Page 15 of A Field of Beauty

That was his typical response to her ideas. “Yes, but good work. The kind that improves our profit. The kind that makes peoplehappy. Did you know that cut flowers raise people’s feelings of compassion?”

“Where’d you read that?”

He always questioned her sources. “A Harvard University Medical School study done by a psychologist. She found that having fresh-cut flowers in the home for even a few days had a positive effect on people. They said they felt less anxious and worried.” Tessa lifted her hands in the air. “See? Flowers work miracles. Say ... maybe we should call the events ‘Flower Power.’” She grinned. “So what do you think?”

“I think this is all sounding like work and it’s Sunday and I have to go or I’ll be late.”

“Late to what?”

“Church.”

“Yougo to church?”

“Yes, ma’am. Every Sunday.”

That was completely new information to her. Or had she just not noticed? She knew he didn’t cuss, she had never seen him drink alcohol or talk about it, and he’d never mentioned women the way guys her age did. She knew he was honest as the day was long. She thought of the subtle comments he would make, like after they’d make an order for flower tubers or bulbs or seeds, and Tessa would say, “This time next spring, think of all those flowers!” Only to have Dawson quickly add, “Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise.”

She’d thought he was just being Southern. Maybe he wasn’t. Maybe it’s what he really believed. How many times had Dawson looked over the blooms in the flower fields, his hands on his hips, a satisfied look on his face. And then he would say, “And why do you worry? See how the flowers of the field grow. Not even King Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.”

Too many times to count.

She looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. How had she missed the signals? Dawson Greene was religious. As she staredat him, she could feel by the weight of the air between them that something had changed.

“Church is where I first met Lovey.”

You what?!Lovey went to church? To Dawson’s church? Tessa had to check this out.

He lifted his hand in a wave and started toward his truck.

“Hold on! Dawson, wait. Wait for me. I’m coming too!”

eight

A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and a man cannot live without love.

—Max Müller

Dawson’s church was nothing like the traditional church Tessa had grown up in. His church met in a junior high gym, peopledrank coffeeas they sat on the metal folding chairs, and there was abandwarming up on the stage, with adrummer.

Tessa couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone to church. It struck her that it might have been when her family had still lived in Atlanta. They’d been fairly regular churchgoers, like most good Southerners, but when it was convenient. Never in the summers in Sunrise. And when they did go to church, it stayed in its Sunday compartment.

Tessa’s mother would flip out at a drummer in church. Probably walk straight out. There are just times when things go too far, she would say. Tessa thought her dad might enjoy it. He was a little more open to new ideas than her mom.

And more surprises came. Everyone knew Dawson, young andold, and they oohed and aahed over his freshly shaven look, and he seemed to enjoy the attention. Yes, ma’am. Dawson Greene, laughing and smiling and joking. Wonders never ceased.

Lovey was serving coffee in the back, standing next to a large vase full of purple chrysanthemum flowers that looked a little weary, as if they were bought last night from a grocery store. Tessa noticed because Lovey’s hair color matched the blooms. When Lovey spotted Tessa, she gave her a little wave, and blew a kiss at Dawson. “Do you want coffee, honey? You look like you could use it.”

Apparently, she meant Tessa. “I’d better not,” she said. She’d already had a cup or two before Dawson had shown up at the farm. Her emotions were already overly wired this morning. She turned to Dawson. “But don’t let me stop you.”

“I never drink the stuff. Poison to your nervous system.”

“Right. That’s why most everyone in the world loves coffee.”

“They don’t realize they’re addicted to it.”

Please!Dawson. So negative.

And then suddenly Dawson’s attention turned to the stage, and he left her with Lovey while he went to join the musicians.

---