Page 56 of Accidentally in Bloom

He turned to see her framed against the store they’d built together.

He bit his lip to keep it from wobbling. “I wish you preferred it with me.” He shoved open the door and left her to her solitude.

Chapter

Fifteen

ROSE

Fifteen minutes before the start of opening day, Rose zoomed around the store, adjusting displays as Lily put the final touches on a new arrangement.

Violet flipped on the fairy lights wound artfully through the store, and lit a few candles. “I meant to sweep one more time. Do you think it’s worth it?” she asked with growing panic.

Lily glared at the arrangement she was finishing. “Relax. No one is coming to eat off our floors. They just need to buy flowers.”

“How are you calm?” Violet puffed as she power-walked through the store, perfecting the display of hand cremes.

Lily blew a stray curl out of her face. “You’ve got to manifest the perfect day, Vi. Just repeat, ‘I’m one with the flowers.’ ‘People will come in and buy our shit.’” Lily said with a solemn, trance-like tone. Her hippie vibe was on full display today, with a cute peasant-style off-the-shoulder shirt and long flowing pants.

Violet shook her head as she placed the opening day cookies she’d baked on the register as a thank you to their customers. She was wearing her signature bright floral blouse, which Rose assumed was a nod to their dad’s omnipresent Hawaiian shirts.

Rose took a deep breath. She was more nervous than she was letting on. It’s just a small-town store. If this doesn’t work, we’ll try something else.

But deep down, it was the first real thing she’d made in a long time. This wasn’t a spin on a client’s idea or a PowerPoint presentation for someone else’s business. It was hers.

Theirs.

The ghosts of their childhood played in Rose’s eyes as she surveyed the store. Lily playing in the cast-off flower petals as a little girl, and now her arrangements were living sculptures, looking like a cottage garden come to life. Little Violet saving dying plants, and now her houseplants were sprinkled throughout the store, creating a thriving jungle of ferns and vines along the walls.

Rose had molded the business to what she’d always wanted. A bright, friendly store full of nice things to give to someone you loved.

Heaps of beautiful flowers sat in woven baskets like a flower market in Covent Garden. Early peonies, roses, lilacs, daisies, and baby’s breath created a meta-arrangement, overflowing and lush.

Rose’s eyes went misty. They’d done it. In a few short weeks, they’d turned an eyesore into something bright and magical.

“Hey,” she said to them. “Come here.” She held out her hands.

Violet and Lily glanced at each other skeptically.

“Yeeeees..?” Lily said slowly.

“Look at what we’ve made.” Rose scanned the room to take it all in.

“If I wasn’t so tired, I think I might burst into tears,” Lily said in a watery voice.

“He’d be so proud of you,” Rose said quietly.

“Of us.” Violet squeezed her.

“Of us,” Rose conceded. She wiped a tear from her eye, careful not to smudge her eyeliner. She glanced at the clock. “It’s time.”

Violet danced in place. “This was your idea. Flip the sign.”

Rose smiled back as she walked over, took a breath, and flipped the heavy chalk sign to ‘open.’ She peered out the glass door and spun around. “No customers coming our way yet.”

The clock ticked to 9:01.

“It’s okay, it’s barely nine a.m.,” Rose said to calm her nerves more than anything. “Looks like we have time to sweep.”

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