Chapter 36
thirty-six
. . .
Emilia
I’d just been going through the motions the last few days. Finishing the renovation at Bridger’s house meant that I was back at the flower shop full-time, but the good news was that word had traveled fast, and I was getting a lot of interest from new clients.
Bridger had left a few days ago for a business trip in New York, though he’d said he was determined to be back for Valentine’s Day, because he knew it was one of my favorite holidays.
With him being gone, I could work late and get caught up here at the flower shop, so I was keeping busy.
I had several meetings over the next few weeks, which I was excited about. I’d added photos from his house renovation to my portfolio, and I finally felt like a legitimate designer. I was proud of what I’d done there.
My mother and I hadn’t spoken since the big blowup. My brother came by Bridger’s home the following day with Shana, and he apologized profusely. He’d shared that he’d been uncomfortable with the arrangement for a while now, but he was afraid to rock the boat by telling me.
My father had come by the Vintage Rose to see me yesterday, and though he’d apologized for the way everything had been handled, he said he didn’t want to get involved. The flower shop was my mother’s family’s business, and he thought it would be overstepping for him to make demands.
The only person who had ever stood up to my mother on my behalf was Bridger.
He was furious when we’d left that night. He thought I should demand ownership or quit the business completely.
I agreed with him, though I wasn’t ready to draw a line in the sand.
I liked what I’d built here. I just didn’t want to work full-time at the flower shop, and I felt I deserved some ownership.
Hell, my brother lived in a different state, and he had ownership.
I’d poured my heart into the damn place.
I smiled when a woman I didn’t recognize—which meant she was most likely a tourist—knocked on the outside window and gave me a thumbs-up.
My Valentine’s Day display was my favorite yet.
I’d created hearts built out of faux florals, and I’d used the pages of my new favorite romance book by Hannah Chase to make garland that I strung across the opening.
It was whimsical and romantic and had all the vintage vibes I loved.
Valentine’s Day was a few days away, and we were already swamped here.
“The Honey Biscuit Café just called in an order for twenty-five small arrangements,” Beatrice said as she walked out from the back room.
“Edith said she trusted you to design them and just make them pretty. She’d like to pick them up the day before Valentine’s Day so they can have them out that morning. ”
I adjusted the garland in the window and made my way behind the counter. “Amazing. The next few days are going to be very busy.”
“Yes, but we’ve totally got this,” Beatrice said when I came around the counter to stand beside her.
“We totally do.”
We spent the next few hours placing orders for the final flowers we’d need for our arrangements, which would arrive tomorrow, and we’d be able to get started designing.
Peonies, roses, and hydrangeas were my go-to this season, and I was excited to create something fun for Edith and Oscar.
The bell rang on the door, and an older woman walked in. She glanced around, making it clear she’d never been here.
“Hi, welcome to the Vintage Rose. May I help you?”
“Yes. I’m looking for Emilia Taylor,” she said.
“Oh. That’s me. How can I help you?”
“Hello, I’m Sylvia Carson, the president of West Coast Rentals, and we have fourteen properties here in town that we rent out through Airbnb and Vrbo.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize one company owned so many of the homes here,” I said honestly. I rented out my guest cottage through those sites, which had a ton of properties, but I hadn’t realized a lot of them were owned by one corporation.
“Yes. We’ve been slowly building our portfolio in Rosewood River, which has become our most popular town for rentals.”
“That’s amazing. Were you looking for a florist to deliver to the homes when they’re rented out?” I asked, pulling the order form out from beneath the counter.
“Oh no, I’m not here about flowers. I was just told that this is where I could find you.” She chuckled. “And my apologies for showing up at such a busy time of year for you.”
“No worries. What can I help you with?”
“We’ve been doing some market research, and we feel strongly that renovating these older homes is the key to renting them for higher costs.
It’ll be an initial investment, and then hopefully the payout will be worth it in the long run.
So we’d like to start with four or five homes and test out the theory. ”
I glanced over at Beatrice, who was designing an order that was going out this afternoon, but she had a big smile on her face, so she was clearly listening.
“That’s a great plan. I renovated my guest cabin, and I’m getting double the price from what I’d originally expected before I fixed it up.”
“That’s amazing. I stumbled upon your website recently, and I saw your latest project and was truly blown away by the photos. Obviously that home had a hearty budget, and ours would be much leaner, but I’m assuming you have an eye no matter what the budget.”
“I believe I can work with any budget.” I smiled.
“I’d love to get your phone number and email address, and I’m going to send over some of the photos of the current homes we have.
We’re looking at two other designers, but I’d love to give a local person a shot as well.
You can send me your ideas about what you’d do to each home, and we plan to make a decision in the next couple of weeks.
We’re looking to get started pretty quickly.
” She handed me her phone and asked me to type in my information.
“Here you go,” I said, handing it back to her before extending my arm and shaking her hand. “Thank you so much for considering me. Truly, I’d be honored for the opportunity.”
“I’ll send everything over today, and I look forward to speaking to you soon, Emilia.” And she turned and walked out the door.
Once she left, Beatrice squealed, and we grabbed one another’s hands and jumped up and down.
“Oh my gosh, this is happening, Em!” she shouted.
I glanced over my shoulder to make sure no one was listening. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. You heard her—she’s got two other designers submitting as well. They probably have a lot more experience than I do.”
“Pffftt… don’t sell yourself short. You’ve got this.”
The idea thrilled me, but I got back to work because we had a big week ahead of us.
A few hours later, I’d received the photos of the properties they were interested in fixing up, the budget I had to work with, and a request to send a presentation to them by next week with inspiration photos, detailed descriptions of what I would do with each one, and potential budgets for each property.
I was already pretty exhausted from a long day at the flower shop, and I’d need to put in long hours to get my presentation together over the next week.
As we were locking up the shop, Beatrice hugged me. “I’m so proud of you. What did Bridger say about it?”
“I’m not going to tell him unless I get it. Knowing him, he’ll call them and try to bully them into giving the job to me. I want to prove that I can do this on my own.” I shrugged.
“He does have a bit of a brutish disposition,” she said with a chuckle. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
And I made my way home, knowing I had some long nights ahead of me.
A few days later, I felt lighter when I arrived at the flower shop. Bridger was on a flight home now, and I was surprised by how much I’d missed him. We’d both been busy these last few days while he was gone, yet we’d talked several times a day.
And today was my favorite day of the year. It was Valentine’s Day, and Beatrice and I were ready for the crowd of last-minute shoppers.
The bell chimed when the door opened, and Oscar walked in.
“Good morning, ladies. I know you made all the arrangements for the restaurant yesterday, but I forgot to order a bouquet for Edith. Can you put something pretty together for me?” he asked.
He always came in on Valentine’s Day to get her a large bouquet of flowers, since it was Edith’s birthday as well as their anniversary. They acted like they were annoyed with one another most of the time, but they were obviously madly in love.
“Of course,” I said as I moved to the refrigerator and pulled out her favorite blooms. Pink peonies and pink roses.
“You look tired, girlie,” he said.
That was one thing about Oscar—he didn’t stand on ceremony.
“Yeah, we’ve been busy. Things’ll settle down after today.”
“And how’s that big grump of yours? You two seem to be going strong.” He raised a brow.
I chuckled. “He’s good. He comes home today.”
“You think he’s the settling down type?” he pressed.
If I had a nickel for every time someone had made a comment about that, well, I’d probably have a dollar.
“I think he’s perfect exactly how he is.
” And that was the truth. I knew who Bridger was.
I knew that he’d probably been freaked out since the day I told him that I loved him.
He’d been a little distant since then and hadn’t brought it up, and I knew he was probably overthinking things.
But I also knew that he felt it, too. And sometimes that was more important than hearing those words. Feeling them.
And I felt them.
“I’m going to tell you a little secret that nobody knows.” He leaned forward, keeping his voice low.
“Tell me,” I said.
“I had a rough childhood. Ended up in the system. No stability. No role models to look up to. I even ended up in juvenile hall for a stint when I got involved with the wrong people. Long story short, I was really lost when I met Edith. But a good woman is a powerful thing, Emilia. My lady made me want things I never knew possible. And she had faith in me when no one else did. And look at me now,” he said with a wink.
“I love that. You got your happily ever after, Oscar.” I handed him the giant arrangement, and he gave me his credit card to ring him up.
“I sure did. And if my troubled past ends up in ‘The Taylor Tea,’ I’m going to serve you cold mac ’n’ cheese for the rest of your life,” he said.
“Well, if it ends up in there, it wasn’t from me.”
He nodded. “Happy Valentine’s Day, girlie.”
The rest of the day was so busy that I didn’t even stop to eat.
When I got to my house, I saw Bridger’s truck in my driveway, and I jogged toward the front door because I couldn’t wait to see him. He’d wanted to meet here tonight, so I’d left the hide-a-key under the doormat for him.
I pushed the door open and gasped when I saw vases full of flowers on every surface in my home. They were my favorite garden roses. Small pink blooms in every shade. I’d told him this just one time, and I couldn’t believe he’d remembered.
“Hello?” I called out as I made my way to the kitchen. I spotted him through the French doors leading to the backyard. He had his back to me as he stared out at the mountains.
I walked outside. “Hey. What are you doing out here?”
He turned around to face me and then closed the distance between us. I saw a look on his face that I couldn’t read. Almost like a sadness or a heaviness that he was sitting with.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, angel.” He wrapped his arms around me and tucked my head beneath his chin.
I led him back inside, because even if it had finally stopped snowing, it was still freezing outside.
“I can’t get over these flowers. I’m guessing that’s why you wanted to meet here tonight?”
“Yeah, I wanted you to come home to a house filled with flowers.”
“I can’t believe you did that. They’re gorgeous. Those did not come from my shop,” I said teasingly.
“They will not come from the Vintage Rose until you have partial ownership. End of story. I will not line your mother’s pockets with the fruits of your labor. I ordered them from a florist in the city.”
I chuckled. “Thank you, lover boy.”
He led me to the dining table, where a bag of takeout from the Honey Biscuit Café was sitting. I grabbed some plates, and we both took our seats as he poured us each a glass of wine.
“I have a surprise for you.”
“I think a couple dozen floral arrangements is more than enough.” I smiled up at him.
“I was in New York for more than just my business meeting,” he said as he paused before dabbing his mouth with his napkin.
“Did you take on an East Coast lover?” I joked, but then my smile dropped when he didn’t laugh.
Alarm bells were going off in my head.
He was about to drop a bomb on me.
I could see it in his steely gray eyes.
“Do you remember Pierre from the hotel in Paris?” he asked.
“Of course I do.”
“And remember how he mentioned that he was opening a huge hotel in New York City?”
“Yes, I remember him saying that.”
He studied me for a long moment as he finished chewing his food. “Well, I went there to negotiate a position for you. And he agreed to the terms.”
I blinked a couple of times as I tried to process his words. “Negotiate a position for me? What are you talking about?”
“I showed him the photos from the renovation at my house. I told him you had a lot of untapped potential, and he agreed. He loved what you did with my home.”
I shook my head, my thoughts spinning. “What does that have to do with Pierre?”
“He’s offering you the position, angel. You’ll be the lead designer along with his in-house designer, and you’ll work together for the next year on this project.
And if you do well, he has plans to open several more hotels in the Big Apple.
” He reached for his wine glass as if we were discussing the weather and not my future.
“I don’t live in New York City,” I reminded him, my voice cold and lacking all emotion.
“That’s just semantics. I found you a gorgeous apartment, and if it meets your standards, I’ll cover the lease for you for a year. This is your chance to make your dreams come true.”
My mouth gaped open, and I slapped his hand hard when he reached over to close it. “Don’t touch me right now, Bridger.”
I was on my feet, pacing in circles in front of him.
“Why are you angry? I did this for you,” he said hesitantly, which made me think even he wasn’t buying his own bullshit.
I pointed my finger at his face. “No. You did this for you. You’re a coward.”
And the look on his face told me all I needed to know.
He knew it, too.