Page 42 of Wallflower in Bloom

She was such a terrible liar.

“If you’re in the middle of something, I can head back to my apartment. I was lonely and wanted an impromptu sister hang sesh.”

“No, it’s fine. We were”—finishing up felt like the wrong phrase to use—“settling down for the evening.”

“We? Mhm,” Lily said, brushing past her with her enormous jangling purse and bottle of wine. “Doesn’t sound like nothing.”

Two days later, Violet stared at the six stuffed clothing racks in her living room and realized she’d made a terrible mistake. Aaron stood in the middle of her living room, vibrating with excitement.

“I never thought it would happen. My Violet, finally getting the makeover she deserves.” He ran his hands along the expensive clothes hanging from one rack.

Violet managed a small smile. This felt more like a punishment than a reward.

Her stomach turned as Lily wheeled in another rack. “How many clothes are you going to wear? Geez.”

“She needed options, darling,” Shay said, sweeping in behind her. She looked fabulous in fitted pants, a large flowing cape, and a tube top, taking up space unapologetically.

“How did you get this all here so fast?” Violet wandered through the racks of clothes.

“Jack said to spare no expense, so everything was overnighted. Now.” Shay clapped her hands, twirling in the cottage to take it in. “We can work with this. I’m picturing wholesome. I’m picturing endearing. ‘Cottage life’ meets ‘plant mom’ meets ‘romantic at heart.’”

Sweat formed at the edge of Violet’s hairline, imagining trying on all these clothes. None of them would fit, they’d all look terrible, and Jack would change his mind about their arrangement.

Violet had a long and complicated relationship with clothes, so she’d started compensating with an extensive lingerie collection. Lingerie fit her in a way jeans and khakis didn’t. Corsets were made for contouring to her body, unlike her boxy floral shirts that made her look 20 years older than she was.

Whenever she worked up the courage to try on a new dress or pants, it never looked how she wanted. She wanted to look confident, like somebody who had it all together.

Shay expertly flicked through hangers in the stuffed clothing racks. “Let’s start with date looks since that’s what you’ll wear for photos today.” She picked out ten pieces. “Where should we take these?”

“Let’s go to my room.” Violet pointed to the staircase but stood still, staring nervously as Shay walked up with an armful of clothes.

Aaron wrapped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed. “Come on, Cinderella. It’s your turn at the fairy godmother station.”

“I bet Cinderella didn’t have the nervous barfs.” Violet grimaced.

Todd wandered through the racks and brushed his large body against Violet’s calves in a reassuring cuddle. She reached down to scratch behind his ears.

“Speaking of which, where’s your Prince Charming?” Lily flopped on the couch and turned on Violet’s TV.

“Helping at Gray’s flower farm, I think.” Violet’s stomach turned again.

She’d avoided Jack like the plague since their incident the other night. If she put in long hours at Bloom, she didn’t have to see him, and they wouldn’t have to talk about what happened between them.

And what it meant.

Or didn’t mean.

She hadn’t been that brazen with anyone before. It had been easier to be bold, knowing he’d be gone in six weeks. That it was all fake anyway.

Aaron grabbed her by the shoulders and marched her up the stairs.

“Ugh, you’re mean,” she groaned.

Aaron smiled as he smushed her cheeks in his hands. “You’re going to look fabulous. Let’s make your man candy drool.”

The following hour was a blur of fabric being pulled over Violet’s head, Shay scanning her with a thoughtful eye and then ripping it off her.

“Is this normal to go through so many options?” Violet asked as another one was tugged on. She hadn’t even bothered looking in the mirror yet.

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