Page 66 of An Adventure For Aster

“I love you, Aster. And no, I’m not going to be one of those women who says it every time I hang up the phone. I’m just saying it now because I feel it and miss you.”

“I love you too,” he said and then hung up a second later.

He put his phone on the bedside table and shut the light off.

Surprisingly, he was sleeping in seconds and might have had a smile on his face.

21

PRETEND HE UNDERSTOOD

Aster was talking to Poppy at the end of the month as they were laying out where to put all her sewing machines and the jewelry section. Putting those two together would make it easier and give more space for lotions, candles, soaps, and shampoos. The biggest profit of the company.

“What do you think is the best flow?” Poppy asked.

“That is up to you,” he said. “Did you talk to Laurel about it? I’m here to fix the machines. Knox has said electrical is all up to date now, so there shouldn’t be a worry of blowing fuses.”

“Good to know,” Poppy said, resting her hand on her baby bump. It felt like every time he turned around there was a pregnant woman.

Poppy was due in a few months. Jasmine was out of work and due next week. Violet was due in five months so he was making sure he was around if things had to be lifted or running to the greenhouses when Zane called him and there was no staff around.

Dahlia, whom he didn’t talk to much other than when he needed to buy something, was due in two months, and then he’d just found out Rose was due in June. Somehow that one just slipped by him, but it’s not like he was examining bodies for bumps. Rose was barely out of the first trimester.

“Do you want to just go to my office and map it out? I’ve got the floor plan laid out on my computer. We can pick up and move the equipment for everything and see the spacing that way.”

“Yes, please,” Poppy said. “Makes life so much easier this way. I’m so glad we hired you. One less thing for us all to think about. I was thrilled when Lily came back to work a few months ago. All this stuff you are doing for us.” She was waving her hands around. “I can’t stand it. And having Laurel here to deal with personnel issues and production is even better. Lily needs to just run the business. Rose and I need to be creative.”

“Not to mention spend time with your kids.”

“Definitely that,” Poppy said. “They grow too fast. I can’t believe Holly is going to be two when this little man is born in a few months.”

From everything he’d witnessed, his three bosses were hands-on with their jobs and their families. Nothing he’d ever seen.

Not that his parents had any career that pulled them away more than clocking in and out, but when they were home they weren’t present either.

“I wonder if there is something in the water here,” he said. “Or a magic baby-making flower you’re all sniffing.”

Poppy laughed at his dry tone. “That’s funny, Aster. Nope, just love. Something I hear you’re feeling a lot of.”

He turned his head sharply. “No babies in my future,” he said.

“Not yet,” Poppy said.

“Are you saying that Raine wants a baby right now?”

“Oops,” Poppy said. “I’m talking out of turn and always do. No, I’m not saying that at all. But she obviously loves kids and gets her fill of them in her job. Just that Ivy talks about her family and Brooks’s in passing and that she’s so happy that you two are a couple. That Raine deserves to get the happy ever after that we all have.”

Aster nodded. He wasn’t sure he knew what happy ever after was and sometimes just nodded to pretend he understood.

“Got it,” he said.

“You’re just pacifying me,” Poppy said.

He nodded his head again and she laughed. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and noticed it was Daphne. She never called during the day and he worried it was an emergency.

“I need to get this,” he said.

“Sure,” she said. “I’m going to walk the floor with some of my staff and get their opinions and then I’ll come back.”

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