Flowers on Main

by Sherryl Woods

  “Hi, Ms. O’Brien,” he said.

  “Hi, Gary,” she said, trying not to show how amused she was by this tongue-tied crush he seemed to have developed for her in recent weeks. “How are you?”

  The question flustered him even more. “Okay, I guess,” he said, not meeting her gaze. “That’ll be six-twenty, same as always.”

  Just then she heard the crash of a chair and turned to see Jake towering over Will. “You did it, didn’t you?” He gestured toward Bree. “You told her to come here today, even after I specifically told you not to. Some kind of friend you’ve turned out to be.”

  Mack hadn’t budged, but his complexion was almost as pale as Will’s. “I suppose Susie will be walking in the door next,” he said, though with far less heat than Jake had displayed.

  The instant Gary realized Bree was the object of Jake’s anger, he looked as if he was about to charge around the counter to protect her, but Jake wasn’t interested in Bree. All of his fury was directed at Will.

  Will tried to protest that Jake had it all wrong, but his protests fell on deaf ears. Jake grabbed his slice of pizza and his soda and stormed across the restaurant, careful to steer well around Bree as he went. As furious as he was, he still paused long enough to hold the door for two elderly women.

  Looking thoroughly guilt ridden, Will stood up and crossed the restaurant. “I’m so sorry,” he said to Bree, who was still rooted in place. “I was giving him grief last night about inviting you to join us today to clear the air between you, and when he saw you just now, he thought I’d done it.”

  The explanation was hardly soothing. Bree sighed. “I’d hoped by now that he would have…” She shook her head. “Never mind. I need to get back to the shop.”

  “I really am sorry if his behavior embarrassed you,” Will apologized, trailing after her. “You could join Mack and me. And just so you know, I didn’t invite Susie either, so it’s safe enough.”

  “If Jake saw me with you, it would only confirm his worst suspicions,” she said. “But thanks, anyway. Don’t worry about it, Will. The problems between Jake and me aren’t your fault.”

  “He still loves you, you know. That’s why he behaves like such an idiot.”

  Bree appreciated Will’s attempt to spin the situation, but she wasn’t buying it. She was pretty sure all the love between them, at least on Jake’s side, was dead and buried. And a few more incidents like this one and she might have a hard time recalling her own recently rediscovered feelings.

  What she didn’t understand was how Jake could still be so angry after reading the manuscript she’d given him. She’d bared her soul on those pages, poured out all the grief she’d never allowed herself to feel, much less share with him. There was only one explanation she could think of. He hadn’t even read it.

  And that told her all she needed to know about how little he cared about making things right between them.

  18

  W hen Bree walked back to her shop after the awful encounter with Jake, she found Jess inside waiting on a customer. As soon as the woman left, Bree regarded her sister with curiosity.

  “Thanks for opening up and making a sale, but what brings you by in the middle of the day? Don’t you have your own business to run?”

  “I’ve been thinking about Kevin and Georgia,” Jess admitted, getting a soda out of the small refrigerator Mick had hooked up behind the counter, then sitting on the stool by the cash register. She regarded Bree worriedly. “Do you think we’ve been mean to her?”

  “Not unless you’ve done something to her that I don’t know about,” Bree said. “Guilty conscience weighing on you?”

  “Of course not.” She grinned. “Well, not since I had the maid at the inn short-sheet their bed in the honeymoon suite, anyway. I’ve just been so thrown by Kevin showing up here married that I’m afraid we haven’t been as nice as we should have been. Maybe we should throw Georgia a shower or do something, you know, sisterly. She is an O’Brien now, after all.”

  Bree’s gaze narrowed. “Has Kevin been on your case?”

  “No, but he’s barely said two words to me, so I think he’s ticked that I haven’t done more to make Georgia feel like one of us.”

  “Or maybe he’s feeling guilty about springing this on all of us without any notice,” Bree speculated. “Plus, they didn’t even ask us to come along with Dad for the wedding. I know it wasn’t an elaborate ceremony, but still, they should have asked. I don’t think any of us are quite sure how to handle the situation. As for a shower, I think that’s out of the question. What could we possibly give her that she could take back to Iraq?”

  “Sexy lingerie?” Jess suggested, though without much enthusiasm.

  “Not terribly practical in a war zone,” Bree replied. “I think we should hold off on a shower until they’re back in the States for good. Then we can throw a real humdinger of a shower to help them get settled.”

  Jess brightened at the suggestion. “That’s a great idea. But maybe you, Abby and I should at least invite her out to lunch in the meantime. We could even involve her in planning the party.”

  “It’ll have to be tomorrow,” Bree said. “Georgia was able to extend her leave past the original couple of days, but she’s definitely flying out the day after tomorrow.”

  “Why don’t we do something special for her at the inn. I’ll invite Gram, too. Can you find someone to cover for you here?”

  Bree had no idea. Though she’d thought about finding someone to help out part-time, especially now that she was eager to write again, she’d been so swamped she hadn’t done anything about it. This lunch, however, was too important for her not to make the effort to be there.

  “I’ll work something out,” she promised. “Maybe Connie can spend her lunch break from the nursery over here.”

  Jess’s eyes widened at the suggestion. “How’s Jake going to feel about that?”

  At the moment, Bree didn’t give two figs how Jake felt about anything. If it irked him, so much the better. That little scene of his earlier might not have been much, but it had been unnecessary. A little payback would feel good.

  “I’ll call Connie right now,” she said decisively. “I’ll leave it up to her to deal with her brother.”

  “Okay, then, I’ll let Abby and Gram know,” Jess said. “See you tomorrow, if not before. Noon, okay?”

  “Perfect,” Bree said.

  As soon as Jess had left, Bree dialed the nursery’s number from memory. Thankfully, Connie answered.

  “Hey, it’s Bree,” she said. “I have a huge favor to ask you. And if it’s something you don’t want to do or can’t work out, feel free to say no.”

  “Sounds intriguing. Is it going to annoy my brother?”

  Bree wasn’t surprised that she’d picked up on that without Bree having to say a word. “More than likely.”

  “Great. He’s gotten on my last nerve today. What do you need?”

  Bree explained about the impromptu lunch for Georgia the next day. “Do you think you could take a long lunch hour and cover for me here?”

  “Absolutely,” Connie said without hesitation. “But when you decide you’re looking for a long-term solution, I might have an idea. Jenny’s looking for a part-time job after school and on Saturdays. She worked at Ethel’s Emporium over the holidays last year, so she knows how to work a cash register, and she really is very reliable. She mentioned after you were over here that night that she’d love to work for you if you were looking for someone. You were always her favorite surrogate aunt.”

  “Are you sure it’s a good idea to have her working for me?” Bree asked. “That might really tick Jake off.”

  “Too bad,” Connie replied without hesitation. “Jobs are scarce around town.”

  “I’m sure Jake would find something for her,” Bree said.

  “I doubt that working with her uncle and me is her idea of a dream job. She doesn’t like taking orders from either one of us as it is.”

  “Okay, th
en tell Jenny to stop by to see me after school one day this week and we’ll talk,” Bree said. Though she’d thought of finding someone older, Jenny’s enthusiasm might make up for her lack of experience. “In the meantime, if you can help me out tomorrow, I’ll be indebted to you forever.”

  “What time do you need me there?”

  “Eleven forty-five,” Bree suggested. “We’ll do this lunch thing at noon and I should be back by one-thirty or two at the latest. Is that okay?”

  “Not a problem,” Connie said. “I don’t punch a time clock around here, and even if I did, I have so much comp time owed to me, I could take off for a month.”

  Bree hesitated, but then couldn’t resist asking, “Why are you annoyed with your brother?”

  “He’s been in a foul mood since that dinner the two of you had the other night. I tried to ask him about it, but he bit my head off, so all I know is what I’ve heard around town.”

  Bree winced. “Which is?”

  “You walked out on him before the meal even came. Is that true?”

  “Afraid so. I doubt he wants to discuss it, either.”

  “And today? You have anything to do with the black mood he was in after lunch?”

  “Indirectly,” Bree admitted and told her about Jake’s mistaken assumption that Will had invited her to join them for a very public confrontation over their issues.

  “Oh, no,” Connie said, failing to stifle a laugh. “I swear, one of these days I’m going to lure you both into a room, lock the door and throw away the key until you come to your senses.”

  “It’s entirely possible we’d kill each other first,” Bree noted. “So, don’t even think about it.”

  “That just means I need to fine-tune my scheme,” Connie said, still chuckling. “See you tomorrow.”

  Bree wished she found the remark half as amusing. The one thing she remembered most about Connie was that she rarely let go of an idea once she’d latched on to it. There was every chance she and Jake were doomed.

  Jake had almost refused his sister’s offer of meat loaf and mashed potatoes for dinner, but it had been over a week since he’d spent any time with his niece. He liked Jenny knowing he was around if she needed him, and he’d also resolved to keep a close eye on her and that young Casanova she was still dating. Unfortunately he had a hunch that tonight’s meal was going to come with a healthy serving of unsolicited advice. He hadn’t missed the determined glint in his sister’s eyes when she’d issued the invitation.

  He’d put off going into the kitchen for as long as he possibly could, but Jenny was clearly anxious for him to leave her alone with Dillon.

  “Guess I’ll go see what your mother’s up to,” he said eventually, earning a grateful look from his niece. He turned and gave the boy a pointed look. “You staying for dinner?”

  “No, sir, my mom’s expecting me at home,” Dillon replied in the same carefully polite tone he’d used with Jake ever since the incident when he and Jenny had been caught in Jake’s office.

  “You need a lift?” Jake asked.

  “No, I have my mom’s car. I got my license last week. I’m allowed to drive it in the neighborhood,” he said proudly. “I figure one of these days she’ll turn me loose as long as I follow the rules for now.”

  “Good plan,” Jake commented, then left them alone, resolving to make sure his niece got nowhere near that car. The kid could barely concentrate on his homework with her around. It made Jake shudder to contemplate what could happen with her beside him when he was behind the wheel of a car.

  “Did you know that Dillon has his driver’s license?” he asked Connie when he found her bent over the oven checking the meat loaf.

  “I heard,” she said, closing the oven door. “It was all Jenny could talk about last week.”

  “You’ve forbidden her from riding with him, haven’t you?”

  “I haven’t had to yet,” she admitted. “His parents have told him he can’t have anyone in the car with him except one of them. If he breaks the rule, he loses access to the car keys indefinitely.”

  “You think he’ll stick to the rules? I imagine they also told him to keep his hands to himself around girls, but he’s obviously ignored that one,” Jake said dryly. “You need to keep a close eye on those two, Connie. I mean it.”

  “Believe me, I know that,” his sister lamented. “After you caught them in your office, they’re never out of my sight for long, at least when I know they’re together. You’ve talked to Jenny. I’ve talked to her. I pray we’ve gotten through to her.”

  “Or if we haven’t, that I’ve scared the hell out of that guy,” he said direly.

  Connie pulled a beer out of the refrigerator and handed it to him. “I need to talk to you about something else.”

  Jake stiffened. Here it came. She was going to lecture him about Bree and that ridiculous scene he’d caused by jumping to conclusions. Will had finally cornered him late this afternoon and made it plain that Bree’s arrival had been pure coincidence. Just one more thing he probably needed to make amends for.

  Now he studied his sister warily. “Oh? What is it you think we need to discuss?”

  “I’m taking some time off tomorrow,” she announced. “Just a couple of hours at lunchtime.”

  “Okay,” he said slowly. “You know I don’t care about stuff like that. Why are you telling me?” Alarm suddenly set in. “You’re not sick or something, are you? Do you have a doctor’s appointment? Do you need me to go with you?”

  She touched his arm. “Settle down. I’m fine. I’m just doing a favor for a friend.”

  His gaze narrowed. “Which friend?” he asked suspiciously.

  “Bree.”

  “You’re doing a favor for Bree that necessitates you taking time off from your job working for me,” he said, his tone turning cold. “Do I have that right?”

  “Got it on the first try,” she said cheerfully. “And before you start ranting and raving, remember that you told me not two seconds ago that you didn’t care what I did.”

  “This is different,” he grumbled. “She had to know I wouldn’t like it. So did you, for that matter.”

  “Let me be clear about your objection,” she said. “It’s not the time off that bothers you, it’s the fact that I’m helping Bree.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Do you know how ridiculously petty that sounds?”

  Jake could hardly deny it. “Traitor,” he mumbled.

  She stared at him in shock. “Did you just accuse me of being disloyal?”

  “Yeah, I did,” he said defiantly.

  “Then you and Bree are fighting again? I’m supposed to choose sides?”

  “You know perfectly well we are. You’ve been asking me about it ever since she and I had dinner. I’m sure she gave you an earful.”

  Connie didn’t deny the accusation. Instead, she played innocent. “Do I at least get a clue about what you’re fighting about this time?”

  “It’s always about the same thing.”

  “The way she abandoned you, mistreated you, blah-blah-blah,” she said.

  He frowned. “Are you mocking me now?”

  “Yes, because you’re being ridiculous. I know she hurt you. The whole town knows she hurt you. It was six years ago, Jake. Get over it. You’re still in love with her. Stop wallowing in the past and go after what you want before you lose her again.”

  “What is it you think I want, to have my heart broken all over again?”

  “Are you so sure that’s what will happen? Because the way I see it, if you don’t even try, you’re going to wind up miserable and alone anyway. If it were me, I’d take the risk.”

  “You’re a romantic,” he said accusingly. “Even after the way Sam treated you, you still believe in the power of love.”

  “I do,” she agreed. “And you’re a cynic. How’s that working for you?”

  Just then Jenny walked into the kitchen and stood staring at them, her expression shaken. “Why are you two figh
ting?”

  “We’re not fighting,” Jake claimed.

  “It’s just a discussion,” Connie confirmed.

  “Well, it sounded a lot like a fight to me. It scared Dillon off. He doesn’t need to be involved in your drama.”

  “This isn’t drama,” Connie said. “This is just your uncle and me having a difference of opinion. Happens all the time between siblings.”

  “I wouldn’t know,” Jenny said angrily. “Since I don’t have any and I’m not likely to, ever.”

  Jake saw the stunned look on Connie’s face right before her eyes welled with tears. He knew, though Jenny probably didn’t, just how much his sister had wanted to have more children. It had been at the root of her divorce. She wanted a big family. Sam had been unhappy she’d gotten pregnant with Jenny Louise. They’d started fighting almost from the moment she’d told him she was expecting a baby. He’d left not that long after Jenny’s birth.

  Connie ran from the room, her face ashen. Jenny stared after her in shock.

  “What did I say?” she asked, looking bewildered and faintly guilty.

  “You know how much your mom adores you, don’t you?” he asked her, his tone gentle despite how exasperated he was with her at the moment.

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “And she’s a terrific mother.”

  Jenny nodded.

  “Then you should also be able to see that she might have wanted to have more kids. Things just didn’t turn out that way.”

  He wasn’t going to say any more. Though he would have happily told his niece what a jerk her father was, Connie had refused to ever say a harsh word against Sam. She’d wanted Jenny to believe her father’s absence from her life had nothing whatsoever to do with her. He doubted Jenny bought that since Sam rarely did more than send his checks on time and mail the occasional birthday card, but it wasn’t Jake’s place to disillusion her.