Bound To Be Dead: Cozy Mystery Bookshop Series Book 3 Tamra Baumann (new books to read txt) 📖

mistake. But every guy I dated after that never measured up to you. So then I told myself it was because you were my first love, and I’d elevated you to heights in my mind that weren’t real. That you were all wrong for me, and I should let you go. But as the years passed, it became clear the standard you set is real, and you’re the only one who can fully live up to the guy who still lives in my head.”

Dylan’s forehead furrows in confusion, but he doesn’t open his eyes.

I don’t blame him. I’m not even making sense to myself. “Let me try that again.” I sit on the side of the bed and take his hand. “Dylan, you’re like this virus in my heart that won’t go away. So rather than continue to fight it, I want to be your wife. And have those kids we talked about.” Phew. That felt like lifting a car off my chest. Maybe now I can breathe deeply again.

Dylan’s eyes are still closed, so I’m not sure he heard my crazy diatribe. “Dylan?”

He smiles but doesn’t open his eyes. “Okay.”

Okay?

I blink in confusion. Did he hear me? Or is he just really out of it? Talk about anticlimactic. If he only knew how hard that was to spill my guts like that. “I’ll come back in the morning. After I buy a romantic card filled with better words.” I kiss the uninjured side of his head. “Sweet dreams.”

I start to leave, but he grabs my hand. “Wait.” He opens his eyes and, with great effort, sits up against the pillows behind his back.

When he’s settled, Dylan says, “A virus?”

“The good kind.” I smile because now I know he heard my speech. “You know I’m no good at mushy stuff.”

He nods. “You’re the worst.”

“Too bad. You’re stuck with me anyway.” I give him a quick kiss. “It makes you sick to talk, so please, don’t feel like you have to tell me all the ways you love me too. See you in the morning.” I grab my purse and head for the door.

Dylan calls out, “Don’t forget to tell Ben about the book.”

I look over my shoulder and sigh. “See? Look how much better you are at the lovey-dovey stuff than me.” I blow him a dramatic kiss.

He lays a hand across his heart. “I shall count each beat of my longing heart until I can set eyes on your beautiful visage once again, my love.”

“Show-off.” I roll my eyes for good measure, but still have a grin on my face as I head for the waiting room to join the others.

I have Emily’s story to finish.

Chapter 19

All eyes are fixed on me as I enter the silent waiting room. “Dylan is doing well. He should be back on his feet in no time.”

Madge waves a hand. “Meg already told us that. So, how’d it go? Did you tell him you love him?”

I look for my big-mouthed sister. I finally spot her outside, talking on the phone, so I take my vacated seat between the Admiral and Madge again. Renee and Gage are back and seated across from me. “I did.” I turn to Ben. “Dylan would like you to go back to Emily’s classroom and collect Brittany’s textbook from the floor where he dropped it.”

“Already done. Emily told Jake where it was.” Ben scoots to the edge of his chair. “Tell us what Dylan said.”

Madge, the Admiral, Renee, and Gage all stare at me with hopeful looks on their faces. “He mostly just listened to me ramble.”

Renee laughs. “In other words, you’re back together, and it’s all happily ever after?”

I shrug. “Pretty much. Anyone want to hear the rest of Emily’s story?”

A resounding “Yes!” sounds. “Okay, so you all remember the roses lined up backstage with name tags in front of each one? The original rose configuration was pink for Pattie, purple for Tina, and red for Emily. But Emily switches her red roses for Tina’s purple, giving her an alibi if someone questions her messing with the flowers backstage. Then Uncle Frank thinks Tina would prefer the pink roses and switches Pattie’s for Tina’s. Frank is a guy, so he has no clue that Pattie’s signature color is pink.”

Madge says, “Pattie was the intended target because she was having an affair with Emily’s husband. If it were me, I’d have made him pay too.”

When everyone raises their brows, Madge adds, “Not by killing anyone. Sheesh. I mean like in the wallet.”

“Speaking of that,” Ben says, “we have pictures and video from a PI, Sawyer’s aunt hired to trail Frank because she suspected his affair. Emily left two roses sticking out, so the bouquet’s owner would naturally either grab the roses from the bunch or push them back in. She had a small bottle in her purse that could have made it look like she was watering the flowers.”

So that’s how she did it. “And maybe she’d get a twofer if Joe Kingsley had plucked a rose out and handed it to Pattie in a romantic gesture?” Tina only had the one flower in her hand when she died, so Emily’s plan worked. Just for the wrong person.

Ben nods. “Exactly.”

I ask, “Did Emily know they were getting flowers as gifts from the show?”

The Admiral raises his hand. “That one I can answer. At the end of one of our many committee meetings, Frank asked me if Zoe’s greenhouse was still filled with roses. Emily and Pattie were still there. They could’ve easily overheard the rest of our conversation.”

Gage adds, “Premeditated, then. She’ll spend a long time in jail.”

Renee says, “But what if one of the kids had touched those frogs in the classroom? Would Emily have really risked their lives?”

Ben answers, “Emily has the set of toxic frogs at home. The poison they emit is so potent, it takes only the equivalent of two grains of salt to kill a person. And the beauty of this murder