Page 20 of The Library of Second Chances
And no one was perfect. There was more to his motives than what he was showing, and she was going to figure out what he was hiding.
Her first stop of the day would be the flower shop. Logan already had the power to charm Missy, as they’d all witnessed, so Lucy needed to make sure Missy remembered the downtown business owners needed to stick together. They were closest tothe waterfront and would be most impacted by its development, for better or worse.
Lucy followed an unfamiliar woman into the flower shop on the corner of Main and 3rd a block south of the bookstore. The sweet mix of floral scents hit Lucy as soon as she stepped inside. Farmhouse tables were staggered around the space, each piled high with different varieties of roses and lilies and more tropical selections like the giant birds of paradise poking their pointy beak-like buds from tall slender glass vases. Houseplants and succulents lined antique hutches on the left wall, while refrigerated, glass-fronted cases lined the opposite wall to protect the fresh-cut flowers ready for pickup.
Missy was talking to someone up front, so Lucy stopped to look at one of the tables piled high with buckets and arrangements filled with hydrangeas. The varying shades of blue and pink blossoms looked like the cotton candy her dad had bought her at the county fair when she was a kid. The memory made her smile, and she decided she should pick up a bouquet while she was here. She’d remind Missy how the downtown business owners had to support one another.
As Lucy moved around the table selecting several stems to make her own arrangement, she realized the man’s voice coming from up front with Missy sounded familiar. She couldn’t see over the towering displays of hydrangeas, but when she heard him reference the waterfront, she knew it had to be Logan.
He’d beat her. Of course, he’d gone to Missy first after she’d fallen all over herself to clap for him at the meeting.
Obviously, neither of them had noticed her come in the store. If Lucy just moved a little closer, she’d be able to hear their conversation. From her vantage point, she could see Logan leaning sideways against the counter, but his head was obscured by a bulbous arrangement of hydrangeas. Missy was on the otherside of the counter, and Lucy could only see her from the neck down. At least she was close enough to hear them speaking.
“—it was just so nice of you to come by.” Missy leaned across the counter and touched Logan’s arm, her voice at least an octave higher than usual.
Lucy flinched at the sight of Missy’s hand staying on his arm a beat longer than was necessary. She’d been voted “Biggest Flirt” in their high school class, and some things never changed. But Logan didn’t pull his arm away either. Did that mean he enjoyed Missy flirting with him?
Wait. Was she jealous? Missy flirted with everyone from Bob at the hardware store—who was old enough to be her grandfather and whose fifty-year wedding anniversary party she’d designed the centerpieces for—to the postman. And, besides, Logan would only be engaging with her because he needed as many downtown business owners on his side as possible.
“Just doing my part to get out and meet everyone.” Logan’s voice was slow, almost solicitous. “Obviously, the commissioners and the mayor hired me, but really I’m here to work for the people of Heron Isle.”
At that, Lucy got over the temporary insanity of being jealous and rolled her eyes. He was here to work for the people of Heron Isle? Puh-lease. He was here to maximize the bottom line. That was it.
“Well, if there’s anything I can do to help, you know where to find me.” Missy was practically cooing.
“Yes, I do. It was nice getting to know you better, Missy.” Logan’s voice was as smooth as the maple syrup they served on the pancakes next door at Harriett’s Diner.
“Don’t be a stranger,” Missy called as Logan headed to the door.
Lucy shifted around the table toward the front of the store to remain unseen as Logan exited. She was so focused on making sure he didn’t see her, she bumped right into the other woman who’d entered the store in front of her.
“Excuse me. I’m so sorry.”
The woman nodded curtly before going back to examining the calla lilies on the table behind the hydrangeas.
“Lucy, is that you?” Missy rounded the table. “I thought I recognized your voice.”
Lucy straightened, tucking her blonde hair behind her ears. She’d left it naturally wavy that morning, but she could tell it was starting to frizz in the humidity.
“Mornin’, Missy. Beautiful hydrangeas you have today. I thought I’d get some for the store.” She held up the few stems she’d chosen before hearing Logan’s voice.
“Well, that’s not going to make much of an arrangement.” Missy clucked her tongue as she pulled back her long red hair into a ponytail. “Here, let me help you.” She moved over to the table of hydrangeas and selected a few more stems. “Let me cut these down for you, and we can do a nice short arrangement you can sit on your front counter.”
Lucy followed Missy up to a butcher block table to the right of the register, where Missy began cutting the stems, selecting a short, round glass bowl to place them in.
“I didn’t even see you come in. It’s been a busy morning. That consultant the city hired, Logan, was just here. You must have seen him on your way in.”
“Oh, no, I didn’t see him,” Lucy played dumb, looking around like he might still be inside. “But he’s actually part of the reason I came in to chat,” she said, turning back to Missy. “Bob, Pete, Pam, and I went out to dinner after the meeting the other night, and we think all the downtown business owners need to get on the same page about what we want before we have our meetingwith Logan. I didn’t realize he was going to go door-to-door so quickly.”
“I think he’s going to be good for Heron Isle,” Missy said, looking up from her nearly complete arrangement and smiling. “He had a great idea about bringing cruise ships into the port?—”
“Cruise ships?” Lucy hissed across the counter at Missy. “Did he seriously bring up cruise ships again?”
“Again?” Missy looked confused. “That’s the first time I remember hearing about the cruise ship idea.”
Lucy shook her head. “Never mind. What did he say about cruise ships?” Lucy was gritting her teeth, her fingers turning white as they gripped the edge of the counter. How could he continue to peddle this ridiculous idea after what she’d told him about the environmental impacts? Even the smaller one-hundred-passenger ships had wreaked havoc in other ports.
Unaware of Lucy’s growing frustration, Missy began animatedly telling her about Logan’s plans. “He said it would bring lots of business to us here downtown as the cruise ships docked for the day. He even said he could work it into the deal that they had to buy certain things from downtown businesses when they pull in. Like, they could buy fresh flowers from me to put on their dining-room tables and in the VIP cabins. Isn’t that just the best idea?”
