Love in Bloom

Chapter Nineteen

CHAPTER NINETEEN

F our days had passed since the meeting at the diner, and Operation Spicy was well underway. The plan was to make the town undesirable to Preston’s firm while ruining Teddy’s credibility. It was a long shot, but it was our only hope.

After I confirmed with Ernesto that everything at the farm was ready, I went to Greenie’s for a last-minute meeting. Teddy had already sent me a warning text that he was on his way, so that only gave us four hours until showtime.

Max and Becks, who chose to stay at a hotel nearby instead of on the farm with me, were already at the diner, sipping coffee and laughing like old friends. I slid into the booth to join them, and Erica brought a fresh pot of coffee and empty mugs.

“Are you ready for this?” she asked and jabbed me in the shoulder.

“No… Yes… Do I have a choice?”

“You got this, girl. This is classic Emma,” Max said.

“I hope you’re right.” I took a sip of my coffee. “I just really wish Dan were here. I wish I could talk to him and just…” I shrugged.

“Hey, hey,” Becks said. “One thing at a time. If this man has any sense, he will come running—”

“Oh, shit,” Max whispered as she stared at something over my shoulder. A hush fell over the table as Erica and Becks caught sight of what Max must have seen. When I whipped my head around to look, I gasped.

My mother was standing in the entrance to the diner, and she didn’t look angry or even upset. She looked nervous. I jumped to my feet and ran to her.

“Mom!” I swallowed a lump that formed in my throat. “What are you…”

“Debbie called me.” She tilted her head toward Erica’s mother, who was watching us with interest. “She told me everything that’s been going on, and she thought that you might need your mother.”

“I do.” I nodded, and my eyes stung with tears. “I do need you. Mom, I’m so sorry that I—”

“Shh, shh, shh.” She put a perfectly manicured red fingernail to her lips. “There’s no time for that now, but I hope that there will be time later. I have a lot of things I need to say to you. Things I should have said years ago.”

“Yes.” I nodded, and before I could stop myself or think twice about it, I wrapped my arms around my mother and hugged her.

“Okay, sweetheart.” She laughed and quickly wiped away the tears in her eyes. “Let’s get to work. Your father wanted to be here, but he had a surgery. He wanted me to tell you that he loves you and that you should kick Teddy’s behind.”

“I thought you always loved Teddy,” I said, still wiping my eyes.

“We love you. We liked Teddy because we thought he was giving you a good life. But if he hurts you, he becomes a problem.” She raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t start none, won’t be none. Right, Cece?” Debbie appeared by my mother’s side. “Don’t let these pearls fool you, Emma. Your mother could throw hands like nobody’s business.”

“Okay, Debbie.” My mother cleared her throat and adjusted her suit. “Let’s discuss that later. Right now, we have work to do. What should I do, Emma?”

Mrs. Lee shot me a wink before I moved to the front of the diner and called the meeting to order.

Two hours later, I got a text informing me that Teddy’s convoy had reached the town hall. Pastor Freeman insisted on leading everyone in a quick prayer, during which I held hands with my mother, and we all moved into position.

“Well,” Teddy’s mother said in a strained voice, “it certainly is… quaint, isn’t it?” After knowing this woman for almost half my life, I knew she used words like quaint , cozy , and charming when she felt the overwhelming urge to fill the silence with nothing nice to say.

However, this time, I wasn’t offended because her words meant that our plan was working. Half of the storefronts had been boarded up. All of the beautiful plants and foliage that lined Main Street had been hidden away. Trash lined the streets, along with a few parked cars with their hoods open.

We were part of a small crowd, including my mother and me; Teddy, his parents, and his donors; Preston with a few members of his firm; plus the mayor and Belinda. There was also a reporter and a photographer, who were both hand-selected by Maxima Clarke to chronicle the event.

“Is that… is that a goat?” Teddy’s father pointed at what was definitely a goat crossing the street in front of Dr. Westlake’s office. The camera clicked, capturing Teddy’s father’s reaction.

“Oh, yes,” I said, “that’s Frisbee.” I shrugged and kept walking. At that moment, Frisbee, as if in response to hearing her name, stopped in the middle of the street and relieved herself before continuing on her journey.

“Oh my goodness,” Teddy’s mom, Vanessa, muttered in disgust and literally clutched her pearls.

“So, Mayor Cole,” Preston addressed the mayor, “this… um… smell. I don’t remember… experiencing it the last few times I’ve visited the town.”

“Well, I’ll be honest,” Mayor Cole said, deftly stepping over Frisbee’s greeting as we continued down Main Street, “we are not actually sure what the smell is. It just kinda pops up every fall, but it’s usually gone by spring.” The expressions of Preston’s colleagues soured, and I noticed a woman in a gray pantsuit lean toward one of her suited peers and whisper in his ear.

“Yes,” Belinda chimed in. “That’s why we have the Harvest Festival when we do. It would be unbearable if we didn’t.”

“And you… grew up here, Celeste?” Vanessa furrowed her brow and gave my mother an incredulous look.

“Oh, yes. So many happy childhood memories,” my mother fawned. “But it’s a lot nicer now.”

“I’m sorry, did you say nicer?” Vanessa spluttered.

“Here we are!” Belinda chirped before my mother could answer Teddy’s mother. We waited patiently while Erica’s husband held the door to Greenie’s open for us.

“My wife is the owner and chef.” Derek beamed. “She prepared a special meal just for our honored guests. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”

“That’s right, Daddy.” Melissa, who was wearing a dress for the first time I’d ever seen, her hair braided into two neat plaits and without a speck of dirt on her face, appeared next to her father wearing a big smile. “Right this way, please.” The world’s most adorable hostess ushered us to a large table comprised of all of the smaller tables in the diner pushed together. There were a few regulars seated in the booths that lined the restaurant and also at the counter, including Mavis and Leonard. “Enjoy your meal.” She spun on her heels and skipped toward the rear of the restaurant.

“You’re going to love this place, Vanessa.” I reached across the table, patting Teddy’s mother on the hand she’d just slathered with half a bottle of hand sanitizer from her purse. “They make the best waffles. I eat them almost every morning.”

“Well, I can’t wait,” my mother chimed in.

“So, Mayor Cole—” Preston began with a smile.

“Oh, stop with that Mayor Cole business.” He smiled genially. “You’d better start calling me Franklin, since we’ll be working closely together for the foreseeable future.”

“Well, I like the sound of that,” Teddy chimed in.

“Well, Franklin,” Preston continued, “I was telling Estelle here”—he gestured to the woman in the gray pantsuit, who was using her paper napkin to polish her fork while scowling—“that in addition to the over two hundred acres of farmland, there’s a lot of potential for revenue streams in the town. Lots of commercial space, long-term residential properties…”

Estelle didn’t seem amused.

“Excuse me, little girl?” Vanessa flagged down Melissa, who was setting out bread plates. “May I trouble you for a glass of water?”

“Sure thing, ma’am.” Melissa retreated to the kitchen and returned carrying a tray of water glasses. Erica followed closely behind with a large plastic pitcher. Melissa set out the glasses and Erica began to fill them, starting with mine and Mom’s. We immediately lifted our glasses and sipped. Once Erica reached Teddy’s mother, she let out an audible gasp.

“What in the world?” she said, picking up her glass of slightly cloudy and yellow-tinted water and turning it in her hand. The rest of the occupants of the table politely refused water while staring at Vanessa Baker, who was using every decade of her debutante training not to lose her shit at the table.

“What’s the matter, Vanessa?” my mom said, taking another sip of her lightly flavored and food color–tinted water before letting out a satisfied aah .

“What is wrong with this water?” she demanded through clenched teeth. “Do you not have a filtration system?”

“Oh, this is the filtered stuff,” Derek answered her with a smile, taking a long gulp of his water and signaling his wife for a refill.

“Yeah, you should’ve seen it before.” Belinda shrugged and shook her head sadly.

Estelle’s lips pinched into a tight line, and she was shooting daggers at Preston, who looked visibly nervous.

“Well, a new filtration system isn’t a problem.”

“You’re absolutely right about that. We had the whole system replaced three years ago.” Mayor Cole nodded. “It cost us a pretty penny, but of course, that’s when we thought that other firm would be investing in the town.”

“What other firm?” Estelle spoke for the first time, and her voice was deeper than I’d expected.

“Some big real estate firm from out west, Copperhead or Coopertown…”

“Coopersmith?” Estelle leaned forward with interest. Coopersmith and Associates was one of the biggest real estate development firms in the country.

“I think that was it.” Mayor Cole shrugged. “Well, anyway, they were talking about investing heavily in the town and quite frankly we needed the help…”

“Still do,” Belinda muttered under her breath in a stage whisper.

“So we spent a bunch of money trying to make the town look more attractive.”

“And what happened?” Estelle asked.

“I’m not sure, really. They sent some folks out here with some fancy equipment to do some kind of testing. They drilled holes and took a bunch of soil samples from all over town and then they just disappeared.” He shrugged. “Never heard from them again… ah! Soup’s on!”

Erica emerged from the kitchen, followed by two servers carrying trays laden with bowls of steaming soup that smelled delicious.

“This is our most popular farm-to-table chicken soup. All of the ingredients come from right here in town, including the meat, veggies, and herbs.” She smiled proudly.

“… and the water?” a man in a suit sitting next to Teddy, whom I recognized as a prominent Atlanta businessman, asked sardonically.

“Of course.” Erica shrugged before she returned to the kitchen, planting a kiss on the top of Derek’s head on the way.

“I still don’t know why you went ahead and changed that water!” Leonard said in a rapid outburst from the counter. Every head at our table turned in his direction. He paused for a long moment, blinking in rapid succession. “I’ve been drinking that water for sixty years, and I’m just fine.” He blinked again and his shoulders jerked, causing a few gasps at our tables.

“Leonard, sweetie, stop bothering these nice people while they’re eating their lunch.”

Leonard turned his head in Mavis’s direction and jumped when he caught sight of her.

“Mavis, when did you get here?!”

It was a Herculean effort and a kick under the table from my mother that kept me from bursting out laughing, but I was too late. Teddy had caught sight of my amused micro expression and was seething. While the occupants of our table ate our soup course—well, half of us ate while the other half politely stirred the contents of their bowls—Teddy glared at me. While our settings were cleared away, he excused himself from the table and politely demanded through clenched teeth that I join him.

“Right now?” I asked, feigning disappointment. “The salad course is next. You know how much I love goat cheese and beets.”

“Now, Emma.” He narrowed his eyes and I let out a dramatic sigh and excused myself from the table.

I followed Teddy out into the street and a few buildings away from the diner before he turned on me, pointing his finger an inch from my nose.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, Emma?” he shouted.

“One, get your finger out of my face.” I pushed his hand away. “Two, lower your voice, and three, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m doing exactly what you asked me to do.”

“Maybe that new man you’re fucking is an idiot, but I’m not.” He narrowed his eyes, and I fought the urge to slap the mention of Dan out of his mouth. Instead, I crossed my arms, tilted my head, and raised my eyebrows. Our plan was working, and I couldn’t let Teddy get in my head. “I don’t know what the fuck you think you’re doing with the fucking show you’re putting on, but remember, Em: you fuck this up for me, and I have no problem putting everyone in this shithole town in federal prison, including the sheriff and his wife.” My eyes went wide with terror, and Teddy reveled in my reaction, finally having affected me. “How do you think that cute little girl would like being an orphan when her parents are serving life sentences for drug trafficking? You know members of law enforcement don’t do well behind bars.”

“You’re a fucking monster!” I screamed.

“Lower your voice, Emma,” he retorted with a smirk.

“Teddy, be sensible. Think about what you’re doing. You really want to ruin the lives of hundreds of people, for what? A job that you might not even get?”

“Might not get?” He scoffed and looked insane. “Baby, this was ordained. A Baker is going to the White House, and that Baker will be me. It could be you, too, if you fucking come to your senses.”

He was out of his mind. There was no reasoning with him. I had no doubt that if things didn’t go his way, he wouldn’t hesitate to expose everything in the town. I hoped to God the plan worked well enough to prevent that from happening.

“Teddy, I’m doing everything you asked me to. What else do you want from me?”

“I want you to sell this fucking town like your life depends on it because it does.” He pasted on a giant shit-eating grin and straightened his tie. “Now, fix your face and let’s go back inside.”

I heaved a deep breath and followed him back to the diner, praying the entire time.

After one of the most delicious meals that I’d ever eaten—though I couldn’t speak for the rest of our company—we were in a small convoy making our way to the farm. It was abundantly clear that Preston’s firm was no longer interested in having anything to do with our town, but Preston and Teddy insisted on giving them a tour of the farm. They probably hoped that the vast landscape would inspire his firm to reconsider their obvious disinterest.

So it was a shame that a sewer pipe had burst that morning and flooded the entire back hundred acres of the farm. Teddy’s mother refused to leave the limo, but Teddy wouldn’t be deterred. Ernesto offered to circumvent the wet and muddy terrain by chauffeuring the remaining intrepid members of our convoy around the farm in a large trailer attached to the back of a tractor. Unfortunately, Ernesto couldn’t do anything about the smell or the unusually bumpy terrain.

After fifteen minutes of being jostled and splattered with mud, Estelle and her colleagues demanded to be taken back to their chauffeured SUVs. Preston’s father called him an embarrassment. Teddy turned to face me, and my heart began to pound. If looks could kill, I would have been dead on arrival. I swallowed a giant lump in my throat as I silently willed him to not do what I knew he was planning to do.

“Fine,” he called to the rest of the occupants of the trailer. “This was a disaster. The truth is, I was trying do this town a service because while I was here, I uncovered something sinister that, as an officer of the court, I can’t turn a blind eye to.”

“Theo, what is your boy talking about?” One of the older suited men addressed Teddy’s father.

“I’ll be damned if I know,” he spluttered. “Teddy, sit your ass down and let’s get the hell out of this dump. Your poor mother has probably fainted from dehydration by now.”

“No, Daddy.” He tore his arm out of his father’s grasp. “We’re making one last stop.” He turned to look at me. “At the greenhouse.”

I felt the blood drain from my face and my stomach began to roil. Ernesto, upon hearing the word greenhouse , stopped the tractor short and turned to look at me. We locked eyes and I shot him the tiniest helpless shrug.

“I, for one, am not interested in seeing anything else except the highway out of this town,” Estelle protested.

“Well, you might change your tune if you knew that that greenhouse was filled with illegal marijuana plants.” Teddy nodded with a smug grin. “Emma’s grandparents have been running an illegal marijuana operation for years, and the whole town’s in on it, including the mayor and the sheriff.”

“How dare you malign the reputation of my deceased parents?” my mother shouted, scandalized. She was so convincing that, if I didn’t know any better, I would have thought she was actually hurt. I eyed her curiously.

“If you’re gonna accuse an elected official and a member of law enforcement of such an egregious offense, you’d better be able to back it up.” Derek narrowed his eyes at Teddy.

“This is preposterous,” Mayor Cole interjected. “This was a bit of a harrowing day, and we’re all a little wound up. Let’s have Ernesto take us back to the farmhouse and we’ll end this visit on a high note.” He raised his eyebrows, looking around the tractor. Again, I silently willed Teddy to concede and not call our bluffs, but I underestimated his determination.

“If you don’t have anything to hide, then it wouldn’t hurt to take a look, would it?” He raised an eyebrow and the entire tractor got quiet. The energy had shifted, and it gave me an uneasy feeling. “And if we don’t look at it today, maybe I’ll come back with my friends in the FBI.”

“Did you know anything about this?” Estelle hissed to Preston, who simply shook his head in disbelief, staring at Teddy.

The silence continued for a few moments that felt like they could have been hours, but were possibly only a few seconds.

“Well, it doesn’t seem like Mr. Baker will be satisfied until he takes a look at the greenhouse.” Derek shrugged. “Ernesto.” He tilted his head toward the greenhouse. Ernesto met my eye. I hoped my expression didn’t betray the terror mounting in every cell of my body. I struggled to find words.

“I… I don’t think… that’s necessary,” I stammered. My mother gripped my hand to keep it from shaking.

“Why not?” Teddy sneered, and I fell silent. After giving Ernesto a nod, the tractor chugged and bumped along the property until we came to the thicket of trees that nestled Dan’s beloved greenhouse and the key to all of our destruction.

Derek had to help me out of the tractor and almost support my weight as I half walked, half stumbled toward the greenhouse. The door was unlocked as usual, and we were greeted by the sweet, verdant smell of Dan’s roses. The fragrance hit me like a punch in the stomach, and I wished to God that Dan were here so he could hold me in his arms one last time before our worlds collapsed.

“Looks like a regular greenhouse to me.” Teddy’s father narrowed his eyes at his son.

“No,” Teddy said, casting his eyes around and scanning the rows and rows of plants before he took off running toward the rear of the greenhouse. My knees threatened to buckle when I heard him shout, “It’s here. What’s this? Open this door.”

I knew exactly what door he was referring to. When the rest of us reached the steel door, Teddy was standing in front of it with his arms crossed, wearing a self-important smirk.

“You don’t want to open that door, Se?or,” Ernesto said sardonically.

“Actually, I do,” Teddy replied. “Is there a reason you don’t want to open this door? And while we’re talking, why the hell would a farm in a Podunk town in the middle of Georgia need a military-grade security door?” He nodded and looked around the small gathered crowd, still grinning.

“Well, sir. That room contains expensive farm equipment and tons of fertilizer. Even farms in Podunk towns in Georgia have thieves.” Ernesto told Teddy the same lie that Dan had told me when I’d asked about the door, and I was willing to bet that it would work as well on Teddy as it had on me three months ago. “And none of us are wearing protective gear. If I open that door, we’re all gonna get hit with a cloud of gas that you won’t be able to wash off for days. Probably shouldn’t breathe it in, either.” He shrugged.

I looked at Teddy, hoping Ernesto’s words were enough to make him see sense.

“Look.” Teddy glared at Ernesto. “You either open this door now, or open it when the FBI gets here.” He pulled his cell phone out of his suit pocket and raised an eyebrow.

“Better open it, Ernesto,” Mayor Cole said.

“Okay.” Ernesto shrugged. “I’d stand back if I were you.” Everyone except for Teddy listened. We took several large steps backward while Teddy only crept closer to Ernesto. We watched as Ernesto slowly typed in the code. My heart was thumping so loudly in my chest, I would have been shocked if everybody couldn’t hear it.

After a series of short beeps, the door hissed and slid into the wall. Before the door could fully retract, Teddy ran inside. A couple of tense moments passed before we heard the scream, then we were hit with the smell.

A second later, bedlam ensued. The noxious cloud that emanated from the door was thick and cloying. I pulled the lapel of my cardigan over my nose, clasped my mother’s hand, and pulled her through the rows of vegetables, flowers, and fruits until we inhaled the crisp sting of fresh air. We were followed by Belinda, the mayor, Derek, and the rest of the group. Estelle coughed out the words, “You’re fired” to Preston as she climbed into the trailer of the tractor. I wasn’t sure if Preston heard her because he was bent over with his head between his knees, vomiting at the base of a large tree. Teddy’s father and his colleagues staggered out of the greenhouse, clutching handkerchiefs over their mouths and coughing. I looked around and saw no sign of Teddy or Ernesto. Before I could react, the entrance to the greenhouse burst open with Ernesto, supporting Teddy’s weight, filling the doorway. Somehow, the photographer never stopped clicking the shutter, and I could see the journalist scribbling in her notepad between coughs.

It was a long, silent ride back to the farmhouse, but for me, it was a peaceful one. I had a very good feeling that Teddy would have a hard time convincing anyone that anything suspicious was going on at the farm. I also had a sneaking suspicion that he’d be very busy working to repair his public image once the story of his visit to our little town hit the media. Too bad I couldn’t recommend a good PR rep for him. He was going to need one.

Our visitors didn’t say goodbye. While incredibly rude, it wasn’t a big surprise. Ernesto, Mayor Cole, Belinda, and Derek said hurried goodbyes, no doubt making a beeline to the nearest hot shower. I had the same idea. Mom and I stumbled into the back door of the house to find Maxima sitting in the kitchen.

“Erica just left with her husband. She’ll call you later,” Max said, though it was muffled by her shirt over her nose. I took a step toward the table. “Uh-uh,” Maxima said and held up both hands to stop me from getting too close. “We can talk after you take care of this.” She waved a dismissive hand over my body, and I could’ve sworn I saw her gag.

“Okay, okay, I’m going.” I laughed.

“But before you go upstairs, there’s something for you in the living room.”

“What? What is it?”

“Girl, go see!” Becks shouted. “And get out of this kitchen. Whew!”

I shook my head with a grin and walked into the living room to find that nothing was out of the ordinary. Before I could question Max, Dan walked into the middle of the room holding a single red rose. He was just as gorgeous as I’d remembered, even though he was just wearing jeans and a white T-shirt, but more somehow because he was real and standing right in front of me. It could have also been the hair—silky curls he’d grown out for the wedding.

“All right, Emma?” He raised an eyebrow.

“No,” I shook my head and my eyes stung with tears. “I betrayed the trust of the man I love and I’m afraid that I lost him forever.”

“Emma,” Dan started, but I cut him off.

“I’m not sure why you came back early, but I’m glad you did because no matter what happens, I just want to tell you face-to-face how sorry I am.”

“Emma,” he repeated.

“What I did was so wrong. I know that now. I couldn’t stand the thought of anyone thinking you’d be capable of—”

“Emma.”

“If you could find it in your heart to forgive me, I will never give you a reason not to trust me again. I can’t—”

“Emma!” Dan grabbed me by the shoulders, and the rest of my sentence died on my lips as he pulled me into a kiss. I melted into his arms and kissed him as if he were going to disappear in a puff of smoke. After a long while, he separated our lips and rubbed our noses together.

“You stink, love.” He grinned.

“I know.” I laughed and pulled our faces together again.