Jonas was the first one to reach her. Although she was under the wooden trees, she could see Jonas’s feet. She’d recognize those black shoe boots anywhere.
“Don’t move,” he commanded. “Let me lift these trees off of you first.”
In a matter of minutes, the trees were upright again and Daisy could see that Jasper and Ward had helped Jonas lift them.
Jonas crouched down beside her as she sat up. He warned again, “I’m not sure you should move. I’ll call the paramedics.”
She grabbed his arm. “No. I’m fine. Really. Just give me a minute to catch my breath.”
Amelia and Vanna were crouching down beside Jonas now too. “Were you knocked out?” Vanna asked.
“No. More than anything, my hip hurts. One of those trees landed against me.”
Vanna said, “Wiggle your hands and feet, then your arms and legs.”
Daisy did that. “Everything works,” she said with a weak smile. “Just let me stand up.”
“Can somebody get a chair?” Jonas called.
Keisha pushed out one of the upholstered chairs that had been sitting in the wings. “Here you go.” She looked concerned.
Vanna and Jonas helped Daisy to her feet, and she quickly sat.
Trevor was beside Daisy now too. “I’ll stay with her if you want to look around,” Trevor said.
Jonas gave him a can-I-trust-you? look.
Trevor nodded again as if to reassure Jonas he was a good guy. He was, Daisy thought. Sometimes he was just a little pushy. Glancing over her shoulder, she watched Jonas search behind the trees and then in the wings.
Keisha crouched down in front of her with a bottle of water. “Here, drink some of this.”
Taking the bottle Keisha had opened for her, Daisy took a few swallows. She thanked Keisha.
Keisha said, “I didn’t think those trees could be tipped over. We’ll have to remedy that.”
A few minutes later, Jonas returned to Daisy and knelt before her. “There’s no point calling the police when what happened could have been an accident.”
Trevor faced Daisy more squarely. “You don’t think it was an accident, do you?”
Daisy’s heart had stopped racing and had settled into a regular rhythm. She rubbed her shoulder. “Maybe it was and maybe it wasn’t.”
Jonas and Vanna exchanged a look.
“You have a brush burn on your arm,” Vanna said.
Keisha appeared again with an emergency first aid kit.
Vanna took it from her.
Daisy protested. “Vanna, I can fix myself up when I get home.”
“Don’t be silly. You need to sit there awhile anyway. Make sure nothing hurts more than it should.”
Jonas ducked down again until he was eye to eye with Daisy. “Are you sure you don’t hurt anywhere?”
“Just bumps and bruises. A hot shower and Dad’s liniment will make me feel good as new.”
Jonas took Daisy’s hand in his. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. I’m going to take another look around.” He kept his voice low. “I really don’t see how those trees could have fallen on you on their own. Somebody had to have pushed them.”
Somebody. A member of the cast or a volunteer? After Vanna swiped Daisy’s brush burn with peroxide, then applied antibiotic cream and a bandage, she said, “You sit still while I put this away.”
Daisy turned slightly in the chair and looked up at Trevor. “Talk to me about anything but Margaret’s murder.”
Trevor let out a sigh. “If you insist. There was something I wanted to ask you anyway.”
“Something that has nothing to do with murder?”
“Absolutely nothing to do with murder. How long have you known Tessa Miller?”
That was a question she’d never expected. “Tessa and I went to school together. In fact, we skipped a grade together. We had each other’s backs and we still do. I couldn’t imagine anyone else as my kitchen manager. Why do you want to know?”
“So you’d say she’s a lot like you.”
Daisy shook her head and the movement pulled on her shoulder that was beginning to ache. She ignored it. “Oh, Tessa and I are very different.”
“How so?”
Forgetting momentarily about what had just happened, she explained, “Tessa is an artiste. You can tell that just by the way she dresses. She’s much more of a free spirit, and Bohemian in her taste.”
“Including men?”
Daisy remembered that Tessa had asked about bringing Cade for Thanksgiving dinner. Cade certainly was as staid as they came. On the other hand, a man she’d loved had been the owner of the town’s art gallery.
“To tell the truth, I’m not sure about her taste in men. I think that all depends on who she connects with. I’m sure Tessa would say she’s a vibrations person. She’d have to receive the right vibe from a man.”
“Uh-huh.” Trevor looked pensive.
Was Trevor interested in Tessa?
To tell the truth, Daisy would rather think about Tessa and Trevor instead of what had just happened.
Chapter Twelve
“Is your hip hurting you?” Iris asked Daisy as Daisy shifted her weight from one foot to the other at the counter in the tea garden’s kitchen the next day. They were checking the produce that Joachim Adler had brought, making sure it suited them. Joachim had taken off his black felt hat and was holding it in his hands. His light brown beard dangled close to the second button of his shirt.
His face took on a little color and Daisy knew talking about anything personal around him would embarrass him. She said to Iris, “I’m good.” Then she gave Joachim a nod. “Everything looks top quality just as always. Your greenhouses are really producing.” She particularly liked the leaf lettuce.
“Wunderbaar,” he said. He flopped his hat on his head. “See you next week.” With a smile, he went out the back kitchen door.
“Sorry,” Iris apologized. “I almost forgot Joachim was there. He’s so quiet. But are you hurting? Did you sleep wrong? You keep shifting from one hip to the other.”
Daisy wrapped the lettuce in green paper that kept it fresh. “I had a little mishap at the rehearsal yesterday.”
Iris stopped inspecting the turnips and carrots. “What kind of mishap?”
“I was careless
