Page 35 of The Floral Arrangement

“You need to use the handbrake!” Olivia yelled.

I squeezed the levers on the handlebars just as the bike collided into the sign. My body jerked forward. For a second, I looked straight into the cow’s beady eyes, and then I was falling through the air. I closed my eyes and braced myself for impact. But the painfully hard landing I’d expected was not forthcoming. Had I landed on a strategically placed futon or something? An unpleasantly sweet scent tickled my noise. My eyelids fluttered open. Purple flowers framed Olivia’s concerned face, which was peering down at me.

“Are you okay? Thank goodness you landed on the violets and not a rock. Hopefully they cushioned your fall.”

“I’m fine,” I said abruptly, still reeling from the shock. “The foot brakes weren’t working.” I glared at the bike that was laying next to me.

Olivia frowned. “Adult bikes don’t usually have foot brakes.”

Heat rushed up my neck.How embarrassing. I grabbed her outstretched hand and stood up, brushing dirt off my black leggings.

“A dairy?” I asked, inspecting the large white sign for damage. Thankfully, it seemed to have survived the impact unscathed, as had the bike. The violets I’d landed on were, however, looking worse for wear. Not that I was bothered by the demise of the flowers. Their scent lingered on me. I narrowed my eyes at them.

“Don’t worry, the violets should bounce back,” Olivia said.

“I’m not worried.” I wrinkled my nose, which seemed to have been irritated by something—most likely those damn violets.

“And yes, it’s a dairy,” Olivia continued. “I’ve had a craving for their quark.”

I picked up my bike, balancing it against Olivia’s. What the hell was quark? The purpose of this trip was to research my competitors, not eat bizarre-sounding dairy products.

Olivia swung her handbag over her shoulder. “But I didn’t just bring you here to buy incredible cheese. As I’m sure you know, they also have a large wedding venue in the old creamery building.”

“Yes, I remember,” I said, even though my recollection was hazy.

I rubbed my nose, which was still decidedly itchy, and then followed Olivia as she bounced up a brick path toward a white-washed stone cottage. Her dress highlighted her curves, the fabric belt clinging to her waist before the skirt flared out at her hips, ending at her knees. My eyes dropped to her slender calves.

“I signed us up for a tour of the dairy so you can get a good feel for the place.” Olivia turned to me.

Heat rushed up my face as I yanked my gaze from her legs. “Oh. Thank you.” That was… nice of Olivia.Don’t take it personally. She’s just looking out for Sapphire Blooms.

We entered the cottage which had been converted into a small store and café. Olivia walked to the counter.

“Hi, Will.”

A middle-aged man with short red hair and a large bushy red beard grinned at her. “Hi, Olivia! You here for more quark?”

“Well, yes. But we’re also here for a farm tour. This is my… This is Roz.”

Will, looking down at a piece of paper, didn’t seem to notice Olivia’s stumble. We hadn’t discussed whether we’d pretend to be a couple while on our field trip. I frowned. Yet another thing I hadn’t thought through fully.You need to step up your game, Roz.

“Oh, great. Yep, we’ve got you down. No one else has signed up today, so it’s just the two of you.” Will clapped his hands.“Should we get started?”

“Sounds fantastic.” Olivia twisted on her feet to follow Will.

Will led us past tractors, the milking parlor and large concrete tower silos for storing feed as he explained the workings of a dairy farm. It was surprisingly interesting. That was probably a good thing. I was a farmer now, after all. When we reached the cows grazing in the pastures, I kept a safe distance from their powerful hooves.

On the way back, Will led us to a barn. “And now we’ve come to the most popular part of the tour.”

An enormous black-and-white cow munched on hay in the middle of the barn. I looked around, my eyebrows pinched. The cow appeared to be roaming freely. Will strode up to her and stroked her back.

“This is Clara. She’s a gorgeous girl. Roz, would you like to have the first go?”

“First go?” I asked, eyeing Clara’s gigantic barrel-like torso and muscular legs.

Will gestured to a small wooden stool next to Clara’s swollen pink udders. I took a step back.Oh god. He wants me to milk this bovine monstrosity?

“Oh, no, I don’t think that will be necessary,” I said, clutching the straps of my backpack. “Unless Olivia wants to try it, I’m happy to skip this part of the tour.”

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