Page 7 of A Future in Blossom

Rose lifted a hand. “Not now, honey. When I return, we’ll all have a good long talk. For now, Tessa, keep your focus on the future.”

Holding on to the porch rail, she came down the steps to wrap her arms around Tessa, the way she used to. No one hugged like Rose. It triggered something deep down in Tessa and sobs welled up. Big, huge, gasping sobs. Rose just kept holding her, patting her back until Chris started the engine to his obnoxious Mustang.

Rose released her but held on to her shoulders. “My chariot awaits.”

Tessa watched Chris help Rose into the car, treating her like she was spun sugar so tenderly that she batted his hands away. The familiar interaction between them made Tessa smile, then laugh. She felt so lighthearted! Rose had forgiven her.

She waved as the obnoxious Mustang pulled out of the driveway and roared down the street. It occurred to her that she had no idea where Rose was going, but she hoped it was a lovely vacation on a warm beach. Rose deserved it. “Lord,” Tessa prayed as the car disappeared around the corner, “watch over her.” Short, to the point, because praying was new for Tessa. Dawson said not to overthink it, just to do it, especially in those moments when things were beyond her pay grade. She hopped on her Vespa and plopped her helmet on her head.

A flower farm was waiting for her.

five

One person’s weed is another person’s wildflower.

—Susan Wittig Albert

JAIME

Liam McMillan was right about a lot of things—Jaime knew the bride’s mother well enough to know what she would like. Lavish, extravagant, gaudy, over-the-top. Jaime sat in a coffee shop with a pad of paper, trying to think of a venue site for the Opposite Wedding.

So what would an opposite wedding in winter look like? If it were any other season, she would look for some suitable place outdoors. A park. A lakefront. A mountain summit. But in winter? Weather was unpredictable. The guests might freeze or get sunburned.

“I’ll tell youwhat,” Jaime said, talking to herself. “One trait this daughter shares with her mother is a desire to make a wedding as difficult and complicated as it can possibly be.”

She had tried calling Rose to see if she had any ideas, but it went straight to voicemail, which meant her phone was turned off. Sofrustrating and so frequent. Jaime had had such little interaction with Rose since she’d been back in Sunrise; it was like Rose had already handed off the business. The shop was twice the size that it was before the fire, space was nicely designed and equipment had been updated, and the business had grown right along with the square footage. Claire’s arrival had been a huge help. She had a tremendous work ethic—she arrived early, stayed late, and managed the day-to-day operations of the shop like a pro.

Hanging over Jaime and Claire was the question of who would take over the shop. Rose wasn’t ready to discuss it. Frankly, to discuss much of anything. She’d made it clear that she didn’t want anyone talking about the fire and that August night until Tessa returned and all three girls were together. So Jaime and Claire avoided the topic and ran the flower shop ... waiting for Rose’s next step.

Jaime often wondered if coming back had been the right thing. Was she going backward in life? Other than being in love with her boss and pining away for him, and other than a pandemic that shut New York City down, she had been happy. Fairly happy. Maybe a little lonely. A little socially disconnected from just about every other New Yorker.

Apart from fearing she had slipped backward in her floral artistry career, Jaime was enjoying Sunrise and the parts of small-town living that she had missed. Spending time with her sweet mama, feeling safe and cared for in this town where everybody knew each other’s business. She was glad she could help Rose—she owed her more than she could ever give back to her. And while it might not look like it on a résumé, she had taken on more responsibility for weddings and special events in the last five months than she ever could’ve at Epic. Liam was a bit of a micromanager. Rose used to hover like Liam, but no longer. She had been hands off from the day Jaime set foot in the shop. Frankly, she was just off, in general. Jaime hardly saw her. Most of the time, she didn’t even know where Rose was. Like now.

“Jaime.”

She was sipping her coffee and looked up when she heard her name, then nearly choked at the sight of Tessa Anderson, standing in front of her. As soon as she stopped coughing, she said, “You’ve come back.” She rose to her feet, not really knowing what to do or say, until Tessa reached out to give her an awkward hug. “Sit down. Please.”

Tessa pulled out the chair across from Jaime. “You’ve done so well for yourself, Jaime. I, um, I’ve followed you on Instagram. Epic Events, I mean.”

Jaime smiled, still uncomfortable. She couldn’t believe she was sitting down with Tessa after seven years. She looked just as beautiful as she did in high school, though different somehow. Maybe a little thinner. No, not thinner. Leaner, like she worked out a lot.

Jaime never worked out.

She couldn’t shake her nervousness. It was the same way she’d felt the day Claire walked into the flower shop and grabbed an apron and started to work. Like she felt as if she had traveled back in time. Like she wanted to shout,What is happening here?

Rose. That’s what was happening. “Rose did what she set out to do. She got us all back in Sunrise to run the shop. Claire’s there now.” Jaime could tell by the look on Tessa’s face that she already knew about Claire’s return.

“I’m not here to run the flower shop, Jaime. That’s for you and Claire to work out.”

“You have just as much right to it as we do.”

“I don’t, actually. Because I don’t want it. That’s not why I’m back in Sunrise.” She took in a deep breath, as if bracing herself. “I bought some land. Cleared some land, actually, and we’re going to turn it into a flower farm. That’s what we had done in Asheville. But we sold the farm—long story—and came to Sunrise to start another one.”

Jaime tipped her head. “We?”

“My ... farm manager, Dawson Greene. He’s the brains behind the operation.”

The slight softening in Tessa’s voice as she mentioned Dawson’s name made Jaime think he might be more than a farm manager. Tessa never had any trouble attracting the opposite sex. No ma’am, none at all. It was part of the Tessa-spell. She had an aloofness, a detachment, that drove high school boys crazy. Grown men too. Jaime squeezed her hands into fists in her lap. That was then and this was now. And speaking of now ... “I suppose that since you’re back, Rose will finally gather us together for that conversation she’s been waiting to have.”

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