By
USA Today Bestselling Author
Dale Mayer

Riches to rags …
Chaos might be slowing …
Only a new murder occurs …
Sending her off the trail again …

It’s been a tough few weeks since Robin and Mathew, Doreen’s ex-lawyer and her ex-husband, slid back into her life.

Okay, so maybe Robin isn’t here any longer to cause torment, but Mathew is. And he’s not planning to leave Doreen alone anytime soon, although thankfully he’s gone back home for a while. Trying to recuperate looks doubtful for Doreen, when a local gardener is kidnapped, while picking nasturtiums for dinner.

The case heats up when the missing man’s niece appears on Doreen’s doorstep, looking for help, including asking Doreen to accompany her to the police station.

Not at all sure what’s going on, but willing to help someone in need—particularly after having been a suspect herself—Doreen tags along, looking to do her good deed for the day.

But no good deed goes unpunished, and, when Mathew calls, Doreen gets more than she bargained for, including all the usual suspects: love, jealousy, and … greed. It takes everything from her feathered and furred critter team to keep her safe, as she digs to the bottom of yet another crazy case …

I really love the way Mack is always checking up on Doreen. She’s been through so much lately and is yet again healing from an injury. Although she’s tired she’s also getting bored so when Mack brings groceries for dinner but then has to run she wants all the information on that kidnapping…or Nabbed in the Nasturtiums.

We get a little review of what’s happening with Robin’s murder and Doreen’s ex. You know of course he’s not going to stay away especially since their divorce agreement is now null and void. I got a real kick out of Nick meeting her while she’s out walking with the animals so she can give him some change to retain his council.

I think my favorite scene is when Mathew shows up and so do Nick and Mack.

She stared at her phone and groaned. “Now what am I supposed to do?” she muttered. She quickly sent Mack a text. Mathew will be here in twenty minutes.

Instead of responding, he called her. “You’re not allowed to see him.”

“What do you want me to do?” she cried out. “He already called me. He’s bringing the exact same document and expects me to sign it.”

“Nonsense,” he said. “I’m calling Nick.”

“What good will that do?” she wailed, but Mack was already gone. And, of course, nobody responded again. She groaned and put on more coffee, as if she needed more. But some things just called for coffee. It was either that or open up a bottle of wine and start guzzling. And that wasn’t a habit she wanted to get into, no matter how tempting it might be.

She kept walking back and forth between the front and back doors, staring all the while. Mugs was pacing along with her, and so was Goliath. Thaddeus, on the other hand, was perched on his roost in the living room and completely ignoring her, snoozing. She had both front and back doors locked because she had that sneaking sense that Mathew would enter without knocking, and that was the last thing she wanted.

On the other hand, he was the kind who would sneak in somehow, and she wouldn’t even see it coming. Then he’d act like it was totally normal. She had no idea how she was supposed to get out of this, and she didn’t think telling him that the lawyer said she couldn’t sign anything would be good enough to get rid of him. Would he go so far as to hurt her? That she didn’t know. And it’s not what she wanted to think about, but it was all too possible that he would do it now, if she put up any kind of argument.

Almost simultaneously she watched three vehicles fly up the cul-de-sac and park. Mack got here first, and he pulled into the driveway. Her ex and his little rental car pulled around and parked out front. Finally Nick parked curbside.

Hopping out, Mathew took one look at Mack and glared. “What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?” Mack asked, as if he didn’t know.

“I came to see my wife,” Mathew said stiffly.

“Look at that,” Mack said, a big grin on his face. “So did I.”

“Oh dear,” Doreen said to herself. “This won’t be good. On the other hand, with Mack obviously quite capable of handling Mathew, it could be great fun.” She stepped out onto the front porch and glared at the two of them. Mathew looked at her and said, “Really? A cop?”

She shrugged. “Really? Why not?” she said. “I mean, it’s not like you weren’t sleeping with my former divorce lawyer.”

“I didn’t know that she was a criminal,” he growled.

“Oh, please, that’s a lie,” she said. “Tell me another one.” She waved him away with her hand, as she watched Nick get out of the third vehicle.

“And who is this?” Mathew asked, as he turned to look at Nick.

“My new attorney,” she said. “I told you that I won’t sign anything without him reviewing the document first.”

Mathew stiffened. “I flew all the way up here,” he said, “so we could do this without the lawyers.”

“Well then, you should have spoken to me before you did that,” she said, trying for a commonsense easygoing attitude. But that had never worked before, so it was unlikely to work now.

He shook his head. “If you’ll be difficult,” he said, “I’m not leaving the document.”

“That’s fine,” Nick said. “We’ll write up a document for you to sign then.”

“What kind of document?” he asked stiffly, looking at Nick suspiciously.

Nick pulled a business card from his wallet, handed it over, and said, “If you don’t want to deal with your lawyer, that’s fine,” he said, “we can deal between the two of us.”

“For what?”

“The divorce settlement of course,” Nick said, his eyes opening wide. “I mean, that is what you’re here about, isn’t it?”

Her ex slowly nodded, but he was stiffening, and his body language showed that he wanted to be anywhere but here.

“That’s what he said,” she called out from the front step.

Mathew turned and looked at her and asked, “Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?” she asked in innocence.

“The document is null and void, so we just sign another, that’s all.” He raised the brown envelope in his hand. “This is the one that you need to sign again,” he said. “It’s simple. You just sign it, and we’re all good to go.”

“If my lawyer at the time was a criminal, and she is the one who wrote that document,” she said, “why would I sign it again? Obviously we need a new one,” she said. “And, in order to get a new one, I had to get a new lawyer.”

“No,” he said, “you didn’t have to get a new lawyer. As a matter of fact, we don’t need to get a new lawyer.”

“We? Is that you and your whole team of lawyers?” she asked. “So you’re protected. It’s just me who isn’t.”

“Of course you’re protected,” he said, with an eye roll and that genial look. “I’ve looked after you for all these years,” he said. “I won’t screw you around now.”

“And yet there was that other document,” Nick said. “You know? The one where Robin screwed Doreen over?”

“Yes, but,” Mathew said, raising a finger, “Doreen signed the paperwork, so I just assumed she had agreed to it.”

“Doreen agreed to it because her lawyer told her to sign it, saying it was the best agreement Robin could get Doreen, and that you didn’t owe her anything,” Nick said, rocking back on his heels, with a delightful tone of voice.

Doreen couldn’t even quite place the tenor of his voice, but just something about it fascinated her. She looked over at Mack to see him glaring at her. She opened her eyes wide, threw out her hands, and raised her voice. “What?”

Mack just shook his head, then took several steps forward toward her.

Mathew asked, “What’s the matter? Are they hurting you?”

“Of course they’re not hurting me,” she said, staring at Mathew in confusion. “Does it look like he’s hurting me?”

“You yelled at him.”

“I yell at him all the time,” she said, with a shoulder shrug. “It makes no difference.”
Dale Mayer. Nabbed in The Nasturtiums (Kindle Locations 421-473). Valley Publishing.

Now after the confrontation with Mathew, Mack takes Doreen, Mugs, Goliath and Thaddeus out to lunch. This is their first real date! I was so excited.

With a bit of encouragement from her Nan, Doreen gets involved with one of the disappearances attributed to Bob Small, it was one of Nan’s friend’s nieces. Annalise Bergman was on her way home from ballet and never arrived. Her Nan has some things coming from her friend’s family that may give additional clues so she’s waiting on that. Of course Doreen keeps trying to get more on the kidnapping, it’s sort of expected.

More cooking lessons, I love these so much, walks with the animals are always fun and sometimes dangerous. Did I mention Doreen gets involved with Mack’s case because of the man’s niece? No? Well that’s how it happens and let me tell you this whole book is a wild ride!

I really can’t wait for the next book in this series, they are fun, and intriguing with plenty of laughter and that beginning relationship that I am loving so very much.

5 Contented Purrs for Dale!

Dale Mayer

Dale Mayer is a USA Today bestselling author best known for her Psychic Visions and Family Blood Ties series. Her contemporary romances are raw and full of passion and emotion (Second Chances, SKIN), her thrillers will keep you guessing (By Death series), and her romantic comedies will keep you giggling (It’s a Dog’s Life and Charmin Marvin Romantic Comedy series).

She honors the stories that come to her – and some of them are crazy and break all the rules and cross multiple genres!

To go with her fiction, she also writes nonfiction in many different fields with books available on resume writing, companion gardening and the US mortgage system. She has recently published her Career Essentials Series. All her books are available in print and ebook format.