Page 71 of The Floral Arrangement

I grabbed our empty plates from the table. “Would you like a coffee or tea?”

“A coffee would be lovely, thank you,” Fred said.

“No problem.” I ducked back into the kitchen, put our plates in the dishwasher and began opening cupboards, looking for a mug. Plates. Glasses.Aha, mugs. I grabbed a large one.

Now, where would Roz keep her coffee... I scanned the kitchen, my gaze falling on a large, shiny black espresso machine with an Italian-sounding name.Hmmm. I hadn’t noticed it in Roz’s kitchen earlier this morning. I’d clearly been too distracted by… the eggs and bacon. I stepped forward, examining it more closely. It had a lot of knobs and buttons, none of which were clearly marked. I frowned. Surely Roz had a French press or drip around? Even some instant coffee would do. I opened more cupboards, locating a stash of dark chocolate and a container of ground coffee, as well as a number of standard kitchen utensils, but nothing that would enable me to make coffee without using Roz’s machine. I walked back to it, pulled out my phone and Googled the name of the machine. Surely, there would be an instruction manual online?

Aha! I clicked on a link that looked promising and zoomed in on the PDF document that opened. My stomach sank. It was in Italian.

I pressed my lips together. Why had I volunteered to make Fred coffee? I couldn’t very well go back out to the deck and announce I didn’t know how to use Roz’s espresso maker. That wouldn’t be in keeping with our claimed relationship history.

I went back to the search results, my eyes widening as I saw its price. Three thousand euros. Good lord. I kept scrolling down, only finding instruction manuals in Italian. Had Roz imported the damn thing from Italy? No wonder her coffee tasted so amazing.

I sighed and turned my attention back to the coffee machine.You can do this.I pressed the power button on and the machine lit up. Good. I placed the coffee cup under the machine and pressed a random button. The machine whirred to life. Okay, that sounded promising. Water started dripping out of the machine and into the cup. I peered into it, my brow furrowing. It was very watery. Once the liquid reached two-thirds of the way up the mug, I turned off the machine and studied the mug’s contents.Hmmm. Perhaps if I added some milk it would look more like an actual coffee. I opened Roz’s fridge, grabbed a gallon of milk and poured some in. It still didn’t look great. I grabbed a soup spoon from a drawer, dipped it in the mug, sipped from the spoon and winced.Ugh. It was like warm, slightly milky water with dirt in it. I couldn’t serve this to Fred. I poured it down the sink and rinsed the mug.

Sweat pricked my armpits. I didn’t have all day to press every button on the damn machine. I needed Roz. I leaned against the counter, my mind ticking over, then walked back out to the deck.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I’m having a few issues with the coffee machine. Roz, would you mind giving me a hand?” Okay, that sounded casual and believable. Good work.

Roz jumped up. “Of course.”

“I don’t have a clue what to do,” I muttered as soon as we were in the kitchen and out of earshot.

“Ah, yes. Do you want one too?” Roz reached for the mug.

I shook my head. “I’m all good, thanks.”

Roz pulled a handle thing out of the machine and emptied it, opened the cupboard, pulled out the container of ground coffee, refilled the handle, pressed a few buttons and before long, the machine was humming and a steady golden stream of coffee poured into the mug.

“There you go. I’ll let you hand it to Fred.”

Our fingers touched as Roz handed me the mug, sending warmth shooting down my arm.

“Do you think he’s made his decision?” I murmured.

“Yes. He just told me that’s why he’s here.”

Our eyes locked and the enormity of the situation sank in. The moment we’d been working toward for the last two weeks was finally happening. The future of Sapphire Blooms and Red Tractor Farm would be revealed any minute. My stomach fluttered with nerves.

We walked back outside together and sat back down on the wicker chairs. I handed Fred his mug.

Two small children ran past, screaming with excitement, a man jogging after them. Despite my nerves, I managed a smile. The farm was open for business.

Fred took a sip of his coffee and leaned forward. “So, as I was saying to Roz, I’ve reached a decision about the investment.”

I clutched my mug, my heart pounding, and took a steadying breath.Oh god.

“And I’ve decided that I’d love to come on board as an investor.” Fred beamed at us.

My heart leaped.“That’s fantastic news!”

Blinking away happy tears, I placed my mug on the table before I splashed it all over me in excitement.

“I’m so happy to hear that, Fred.” Roz was smiling ear-to-ear. “I won’t let you down.”

I fought the urge to jump up and fling my arms around her. We’d done it. Sapphire Blooms was saved. The farm was saved.Thank god.

A ring tone sounded. Fred pulled his phone out of his pocket and frowned at the screen.

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