Desert Heat. Kathleen Pickering

his lips when he answered her challenge. Instead, he’d stood there and they fought.

      What did he care? This place was doing strange things to his very set, very comfortable convictions. He had to get out of here as soon as possible.

      In the silence, a coyote howl rose from the foothills. Farther away another howl echoed in response. It was as if the pack was calling to gather. Overhead, the stars still held their ground. He pulled his cell phone from his pocket to check the time. Nine-thirty. Damn. It was going to be a long night.

      * * *

      MEG SLAMMED HER heavy front door. She was still so damned frustrated from getting nowhere with Tico Butler. The smell of popcorn invaded her senses. Her roommate, Penny Riggs, appeared from the kitchen, bowl in hand. Bruno, her Chihuahua, scurried around her feet, focused on the bowl of popcorn. Behind her the television was on, volume muted.

      Penny frowned. “I waited for you to start the movie, but from the look on your face, you’re in no mood for watching a romance.”

      A mocking laugh rose in Meg’s throat as she reached down to pet the dog. “A murder mystery would be better.”

      “Your detective didn’t cooperate, I take it?”

      “Nothing but aggravation.” Meg turned in a circle out of sheer frustration, fists clenched. “I could just scream!”

      Where Meg had curves to her athletic, lithe figure and long hair, Penny’s petite frame was lean and trim like a ballerina’s. Tonight she’d gelled her short platinum hair into spikes. Gleaming silver hoops dangled from her ears, complementing her turquoise camisole and brown gypsy skirt. Penny had been blessed with green eyes that usually held mirth. She offered her hand and led her friend into the den. Glass doors opened to the night, warming the room decorated with Indian pottery, overstuffed furniture and woven rugs.

      “Why do you have the doors open, Pen?”

      Penny grinned. “Because there’s something you should see. Step outside.”

      Penny led Meg to a cactus garden bordering the covered patio. The light from the den glowed softly on the cholla, barrel and fishhook cacti beneath the bottlebrush tree that was meant to shade the area during the hottest part of the day. In the center of the narrow garden, a hip-high, barren-looking, tangled and twiggy cactus of no real beauty held center stage.

      Pen pointed to the small bulbs dotting the ends of the plant’s sticklike branches. “Look what happened today!”

      Meg caught her breath, immediately forgetting her anger. “The Queen of the Night is going to bloom!”

      The women grinned at each other. Penny said, “It’s been almost two years. The bulbs look ready. If we sit out here, we may witness it firsthand.”

      Meg let out a breath. “That would be the first nice thing to happen all day.”

      “It’s a beautiful night. I’ll pour us some wine, and we’ll wait and see if she opens.”

      Penny put the bowl of popcorn on the table. Bruno followed her into the kitchen. Meg moved two of the patio chairs to the edge of the garden.

      This particular cactus was a rarity in the desert. Meg had planted the Queen of the Night herself when she’d moved into the cabin six years ago. Back then the plant had been simply a round tuber root with a stick. It had grown and spread into this sparse, leggy plant. Unless you knew what it was, you’d think it was dead. When those buds opened, the beautiful blossoms were large and white with yellow centers. Their vanilla fragrance suffused the air like heaven. The flowers hadn’t appeared last year. Now more buds emerged on the plant than she’d ever seen.

      Penny returned with two glasses of white wine and a camera hanging from her shoulder. She handed Meg her wine, then scooped up Bruno and dropped into the chair beside her. She rested the camera next to the chair. “This sure beats watching the movie.”

      As she spoke the first bulb popped open. “Oh!” Meg leaned forward. The rest of the unfurling would be slower, but once one opened, the others would follow. It was as if the plant had some sort of communication system where all the buds waited for each other. She stood, not wanting to miss a moment of this precious event. “Look, they’re all opening.”

      Pen grabbed her camera and began clicking photos of Meg smelling the blossoms. She shook her head. “I can’t believe they waited for you. Don’t they usually open after sunset?”

      “They must have known I needed their magic.” She inhaled a deep, sweet breath, feeling as if her lungs were taking oxygen for the first time today. “How I missed this amazing fragrance.”

      Pen leaned forward to breathe the flower’s essence. “Nothing like it in the world.”

      Meg sat back in her chair, ready to let the conflict of the day fall away. She let her gaze roam into the distance where a few dim lights shone from her parents’ house on the other side of the lake. They’d disappointed her today beyond belief. They’d always known her line of work was dangerous, but had always had faith in her abilities to do her job. She’d simply have to stand her ground with them until they understood she wasn’t to be swayed.

      Butler’s cabin wasn’t visible from where she sat, but she knew he was out there. She tried to push the thought of him from her mind. She wanted to relax, but he kept crowding her thoughts. Dammit. Returning her focus to the blossoms, she sipped her wine.

      “How was work today, Penny?”

      Pen ran a hand through her hair. “Busy.” She sat back down, but not before clicking another photo of Meg.

      Meg shielded her face to stop Pen from taking any more. “You still like the job?”

      “Oh, yeah. As a matter of fact, today was my six-month anniversary. Enrique finally gave me keys to the spa this morning.”

      “Sounds like you passed the training period.”

      “With flying colors, according to Enrique.”

      Pen had always wanted to move from the small salon in town to the spa in the foothills that attended to the elite residents of the Quarry. With her friendly personality and keen fashion sense, Pen had a style and sassiness that made her a perfect match for the spa community.

      She managed to hide the fact that she was a celebrity groupie. Nothing excited her more than primping the hair and nails of a movie or rock star, politician or business tycoon. Yet, to all outward appearances, she behaved with sophistication and the perfect touch of reserve around those who preferred anonymity at the Quarry.

      Meg tapped Pen’s wineglass with her own. “Congratulations, girl. You’ve reached the top.”

      Penny chuckled. “I can’t tell you how hard it was resisting the urge to ask Katrina Ripley for an autograph while prepping her for a pedi-wrap.”

      Meg laughed out loud. Katrina Ripley was well known in the fashion world as the latest leggy, angel-faced model. She’d been discovered living on the streets in Berlin by a French photographer when documenting the city. That photographer had done an exclusive on Katrina with photos before and after he cleaned her up, which shot her to international fame.

      Any clothes, accessories or jewelry she modeled sold out so quickly that one lingerie mega-store had nabbed her, offering an obscene annual salary to be their exclusive representative. She’d met and married Josh Ripley in a fast and furious love affair that had been plastered all over the tabloids for months. “Wow. Even I’m impressed.”

      “I know! Katrina Ripley is amazing.”

      Meg shook her head. “No. I’m impressed that you made it through two hours with the woman and didn’t ask her to sign your arm.”

      “Or ask her for a pass for tonight’s concert. Enrique would have fired me on the spot. Bothering the celebrities is the best way to lose your job.” Penny tapped her lip with a finger. “But it might have been worth it for front-row seats to see Joshua Ripley perform.”