Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 92996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92996 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 465(@200wpm)___ 372(@250wpm)___ 310(@300wpm)
“Why are you two looking at me like I’ve got horns growing out of my head?”
Lorne recovered faster. He was trained to do so, after all. “What are you doing here, Mal?” he asked slowly.
“I’m trying to save the greenery that’s up at the altar during Mass.” He sighed. “Father Dennis called this morning to tell me it looked like crap, so here I am. I’m not supposed to be doing it, my plant guy is, but as of yesterday, he was a no-show.”
I jolted. “What?”
“I can’t—this is heavy,” he muttered, and Lorne took the plant, struggling a bit as well because it was in a bulky ceramic pot. And while Lorne was bigger than Mal, Mal was not a small man himself, carrying quite a bit of muscle on his six-foot frame. “Thanks, Lorne.” He took a breath, then gestured at me. “What’s wrong with you?”
I cleared my throat. “Your plant guy, did everyone call him that, the plant guy?”
“Well, yeah,” he answered, sounding uncertain. “We’re all called that. Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I…there’s been some confusion.”
“About the name of my company?”
“The name of your company is Sanctuary.”
“Yes. And the division that takes care of the plants in buildings is called Plant Guys.”
“It is?”
His brows furrowed as he studied me, glanced at Lorne, then refocused on me. “Yeah. We all wear the same uniform so we’re easily recognizable. It’s a service I offer where we go to homes and businesses—mostly businesses, at this point—and take care of plants for people who are too busy, don’t know how to keep a cactus alive, or don’t want to murder expensive plants they paid an arm and a leg for. I mean, office AC units are not good for flora.”
“No,” I agreed, really looking at him.
His polo had a logo on it of a potted monstera with the words Plant Guy underneath. The green waist apron with the business name, Sanctuary, written in the same scrolling font as all his signage, was a nice touch as well.
“Who was the plant guy who quit?” Lorne asked.
“Tanner Murphy. Who, interestingly, told everyone he was a youth pastor at that Abundant Light Church, but it turns out he was actually hired as a delivery driver there. And, he got canned when Pastor Wilkins heard from a little girl’s mother that he’d told her magic was evil.”
“That is interesting.” Lorne glanced at me. “And so Tanner got the job with you and then quit?”
“Quit would imply he gave notice or even came into the office and told me to kiss his ass. Neither of those scenarios happened. As it is, I don’t know if he’s dead or alive. I called twice, worried something happened to him, and the phone just rings. The apartment he was renting on a month-to-month basis is empty. I have been thoroughly ghosted.”
“I’m sorry he put you in a tight spot.”
Mal scoffed. “Come on, this is Osprey. The tight spot I’m in will be remedied by the middle of next week. I’ll have this job filled in no time. But yeah, until then it’s only me and two others.”
“Nice of you not to leave the work for your underlings on a Sunday,” I said.
“No. It’s simply good service. I can’t let my customers down, and especially not Father Dennis. I think you get in trouble with God if you let a priest give a homily in front of dead flora,” he said, chuckling. “But at least I can save this one. It’s the only one alive out of the whole bunch.”
“It looks like it’s on its last legs,” I noted.
“No, it’ll be fine. But I gotta get it back to the nursery and then return with replacements so people don’t think Father Dennis and the nuns are killing plants.”
“Tanner did a really bad job, didn’t he?”
He nodded. “Whatever the opposite of a green thumb is, that’s what he had.”
“You didn’t let Tanner touch any of the plants at Sanctuary, did you?” I asked, scared of the answer.
“Are you kidding?” He shot me a look like I was nuts. “That’s my baby. Plus, my team, and above all, Carmella—you know, you’ve met her—she’s way too careful about who she lets go where and when in there. She runs a tight ship.”
His assistant manager had always been very nice to me.
“You’re never gonna believe this, but Carmella found the plants someone used to poison the bees. You know, Diana Flint’s bees and Ken Slater’s?”
“She did?” Lorne crossed his arms, looking at Mal. “Where were they?”
“In our dumpster. Carmella noticed soil and checked it out because when we lose anything at the nursery, we put it in our compost bin. So she was surprised to find these plants with flowers on ’em. I can promise you, Lorne, we had nothing to—”
“No. I know. And Amanda has replaced the hives for both Diana and Ken, so if those plants are safe to be in your compost bin, then go ahead.”