Page 1 of Headstrong Cowboy
Chapter One
Chrysanthemum ‘Chrissy’ Bloom’sdaddy wasn’t a good businessman.Give him a patch of dirt or a greenhouse, and in months, it would be lush with flowers, thriving and smelling so sweet she could almost taste it.That was his talent.Keeping Bloom Flower Farm’s finances and books in good order was another thing altogether.Which led the Bloom family to their current problem.
Well, Chrissy’s problem.
No way was she going to let her mother know that the farm was barely making ends meet and the legacy she and her recently deceased husband had spent years building was about to disappear like a dandelion in a rough windstorm.
Chrissy got up and paced the small office.Was it luck that she had majored in accounting and business at college?Or was it a curse?
Luck.It was luck, because while things were dire, there was always hope when it came to turning numbers from looking bad to looking reasonable and, eventually, looking sensational.
It would take work and time, and fortunately, Chrissy had plenty of time.Pity she didn’t have plenty of money to make the troubles go away.
Or wishing her father hadn’t let his life insurance policy lapse so that after his unfortunate, and far too early, death, there would’ve been enough funds to make sure the farm could weather the regrowth the change in managership his death had brought.
His magical green thumb had definitely skipped Chrissy.She loved flowers every bit as much as everyone else in her family did.Loved the look of them.The brightness and joy they brought.But when it came to growing them, she sucked at it.Growing flowers didn’t bring her excitement and contentment like it brought her sister, Sunflower...or Sunny, as she liked to be known.Just like she preferred being called Chrissy than being addressed as Chrysanthemum.Her younger sister, Tilly, preferred her nickname to her given name of Tulip.The sisters were united on that front.
Her parents loved flowers so much they’d named their three girls after the varieties that meant something to them.Having unique names had been a nightmare at school and college for Chrissy and her sisters.
Chrissy sat back down and hoped that in her short five walks around the office, the numbers had changed.But sadly, they hadn’t.
How had Dad been able to keep things going?
It looked like her father hadn’t employed an accountant in the last few years and had done the taxes all himself.She’d have to look over them to make sure they’d been filed correctly.Which could give her another headache if they hadn’t been.
Had Dad sacked their accountant?And if so, why?
How had she not known this?
She’d been back home for nine months.While she hadn’t been working on the farm, she’d been living with her parents in their nicely finished basement, and there hadn’t been any signs that things were taking a turn for the worse.
Why hadn’t he come to her?Asked her for advice.It wouldn’t have taken her long to look things over, and together, they could’ve come up with a plan.If he had, then maybe she would’ve arranged for his life insurance policy to be renewed.
But he did call you, remember?Several times, in fact.You were always too busy to call back after saying you would.
The guilt slammed into Chrissy, but she ignored her conscience.Was that why he hadn’t taken her up on her offer to help when she asked him recently?Had he decided that because she hadn’t been there when he needed her, she wouldn’t be there now?
Dad had been a proud man, so asking for help from his daughter would’ve been hard, and she’d, for all intents and purposes, shunned him.
Why didn’t you ask for my help one more time, Dad?I was here.I could’ve done something.
Chrissy blew out a breath, as if that would chase away the shame billowing around her.It didn’t matter now aswhat ifsandwhy wouldn’t hedidn’t make flowers grow and they certainly didn’t make money grow on trees.
The proceeds from the sale of their blooms to Sweet Pea Flowers, the local Marietta florist, and the ones they supplied in Bozeman, just covered the costs of the fertilizers, water, and electricity they needed to keep their plants thriving.A lot of the flowers on their farm were grown in greenhouses, due to the harsh Montana winters, which required climate-controlled systems, which weren’t cheap to run.
She had to be missing something.Was there another book which showed where Dad had been getting the money to maintain it all, and provide the family with the means to be able to buy groceries, gas, and pay essential bills?
Did Mom know?Dad tended to protect her from a lot of things.Was this one of them?He was a bit stuck in the past, not realizing the value of Mom’s opinion.
She loved her father deeply, but he was stubborn in his belief that he had to do everything himself.How Sunny was able to get him to let her help with the growing of the flowers was surprising, but her sister had proven over and over that she had the skills to keep the plants healthy.
And yet hehadgotten over his stubbornness and had attempted to seek out her help.It was she who’d let him down.She who’d put him off.It didn’t matter that she was readjusting to her new normal after her divorce.She still should’ve made time to call home.She should’ve realized the only reason Dad would’ve reached out wasn’t that he wanted to discuss the weather, but because he had something serious to talk about.
Stop it.It’s happened.All that matters now is that I know and I can fix it.I must fix it.It’s partly my fault that things got this bad.I have to do what Dad would expect of me as the eldest.I must look after the family.I can’t give Mom any more to worry about.
Was she making assumptions that Mom didn’t know about the dire state of affairs and was actually aware of what was going on?Even though her dad tended to be a clamshell on occasions, Frank and Eunice Bloom had had a good marriage.A marriage where, Chrissy believed, they told each other everything.A marriage Chrissy had aspired to have, but sadly, her marriage to Beau hadn’t worked out like that.
Her hand itched to grab her cell phone and call her former husband to talk this out, but that wasn’t possible now.Like her father, Beau had died suddenly and left her adrift.Their marriage had long been over and they’d been living separate lives before they’d done anything about ending it.They’d been best friends, shared so much, but they’d mistaken friendship love for the type of love that was soul deep and lifelong.Their divorce had been finalized a few months before Beau’s death.It had been mutual and stress-free, and they’d remained good friends.So good that she had still been listed as the beneficiary of Beau’s life insurance.It wasn’t a huge amount of money, and she’d put it away for a rainy day.
