“Are you kidding?” Surprised, Malory looked back at Zoe’s sexy faerie face. “Men must hit on you all the time.”
“The initial sortie usually stops dead when they find out I’ve got a kid.” She shrugged. “And I’m not interested in the let’s-get-naked-and-keep-it-casual deal. I’ve been there.”
“Right now, I’m not interested in the let’s-get-naked-and-make-it-serious deal. I have to figure out what I’m going to do with the rest of my life. My current windfall isn’t going to last forever, but it does give me time to decide if I really want my own business, and how to go about it if I do.”
“That’s something else I was thinking about today. I’m going to have to get back to work. But the thought of starting a new job, with new people, out at the mall . . .” Zoe puffed out her cheeks and blew a hard breath. “And the last thing I want is to try to run a salon out of the house. Nobody takes you seriously when you do that. They start thinking hair’s your hobby instead of your job. Plus, where you live isn’t home anymore, and I’m not taking that away from Simon the way it was taken away from me.”
“Your mother did hair out of your house?”
“Trailer.” Zoe shrugged. “She did the best she could, considering we lived a couple miles outside Nowhere, West Virginia. My daddy took off when I was twelve, and I was the oldest of four.”
“That’s rough. I’m sorry.”
“Rough on all of us, but like I said, she did the best she could. I’m just hoping to do better.”
“I’d say making a pretty house and home for you and your son means you’re doing absolutely fine.”
Color washed into her face. “Thanks. Anyway, I thought I’d start scouting around, see if I could find a place for rent that I could outfit for a salon.”
“If you find one, see if you can find a nice storefront for me and my artworks shop.” With a laugh, Malory set her glass aside. “Or maybe we should just combine the two and go into business together. Art and beauty, one-stop shopping. I’ve got to go.”
She rose. “I’m going to swing by and see Dana, then go home and see if I get a brainstorm over that stupid clue. You want to plan for the three of as to get together one day early next week? A powwow.”
“Fine with me, as long as we can work around Simon’s schedule.”
“We can do that. I’ll call you.”
SHE didn’t know if it qualified as a brainstorm, but it was at least a direction.
Malory studied the clue line by line, searching for metaphors and hidden meanings, double entendres, loose connections. Then she stepped back again to look at it as a whole.
There were mentions of the goddess. And the keys themselves were reputed to unlock imprisoned souls. Put all that together, she decided, and you had a sort of religious reference.
With that in mind, she spent the rest of the day going through every church and temple in the Valley.
She came home empty-handed, but she felt she’d done something positive with her day.
She dressed for dinner, keeping it simple with a sleeveless black top and black cropped pants, topped wit
h a tailored jacket the color of strawberries.
At exactly seven, she was sliding into heeled sandals and preparing to wait. In her experience she was the only one who habitually made it a point to be on time.
So it was a surprise, a pleasant one, to hear the knock on her door even as she was checking the contents of her purse.
“You’re prompt,” she said to Flynn when she opened the door.
“Actually, I was here ten minutes ago, but I didn’t want to seem anxious.” He handed her a small bouquet of baby roses, nearly the same color as her jacket. “You look amazing.”
“Thanks.” She eyed him as she sniffed the rosebuds. He was cute, she thought. Dog or no dog. “I’ll put these in water. Very nice touch, by the way.”
“I thought so. Moe wanted to go for candy, but I held out for flowers.”
She stopped. “He’s not out there, is he?”
“No, no, he’s home, making do with kibble and the Bugs Bunny marathon on the Cartoon Network. Moe’s nuts about Bugs.”
“I bet.” She arranged the flowers in a clear glass vase. “Do you want a drink before we go?”