn’t any ‘me and Harper,’ not really. Roz and Mitch think it’s the sexual buzz and the developing emotions that get her stirred up, at least in part. So I’ve got to work off some of this buzz and these feelings.”
    “Even if you could, you’re not taking Harper’s buzz or feelings into account.”
    “I can take care of that. It’s when they’re directed at me. Otherwise, she’d’ve slapped at him before.” Her fingers tightened on the bottle, but she caught herself before the gesture pushed water over the lip. “You can bet he’s done more than kiss a woman in his kitchen in that house before last night, and she didn’t get bent out of shape.”

    “Again, no argument. But if it does connect to you and Harper, then it must mean something. Maybe something important. The way Logan and I, the way Mitch and Roz mean something important to each other.”
    “I can’t think about that. Not now. I just want to work off this edge. Give me something physical.”
    “I want all the excess stock cleared out of greenhouse one, brought around front for a display. One table for annuals, one for perennials, and marked thirty percent off.”
    “I’ll get right on it.