Lily's Story

by John M. Floyd

About the Author: John M. Floyd's short stories have appeared in AHMM, EQMM, The Saturday Evening Post, three editions of Best American Mystery Stories, and the 2021 Best Mystery Stories of the Year anthology. A former Air Force captain and IBM systems engineer, John is also an Edgar nominee, a 2021 Shamus Award winner, a four-time Derringer Award winner, and the author of seven collections of short mystery fiction.

Excerpt

The blonde woman in the long red dress rose from her seat, looked over the room, patted her hairdo, and walked up to the couple sitting at a table near the back. “Everything taste good, folks?”

The two diners looked up at her. “Why?” the man said. “Did you cook it?”

“My name’s Lily Hendricks. I own the restaurant.”

“Is that so.” He leaned back in his chair, a slim man in a dapper vest with a watch-chain across the front, and pushed his finished plate away. “What if I told you I don’t like the idea of a woman running a business?”

His young female companion looked away, her face reddening. Lily said to him, “I’d tell you to remember this is the 1890s, not the Stone Age. And that you’re free to leave anytime, long as you pay for your meal first.”

The man stood, sneering, and tossed a one-dollar coin on the table. “Katherine,” he said, “I’ll see you at the hotel.”

The two women watched him march through the front door. In the moonlit street beyond the windows, a horse-drawn wagon rumbled past.

“My name’s Kate Tucker,” the younger woman said, “and I enjoyed my dinner. I’m sorry about … that.”

“No apology needed. I hope you’ll come again.”

Kate stayed quiet a moment. “You overheard us,” she said. “Didn’t you.”

Lily shrugged. “ ‘Overheard’ implies I was spying. I wasn’t. Your friend talks too loud.”

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