Flowers on Main

by Sherryl Woods

  By the time he got back to his office, he was hot, filthy, exasperated and hungry. Unfortunately, Connie was waiting for him with a harried expression.

  “Don’t sit down,” she ordered. “You need to go right back out again to make an emergency delivery.”

  He studied her with suspicion. “Isn’t that why Jimbo works for us, to handle deliveries?”

  “He’s already gone out to make half a dozen deliveries, including all those rhododendrons for the Hendersons. He promised to help Aggie get them in the ground. I told him he could. He won’t be back for hours.”

  Jake studied his sister’s face. “Doesn’t matter. He has a cell phone in case we need him. If this is an emergency, call him back in. Agatha Henderson can wait an extra hour, since he’s doing her a favor.”

  “It’s not a favor,” she said. “It’s called good customer service, something you’re known for, thanks to me. Besides, it’s a waste of gas for him to drive all the way back here when you’re already here and can make this delivery.”

  Since their fuel costs for deliveries had skyrocketed over the past year, Jake could hardly argue. “Okay, where’s the emergency and what am I delivering?”

  “I’ve pulled the order together,” she said, leading the way into the greenhouse where a dozen buckets of fresh-cut flowers were lined up by the door.

  Jake got a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Let me guess,” he said. “They’re going to Flowers on Main.”

  She nodded happily. “I’ll let Bree know you’re on your way.”

  He shook his head. “I’ll put them in the truck. You can drive them over.”

  “Not me. I’m going to lunch.”

  “So am I,” he argued. “Just as soon as I’ve cleaned up.”

  “But you’re going to Sally’s, which is practically next door to Bree’s shop.” She beamed at him. “How convenient is that?”

  Jake knew he’d be wasting his breath to continue arguing. Obviously Connie had thought this through. She’d have an answer for any excuse he could come up with. Whether she had an ulterior motive was less clear.

  “Fine,” he muttered, picking up the first batch of buckets and loading them into the back of his truck. Connie followed with several more. It took less than five minutes to transfer all of them.

  “When Bree orders next week, tell her she needs to get it right the first time,” he told Connie.

  Her brow rose. “If you really want to act like a jerk rather than a grateful businessman who’s suddenly gotten a huge, unexpected order, you’ll have to tell her that yourself.”

  Jake sighed. “Point taken.” It was annoying that Connie was almost always right when it came to customer-service issues. She was a big part of the reason the nursery had increased sales since he’d taken over. She had the tact and diplomacy he lacked.

  A half hour later he pulled up in front of Flowers on Main and noted that most of the buckets on the sidewalk had been emptied of the fresh flowers they usually held. No wonder Bree had called in an emergency order. Business must be good, even this late into the fall season. The Indian-summer days were drawing tourists to town well into October.

  He wasn’t sure how he felt about her success. If she’d failed, maybe she would have gone back to the career he knew she loved. Maybe she’d have left town, which would have made his life a heck of a lot less complicated.

  When he walked in the front door with the first of the flowers, her head snapped up and surprise lit her eyes, immediately followed by obvious relief.

  “Thank goodness,” she said fervently. “I ran out of almost everything by ten o’clock this morning. Apparently a lot of weekenders are taking advantage of this weather to come to town for a few extra days at their cottages.”

  “Hopefully this will be enough to hold you for the weekend. I won’t have anything new in stock until next week.”

  “Whatever you have is great,” she said. “I know I should have ordered more to begin with, but I’m still getting the hang of this. Last Friday rain was predicted and almost no one came down for the weekend. I had a bunch of leftover flowers that I turned into arrangements and donated to the hospital.”

  “Why didn’t you just toss them?”

  “Why, when they could just as easily brighten someone’s day?”

  The unhesitant response reminded him of one of the reasons he’d fallen in love with her in the first place. She might be shy and withdrawn, but she had a generosity of spirit that warmed everyone around her. More impressive, she seemed unaware of how rare such little acts of kindness were.

  Because it threw him to spend even a minute remembering her good points, he went back outside to gather another batch of flowers. After he’d set them inside the cooler for her, he paused by the counter.

  “So, are the part-timers your best customers?” he asked, wondering how she’d make out when they stopped coming down as frequently during the cold, winter months.

  “For the bouquets, they are. Locals order more for funerals and special events. I have a couple of orders from local restaurants for fresh flowers for their tables, but all they want are a few stems of daisies or something that they can stick in small vases just to add a little color to the decor. Next weekend I’m doing the flowers for a wedding at the inn, so I’ll have a big order for you on Monday for that.”

  Jake was startled by the excitement he heard in her voice. “You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?” he said.

  “I love it,” she admitted. “It’s challenging, but it’s rewarding, too.” She leaned toward him as if confiding a secret. “And you know something else?”

  “What?”

  “I love counting the receipts at the end of the day.”

  He chuckled at that. “Do you love any of it as much as writing? For as long as you and I were together, that’s all you really wanted. Have you forgotten how much writing plays meant to you?”

  She shook her head. “Of course I haven’t forgotten. I just needed to get away from it for a while. Amazingly, though, now that I am, it’s as if I freed something in myself. I’ve written more in the past week than I had in months before I left Chicago.”

  “That’s great,” he said, trying to muster the appropriate degree of enthusiasm. “What happens when you finish the play? Will you take off, head back to Chicago?”

  “It’s not a play,” she confided, ignoring his reference to Chicago completely. “I’m trying to write a novel. It’s very different from what I was doing before. I’m not entirely sure whether it will be any good, but it’s been an interesting change of pace for me.”

  Jake couldn’t decide if that piece of news was good or bad. She could write novels and stay right here, couldn’t she? Was that what he wanted?

  “I’d like to read it,” he said impulsively. “When you’re ready, that is. I know you never like to show anyone what you’re working on until you’re satisfied with it.”

  She regarded him thoughtfully. “You know, I could use an outside opinion,” she said slowly. “You read a lot. You can tell me if you think I have any idea what I’m doing.”

  Her willingness to let him sneak a peek at a work in progress startled him. “Really?”

  “Unless you didn’t really mean it,” she said. “I mean, don’t feel obligated or anything.”

  “No, I’d like to read it,” he said quickly, surprised by his own eagerness. “I always loved your work. Your plays were amazing. I felt as if I’d met every one of your characters personally. I wish I’d had the chance to see one onstage.”

  “I invited you,” she reminded him.

  He leveled a look into her eyes. “You know why I couldn’t be there, Bree.”

  She sighed. “Yes, I know. I just wish it had been different between us then.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s not possible to change the past.” He made a quick trip to the truck, then hurriedly set the last of the flowers inside the shop. “I’ve got to run. See you, Bree.”

  Again, he heard her
sigh as he bolted. Unfortunately, the simple act of putting distance between them was doing less and less to protect his emotions. No matter how thick the wall he’d erected around his heart, no matter how great his determination to keep her out, their lives seemed destined to become entangled all over again.

  Not really realizing what she was doing, Bree plucked a daisy out of one of the buckets of fresh flowers and began tearing off petals in an old he-loves-me, he-loves-me-not way as she stared after Jake. She didn’t know quite what to make of their conversation.

  His desire to read what she was writing surprised her. It reminded her of the old days, when they would sit side by side in bed on a Sunday morning, she with whatever book she was reading or the newspaper, and Jake with the pages of her latest play. He’d already been living in his own tiny apartment then. Just out of college, he could have stayed on with his folks, but he’d wanted his independence and a place where the two of them could be alone. They sometimes lingered like that until noon before going to have a midday dinner with his folks or with Gram.

  Gram had never asked about the fact that Bree sometimes didn’t come home on Saturday nights. She’d been over twenty-one, after all. There’d been no disguising the worry in her eyes, though. And that’s what it had been, too—worry, not disapproval. For all of Gram’s old-fashioned ways, she’d cared most about them being happy and she’d clearly seen heartache ahead for Bree and Jake. She’d even broached the subject once.

  “I know you’ve applied for several theater internships,” she’d said to Bree. “You’re going to leave here one of these days. What happens to Jake when you go?”

  “He understands my plans for the future,” Bree assured her blithely, convinced they would find some way to make it work.

  “It’s a far cry from understanding a theoretical plan to living with it,” Gram had cautioned. “If you love Jake, and I think you do, treat his heart with care.”

  Bree had thought at the time she was doing just that, but the reality had turned out to be otherwise. She’d blamed a lot of it on the pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage, but realistically she could see now how difficult it would have been to maintain a long-distance relationship even if the conditions had been ideal.

  Pushing aside the memory, she spent the afternoon making arrangements for Saturday and selling several more bouquets of the newly delivered fresh-cut flowers. Just as she was about to close for the day, the bell over the door rang and she looked up to see Connie crossing the threshold. They’d been friends once, but it had been awkward between them since Bree’s return.

  She gave Jake’s sister a tentative smile. “Hi, what brings you by?”

  “I was hoping we could have a drink together,” Connie admitted. “I haven’t seen nearly enough of you since you got back to town.”

  “That’s my fault,” Bree said at once, delighted by Connie’s overture. “I wasn’t sure if us getting together would make it hard for you after what happened with Jake and me.”

  Connie grinned. “If I’m forced to choose sides, I’d have to be on his, always,” she admitted. “But I’m thinking there’s really only one side here and he’s just too stubborn to admit it.” She tilted her head to study Bree. “I am right about that, aren’t I? You do still have feelings for my brother?”

  “I’m beginning to think so. I’ve missed him, no question about it.”

  Connie gave a satisfied nod. “So, how about it, then? Do you have time for a drink? Jenny’s planning a so-called Friday-night study date, so I only have an hour or so before I have to get home to make sure there’s actually any studying going on.”

  Bree was flabbergasted. The last time she’d seen Connie’s daughter, Jenny had been finishing up elementary school. Bree’d helped Connie with birthday celebrations, pizza parties and sleepovers for her daughter and her friends. “Jenny’s old enough to date? How’d that happen?”

  “Of course she’s not old enough to date,” Connie said dryly. “But when did that ever stop a teenager? Kids have a way of growing up when you’re not looking. You’ll find that out for yourself one day. I do like to keep an eye on her, though. Jake caught her making out in his office not long ago.”

  Bree’s eyes widened. “What’d he do? Beat the boy to a pulp?”

  Connie laughed. “I believe there was a very stern exchange and then he had a talk with Jenny. I want to believe he got through to her, but just in case he didn’t, I don’t want her alone in the house with this kid for very long.”

  Bree saw real concern in her eyes and made a quick decision. “Why don’t we have that drink at your place. Would that work for you?”

  Relief immediately spread across Connie’s face. “That would be great.”

  “I’ll meet you there in fifteen minutes,” Bree promised. “Want me to stop and pick up a pizza or some snacks?”

  “Make it a couple of pizzas,” Connie said. She took a twenty-dollar bill out of her purse and tried to give it to Bree. “Take it,” she insisted. “If they’re eating, they won’t be making out, and we can have our food without me jumping up every few minutes to check on them.”

  “Keep your money. You’re providing the drinks. The pizza is the least I can do.”

  “Okay, then. I’ll see you soon. You know we’re living back at my parents’ place, right? They were retiring to Florida just as I was getting divorced. Jake already had his own house, so I moved back home. The price was right. If I’m careful, I can just make it every month on the alimony and child support I’m getting. What Jake pays me goes right into Jenny’s college fund. It turned out to be a good deal all around.”

  “Sounds like it,” Bree agreed. “You can fill me in on all the rest of your life when I get there. I want to hear everything.”

  “I’ll bore you to tears,” Connie replied. “You’re the one with tales to tell. See you soon.”

  As soon as Connie had left, Bree ordered the pizzas and an extra-large salad, then drove around the corner to pick them up. The pizza parlor was packed, so it took longer than she’d expected. It was over a half hour later by the time she pulled up in front of Connie’s and immediately spotted Jake’s truck in the driveway. For a fleeting instant, she considered turning right around and driving away, but Connie was already standing in the doorway beckoning her inside.

  “Jake’s here?” Bree asked as she walked slowly across the lawn.

  “He turned up a couple of minutes ago. I swear I had no idea he was coming over tonight. Sometimes he pops in to beg a meal.”

  Bree didn’t entirely buy the explanation, but she let it pass. “Does he know I’m coming?”

  Connie’s expression turned vaguely guilty. “Actually I just mentioned that I was expecting a pizza delivery any minute.”

  Bree frowned at her. “I don’t think he’s going to be thrilled with the surprise. You should have warned him.”

  “So he’d feel compelled to take off, even though I know he’d really like to stay? I don’t think so,” Connie said, reaching for the pizza boxes, but leaving it to Bree to carry the salad. “We’ll take this into the kitchen.”

  As they passed the living room, which had once been almost as familiar to her as her own, Bree could hear Jake’s voice, along with Jenny’s and apparently that of the teenager’s boyfriend. For the first time since she’d been back, she heard the carefree sound of Jake’s laugh. That sound had once filled her with so much joy and she’d heard it often. It hurt to realize that around her he’d stopped laughing.

  In the kitchen, she set the container of salad on the table and accepted the glass of red wine that Connie handed to her. She’d just taken her first sip when Jake walked in.

  “I smell food,” he said eagerly, then stopped in his tracks. He turned an accusing gaze on his sister. “You didn’t mention you were expecting company.”

  “Bree’s not company,” Connie said breezily, undaunted by his expression or his unwelcoming tone. “She was almost family once.”

  “Was and almost would
be the operative words,” Jake muttered.

  Connie scowled at him. “Don’t be rude,” she scolded. “You’re the one who wasn’t invited. If you want pizza, sit down and behave.”

  Jake’s lips twitched. “You sounded just like Mom then.”

  “I meant to,” Connie retorted.

  Bree couldn’t help herself. She chuckled at the exchange. “This is just like old times. Connie always did boss you around.”

  “She tried to,” Jake corrected. “She was never the boss of me.” He gave his sister a pointed look. “And these days, I’m her boss, something she might do well to remember.”

  “Oh, hush,” Connie said. “You don’t scare me.”

  Oddly, the squabble had the effect of relaxing Bree. She finally pulled out a chair and sat down. But when Connie left the room to take one of the pizzas and a couple of sodas to the kids, she couldn’t think of a thing to say to Jake.

  “This is silly,” she said at last. “We used to be able to talk about anything.”

  “Times change,” he said, sipping his beer and looking at her solemnly. He gestured with the bottle. “Used to be you’d be drinking one of these, instead of a glass of fancy wine. Did Marty help you develop your taste for the finer things in life?”

  “Don’t be an idiot,” Bree retorted, though without much heat behind the words. “Connie poured the wine. I accepted it. It’s not some huge statement about my preferences in alcohol.”

  He winced. “Sorry. Connie’s right. If I can’t be civil, it’s probably better if I go.”

  Bree locked her gaze with his. “Wouldn’t it be better to try a little harder to be civil? We managed almost an entire conversation earlier today. Please, Jake. Just try for tonight. Just for your sister’s sake. Something tells me she masterminded this evening. Let’s not disappoint her. Her heart’s in the right place.”

  “And encourage her to go on meddling?” he suggested direly. “Is that what you want?”

  “No, what I want is for us to get along. I miss being friends with you. How many times do I have to say that before you’ll believe me?”