“I did. In the truck.”
“Are we to guess what you two did in the truck?” Tess asked, but Jocelyn was already running out the door, Luke close behind her.
The four of them gathered around the back of Luke’s truck as he untied a tarp. Under it were two bushel baskets, and in them were clear plastic bags full of some dried purple twigs.
For a moment Jocelyn was speechless, then she said, “I’ll need a—”
Luke threw the tarp back farther and exposed a white marble mortar that was about fourteen inches across, with a big pestle inside.
Joce let out a squeal and spontaneously threw her arms around Luke’s neck. “You did it! You’re wonderful! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Tess and Jim stood back, watching the two of them. “Better start making out your guest list for the wedding,” Tess whispered, but Jim made no reply. In fact, he was frowning deeply.
“All right,” Jim said, “you two wanta tell me what this is? It looks like something Merlin would use. You gonna turn that stuff into gold?”
Suddenly, Joce felt embarrassed and abruptly let go of Luke, and stepped away. “He found lavender, and that’s a mortar and pestle for grinding it. I can make my lavender cookies. They’re perfect for ladies’ tea parties.”
“Sounds great!” Tess said with enthusiasm. “When do we—” She broke off at a look from Jim. “It does sound great, but I think I better go see what trouble Rams is having. If he can’t find that tape he’ll lose his case. I should see what I can do to help him.”
“And I’m worn out,” Jim said. “I’m too old for all this. I’ll be here early tomorrow to help get everything to Viv’s house, so don’t sleep late.” He gave a warning look to his son.
Jim pulled his car keys out of his pocket, went to his car, and drove away, and Tess went to her own apartment.
When they were alone, Luke asked, “Was it something we said? Maybe I should have showered.”
“I gave up trying to understand this town after the first hour I was here. Come inside and tell me everything. And, by the way, you’re putting in the herb garden for free. Or maybe your father is paying for it.”
“That skinflint! Never. So what did he tell you to make my gardening free?”
“I behaved myself. Your father absolutely loves the word yes.”
“You didn’t say that to him, did you?” Luke asked, his voice a groan. “When I was six months old, Mom and I made a pact that we’d never, never say that word to him, and we’ve kept our pledge. Please tell me you haven’t ruined it.”
“Six months old,” she said, smiling as she went into the kitchen. Every surface was covered with the most beautiful cupcakes imaginable. There were flowers and insects and animals. About a dozen of them had drawings of high heels and dresses on them.
“Let me guess,” Luke said. “Sara did these.”
“Right on. She wanted me to make some cakes shaped like high heels, but it would take too much time.”
“What about these? Did you do them?” He held up a cupcake with a puppy’s face in brown and white.
“Tess did.”
“Tess?” Luke asked. “Tess who works for Ramsey? Tess who disdains anything cute or sentimental?”
“The very one. I think your dad wants to open a business with her.”
Luke sat down on a chair and stared at Jocelyn. “My father and Tess? But the two of them are bosses. They like to tell everyone what to do and how to do it. My father never gets along with anyone he isn’t in charge of. And Tess isn’t much better. She runs Rams’s office like she’s the captain of the ship.”
Joce shrugged. “I have no idea how they work together, but they do. You should see them together. They’re like a machine. If Tess runs out of blue icing, she doesn’t say a word, but the next time she reaches for the blue, your dad has filled a tube for her.”
“My dad? He made icing?”
“And filled the big pastry tubes. After the first day, he and Tess spent about two hours on the Internet and ordered a huge amount of tubes and bags and…well, everything.”
“I wish I’d been here to see it.”
“So where were you?” Joce asked as she poured batter into paper liners.