ME: Hey, sorry, but you’ve got the wrong number.

Then, with my conscience cleared and the knowledge that I’d performed my good deed for the day, I left my apartment headed for the florist store where I’d worked for the last ten years.

***

“Thank you, Mrs. Cooper! I’ll see you next week.” I smiled as the elegant lady in her late fifties waved goodbye with her weekly bouquet of lilies in hand.

“See you then, honey!”

The bell above the door dinged twice, once when she opened it and again when it swung shut behind her. The blast of late-summer heat from the outside was unwelcome, but it quickly dissipated as my air-conditioning ate it up.

This was probably the coldest store in town, but I think that was probably the reason why everyone came in during the summer. Sales were up, and it wasn’t just because homecoming season was coming up.

People came into escape the southern heat, then ended up buying things.

I wasn’t against using the weather to sell flowers.

We sold them for dead people, so…

I checked my phone, but the mystery picture sender still hadn’t replied. It was two in the afternoon, so they were either too embarrassed to respond, or they hadn’t seen it yet.

With a sigh, I put my phone back under the counter. I figured I’d keep the text for a day or so before deleting it, just in case he did reply. Knowing me, I’d forget it tomorrow and end up with a random text I couldn’t put into context.

The bell rang again, and I looked up in time to see Halley and Ava at the door. They were both wearing running clothes and had water bottles in their hands, but their expressions couldn’t be more different.

Halley was a little winded, with pink cheeks and a smirk on her lips.

Ava, on the other hand… Well, wisps of her black hair were stuck to her face with sweat. She resembled a tomato, more than anything, and I could feel the murderous vibes that radiated off her.

She stormed past me and went through to the back. There was a clunk as the refrigerator door opened, and I raised my eyebrows as a huge, “Ahhhhh!” filtered through the building.

I turned and met Halley’s eyes. “I see running is going well.”

“About as well as a dumpster fire.” She lifted her bottle and took a long drink. “She is not a runner. She’s worse than you.”

“I can run. I just don’t like to.” I pulled my stool beneath me and sat down. “How long is she going to stand in my refrigerator?”

Halley shrugged, sitting on one of the spare stools in front of the counter. “Presumably until she realizes it’s just as cool out here and she can sit down here.”

“What happened today?”

“The sun,” she replied dryly. “It’s her day off, so instead of getting up to run before work like we normally do, she slept in. She refused to run tonight when it’s cooler, so…” She motioned up and down her body. “Apparently, Ava doesn’t like sweating.”