Sleeping with Anemone by Kate Collins

or, as I thought of him, Deputy Damn-I’m-Handsome!
    “Hey, what’s up?” I called as I shuffled through the mail left on the table.
    “Abby,” Nikki cried, hurrying out with a tube of lipstick in her hand, her blond hair starched into stiff spikes like a very tall, slender Lisa Simpson’s. She gave me a hug. “I saw the news. I’m so glad you’re okay. I can’t believe those bastards tried to burn down your store.”
    “They weren’t trying to burn it down, Nik, just to frighten me. Remember the woman from PAR telling us about Uniworld’s scare tactics?”
    “Sure, stuff like hate mail and smear campaigns. She didn’t say anything about burning bricks.” Nikki glanced at the clock. “Quick! Turn on the TV. They should be doing a recap of the local news now, and you’re the lead story!”
    Sweet. I dropped the envelopes and dove for the remote on the coffee table, startling Simon, Nikki’s white cat, who had curled on the sofa for his predinner nap. He arched his back and hissed, then realized it was me and came to climb on my knees and rub his cold nose against my chin as the television flickered.
    “Yes, Simon. I see you. Love you, too, Simon. Have you gained weight? Get off , Simon. My knee is numb!” I placed him beside me so I could watch the reporter’s interview. “Do I look pale?” I asked Nikki.
    “You look fine. By the way, I didn’t know you were going to be at the Home and Garden Show collecting signatures this morning or I would have volunteered to help.”
    “You did know. I told you yesterday.”
    “Seriously?”
    Lately, Nikki was so wrapped up in Morgan that she couldn’t even remember what she had for breakfast. To think Morgan once annoyed her as much as he did me. But those good times were over.
    “Wow. You sure let Uniworld have it,” Nikki said.
    “Look at that crowd, Nik. They were totally with me.”
    Nikki got up close to the screen. “Is that a flower pin on your beret?”
    “It’s a brooch I found in a shipment of flowers, and please don’t say it’s nasty.”
    “Are you kidding? It’s retro. Look how fashionable you are. Jillian will be so jealous.”
    That would be a first. My über-fashionista cousin strove to possess whatever the latest trend dictated. If I were to best her, well, things could get ugly.
    The report ended, so I clicked off the TV and headed for my bedroom to dress for dinner. “Maybe all this bad press will do the trick, and I won’t have to go to court to ask for an injunction.”
    “Let’s hope that’s all the bad press does,” Nikki called from the bathroom. “After that flaming brick incident, I’d be a little nervous.”
    “Do you sincerely think anyone from Uniworld would do anything to me now? I mean, who’d be the first on the suspect list? Anyway, Reilly was going to talk to Nils Raand, the head honcho at the distribution center, about meeting with me to discuss the situation, so hopefully we can come to a peaceable agreement.”
    I paused, catching sight of a magazine lying on my bed. “ Today’s Bride ? Did you buy this for me?”
    “It came in the mail. No note with it. Hey, are you going out tonight?”
    I pulled my green dress on over my head, fuming. I’d bet anything Marco’s mom sent that magazine. “Marco is taking me to Adagio’s. Why?”
    “Greg just got a dining membership at the country club, and his Lexus is in the shop, and I hate to take my old beater, so . . . can I borrow your car?”
    Borrow my Vette? My pride and joy? Okay, yes, I was a tad particular about whom I let use my carefully repaired and repainted 1960 Corvette but, truthfully, Nikki wasn’t the most mindful driver in the world. “I guess so. But be really, really careful, okay?”
    “It’s just a car, Abby. Besides, nothing bad happened last time I used it.”
    Unless you counted those two scratches on the bumper and the odor of greasy onion rings that clung to the interior for weeks . But hey, she was my best friend. How could I