Page 59 of Accidentally in Bloom

Lily rubbed her temples. “Don’t look too closely at a horse’s teeth,” she thought for a second, “or whatever the saying is. Lord, I’m so tired.” She leaned on the counter, and the door jingled again.

“I’ve got this,” Rose went to greet the next customer.

By the end of the day, they’d sold every last flower in the place. The last customer walked out at 5:01 p.m. with the last batch of baby’s breath.

Rose surveyed the destruction. Lily lay on the counter with her head in her arms. And Violet sat on the prep counter, stretching her arm muscles.

They completely sold out, and the impact of what they’d just done hit Rose like a ton of bricks. “Guys, look.”

“What now?” Lily whined.

“Look. Look at this.”

“I know,” Lily yawned. “It’s a complete mess. We’ll have to come in extra early and prep the stuff Gray’s bringing over.”

Rose shook Lily off the counter. “Lilybug, this was a goddamn smashing success! People literally cleaned us out!” Rose danced in place, gaining more energy.

Lily started laughing, and Violet joined in. “Ok, okay. I get your point.”

“We should celebrate. Let’s go to the new Italian place across town,” Violet said.

“God, yes.” Lily grabbed her bag. “And I will have three glasses of wine and collapse into a heap at home.”

Rose turned off the register. “Ok, but I have to be back here in a few hours for the flower delivery from Gray.”

A chorus of oooo’s rang out, and Rose rolled her eyes and smiled. “You’re both the worst.” They stumbled to Rose’s car and fell in, happy to be off their feet.

Rose drove through town as she and Violet talked about the best parts of the day. “I wonder what Dad would have thought of us running out of flowers. I don’t think he ever had two customers at once.”

Violet peered out the car window, her head leaning against it. “I think he would have liked today. He’d have been out front the whole time.”

“Chatting with everyone and getting underfoot.” Rose smiled, but her eyes went misty.

“Rose,” Lily called from the backseat, “pull over.”

Rose glanced in the rearview mirror. “What? Why?”

Lily pointed across the road to an all-too-familiar cemetery. “Look.”

Rose slowed to a stop and peered over the rolling hills of modest gravestones, only to see a brightly colored mound she hadn’t seen before.

The mound was at the terrible spot they’d been at three months ago.

A flutter landed in Rose’s heart. She wasn’t sure what she was looking at, but she turned into the cemetery anyway. It would be the first time they’d visited since the funeral.

As she drove nearer, Rose’s heart leaped into her throat. She drove the winding roads with watery eyes. She parked, and they slowly got out in awe.

Rose couldn’t believe her eyes.

In front of her were heaps and heaps of flowers. Hundreds, no thousands of brightly colored flowers piled this way and that, creating a voluminous floral quilt that flowed out into a wave of color.

Every single one of the flowers they’d sold that day all piled lovingly on top of their father’s grave.

A few handwritten notes fluttered in the breeze and stood with the flowers that blanketed the dirt that hadn’t yet grown grass on it. White daisy petals fluttered in the breeze, pressed next to chrysanthemums, bouquets of irises, and roses, all lovingly placed side by side.

Violet and Lily wrapped their arms around Rose, who stared in wonder. Violet had tears running down her face while Lily was already sobbing.

“They did this,” Lily hiccuped, “for him.”

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