Chapter 7
A week later, I open my eyes before six in the morning, wide-awake and with my mind whirling.
My first thought is that I need to check email and social media for new inquiries and interest in Blossom Park to ensure all the new activity hasn’t died overnight.
My second thought is that Wes comes back home today.
He’s been in DC at his company headquarters for several days. Although most of his work can be done remotely, he’s called in for meetings at least once a quarter. Normally I appreciate having a few days without worrying about running into him, but this week I’ve been antsy.
Waiting for him to get back.
As much as I’d like to convince myself it’s all because we can’t further The Plan when he’s out of town, I can only lie to myself a certain extent before reality catches up.
I kind of want to see him.
Just for him.
Shaking the thought away since no good can come of dwelling on such things, I reach over to grab my iPad and begin my morning check.
Thousands of new followers since yesterday.
Endless comments and mentions.
A thrilling number of new event inquiries.
When I scan through the schedule, it’s clear that Natalie booked a lot of events yesterday. We’re now completely filled through September, and all the desirable time slots through the winter and into next spring and summer are already booked.
In just over a week, our entire fortunes have changed. Our prices are higher than they’ve ever been. Last Saturday broke our record for the number of regular visitors to the garden, and each day this week, that record has gone up.
Maybe we can do it.
We can climb our way out of the hole. And I’ll never again have to feel that painful mingling of guilt, fear, and despair I’ve been living with for the past six years.
“You awake up there?” That’s Natalie, calling to me from downstairs in a pseudocareful tone. She’s normally a later sleeper than me.
“I’m awake.”
“Coffee? Audrey made it, so it’s good.” Natalie is notoriously bad at making coffee.
“Yes, please!”
Natalie climbs the stairs, carrying two tall mugs. After handing me one, she walks around the bed and climbs under the cover with me.
She’s still wearing a cute knit pajama set with smiling suns on it.
“Why are you awake so early?” I ask her.
“I don’t know. It’s annoying. But I woke up wired and couldn’t go back to sleep. I can’t believe all this is actually happening.”
I’ve propped myself up on pillows, and I tilt my iPad in her direction. “Same with me. Look at all this.”
Together, we review all the online activity that’s safe for me to look at. (I know better than to do searches to see what people are posting about me personally.) We giggle and chat for over half an hour about everything happening with Blossom Park as we finish our coffee.
“It’s so strange to be excited when I look at the schedule instead of that sick, heavy feeling.” Natalie has bigger eyes and wider lips than me, and she’s beautiful even first thing in the morning without makeup and with unbrushed hair.
“I know. I really thought that sick, heavy feeling was going to be my constant companion for the rest of my life.”
“I keep adding up all the money we’ll make if all these events pan out, and by the end of next year, we should be completely out of debt.”
I gulp. “Our expenses are going to be a lot higher.”
“I know. I’ve taken that into account.”
“Really?” I’ve been too scared to do any calculations, not wanting to jinx our luck, but I’ve been hoping for exactly that.
“Yep. Now, I’m not expecting to have no cancelations, but we have a superlong waiting list already, so I don’t think our bottom line should drop too much.”
“Even when no one cares about me and Wes anymore, Blossom Park is still a one-of-a-kind event space, so hopefully no one will be disappointed.”
“Exactly.” Natalie sighs as she sets down her coffee cup on the nightstand. She slouches down and rolls onto her side to face me. “I’m optimistic.”
“You’re always optimistic.”
“Maybe, but still. I think we’re going to do this. The world sucks nowadays, and people need a break from the never-ending badness. Blossom Park has always felt like a beautiful, peaceful escape. I think people are going to remember that. I think we’re coming back.”
“I hope so.” My voice wobbles slightly because her words have made me emotional.
They’re true.
Blossom Park is special, and maybe the world won’t forget that forever.
Maybe we can continue sharing our unique brand of beauty, peace, and joy.
I want that for Blossom Park more than I’ve ever wanted anything for myself.
Natalie reaches over to find and squeeze my hand. She’s never been a particularly sentimental person—she’s always bright and breezy and blunt—but she feels this like I do.
Like all of us do.
“Mom and Dad would think the whole thing was crazy,” I say.
“Probably. Well, Dad would for sure. Mom would think it was fun and funny.”
“Yeah. Yeah, she would.” I stretch my back and legs under the covers. “Well, this makes me feel better. Even if everything dies out next week, we might still be okay.”
“I think we will be. But I don’t think it’s going to die out like that. The interest might level off, but you and Wes are a major trend right now. It’s going to keep going for a while. Speaking of…” Her eyes sparkle.
I give her an appropriately exasperated face. “Speaking of…?”
“Wes comes back today.”
“Yep.”
“What do you think about that?”
“I think it’s a good thing because we need to give all these people new fodder.”
“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”
“If you have something in mind, you should come out and say it.”
“How are you feeling about him lately?”
“You know how I feel. He’s a means to an end.” I shift slightly, fighting the swell of self-consciousness at the questioning.
“He was at the beginning, but I thought I caught some hints at things changing. I was about to go blink the porch lights at you two on Sunday night.”
“Oh please.”
“I mean it. Maybe you weren’t thinking anything, but Wes sure was.”
My instinct is to object, but she’s not actually wrong.
Wes almost kissed me on Sunday night. I know he did.
“Some things have changed,” I admit at last. “I thought he didn’t like me all these years, but I think I was misinterpreting things.”
“You were definitely misinterpreting things. Even I could have told you that.”
“And we’re getting along better, which makes the situation easier. But don’t start buying into our fictional narrative. This whole thing is a show for the public. It’s not real.”
“Isn’t it?”
“I don’t think so.” The flutters in my chest and belly belie my words, so I make myself sort out the feelings so I can answer her truthfully. “It’s kind of… exciting. Fun. And he’s a lot nicer than I realized he is.”
“Plus hot.”
“Yes, he’s hot. I thought about him as a nerd for so long, but he’s definitely hot now.
But building up a relationship in my mind out of this seems like a really, really stupid thing to do.
What’s been happening isn’t… natural. So assuming a real relationship is going to come of it is a recipe for heartbreak. ”
“Maybe.”
“Definitely.”
“Okay.” Natalie frowns as she ponders. “So just be careful. Don’t build up a relationship in your mind out of nothing. But if real things grow, don’t close them down. Just see what happens.”
“Yeah. That’s good advice. I’ll be careful but see what happens.”
Later that day, after lunch, I’m opening the gate that blocks the private areas of the garden from the public so I can begin my daily walk around Blossom Park.
Most days I take a walk, often in the mornings before we even open. I like the exercise, and I like the nature and fresh air, and I love the gardens. But for the past week I’ve been taking a walk purposefully during open hours so visitors can see me.
Since a lot of people are probably visiting because of the social media buzz, it makes sense to give them a little of what they want.
So I dress cute and take my tablet so I can pretend to being doing business as I make the meandering loop of the walkways that wind through every single garden and around the wildflower fields.
Today I wear a loose blue-gray dress in a gauzy cotton with tennis shoes and my hair clipped up in a knot. Since there’s no reason to waste the walk, I make note of damaged plants, benches, and pavement as I go.
Jake’s crew has been working overtime, so overall the property is in pristine condition. All the early-spring flowers are blooming, and the day is brisk and sunny.
I have a really good time.
I walk all the way to the ticketing booth at the front entrance to chat with the staff, and I’m walking the stretch of road that leads to the main parking lot when someone drives up beside me and stops.
I’m used to cars slowing and people hanging out car windows to snap photos of me, but most people don’t hold up traffic to come to a complete stop.
Startled, I glance into the passenger window and see that the driver is Wes.
Smiling, I lean over so I can see him better. “Hey there. I wasn’t expecting you until this evening.”
“The morning meeting finished early, so I took off before they could drag me into something else.” He looks pleased with the world and is ridiculously good-looking with his tie loosened and a green-and-brown sweater-vest. “How are things here?”
“All is good. Better than I could have dreamed of.”
I shoot a quick look back to see three cars stopped behind Wes’s. I’m expecting to see annoyed expressions, but the SUV behind him is full of college-aged girls who are giggling and aiming their phone cameras at us.
Shaking my head in baffled amusement, I say, “It’s a crazy, crazy world.”
“It is that.”
“You better go before someone gets mad at the holdup. I’ve still got the second half my walk to take, but I’ll see you later.”
“See you.” He waves and rolls up the passenger window before he starts driving again. I wave at the SUV filled with girls and then the older couple in the car behind them. The third car is a hassled mother with three kids, and she doesn’t appear at all interested in me.