“Let me look into it, will you? Even low-level lights around the garden and the patio wouldn’t be obtrusive, but they would give anybody the idea that there are technological eyes on the whole place. You want to give the illusion of being guarded.”
“How about solar lights?”
“There are some garden solar lights that also detect motion. But depending on the weather, they’re not always reliable. If you want that kind, that’s fine, but I’d suggest a few electric ones for the sake of dependability, in addition to the others.”
“That sounds like big bucks.”
“That sounds like security, Daisy. If you’re going to be involved in murder investigations, you need to protect yourself and your family.”
Jonas was right, of course. She could squeeze the budget and dial back her own purchases. She didn’t want to skimp with Jazzi. But if Jazzi understood the situation, she might not mind. Since she wasn’t paying tuition for Vi now, she’d intended to put that money into a savings account for Jazzi for college. She’d portioned out some of the insurance money that had been paid to her after Ryan died for the girls’ educations. They all really had everything they needed as long as they were healthy and happy.
The doorbell rang.
Jazzi called, “I’ll get it. I used my phone app. It’s Gram and Aunt Camellia. Gramps and Camellia’s boyfriend are following behind. He’s pretty hot, Mom.”
“She’s going to be dating soon, isn’t she?” Daisy asked Jonas woefully.
“Have you talked to her about boys lately?”
“No. With her learning to drive, we’ve had enough to discuss.”
“My guess is she has her eye on one.”
She gazed at him aghast. “Jonas Groft, what do you know about teenage girls?”
After another look at his smug expression, she shook her head. “Never mind. Don’t tell me. As a detective, you saw way too much.”
“Everything I saw as a detective shouldn’t even be talked about in the same room with Jazzi. You’ve got a gem there, and in Vi too.”
She leaned her cheek against Jonas’s shoulder just for a moment. Then she went to the door to greet her mother.
Somehow, once everyone arrived, Daisy and her many helpers carried the food to the table. Daisy had briefly met Camellia’s boyfriend. He was about five-foot-ten, looked as if he worked out, and had a nice smile. His hair was short and spiky, his nose narrow, and his jaw pointed. He was wearing a tan oxford shirt, brown dress slacks, and a sports jacket with a small plaid design in burgundy and dark brown.
Daisy was hoping she’d get a chance to talk to him later. Right now, however, her dad was carving the turkeys. He was an expert at it, and Rose was holding Sammy, cooing to him while Vi looked on. Tessa and Trevor seemed friendly enough as they conversed with each other and Daisy’s other friends and family.
After Daisy’s dad finished carving the turkeys and they placed the trays with the meat on the tables, he stood between the two tables and gave a short prayer of thanksgiving. Then they started the meal, and Daisy kept her fingers crossed that all would go well.
Conversation swirled around the table as everyone ate turkey and all the trimmings. Those trimmings included sweet and sour red cabbage, green beans with bacon bits, cranberry, walnut, and orange salad, sweet potato casserole with a crumb topping that was more like a dessert, and of course, bread stuffing from both inside and outside of the turkeys. Daisy heard Foster explain to Russ and Iris that his dad and brother and sister went to have dinner with one of his father’s friends who was also one of his crew managers.
Daisy tried to hold a conversation with Camellia, but Camellia seemed more intent on listening to Robert’s conversation with her father. As they were growing up, Camellia had ignored Daisy whenever she’d wanted to. Daisy had gotten used to it. Unless she had something really important on her mind, or Camellia’s attitude seeped under her skin, she took a back seat. She considered catching up with her sister to be important, but apparently Camellia didn’t want the same kind of bond in her life that Daisy did. However, the conversation that Camellia was listening in on between Robert and her father caught Daisy’s attention too.
Robert was saying, “This is the new way of advertising.”
Daisy’s father apparently didn’t agree. “New way of advertising. It seems a waste of time and money to me. By the time the commercial’s over, I don’t even know what the product was that was advertised. How can that help sales?”
Sean’s disagreement didn’t seem to bother Robert. “I’ll grant you it’s subtle. For instance, you have a well-known star in a car commercial. He’s in every commercial for that make of car. There’s no need for the name of the product if the public automatically associates that star with the product. It’s subliminal advertising.”
Daisy couldn’t help but give her two cents. “That might be the case if the public will recognize the product just by hearing the star’s name. That doesn’t mean they’ll buy the product unless they specifically want that product. Even a teenager isn’t foolish enough to think if she rides in one of those cars, she gets the star driving next to her.”
Jazzi chimed in now. “Mom’s right. I’d never buy a car because of a person advertising it. I buy it for the color and what kind of tech conveniences it has.”
Daisy’s gaze locked with Robert’s. “I imagine you have focus groups. What are they saying?”
“Mixed reviews,” he kind of mumbled. “We try everything that we think will sell a product. Focus groups aren’t always on the mark.”
“If a company knows their product,” Daisy offered, “there’s no need for subterfuge. The company just points out its good points and presents it to their customers.”
Camellia gave Daisy an argumentative glare. “It’s not that simple anymore, Daisy. Ads
