Chapter Thirty One
by sloanranger
Part 1
"Okay," Elaine said. "I could use a little fresh air,"
Paula was right, the scent of roses was everywhere and the scent did seem to help her headache. Elaine walked around: "Do you have a gardener?"
"No, we had someone come in and till the topsoil but I did everything else."
"They're really lovely."
"Like I said, they're not a lot of work, not once they're established."
Elaine came to a bank of shrubs with small, multi-colored flowers.
"These are pretty," she said, leaning down to smell them.
Leaning closer, she could see several spiders climbing on the plant. "Oh," Elaine said, pulling sharply away from them. "Spiders!"
"Yeah, the spiders are supposed to keep pests out of the garden. I don't like them, but Elizabeth did. Always had this thing about that story, "Charlottes Web."
"Yes," Elaine said. "She's got me to the point where I check the tub, at least, and shoo them out before I turn on the water."
She sniffed the little flowers again. "These flowers," Elaine said. "They smell bad. What are they?"
"They're called lantana. I ordered them because they looked pretty. But you're right – they don't smell very good. I didn't notice it myself until they began to bloom.
"Oh, another spider. Yes, I think Cassie still has a thing about ..."
Elaine's words trailed off. Feeling dizzy suddenly, she reached for the poolside lawn chair in mid-sentence, thinking that she must have stood up too quickly when she pulled back from the lantana bush.
(To be continued).
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Arachnia #Featured
Mystery / ThrillerNOVELLA FEATURED by Wattpad! Husbands keep getting dead around pretty Paula Miller & after number three (3) dies in a very improbable accident, Elaine and Cassie start digging into Paula's past. Recipes included.
