Page 89 of Best Summer Ever

By the end of the day, Wynbrook Blooms had been launched online and I arrived in the village, eager to see Josh, and with a pile of flyers clutched in my hand.

‘Daisy!’ he beamed, when he opened the cottage door and found me standing there. ‘I was beginning to think you’d been a figment of my imagination.’

‘It hasn’t been that long,’ I laughed, though in the brief time we’d been apart, a lot had happened and I seemed to haveforgotten just how gorgeous he was. ‘But we definitely need to make up for lost time.’

My libido was certainly making its presence felt and I was eager to intimately reacquaint myself with him again as soon as possible.

‘Let’s go to the pub and catch up then,’ he suggested, stepping out of the cottage.

‘Not yet,’ I said, pulling him back inside. ‘I want to talk to you first… amongst other things… and I don’t think a packed pub would be the ideal place for any of it.’

He followed me back inside and I noticed the coffee table was full of books.

‘Is that Wynbrook?’ I frowned, recognising the black and white photograph which featured the back of the manor.

‘I’ve been genning up on the local area,’ Josh said, as he quickly closed the books and piled them together, before scooping them up. ‘I thought it might be nice to get to know something of the history of the place.’

‘Well,’ I said pointedly, as he put the books away, ‘if you do ever take up my offer to visit the estate, you can talk to Algy himself about that, can’t you?’

‘I’m sorry I couldn’t make it last night,’ he apologised, pulling me into his arms. ‘Did I miss anything good?’

‘Just a bit,’ I said, wriggling free and refusing to succumb to his kisses until I’d told him my thrilling news. ‘What do you make of this?’

I handed him a flyer and took a step away to better gauge his reaction.

‘Wynbrook Blooms,’ he read aloud. ‘I love the image.’

I’d set up some jars of various sizes, crammed them fullof the most prolific flowers the garden currently had and photographed them in the prettiest corner of the walled garden with bowls of strawberries and raspberries for extra decoration.

The image was cottagecore perfection and beneath it I’d listed prices for the size of each bunch and the garden opening times. I’d also bigged up the setting, the locally grown element and the fact that at Wynbrook, you could now pick up fruitandflowers. It was a dream combo as far as I was concerned and Nick had loved it when I had briefly stopped at the fruit farm and showed him too.

‘All my own work,’ I said to Josh proudly. ‘And talking of work…’

Gratifyingly, Josh hung on my every word as I explained about my new home, the new job and how gardening had long been a passion of mine, but one I’d abandoned as a result of my father’s interference in my future when I was an impressionable teen.

‘Your father sounds about as stubborn as mine,’ Josh pointed out when I’d finished telling him everything, but I couldn’t allow that.

Now Dad and I had cleared the air and I had a better understanding of why he’d blocked my desire to dig for a living all those years ago, I didn’t think badly of him at all.

‘In that case,’ said Josh, taking the flyers I was still holding and putting them on the table as he sat next to me after I’d explained, ‘it sounds to me as if your life is suddenly coming up roses, Daisy.’

‘It certainly is,’ I was more than happy to agree as I laughed at the pun. ‘Dream job, my own space, sexy summer fling…’

‘If I’m the fling you’re referring to,’ he said, seductively caressing my arm, ‘then I hope you’ll still have time for me.’

‘I’m going to do my best to squeeze you in,’ I told him, as my breath hitched while he slowly shifted to caress my neck.

‘I’m delighted to hear that,’ he smiled, looking deep into my eyes, ‘and while I’ve got you here, I’d love to make the most of the moment, if now would be a good time to… squeeze me in.’

By the time we left the cottage again, most of the shops were shut. I was able to leave a bundle of flyers in the village store and made a note that the shop’s owner had asked if Wynbrook Blooms would be able to supply small bunches of flowers for them to sell.

I hadn’t said yes as I didn’t want to deter visitors from visiting the garden, but I knew Nick kept the store in summer fruit, so I promised I would think about it. It might end up being a contract to pursue the following year as for now, I needed to make sure I had enough flowers to satisfy demand this summer. Assuming there was going to be some, of course.

‘If you leave a load of flyers with me,’ Josh kindly offered as we walked back to the pub, ‘I’ll go around and drop them in the shops for you tomorrow, if you like.’

‘You would?’

‘Of course,’ he said. ‘And I’ll take some to the café for Penny too. I want to see this venture succeed every bit as much as you do.’

---