CHAPTER FOURTEEN
BLOSSOM
A WEEK AND A HALF LATER...
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The morning sun warmed my skin as I moved through the garden behind my flower shop. A wicker basket hung from my arm while I clipped flowers from the rows around me, putting together an order for a client.
Red oleander.
Yellow gloriosa.
Blue monkshood.
For people who didn’t know flowers, it would sound like I was reciting a spell instead of referring to flowers in our special part of the garden. Flowers and nature were my happy place. I felt at peace in my garden.
All the troubles of the world melted away, and I was briefly allowed a chance to breathe, a chance to be alone. I desperately needed that after the week I’d had, the week we’d all had here at Blossoms and Vines.
This past week was one of the busiest we’d had in a while. The shop had three weddings this weekend, and we’d been in charge of all the flowers and getting them set up at the venues.
It had been all hands on deck all week as we made sure everything was perfect for each bride. We’d also had two funerals during the week. One of the deceased sons had his coworkers order their condolences flowers from here.
Then we had a baby shower order that still needed to be finished. But Ivy was taking care of that while I handled a special order for one of our regulars. I was mentally sorting through everything I still needed for the order when the shop's back door opened.
“Hey, Blossom?” Ivy called out.
I glanced over my shoulder. “What’s up?”
“You working on that order for Noelani?”
“Yeah. Why?”
Ivy stepped outside carrying a tablet.
"Noe just called and said she needed to add something to her order."
I sighed. Of course, she did. I’d asked her three times if she was sure that was all she needed. Each time, she assured me she was. Yet, now she was calling to add more items. She did this every... single... time.
"What does she need?" I asked, unwilling to allow anything to disrupt my peaceful day.
Ivy looked down at the screen. "She said the foxglove you gave her isn’t growing well."
I lowered my gardening shears.
“Of course it’s not. I gave her those seeds last month. The flowers aren’t going to grow in one month.”
"That's what I told her."
I returned to clipping flowers. “Does she want to buy some of ours?”
"Yes. She wants you to pot some from our nursery and deliver them to her country estate. But she said to do it tomorrow between 11 am and 3 pm while Aiden wasn’t home.”
“Why can’t Aiden be home when they’re delivered?” I frowned. “Please tell me she’s not planning to use them on him.”
“I asked her that. She said she wasn’t planning on hurting him. She just didn’t want him to know she hadn’t grown them herself.”
“Oh!” I chuckled, relieved. Shaking my head, I said, “She’s still recovering from a car accident and from having amnesia. Yet, she seems eager to have some foxglove. Who is Noe trying to give a heart attack to?”
Ivy shrugged. “She didn’t say. I didn’t ask. More than likely, it’s for a job. You should probably include a card with the order to let her know how much is lethal. Hell, any part of the flower, if ingested, would leave a person throwing up for hours. But the right amount is needed for it to kill.”
“I know. And Noelani knows that, too. She’s a professional.”
“Even so, I think when we sell it to our assassin friends, we should include how much is needed to make a person sick for hours, days, months, and how much is needed to kill them. Going the extra mile keeps the killers coming back. That’s my mom’s motto.”
And that was why her mom and my mom were best friends.
“We already do that. They’re called Toxicity Cards,” I reminded her.
“Oh, right. I forgot about them. It’s been a while since I’ve had to deal with a special order. Actually, it’s been a while since I’ve been needed this much in the shop.”
“Are you complaining?” I asked, knowing she’d much rather be a Petal in the wind.
“Yup,” she said before winking at me. “Do we have any toxicity cards ready for the Foxgloves?”
“We do. I’ll prepare it for Noe along with her order of potted foxgloves and these Brugmansias she ordered.”
“Need me to do anything?” Ivy asked.
“Nope. Just man the shop while I work out here.”
“But it’s boring in the shop. I haven’t had a customer in two hours.”
“After the week we’ve had, you should be happy about that.”
“I need something to do. Do you have any hacking responsibilities today? I can take care of them for you.”
“Nope,” I replied, mind briefly straying to the only person I was interested in hacking these days.
Don’t think about him, Blossom. That was over. You had to get over him. Ugh! Why was it so hard to get over him?
“Come on. You’ve got to have something for me to do, Blossom. You know I’m not really a register girly. I need to hack or stab something to feel like my day has meaning.”
I burst out laughing at that. I couldn’t help it. I should really get that put on a T-shirt. I bet my Romeo would find it funny also.
Ugh! Don’t think about him, Blossom. He’s not your Romeo. And you’re not his... Juliet.
I spun around to face my friend.
“Ivy, you have things to do. How is the baby shower order going?”
“I only have one thing left to prepare. And that’s the floral arch, which will be ready in the morning.
I’ll go to the venue when it’s delivered to make sure everything is set up right, and I’ll be back here by noon to work the register while you assist a client with her wedding details.
I’ve even added a vase of our pink roses for our mother-to-be’s display table.
On the house, of course, since she placed such a big order of floral items from us. ”
How sweet! Hearing that, no one would suspect that Ivy was actually called the Poison Princess by many.
“Thanks, Ivy. That was thoughtful of you.”
“I know, right. I know how to do more than just hack and kill. But I prefer those things over flowery stuff.”
I used to think the same way. These days, I preferred the flowery stuff over those things. Well, the hacking part was still fun. The killing... only when I had to.
“I know I’ve been working you like crazy this week. But we needed the help,” I told Ivy.
“I know. And I don’t mind helping out with the floral part. I really don’t. But don’t you think it’s about time you let Kelly return to working the store?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it, returning my gaze to my flowers.
“She does work in the store,” I said. After a moment, I added, “When we’re busy.”
“I mean alone. When are you going to let her work alone again?”
If she worked alone, she’d have to handle more than just the floral duties. And... she wasn’t ready for that. Yet.
“She looked so happy to be in the store with all of us this past week. But you should’ve seen her face whenever a Petal needed help, and you called on Dayana or me to handle it. She looked hurt, Blossom.”
“I know,” I muttered, wishing I didn’t know.
But I’d seen her face during those moments. I know she felt guilty about what happened in the past. That didn’t mean she could bypass the consequences just because she felt bad about what she’d done.
And no, the fault didn’t lie solely on her shoulders. Even so, I had to be able to trust her to make the right decisions in stressful situations. I didn’t think I could trust her with that. Not right now. Ivy started to say something else, but her tablet pinged. She glanced down at it.
“We’ve got something. A Petal in New York is having issues with her security clearance,” she told me as she swiped her finger over the screen. “I’ll go take care of this, and we’ll continue talking about Kelly later.”
“Alright. Holler if you need my help,” I told her.
“I got this. I need this to distract me from the boredom of the shop. You could at least call Kelly in to work the register while I help out a Petal.”
With that said, Ivy left to handle hacker activities that would allow one of our Petals to finish her job. As for me, I remained in the garden, wondering whether I should really give Kelly a call.
Other than helping out this past week, she hadn’t been scheduled much since the incident. I knew Kelly was good at her job. She was smart, organized, and able to catch details others missed or overlooked.
The problem was that Kelly cared too much about keeping the peace. She hated conflict. Hated disappointing people. Hated telling someone no. We’d all fucked up before. We were human. We made mistakes.
But her mistake could've been avoided if she'd spoken up. If she'd trusted her instincts and stood her ground. Even as I thought that, I knew it wasn't fair to her. I hadn't been in her position that day.
I hadn't been the one forced to make that decision. And if I was being honest, I wasn't just angry at Kelly. I was angry at myself for not being there when she needed me. Maybe that was the crux of the matter.
I blamed myself.
But I was doing everything I could think of to make sure no one found out about what happened. And doing that only made the guilt heavier. I could only imagine what Kelly was going through.
She probably thought I was treating her like she was a criminal. I mean, we were all criminals. But I was treating her like a super villain or something. This had to stop. I’d already made sure no one would connect us to what happened.
It was time for me to give Kelly another chance. I slid my shears in the pocket of my apron and headed toward the back door of the shop. I’d just reached the door when Ivy came rushing out.
“Blossom!”
The panic in her voice alarmed me.
“What is it? Is something wrong in New York?”
“No. I’m still working with Michelle on that.
She needed security clearance to make it past a door in the science lab, where she’s searching for intel for our client.
I got her the credentials she needed. I’m waiting for the software to verify that no one in the lab is currently using those credentials.
But that’s not why I’m looking for you. Tina the Demon just entered the shop. She said she needs you right now.”
My eyes widened. Ms. Tina! This could only mean one thing. Shit.
“Come on. Let’s get back inside,” I told Ivy, then followed her into the shop.
In the back area, I placed my basket of flowers in the storage cooler to keep them from wilting. Then I removed my gloves and tossed them into the red wash bin we used for gloves that had come in contact with poisonous flowers. While I washed my hands, Ivy paced behind me.
“Do you think she’s here about the... incident?” Ivy asked.
“We’ll know in a second.”
“It can’t be about that. Right?” Ivy questioned. “I mean, it’s been so long since it went down.”
“We’ll find out in just a second,” I told her, rinsing my hands clean.
“You took care of it, didn’t you?” Ivy asked. Before I could reply, she continued. “Yeah, you did. And I double-checked and made sure no digital trail led back to us. Kelly never used names. She followed protocol in that regard. Nothing should fall back on us.”
We’d all done our part to cover Kelly’s tracks. At this point, there wasn’t much else we could do. My gaze rose to the mirror above the sink. I had a dirt smudge on my pink shirt and a few smudges on my floral apron.
My gaze drifted to my face. I looked tired. And stressed. With no makeup on, I could see the dark circles starting to form under my eyes. I really needed a few days of rest and no stress. I’d thought today would be a stress-free day. I’d thought wrong.
“If Tina comes bearing bad news, what should we do?” Ivy asked.
I started to speak again as I dried my hands, but Ivy continued before I could get a word in.
“You know what? If someone has found out it was us, I’ll just kill them. If I need to go on a killing spree to protect all of us, I will. Who should I kill first?”
I faced her. “Let’s save murder as a final resort. Come on. Let’s go see what Tina has to say.”
Together, Ivy and I headed to the front of the shop to find Ms. Tina leaning against the counter, dressed in a black business suit and silver high heels.
“It took you two long enough,” she said, pushing away from the counter. “Hurry up and get over here. I’ve got something to tell you.”
Ivy moved to stand behind the register as I walked past Ms. Tina to look out the door, making sure no customers were in the parking lot. I turned the store sign to CLOSED and locked the door before facing Ms. Tina.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Tina rested her hip against the counter and folded her arms over her chest.
“Are you sure you covered your tracks well after Kelly’s incident?” Ms. Tina asked.
“It’s not Kelly’s incident,” I corrected her. “It involves me too.”
“Me too,” Ivy chimed in. “When one of us messes up, we all bear the blame.”
Ms. Tina waved off our statements.
“Yeah, I get it. All for one and one for all. You can sing Kumbaya after I leave. Just answer my question. You covered your tracks well, didn’t you?” she asked again.
I nodded, a cold chill of dread creeping over me.
“So, there’s nothing that can lead back to you, Kelly, or this shop, right?” she asked.
“Yes,” I insisted. “Tell me what’s going on before you make me have a nervous breakdown.”
“I ask because Tatianna told me that Bryce went to the airport a couple of days ago to pick up his cousin.”
“And?” I asked, suddenly feeling sick to my stomach.
“And...The person he went to pick up was his cousin, Rome Cattaneo,” Ms. Tina explained.
A gasp escaped me, and my heart almost stopped beating at the sound of his name. Rome Cattaneo had returned to the States. Would I end up running into him? Probably not. We’d never run into each other in the past.
Why should we do so now? Right? Right! Even if we did run into each other, he wouldn’t recognize me. He had no idea who I was, and I needed to keep it that way.
“Did you hear me?” Tina asked.
“I did,” I told her, forcing myself to remain calm. “Rome is back. Okay. What does that have to do with us?”
“He’s only been back a couple of days, and he’s already asking around, searching for the person who provided their enemies with info on Marcel Cattaneo,” Tina told me.
Fuck... fuck... fuckity fuck!
“When you hacked him, did you find anything on his laptop that pointed to us?” Ivy asked me.
I shook my head, mind reeling as I tried to process everything Ms. Tina had just told us. Rome was back, and he was searching for the people who’d provided his enemies with information about his cousin Marcel.
If we hadn’t covered our tracks well, that search would lead back to us. But we’d covered our tracks well. I was sure of it. He would not find Kelly. He would not find this shop. He would not find... me.