Page 37 of The Floral Arrangement

I sat in shock, my eyes firmly closed, as the milk dripped down my face and soaked into my clothes.

My jaw tightened. I knew this was a terrible idea.

“Shit!” Will exclaimed. “Olivia, can you grab that cloth over there?”

A furious stomping noise made me flinch.

Will’s voice dropped to a more soothing tone. “Hey, Clara. It’s okay, girl.”

A cloth was shoved into my hands. Once I’d wiped my face as best I could, I opened my eyes, stood up and looked down. I was drenched. The rich, creamy, slightly sweet scent permeated the air around me.

At least Clara was now secured by a rope in the corner of the barn.

Will turned his attention to me. “I’ll run and get you another towel.”

“Well, that sneeze was quite something,” Olivia said, one eyebrow raised. “I’m pretty sure it startled cows from New Jersey to Albany.”

I glared at Olivia through milky eyelashes before wiping my face again. “I have a powerful sneeze.” I winced at the defensive tone in my voice.

Olivia’s lips twitched and suddenly a laugh threatened to erupt from my mouth. I pressed my lips firmly together and glared at her. God, she was infuriating.

“Here you are,” Will said as he jogged back into the barn with two towels.

As I patted myself down, Olivia turned to Will. “Is it okay if we look inside the event space before we leave? Roz is thinking of building one herself and wanted to see what else is around.”

I shot daggers at Olivia. What the hell was she thinking?

“Of course,” Will said smiling, apparently unperturbed by the prospect of more competition. “Are you okay now, Roz?”

“Yes. Thank you,” I said, glancing down at the wet towels in my hand.

“Just leave the towels on the table. I’ll get them later.”

We followed Will out of the barn toward a much larger barn that was painted blue with white trimmings. My feet squelched in my shoes as I walked.

“This is an 1840 Dutch dairy barn that we repurposed as a wedding venue. It fits around two hundred people,” Will said.

“It’s gorgeous,” I said as he swung open the large barn door, revealing rustic wooden beams and a soaring ceiling. “If you don’t mind me asking, do you get many bookings?”

Will grinned. “Yep, we’re booked out pretty much all year, except winter.”

We wandered around the barn, the smell of sweet milk following me.

“If you don’t have any more questions, we can head back to the store now and do a milk and cheese tasting,” Will said.

I held back a shudder—the last thing I felt like was dairy when my clothes still clung to my skin with it—and plastered a smile on my face. After Will had been so friendly, I didn’t want to come across as ungrateful. “That sounds great.”

Five minutes later we were back at the store, sitting at one of the small wooden tables next to a window overlooking the front lawn. Our bikes were still where we’d left them, leaning against the tree near the path.

“First, we’ll do a milk tasting.” Will appeared holding two wooden paddles with three shot glasses of milk balanced on each one. “We have cow, goat and sheep’s milk. Now, if you’re at all competitive”—he eyed me—“and I’m sensing you are, can you guess which is which?”

I stared at the shot glasses, my stomach turning.

“Sounds fun!” Olivia snatched up the first shot glass. “Are you ready, Roz?”

“Sure.” I swallowed.

I reached out for the glass and raised it to my mouth. A strong, tangy scent hit me. I winced but forced myself to take a tentative sip.

---