Page 30 of Chasing Love: The Owens
Bennett
I open my office door for Earl and Rosie. She takes a seat on the couch while Earl settles into one of the two office chairs in front of my desk.
“Rosie?” Earl looks over at her.
“The couch is more comfortable.” She sinks into the leather cushions and crosses her legs, clearly not planning to move.
Earl exhales a quiet huff and switches to sit beside her.
“Can I get either of you anything to drink?”
I’m already flustered from being late thanks to Wren hitting Principal North’s car door. Then I saw Delaney with her cheeks pink, a warm smile, and a bouquet in her hand, and something inside me cracked open. She looked happy, which made me happy.
Not a good sign.
“Let’s just get this started.” Earl leans back and rests his ankle on his opposite knee.
Of course, I couldn’t be late for a couple who’d just built a house and are looking for suggestions on what to plant and where. Not that those customers aren’t important. They are. But Earl and Rosie own Blue Prairie Country Club outside of Lincoln. It’s members-only, and they’re in the running to host a major golf event this fall. Landing this account would be huge. Though if I can secure it, it might mean some late nights and early mornings. I won’t have the time I like to have with Wren during the summer, but it could earn me the money I need to build our house, even if I’m not sure whether I want to move into it or not.
I drop the projection screen on the opposite wall and queue up my computer. “You asked me to mock-up the eighteenth hole to see my vision, since that’s where a lot of the attention will go. Here are some of my plans.”
I show them the slides and sketches, 3D images of what I’d remove and what I’d replace it with. Rosie yawns a couple times and doesn’t ask any questions while Earl hammers question after question—how long the plants will last, what happens if one dies. We discuss the greens and the path up to the clubhouse.
“I want flowers,” Rosie says out of nowhere. “Green is boring. We need reds and pinks and orange?—”
Earl gives me a look as if he’s already exasperated. “Can those be incorporated?”
“We could definitely do pockets of flowers in key areas.”
“Good. And I want that girl out there to be in charge of it,” Rosie says.
She says it so casually, as though she didn’t just lob a grenade in the middle of my office.
“Excuse me?”
“Rosie, you can’t dictate how he runs his business.” Earl shakes his head at his wife. “Just add a few of those flower bed things.” Earl waves his hand as though that should take care of it.
I swallow my pride and the urge to argue that it’s not as simple as everyone thinks to make plants blend and look natural yet beautiful. It’s not as easy as tossing in some petals and mulch and calling it a day.
“Sure, I can.” Rosie straightens and narrows her eyes as though she knows the ache that’s still alive in me for Delaney. “We’re going to pay you a lot of money. I want someone specific on the flowers.”
“I can assure you that I’m just as knowledgeable about flowers as I am with the landscaping. I can handle the whole project.”
She hums. “I like the girl.”
Earl sighs. “I guess the girl is part of the deal,” he says with a shrug.
“Just to clarify, you’re talking about the dark-haired one?” I sound desperate, because I am.
“Yes, the brunette. She’s lovely and has a real eye for flowers.”
She’s not wrong. I’m not suggesting I handle it on my own because Delaney isn’t perfect for the project. She’s the best I’ve ever worked with, but it would put us in close proximity, and the last project we did together had that line blurring fast. It’s dangerous. Last time we tried, I had her up against the wall of my office with my pants around my ankles.
Earl gives me a look as if it’s out of his hands. His wife has spoken. A contract of this size could change things for the business—put my firm on the map in Lincoln. Increase business and secure a better future for Wren.
“I can ask her,” I offer. I’m not going to speak for Delaney. She might say no.
“Let’s ask her now.” Rosie smiles at me.
