Page 13 of From Asher, With Love

Selene’s shoulders sag in relief as her eyes drop to the paper cup in front of her. Quickly, she wraps her hand around it and immediately brings it to her mouth. She takes a sip, then places it next to the computer.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“We are completely booked up for the next two months. Like,completely.”

I bite back a laugh. Being completely booked is a great thing, but something in the way Selene’s voice is laced with panic tells me there’s a ‘but’ coming.

“That’s great,” I say cautiously. “But…”

Her emerald eyes search around the room before landing on me again. “I’m not sure we have enough stock to hold on to the orders. We have the wedding coming up for the Motleys, then the week after, we have the gala for the art museum. Maybe we overbooked?” She flips through the open calendar on the front desk. “Every single day is taken.”

“Oh, no.” I place my palm against my forehead and lookaround my flower shop. My hands grow clammy as panic sets in. “I don’t think we overbooked, but you’re right. We should be happy that every day is filled, but this isn’t good.” This place is too small, and as more time passes, I’m finding more and more reasons why I need a larger shop. This place was inexpensive when I first bought it. At first, business was slow, but it seemed to take only months for me to have an event nearly every few weeks. Now, Selene and I are struggling to keep up with the demand.

The problem is, I want the large events. I want to be the florist who works for high-end clients. But I know I can’t do that if I’m stuck within the limited confines of these four walls.

I sigh and press my palms flat onto the desk, eager for a solution. “Do we have any room in the refrigerators in the back?” There are only three small commercial refrigerators located in the front of the store, but those are reserved for clients who come in on the spur of the moment, not for large catering events.

“Not if we’re going to store flowers for both events,” Selene answers, tucking her wavy, blonde hair behind her ears. She sounds just as worried as I feel.

“I’m sure we’ll figure it out.” I place my hand on her arm, hoping to reassure her. I’m projecting far less worry than I feel, but it’s the only response I have in me before completely melting down. “Don’t worry.”

As if on cue, Julianna walks in through the front door. The bell above it clinks several times as her heels click across the floor. She’s the CEO of her own interior design firm, and her office is only a few blocks away from mine, so I’m not entirely surprised to see her. But I do wonder where she finds the time to stop by a few days a week to help trim some of the flowers or refill their water.

“Julianna.” I smile, hoping Selene and I can dissolve the fear lingering in the air. “Feeling better?”

“Better?” Selene asks, her attention darting to Julianna.

She waves her hand, scrunching her nose. “I had a bout of food poisoning last night, but I’m all better now.”

“Gross.” Selene makes a disgusted expression before fussing with the single-wrapped roses we have for sale on the counter next to the register.

“It was awful,” Julianna says.

“Did Taron come over like he promised?” I ask, anticipating her response. I keep waiting for the moment she’ll give up on him and realize he’s a complete and utter dick. So far, no luck.

“No.” She frowns before shooting me a pointed look. “And before either of you say anything about him bailing, he didn’tpromisehe would come over.”

“Okay.” Selene sighs, resting her elbows on the counter. She’s still fussing with the twine wrapped around a rose. “But when your boyfriend says he’s going to bring you stuff to make you feel better, I think it’s safe to assume he’ll actually go through with it. Just because he didn’t use the word ‘promise’ doesn’t mean you should give him a pass.”

Julianna waves her hand in the air as if the room suddenly smells foul. “I know, I know. I still need to figure out what’s going on between Taron and me, but I didn’t come down here to talk about me.”

The glimmer in her blue eyes shifts toward me. Her mouth curls into a grin, and I can tell she’s wanting me to dish what happened between Asher and me. So far, I’ve ignored her prying texts about our meeting.

I smirk, avoiding the topic of Asher just as hard as she’s avoiding the topic of her doomed relationship. “We’re actually kind of swamped at the moment.”

“Oh.” Julianna’s eyes fall to Selene’s hands picking at the heart tag cut out of paper. My signature for every bouquet. “Anything I can help you with?”

I open my mouth to answer her, but Selene beats me to it.

“I was just filling Charleigh in on the next few months. We’re completely booked, and I’m afraid we don’t have enough space to hold the inventory.”

I nervously bite the inside of my cheek.

“I think Charleigh is afraid to admit we’re in over our heads.”

I gape at Selene before turning to Julianna. “We arenotin over our heads.”

From the corner of my eye, Selene mouths,“We are,”to Julianna, giving her a small nod.

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