Chapter 19
I bolted upright on Friday morning, in a panic about the flowers. I looked around my room. Nothing was out of place. It was still dark outside. It had to have been my mind that woke me up.
I eased out of bed and took a shower to clear the fuzziness from me.
I needed coffee and breakfast and another set of eyes on everything I’d come up with.
Gail and Carson were working Saturday while I was dealing with everything for the wedding, which meant I was alone for the day with no one to talk through the changes I made.
For a wedding.
Without the bride’s permission.
It was a fucking disaster.
The most important wedding of my career, and I was messing it up.
But I had no choice. Calling Natalie the day before her wedding to tell her I had to make major changes and there was no way to do what we agreed would only make her panic. If I’d learned anything from Omar, it was that Natalie did not deal with changes well.
I was finishing breakfast when there was a knock on the back door. I checked the clock and realized Casey would be on the other side of the door.
I hurried downstairs and opened the door, needing her calmness to help me.
She bustled inside and shivered. “It’s freezing out there.”
“It is?”
“Yeah, it’s been raining all morning, and it’s cold. You didn’t have the door open. Is everything okay?”
I drew a breath and reached for her, pulling her into my arms for a hug that I needed more than I cared to admit. “I had a rough night.”
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
I nodded. “The flowers for Natalie and Omar’s wedding aren’t right.”
“What?” She backed up to look at me, as if she thought it was a joke.
“They didn’t send everything I ordered. I reached out to them last night, but no one was available to speak to me. I spent hours going through my stock and pulling what I have that I can use, but I’m not sure it’s going to be enough.”
“Then let’s see what you have and come up with something.”
I closed my eyes and nodded. “Thank you.”
“Have you told Natalie yet?”
I winced and shook my head. “I wanted to have some ideas before I did. I was trying to decide if I should call her or Omar or someone else to help her not freak out.”
“She needs to know, but yeah, it’ll probably be easier if Omar is here with her. She told me he keeps her calm.”
“Let me show you what I have, and then I’ll call her.”
“Do you want me to stay here with you when they come?”
I smiled at her and pulled her in for another hug. “Do you have to work today?”
She shook her head. “I’m off all day. I’m going to the rehearsal tonight, then spending the day with Natalie tomorrow while she’s getting ready.”
“And you’re willing to give up your day off to help me?”
She smiled, with something in her gaze I hadn’t noticed before. She slid her hand across my cheek. “Of course.”
“Thank you.” I leaned down and kissed her for the first time since she arrived. I poured all of me into the kiss, needing her to feel my gratitude in ways I couldn’t express any other way. I wanted her, but more than that, I wanted her to know she meant more to me than a quick fuck or a fake date.
Which was also why I pulled back.
“If you’re going to kiss me like that, maybe I’ll spend all my free days with you,” she teased.
“Works for me,” I joked back, holding in all the things I really wanted to tell her.
“Show me what you have. Maybe we can come up with a few options and then call Natalie and Omar.”
I nodded and led her to the consultation room.
We spent the next hour going over everything I had started to pull together the night before. I showed her what I’d intended from our original meeting a few weeks ago using the flowers that did arrive, then the things I was considering based on what I had.
Casey made some suggestions that I thought were excellent, and by the time I opened the store, we had a few really good choices and some options that blended everything together and would keep most guests from figuring out there was anything different.
“Do you want me to call her?” Casey offered.
I shook my head. “It’s my responsibility. I’ll do it. I think I’m going to call Omar first, though. See what he says. He might want to pick her up and bring her here.”
“That’s a good idea.”
I tapped Omar’s name and waited for him to answer. When he did, I could hear the smile in his voice and knew I’d be destroying it.
“Morning, Landon. How are you?”
“Um, not great, actually. There was an issue with the flowers, and I’ve had to make some changes.”
“What issue?” Omar asked, all serious.
“Half of them didn’t arrive like they were supposed to. I have enough flowers with what I have in stock, but it’s going to change the overall look of everything. I want you and Natalie to approve the changes before tomorrow. I know you’re both busy.”
“We’re actually off today, so we aren’t that busy. We were going to pack for our honeymoon and relax for the day. We can be to you in fifteen minutes, if that’s okay.”
“Yeah, absolutely. I’ll see you both then. Thanks, Omar. And I’m really sorry about this.”
“Not on you. I’m sure whatever you came up with is excellent.”
“I hope so. See you soon.” I hung up and met Casey’s curious gaze. “They’ll be here in fifteen minutes.”
“That’s good. Then they can look at everything, and you will know how to proceed.”
I drew a breath. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Apparently, we make a good team.”
“Yes, we do.”
The door opened up front, pulling me away from her. She stayed in the room while I went out to help the customer.
“Morning,” Justin said. He came in every other week to get flowers for his wife’s grave. After thirty-two years of marriage, he lost her to cancer, but he still visited her every day and took her flowers all the time.
“How are you, Justin?”
“I’m good. Not such a great day.”
I wrinkled my nose. “No, it’s not. You need something that’ll hold up in the weather?”
“Yeah, if you’ve got something like that, I’d appreciate it.”
“Sure. Let’s take a look. I had to pull a few things out thanks to a mixup with the delivery and the mayor’s wedding, but I should have options. You go for pinks, reds, and green, right?”
“If you’ve got them. It can be tough this time of year to find those bright colors.”
“I think we can find a few things.” I went to the case and pulled out a few options for Justin.
Pink zinnias and poppies, red carnations and lilies, and green ferns all matched the colors Justin liked to bring to his wife.
I grabbed the bins with each of them and set them out so he could choose a few.
“Those pink ones are beautiful. Nancy would have loved those.” He pointed to the poppies.
“They’re great flowers. Do you want a bunch of those or to mix a few things in?”
“I like these red ones, but I’m not sure how they look together.” He caressed the lily petals.
“Let’s try this,” I said, taking a few of the poppies, adding two lilies, then separating them with ferns. I went back to the case and grabbed some tiny white roses to break up the colors even more and showed him the bouquet.
He reached for it, his gaze locked on the flowers. “Every time I come in here, I watch you do that, and I still have no idea how you pull it all together. That’s beautiful. Nancy would be so proud to have these with her.”
I smiled at the man and carried the bouquet to the counter so I could wrap it up well. “I love what I do,” I told Justin as I worked. “Flowers don’t get mad at you. They just want someone to love them.”
“Kind of like people, huh?” Justin said.
I chuckled. “Very true.”
The front door opened, and Omar and Natalie rushed inside.
“What happened?” Natalie asked.
“Casey is in the back. You can go right back and talk to her. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Natalie didn’t let me finish before she headed to the back. Omar paused and gave me a grateful smile. “Sorry.”
I shook my head. “I get it. But I think we have some good options.”
“Thanks, Landon.”
I nodded and let him follow Natalie to the back.
“Here to find some new stuff?” Justin asked, handing over his credit card.
“Yeah. I had to let them know everything I ordered didn’t come in.”
“You seem pretty relaxed about it.”
I snorted. “I wasn’t a few hours ago.”
“But something changed. I’m guessing it’s that Casey you said is back there.”
My body warmed at his suggestion.
“You’ve been different the last few weeks. I thought you were finally getting over your ex, but it sounds like maybe you’ve been getting under this Casey woman.”
“Justin,” I breathed, laughing at his crude comment.
“Oh, I’m an old man who has kids and grandkids. I know how things work. And I know you’re happier with this woman than you were with the last one. More days than not, I’d come in and you were scowling. The last few weeks, you’ve been all smiles. She’s good for you, Landon. It’s nice to see it.”
“Thanks, Justin.”
“Hold on to her.”
I sighed. “I’m going to try.”
“Good. Enjoy this rainy day. I’m going to see the one who always makes me smile.”
I grinned. “Let me know how these flowers work out.”
“You know I will. See you in a few weeks.”
I waved as Justin shuffled to the door, then went to face the bride.
Natalie and Omar were sitting with Casey when I walked in, all three of them smiling.
“This looks better than I expected,” I said.
Natalie jumped up and hugged me. “Thank you. Casey said you worked on this last night and this morning. I wouldn’t have noticed the changes if you hadn’t called us.”
“I didn’t want to spring it on you the day of your wedding. I hated to do that today, but I didn’t think it was fair.”
“Omar said you placed the order, and they didn’t deliver what you asked for. It’s not on you.”
“Yeah, but it is. They’ve done this before, though not this bad, so I knew it was a possibility. Usually I get notice in advance.”
“Places can just not send what you ordered?” Omar asked.