Chapter 41
FORTY-ONE
ZOE
Almost a week had gone by since Eleanor had granted them the funding.
Zoe spent most of the day flitting around her flower shop, arranging vases, tidying shelves, and fussing over the folding table she’d set up in the center of the room.
By the time the sun had begun to dip toward evening, she realized she’d been smiling for hours without even trying.
Maybe it was because Jackson had been coming by almost every night. Sometimes it was to help with deliveries, sometimes just to kiss her breathless against the counter, and always he proved that real-life boyfriend Jackson was better than any fantasy version she’d imagined over the years.
Whatever the reason, Zoe couldn’t shake the feeling that this was the start of something good—and she didn’t want it to end. If only she could completely ignore that deep anxiety inside her about their future.
The bell above the door chimed, and Mrs. Humphrey strolled in, a lime-green Jell-O mold balanced under one arm and her well-worn crafting tote in the other. “What’s got you so chipper today?” she asked, setting the mold carefully on the refreshment table.
“It’s just a beautiful spring day, isn’t it?” Zoe said quickly, too quickly.
She barely had a chance to blink before Madison walked in behind her, a wave of red curls, purse looped over her arm. “What she means to say,” Madison announced with a grin, “is that she’s getting laid.”
Zoe’s cheeks flamed hot. “Madison!”
Kit bustled in after them, lugging a cooler large enough to feed half the town. “For once, I’m not the one blurting it out,” she said, shaking her head as she hefted it onto the counter.
“You’re all awful,” Zoe muttered, though she couldn’t stop smiling.
“And yet you’re still grinning ear to ear,” Madison said, dropping her purse on one of the chairs Zoe had lined up neatly around the folding table.
“What did we miss?” Mrs. Bishop asked, walking in with Mrs. C. seconds later.
“Nothing!” Zoe was quick to say before shooting her friends a look that said, Zip it!
Zoe had debated holding tonight’s crafting club upstairs in her apartment, but decided the shop was better—closer to all her tools, ribbons, and the fresh blooms. Tonight’s project was Easter-themed: delicate floral eggs adorned with petals from the newly cultivated Moonlight Kiss wildflowers she and Jackson had discovered.
The blue petals were soft and silvery, unlike anything she’d ever worked with.
They shimmered faintly when the light caught them—like they’d bottled a bit of moonlight itself.
“These are beautiful,” Edith said, picking up one of the finished eggs as she joined the group. She ran a thumb over the petals, eyes glinting with pride. “I still can’t believe you found them. You’ll have half of Maple Falls clamoring for a bouquet once they find out.”
Zoe smiled, brushing a stray curl from her face. “That’s the plan. We’re going to unveil them at the town Easter egg hunt. I think that’s the next big community event.”
“Brilliant idea, really lovely,” Edith agreed. “Maybe after Hank and I get back from our honeymoon you can show us where they’re at.”
“Well, I think it’s romantic you two haven’t shared the location yet,” Madison chimed in.
“We will. I just want to make sure they’re protected first. If we can get them to thrive year-round in the greenhouse, maybe we can bring the species back for good.
” Zoe’s eyes lit as she spoke, her mind already ticking through the conditions she’d learned the flowers needed.
A steady water source nearby, soil rich and loamy like the kind Jackson had collected from way up near the ridge, and plenty of warmth and sunlight to coax them into bloom.
They were delicate and precious, but resilient too, just like the town that had given them a second chance.
Cassidy arrived a little later, arms laden with pastel boxes from the Cocoa Corner.
Together with Kit, she laid out a spread for the refreshment table: the Cinnamon Spice Inn’s famous cinnamon rolls with apple butter, coconut macaroons dipped in chocolate, lemon squares dusted with powdered sugar, and a basket of foil-wrapped robin’s eggs nestled in paper grass.
The whole shop smelled sweet and comforting.
Krista had wanted to join them, but there was just too much work at her grandparents’ campground right now for her to sneak away. Zoe felt bad, knowing how hard her friend worked, but she understood how it was when helping family run a business.
Just as Zoe reached to grab a plate, her phone buzzed. She glanced down at the screen, meaning to silence it, but the caller ID made her breath hitch. The IVF clinic. A voicemail preview slid across the screen, confirming her new patient appointment for next Monday.
Her smile faltered for just a beat, a ripple beneath the surface, before she quickly tucked the phone face-down on the counter and rejoined the chatter.
The table was already a riot of color—wooden eggs, pastel ribbons, and little dishes of petals Zoe had prepared. The women had settled in, glasses perched on noses and hands busy with glue and twine. It didn’t take long, though, before the conversation drifted away from crafts.
“So,” Edith said, pointing her glue gun at Zoe, “how are things with our future King and Queen of Maple Falls?”
Heat rose to Zoe’s cheeks. “Edith—”
“What? Don’t play coy. You two are running for Couple of the Year, aren’t you? Gotta make sure I have my money on a solid bet. Whole town’s buzzing about it.”
Madison grinned, not looking up from the tiny bow she was tying. “Oh, they’re buzzing alright. You should see the looks Zoe’s been getting.”
“Spill it,” Kit said, reaching for another handful of chocolate eggs from the refreshment table. “Are you and Jackson the real deal, or just playing house for the crowns?”
“Not that we’d blame you. Your mother can be a bit overly enthusiastic,” Edith added with a wink.
Zoe’s smile wavered. She tried to focus on pressing petals onto her egg, but the silence stretched. When she finally looked up, all eyes were on her—expectant, kind, but unrelenting.
“Oh, we’re the real deal alright,” she said. That hadn’t always been the case, of course, but they were now. And that posed another set of problems.
“Alright then, what’s the problem?” Mrs. C. asked, cutting right to the chase. “No sense in denying it. I can see it written all over your face.”
Her throat tightened. “I’m scared,” she admitted softly. “Scared I’m just… repeating mistakes.”
Madison’s teasing smile faded. “Oh Zoe…”
“Like with Ben,” Zoe added, her voice almost a whisper.
Mrs. Bishop froze mid-glue. “Wait—who’s Ben?”
Mrs. C. let out a sharp little sigh. “Haven’t you been paying attention? You work with Zoe!”
“Well, excuse me for not keeping up with her personal life.” Mrs. Bishop sniffed, her tone a little too prim.
“It’s alright,” Zoe said quickly, not wanting to make it bigger than it was. “I don’t talk about him much. He’s my ex. We were together for years. We broke up after he decided he didn’t want to have children.”
“See, I didn’t know that,” Kit murmured, glancing toward Mrs. Bishop.
But Zoe only half heard them. Her fingers twisted a ribbon again and again. “With Ben, I thought if I just kept waiting and hoping, he might change his mind. But he never did. And I can’t do that again. I won’t. Not with Jackson.”
“Does Jackson not want kids?” Madison asked softly.
“I don’t know. I haven’t asked him yet. Seems way too soon, and yet…
” Zoe let her voice trail off. The truth pressed in on her chest. She wasn’t getting any younger, and she didn’t have as much time as other people did.
If she was going to pursue IVF, she couldn’t afford to waste years pretending.
Not when she knew how many failed attempts might lie ahead and how much it might cost.
Edith leaned forward, eyes sharp but kind. “What are you waiting for? Just ask him. That way you’ll know if you’re wasting your time.”
“And maybe Edith can get her bet back,” Mrs. Bishop added with a laugh.
“She won’t,” Mrs. C. said flatly, snipping a ribbon as if to cut off the very notion. “All bets are final.”
Zoe forced a small smile, but inside her stomach tightened.
Oh, they were final, alright. Her mom’s wager on her love life was fresh in her mind.
Still, she should talk to Jackson about children—about what he wanted, about what she needed.
Not that she expected him to knock her up overnight.
She just needed to know if his vision of the future had space for a family.
But she wasn’t ready to open that door. Not yet. Not after everything had only just begun. They’d finally committed to each other, finally stopped pretending. It was all so new, even though in some ways it felt like their love was older than time itself.
Zoe let out a shaky laugh, though her chest still felt tight.
“Easter’s a couple of days away. I want to spend it with him.
With his family, our families together.” She shrugged, shoulders rising helplessly.
“Maybe I’m a coward. I just don’t want to ruin it by rushing the hard conversations too soon. ”
The table went quiet, the only sound the snip of Mrs. C.’s scissors and the rustle of ribbon. Then Edith leaned forward, eyes twinkling. “Or maybe,” she said with a wicked grin, “the sex is just that good you don’t want to mess it up.”
The room erupted—Madison choking on a laugh, Kit covering her mouth, Mrs. Bishop gasping in mock horror. Even Mrs. C. cracked a smile, shaking her head as if Edith was incorrigible.
Zoe dropped her face into her hands, her cheeks flaming. “Edith!”
“Oh, don’t Edith me.” The older woman cackled. “I may be old, but I’m not dead. And you, dear girl, look like a woman who’s been thoroughly… kissed.”
That only made the laughter louder. Zoe groaned but couldn’t stop her own smile from breaking through.
The heaviness in her chest eased a little, and for the first time that night, she let herself simply enjoy the warmth of being surrounded by women who cared enough to tease her—women who truly wanted her to be happy.