Page 92 of The Floral Arrangement

“Not exactly.”

Fred’s eyes darted between me and Olivia. “I don’t actually care when the two of you started dating, but it’s beginning to feel like there’s something else going on and you haven’t been totally honest with me.”

Olivia and I looked at each other.We have to tell him the truth.She gave me a tiny nod.

“We did meet back in October, but we didn’t keep in touch. It was only when I moved back here that we reconnected and in the last few weeks we started dating—casually,” I said, my heart beating fast.

“You’re telling me you were lying about being together?” Fred stared at me.

“I’m sorry, Fred,” Olivia said. “It’s all my fault. You see, when I?—”

Fred’s nostrils flared. “I trusted you. Both of you. I don’t know what you were playing at, but finding out you were lying about your relationship is just…” Fred ran his hand through his hair. “Honestly, it’s baffling.”

“I’m sorry, we?—”

Fred pressed his lips together, shaking his head. “I’m out. I can’t go into business with someone I don’t trust. If you’re comfortable lying about this, what else will you lie about?” He stared at me, a mixture of anger and hurt swirling in his eyes. “I really thought you were better than this, Roz.”

“Look, I know it sounds weird, but I didn’t intentionally set out to deceive you. We?—”

Fred shook his head again. “I don’t want to hear any more excuses. The deal is off.”

CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE

OLIVIA

“Shit!”Roz slammed her hand on her study desk. She’d spent the afternoon in her study, poring over the farm’s finances, her lips pressed into a tight line.

“Should we try calling Fred again? If he’d just let us explain…”

Roz shook her head. “We’ve left two voicemails. We can’t keep harassing him. At this rate, he’ll block my number.”

I slumped back on the couch. What else could we do? I didn’t blame Fred for his reaction. He was right—trust was critical for successful business relationships and we’d completely blown up his faith in us.

“We’re fucked,” Roz announced, snapping her laptop shut. “I’ve already spent more money than I have on the basis Fred’s funding was coming through. I’ll have to dig into my 401(k) to pay my employees’ wages at this point.”

My stomach dropped.Damn. Things really were bad.

Roz lowered her eyes to her desk. “I’ll have to take immediate action to have any chance of keeping the farm afloat.”

My shoulders tensed. The combination of Roz avoiding eye contact and the wordsimmediate actionsent a chill down my spine. “Like what?”

She raised her eyes.Oh no.

“I’m sorry Liv, but I’m going to have to shut down the flower farm operations.” My lungs squeezed.No. No. No.“I’ll do my best to honor all the weddings you’ve committed to and we’ll keep the flowers going until the spring festival, but once that’s done we’ll need to stop ASAP. They are just too labor intensive and fixing the greenhouse in time for the cooler weather will cost too much. If I can lease the fields out, then at least I’ll have some money coming in and that will free up Dana and our seasonal workers to focus on preparing for fall.”

I swallowed, trying to dislodge the enormous lump in my throat and failing miserably. “There has to be another way. Couldn’t you lease out the land the corn maze and pumpkin patch is on instead, or the Christmas trees or something?” My voice was an octave higher than usual.

“The fall festivities are one of the farm’s highest-grossing activities. They bring crowds of people to the farm. I can’t afford to lose them. I’m sorry. I don’t want to do this, Liv, but it’s my only chance of keeping the farm afloat. And even then, I don’t think we’ll make it past winter.”

My mind whirred. There had to be another way. “What about finding another investor or lender? Surely there’s someone else out there.”

Roz shook her head. “The banks wouldn’t lend to me and I’ve exhausted all the connections I have.”

I exhaled, wracking my brain. Did I know any rich people?

The memory of Marie and Frank’s gigantic house on their sprawling property came into focus.Roz’s parents. Why hadn’t I thought of them before? “What about your parents? I mean, they were lawyers for years. Surely they have a shitload of money?”

“No.” Roz ran a hand through her hair.

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