CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
BLOSSOM
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In four days, I would be leaving for the Alabama store. So, it made sense that everything seemed to go to hell right before it was time for me to leave. It started two days ago when an order was supposed to arrive, but hadn’t.
The week had started off well, with me trying to ensure every wedding was covered and had everything it needed to be successful and exactly what the bride wanted. I’d already prepared detailed notes for Dayana and Kelly.
That included notes on how to handle the Monique Rose wedding-planning sessions. We couldn’t refuse to work with her just because she was marrying a Cattaneo. Plus, that would look highly suspicious.
I’d also prepared things for my mom and had been visiting her each day. This week had been a hard one for her. She hadn’t recognized me during any of my visits, which made it even harder to leave.
She wasn’t doing well. And I hated going away at a time like this. But what choice did I have? I’d told the Petals caring for her that if she needed to see me while I was away, I’d video chat with her and come home if that didn’t calm her down.
I was already packed and ready to leave Biloxi for a while. I would be staying in one of Tracy’s Airbnbs while I was in Texas. I’d offered to pay her, but she refused to accept the money. Everything seemed to be going well until things began to unravel slowly.
Two days ago, I’d stood behind the register with my clipboard in hand, reviewing next week’s events one last time. Then I moved on to checking my orders that were supposed to arrive today.
I’d wanted to double-check behind Kelly to make sure everything had arrived. But when I checked the sheet, there was no delivery signature for one of our orders, meaning the order hadn’t arrived yet.
"These should've been here already,” I muttered, glancing toward the clock hanging on the wall.
The delivery window had come and gone. Maybe the truck was running behind. That happened sometimes. Still, something about it didn't sit right with me. I reached for the phone and dialed the supplier. After a few rings, a woman answered.
"Thank you for calling Evergreen Floral Supply. This is Melissa. How may I help you?"
"Hi, Melissa. This is Blossom Brooks with Blossoms and Vines in Biloxi, Mississippi. I'm calling about an order that was supposed to arrive this morning."
"Certainly. Can I get your order number?"
I read it from my clipboard. Then the sound of typing filled the line.
"I'm sorry," she said a moment later. "I'm not finding anything under that order number."
“Okay. Um. Can you search for an order under my name? Maybe I wrote the number down wrong.”
“One sec.” When she came on the line, she said, “I’m not seeing any orders for you or your shop.”
I frowned. "What do you mean you're not finding it?"
"I'm not seeing an order."
I looked back down at my clipboard. I knew I'd ordered those flowers. I wouldn’t have an order number if I hadn’t. Right? Or had I gotten an order number mixed up with another one? Surely not. Especially since she couldn’t find anything under my name.
"Um. I placed that order over a week ago."
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but nothing came through on our end."
A knot formed in my stomach. Had I somehow forgotten to hit submit? No. Surely not. I had a fucking order number! Plus, I didn't make mistakes like that. Even so, I didn't want to argue with the woman.
Mistakes happened. Whether the mistake had been mine or their systems, standing here assigning blame wasn't going to get flowers to Biloxi.
"Okay," I said, forcing myself to stay calm. "Can you overnight the order today? I have a wedding this weekend and..."
"I'm sorry. We can't."
I blinked. She hadn’t even let me finish my damn sentence.
"What do you mean you can't?"
"We're experiencing some difficulties on our end."
That answer made absolutely no sense.
"What kind of difficulties?" I asked.
"I'm sorry, but that's all the information I have."
I tightened my grip on the phone.
"This order is for a wedding," I explained.
"I understand."
"Then surely there's someone I can speak to in order to get...."
"I'm sorry, ma'am. We’re unable to fill this order."
Before I could ask another question, the line went dead.
“This bitch,” I muttered under my breath, staring at my phone for several seconds before slowly lowering it to the counter. "What the hell?"
I’d felt like I was in an episode of The Twilight Zone because shit like that didn’t just happen.
"What happened?"
I looked up to find Kelly standing near the front door, a broom in her hands. She'd been sweeping the shop when I'd made the call. Now she was staring at me with concern written all over her face.
"You okay, Blossy?"
I forced a smile. "I'm fine."
She didn't look convinced.
"It’s a supplier issue,” I told her. “Our flower order somehow never went through."
Kelly frowned. "Did they lose it?"
"They said they never received it."
"But you ordered it. Right?"
"I'm... pretty sure I did."
For a second, doubt crept into my mind again. I'd been distracted lately. Rome had consumed every waking thought I'd had for days. Maybe I'd forgotten to place the order. But where had I gotten an order number from?
"I'll figure it out," I told Kelly.
She rested both hands on the top of the broom.
"You sure?"
I nodded. "It's not the end of the world. We still have a few days before the wedding. I’ll make sure those flowers are here."
“Okay,” she said, and went back to sweeping the floor.
I sighed. There was one store that should have these flowers in stock. Our New Orleans branch. Ivy's family ran that location. I hated the thought of calling them. Not because they wouldn’t gladly send the flowers over.
But because they’d ask questions. Her mom would want to know what happened to my order. And then she’d ask me if there was anyone they needed to kill. They were a murderous bunch. Normally, I went to them as a last resort.
If her mother suspected something was wrong, she’d tell Ivy. The last thing I needed was Ivy cutting her mission short because she thought something was wrong back home. Unfortunately, I didn't have another choice.
I needed those flowers. I pulled up the number for the New Orleans branch and pressed call. As the phone rang, I glanced at the order number I’d written down. Had I really written down a number for a different order?
If so, what did that order number go with? When the phone was answered, I talked to Ivy’s mom, letting her know that I messed up an order by mistake. After being lectured for about ten minutes, she agreed to overnight the flowers.
After ending the call, I went back through my emails because I recalled getting a confirmation email. But it wasn’t there. There was no email confirmation. No Thank You For Your Order email or anything.
Fuck. Had I really messed up? I needed a break. I was losing my damn mind. But at least the event wouldn’t suffer because of my mistake. Thankfully, I made it through the rest of the day without any more screw-ups.
Another plus was that Rome hadn’t popped up out of nowhere to add more stress to my day. The following morning, I arrived at the flower shop determined to have a better day, a more productive day.
The emergency shipment from Ivy's family's branch in New Orleans arrived before lunch. One problem solved. I’d just needed the rest of the week to cooperate, and everything would be okay.
When I went out for lunch that day, everything was fine. When I returned from my lunch break, everything was a mess. As soon as I entered the shop with my To-Go bag, Kelly hit me with bad news.
“Hey, Blossy,” Kelly said from behind the counter, laptop open in front of her. “We got an email from Magnolia Floral Imports."
"Good,” I told her, smiling. “They're probably confirming next week's shipment.”
She shook her head and turned the laptop my way so I could read the message. The look in her eyes worried me. I approached the counter and stared down at the screen. My smile disappeared before I reached the second sentence.
Dear Ms. Brooks,
After careful consideration, Magnolia Floral Imports has made the difficult decision to permanently cease operations effective immediately. As a result, we are unable to fulfill your pending orders or continue our supplier agreement.
We sincerely appreciate your business over the years and apologize for any inconvenience this sudden closure may cause.
We wish you and Blossoms & Vines continued success.
I simply stared at the screen. That didn't make any sense. Magnolia had been around forever. My grandmother had ordered flowers from Magnolia. After she retired, my mom continued using them.
When I eventually took over the business, I'd never considered finding another supplier because there hadn't been a reason to. Magnolia had always been there. Just last year, the original owner’s granddaughter took over, and the business had been going viral on social media ever since.
"They're... closing..." I whispered.
"I know," Kelly muttered. “I’m shocked. But it happens. You know that little diner around the corner that I go to for lunch? They have a sign on their door that they’re getting ready to close. Oh, and yesterday, Dayana mentioned that the store next door has a sign on it, saying it’s going out of business. ”
“Really?” I asked. I hadn’t even noticed. “Times are hard,” I muttered.
Still, Magnolia closing so suddenly, while still having orders to fill... well... that felt strange as hell. However, I didn’t have the time or energy to waste figuring out why Magnolia had closed its doors. My problem was the flowers I would no longer be receiving.
“Handle the front,” I told Kelly. “I’m going to go work in the back for a little.”
“Okay, Blossy.”
I headed to the back and put my food in the fridge. Then I entered my small office and pulled out my laptop. I immediately opened my supplier list and started making calls. I needed to get those flowers in.
They weren’t ones we normally kept on hand at any of the branches. And we didn’t grow them in our nursery. Yet, our bride had wanted them, and we’d promised to get them for her. We had to keep our promises.
The first company I called apologized right away and told me they were out of those flowers. The second supplier had similar flowers, but not enough to complete my order. The third couldn't get them for another two weeks.
Frustration had made my head ache fiercely when the fourth supplier told me they no longer carried such flowers. What the absolute fuck!
"This is unbelievable," I muttered after ending yet another call.
Though it stung my pride to do so, I’d had no choice but to call one of the biggest floral shops in the city, our rivals, and see if they had the flowers. They did. And they had the amount we needed.
I could just hear the smugness in the owner’s voice after I told her where I wanted the flowers delivered to.
“Oh, this is Blossoms and Vines,” she drawled. “I’m surprised you ladies don’t have a supplier for this. You really need to get one. It’s unprofessional not to have one. And during the wedding season at that.”
You funky bitch!
All I could do was grit my teeth and bear it. But all I could think was...
We’d had one, bitch. They’d closed down all of a sudden.
The important thing right now wasn’t my pride. It was that the wedding would be saved and the bride would have the venue decorated just the way she wanted it. And that was all that mattered.
After placing the order, I’d rested my head on my desk, feeling damn near defeated by the past couple of days.
"It's just one of those weeks," I murmured to myself.
The problem was, the week only got worse from there. The very next day, I sat alone in the back office with my laptop open in front of me, staring at emails that were pissing me the fuck off.
I hadn't slept much the night before. The issues with the shop, the stress of getting ready to leave my mom behind for a while, and these unresolved issues with Rome were starting to make me physically sick.
I had a migraine that wouldn’t go away, and I was on edge all the time. And opening my emails this morning had only pushed me over the edge. I sat there, staring at my inbox, recognizing the suppliers’ names, wondering what the hell they were emailing me for.
I was scared to open the messages. Afraid of what they would say. I couldn’t handle any more canceled shipments right now. It took me thirty minutes to work up the courage to click on the first one.
The first one made my stomach sink. It was from our ribbon supplier. For years, they'd personalized the ribbons we wrapped around our bouquets, gift boxes, and arrangements. Every spool proudly displayed the Blossoms and Vines logo.
They were terminating our contract.
There was no explanation. Just an email apologizing that they would no longer be able to do business with us. The fuck? I frowned and immediately opened the next email. It was from our vase supplier.
They were the company that took my sketches and transformed them into custom vases our customers couldn't find anywhere else. They, too, were ending our contract without giving a reason why they no longer wanted to work with us. A knot formed in my stomach.
"This shit can’t be happening."
I quickly clicked the third email. It was from our packaging supplier. They were the company that manufactured our shipping boxes with the Blossoms and Vines logo and supplied the specialty packaging materials that kept our flowers fresh and vibrant during shipping.
They were also terminating our contract. I slowly leaned back in my chair and stared at my laptop screen. Three companies. Three. One would’ve seemed like a coincidence. But three... three seemed like sabotage.
"What the hell is going on?"