Page 35 of All Dressed Up

CHAPTER EIGHT

Rachel tied a dark pink bow around the small bouquet of ivory and pale pink daisies, excited for Emma’s arrival. She’d called Jason earlier to ask if he’d ever given Emma flowers, and he’d shared that last year he’d shown up at the Sugar Spoon bakery with a bouquet of daisies the day after he’d asked her to marry him.

She stepped back to admire her work. Being a florist gave her an enormous amount of pride. She loved nothing more than arranging a beautiful bouquet to be given to someone special.

Whether it was weddings, birthdays, or anniversaries, she wanted to help all the residents in Buttermilk Falls and surrounding areas celebrate with her florals.

She’d been smitten by the act of receiving flowers as a teenager because her high school senior locker had been full of them. She couldn’t help but chuckle. It wasn’t because of her doting boyfriend back then, Adam Reed.

No. They came way before she’d gotten together with Adam. She’d been the recipient of a mysterious boy’s affection she’d nicknamed the Buttermilk Blooms Bandit. The prettiest flowers appeared at the beginning of senior year for six weeks straight from a secret admirer.

Back then, she’d hoped it was Adam, but he’d admitted it wasn’t him. After they started dating, the flowers stopped.

She never found out who’d been leaving her soft lavender lilacs, long-stem red roses, and cherry pink snapdragons, her personal favorite. Her Buttermilk Blooms Bandit never revealed himself.

But she’d loved receiving them. She’d race home with each bouquet, bolt to her bedroom, and look the flowers up on the Internet to learn about their origins.

If her bandit ever revealed himself at a future high school reunion, she’d be sure to thank him for igniting her passion for flowers and inspiring her to name her business, Buttermilk Blooms, after him.

She checked her watch and reached for her oversized black leather tote she’d stowed underneath her counter, fishing out her compact mirror. It’d been a long day. A lipstick and hair inspection were in order.

After Will had left this morning, she chitchatted a few minutes more with Donovan and Marc before deciding to close for the rest of the day to get some sleep. Marc had plans to hang out with her brother and show him some new summer recipes, so she wasn’t needed to entertain her new house guest.

And she was looking forward to catching up with Marc, just not at that moment.

She, no doubt, lost some business today, but there was no way she could work on her feet for another eight hours after pulling an all-nighter. It was days like this she wished she had some assistance.

It’d been on her mind to hire someone part-time. Her business was doing well thanks to record-breaking Mother’s Day sales, and she’d booked a number of bigger orders this summer, including Emma and Jason’s wedding.

She could manage it all on her own, she always had.

Still, it would be nice to have some help. Maybe once Will settled in she could interview for a part-time assistant. There had to be a high school or college student looking for summer work whom she could hire. Maybe someone interested in horticulture or the business of selling flowers.

Bringing the round compact to her face, she inspected her dark red lipstick and fluffed her hair. For only getting five hours of sleep or so, she didn’t look half bad. She shut the compact and put it back. Yes, she could admit it. She wanted to look cute for Will.

She whistled as she cleaned up stray petals and stems from her work table. This morning had gone well. That he’d agreed to run his business upstairs was exactly what she’d hoped would happen when she set out last night to turn the unused storage space into a makeshift boutique.

Well, he didn’t verbally agree, but that hug he gave her said it all. Shivers ran up her arms, reliving the sensation of them looped around his neck as he hoisted her up.

She let out a sigh. Damn her brother and his lousy timing.

Tossing the stems in the trash, she glanced down at her watch again, her nervous habit of always checking the time when she was waiting for someone important.

And this someonewasimportant to her. Someday soon, maybe she’d get the nerve to tell Will that she was in love with him. Maybe tonight. That was if he ever got there. It was a little surprising he wasn’t just as anxious as she was to see what appeared after Emma opened the trunk.

I hope he’s not getting cold feet.What she had proposed she knew was a lot to take in, particularly Mary’s prominent role. However, it was going to work. She knew it.

Maybe if she showed him Mary’s notes, he’d be more reassured. Her gaze fell on the antique purse sticking out from inside her bag. She liked having it in her possession at all times in case Mary wanted to get a hold of her.

She coiled her finger around the silver strap but let it go. If she showed Will the notes, she’d also have to confess that she’d found the purse on his coatrack and stole it. What if he wanted it back?

She smoothed her long black sundress with the palms of her hands. Better to not mention it for now. Once Emma opened the trunk and a wedding dress appeared, he’d believe.

And then they’d start working together, him upstairs, her downstairs. Her heart raced, enjoying that fabulous scene playing in her head: He’d bring her iced coffee every morning; she’d pop up each noon and ask if he wanted to close for an hour and go grab lunch.

Maybe they’d grab a drink after work. Maybe that would lead to much more.

When she’d come up with the idea of his setting up a temporary boutique upstairs, it had been born out of sincerely wanting to help Will, but she couldn’t deny that she liked the idea of seeing him almost every single day.

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