Page 22 of The Secret to a Southern Wedding

“But shouldn’t you account for putting a field of baby’s breath in the bouquet?” she asked with a laugh. “I mean, how do you stay in business if you don’t charge for the extra.”

Linda placed a finger on her chin and studied the arrangement. “It’s not about charging extra, especially with a longtime customer. Every year Amanda’s husband sends these to her at the hospital, and like clockwork, I get several calls for deliveries to various people who work on her floor. You know seeing one person get flowers often pushes other people to order.”

Imani tapped a pen on the counter. “Probably people ordering for themselves so they could pretend to have someone who cares.”

She waited on her mom to agree as she usually did. Except, Linda shook her head and gave Imani a half smile. “I used to think the same thing.”

“I know. You’re the one who used to tell me that.”

Linda sighed before putting down the remaining sprigs of baby’s breath. “Well, I admit when I’m wrong. There are a lot of people in love in Peachtree Cove. It was easy to overlook that when I focused mostly on the number of orders versus the reasons for them. Flowers aren’t just sent when someone has messed up. They’re mostly sent to express love.”

Imani blinked, surprised to hear the sentimental note in her mother’s voice. “Mom, are you serious? When did you become the believe in love type?”

Her mom shrugged. “I’ve always believed in love.”

Imani waved a finger and shook her head. “No, you have not. You said love was a trap.”

The look Linda gave Imani was full of regret. “I’m sorry. After your dad...well...after that incident with your dad I’ll admit I stopped believing. I never should have taken my pain out where you could see.”

“She showed up at the door with a gun and shot you. Kind of hard to hide that pain from me,” Imani said with an eye roll.

Since then, Imani had tried not to let the fear and anguish of that day show. Giving into that fear meant her dad still had a hold on them and she refused to give him that. He’d treated her mother as if she were disposable. It didn’t matter that his mistress held the gun and pulled the trigger, if he hadn’t used her mom as the reason why he couldn’t leave then maybe she wouldn’t have gone to such an extreme.

“Just because I wasn’t happy didn’t mean I wanted you to be unhappy. Or alone. It may be easier said than done, but don’t take everything I told you after that to heart.”

“I’m not just taking what you said to heart. I have been dating for a while, and believe me when I say it’s horrible out there.”

“That doesn’t mean that you won’t find the right person.”

Hearing those words with that amount of hope from her mom made Imani laugh out loud. “You’re kidding me, right? The right person? Even if I think that person is fantastic, they may not actually be who I thought they were. You know just as well as I do that the face people put out to the world can hide a whole lot.”

Linda walked over to where Imani sat and placed her hands on the counter. “Learning to trust isn’t easy, but it can come with time.”

Imani pursed her lips. “Have you known Preston long enough to trust him?”

Her mom lifted her chin. “I trust him and I trust how I feel. He makes me happy, and I’ve spent a long time being unhappy.”

“That doesn’t mean—”

“And having you here makes me happy. Having you help me plan my wedding makes me happy. Getting a chance to start over again is exciting. It’s the happiest time of my life.” Linda’s eyes sparked with a light Imani didn’t think she’d ever seen before. Not even when her parent’s marriage was good.

Guilt glued her lips together. She swallowed the reply that she was being forced to plan this wedding. That she’d barely gotten a chance to be alone with her mom because of Preston being there first thing in the morning. Working at the flower shop was the first time she’d gotten a chance to be alone with her mother since arriving on Friday. And that was only because the shop had been empty for twenty minutes and her mom’s other employee, Kathy, was out delivering a bouquet. In those twenty minutes she hadn’t been able to successfully divert the conversation to Preston and all the reasons her mom should call off the wedding. Now, seeing the excited light in her mom’s eyes, Imani felt guilty for wanting to call everything off.

Maybe her friends were right. Maybe she needed to just go with things and let her mom be happy. She wanted her mom to be happy. She didn’t want her alone and sad for the rest of her life. She just didn’t want her mom’s happiness to come with any unexpected surprises that would hurt her. She might survive another blow, but it wasn’t something Imani wanted to chance. Not when the first blow had literally almost killed her.

“I’m glad you’re happy.”

“You are?”

“I am. I just...you know I’m going to worry.”

“Which is why I want you to spend more time with Preston and with Cyril.”

Imani didn’t want to spend more time with Cyril. Every time he came around, her body reacted to him. She couldn’t like the man actively working against her. Because even though she understood why Cyril wanted his dad’s happiness, his dad’s joy came at the potential expense of Imani’s goals of protecting her mother.

The door to the shop opened and a short man walked in. He raised a hand and waved at Linda. “Hey, Linda, do you have any good daisies?”

Linda smiled back. “I do. Got some in this morning. How many do you need?”

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