"I have a delivery for Melody?"

The girl looked up from her book to see an FTD flower man standing in the doorway. "That's me," she offered, slightly confused.

"Sign here." Melody took the pen and signed the clipboard, her curiosity rising. Who would send her something at work? The deliveryman handed her a box marked "fresh flowers" and nodded. "Have a nice day."

"You too," the receptionist called after him as she carefully opened the box. She stifled a gasp and lifted out a bouquet of exquisite, bright pink lilies and light pink roses. Still inside the box were a square cut-glass vase and an envelope with her name on it. Carefully, Melody placed the flowers in the vase and placed them on the corner of her desk, where they could be seen by just about anyone in the station. She turned her attention to the envelope, opening it with trembling hands (why was this so exciting?) as a small audience began to form around her desk. She was just about to read the card when a voice jolted her out of her thoughts.

"Who's it from?" Buzz McNab, ever-eager, leaned over the secretary's shoulder, trying to get a glimpse at the message in the card. Melody turned and noticed that four other officers, as well as Juliet, had gathered around to see who had sent her the flowers.

"Excuse me!" she cried indignantly. "Don't I get to read it for myself first?" Buzz looked down at the floor, ashamed, and the other officers dispersed as if they hadn't been interested in the first place. Only Juliet remained, undeterred by her flustered friend. Melody sighed, resigned to the detective's presence, and read the card.

Hopefully these will brighten up your workspace

Even though you've already brightened it up considerably.

Juliet frowned. "Well, that's... sweet, in an oddly formal way."

Melody shook her head, smiling goofily. "It's the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me." She turned the card over, then back again. "But there's no name."

The junior detective's eyes lit up. "Ooh, a secret admirer! That's exciting! Who do you think it is?" Not waiting for a reply, she continued. "It could be someone here, in the station. It has to be someone who at least knows where you work, and judging from the note it's someone who has seen you here."

"Yeah," Melody agreed half-heartedly, not quite as enthused as her friend was about actually finding out the identity of the sender. "That's probably right."

"Oh, I'm going to come up with a list of who could have sent these to you, and then we'll narrow it down." Juliet's grin was impossibly bright. "This is going to be so fun! Like a scavenger hunt!"

Melody laughed at the woman's enthusiasm. "Sure, Juliet. Whatever you say."

The detective sighed happily. "Well, I have to get back to a case I'm working on, but I'll draw up the list when I have time and get back to you on that." She wiggled her fingers at the receptionist and returned to her desk, leaving Melody alone to admire the bouquet.

She leaned in close to the flowers and inhaled deeply, reveling in the delicate fragrance of the roses and the sweeter smell of the lilies. In the back of her mind, Melody wondered who would spend the time and money to send her flowers. This sort of arrangement wasn't exactly cheap, and not many people she knew would care to send her something like that. Most of her friends didn't think she was the type of girl who liked flowers. Really, Melody didn't think she was the type of girl who liked flowers. But maybe that was because she'd never been given flowers before.

Was there any truth in Juliet's assumption that someone from the station had sent them? Melody carefully scanned in all directions until her eyes settled on Detective Lassiter's desk. She found him watching her intently, almost eagerly, but when she caught his eye he stood up quickly and walked down the hall, presumably to the holding cells. The woman frowned slightly and turned back to her flowers. Could it have been him?

Well, no use in worrying about it now, she thought as the phone rang. "Santa Barbara Police Department, how may I help you? ...Please hold." She glanced at the card and smiled, warmth spreading through her chest. She keyed in the extension. "Chief Vick, the DA is on line one..."

...

It was late on a Friday, and all Juliet O'Hara wanted was to go home and take a long bubble bath. And with the last report written up and placed on the chief's desk, that yearning was about to become a reality.

"O'Hara, could I have a word with you?"

Jules winced. Almost home free. Still, when she turned to look at her partner it was with a warm smile. "Everything alright, Carlton?"

The lanky detective sat with his feet up on his desk, fiddling absently with his pen. "The new receptionist. You talk to her, don't you?"

Curious, Jules sat on her desk, fixing her eyes on Lassiter. "Yes, we're friends. Why?"

He shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. "Does she ever talk about people here? What she thinks of everyone?"

Uncertain of what exactly was going on, the junior detective forged ahead cautiously. "We talked about some of her first impressions the first time we went out to lunch together. She said that everyone seemed incredibly friendly, if a little distant. And she thinks Shawn is... interesting."

"Oh." There was a certain inflection to Carlton's voice that Juliet had never heard before. About to ask why the opinion of the receptionist was so important to the head detective, her partner cut her off. "So I heard she got flowers today. Who, uh... who sent them?"

"They were anonymous," Jules replied slowly. "Carlton, why are you so interested?"

"They could have been bugged. Or hiding a bomb." His face was the image of innocence, which alerted Jules to an ulterior motive. She contemplated pursuing the idea, but decided that it wasn't worth it. If Carlton had his heart set on pretending not to know anything, then she would just leave and go home to take a bath.

The woman shook her head and stood up. "Well, goodnight partner. See you tomorrow."

"Goodnight," the detective called after her. Just as she put her hand on the door, he sat up rapidly in his chair, swinging his legs down to the ground. "What did she think of the card?"

Jules glanced back absently. "Oh, she liked it. I thought it was a little stiff, though." She made her way out to her car, but stopped at the door in shock as a thought occurred to her. She hadn't mentioned a card to Lassiter. A slow smile crept across her face. Well, well. Maybe a list wasn't necessary after all.