Page 44 of Poinsettia Lane

Frankie slips around Everly to get to the front window where there’s a wide ledge holding knick knacks and a couple other plants. Moving around a few of the items, they make space and shove the potted poinsettia into the mix, re-shuffling a few of the smaller things and then stepping back to assess their work.

“Looks good," Asim says.

“Looksperfect.” Frankie beams at them and bounces over.

“Thanks for thinking of me," they say, enveloping Everly in one of their signature over-the-top engulfing hugs. She squeezes her friend back, her heart happy and a grin taking over her face.

“So, you two want to stick around? Tea and Chaga,” they point to each of them respectively as they name their preferred drinks, “on the house.”

Everly glances up at Asim, a question in her eyes. She’d love to stay and for them to get to know each other a little more, but she isn’t sure what his plans look like for the rest of the day.

“Sounds good, I’d love to," Asim says, and Everly bites her bottom lip in an attempt to hold in what feels like a very silly, very giddy smile.

They spend some time hanging out, the three of them talking about their day and getting acquainted with each other. Frankie asks where else they’ve stopped by with flowers, which is when Everly realizes that both Frankie and Asim are huge town gossips. Frankie learned long ago that Everly couldn’t care less, and they gave up trying to talk to her about any of the goings-on in town, but to her consternation, Asim knows nearly as much about everyone’s business as Frankie.

They swap stories, Frankie leaning forward with their elbows on their knees while Asim animatedly speaks with his hands, and Everly relaxes back into the soft leather seat, sipping her tea and eyeing them with amusement.

Sooner than she’d like, Frankie has to get back to work, so Everly and Asim stand up to leave, thanking them for the drinks and exchanging hugs. Asim holds the door open for her, then slips his hand around hers as they walk back to the parking lot. Everly swings their hands a little, her heart dancing when he glances down and winks at her, a cozy half smile tilting his lips.

With the truck now empty, Everly has a new sense of accomplishment, with a hefty dose of contentment curling around her heart as well. It fills her chest to bursting, but not in a scary way like the anxiety does. She feels proud of what they’ve done, and more fulfilled than she has in years. Part of her is tempted to minimize this experience, to say it wasn’t that much and isn’t really a big deal. The other part of her, the part that has been breaking out of its shell, the part that hears Carrie's voice on her shoulder, tells her to embrace it and that it was a purposeful step forward. That it’s okay to feel good, to be proud, and to acknowledge that today has been meaningful for her.

Everly holds her shoulders back and tips her face into the sun, closing her eyes with a smile and letting the wind whip through her hair on the drive back to her house.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

THE LANDSCAPING IS nearly done, and Everly anticipates it’ll be finished with another day or two of work. Asim is on the lower level digging out the final large hole for the hummingbird bush, and she’s up top filling in the last of the smaller ones. Once they have these done, there are only a few of the small to medium sized plants left to finish up on the lower terrace. She’s wearing another new outfit today; loose cutoff jean shorts that show off her legs, and a light yellow cotton work shirt, loose and fluttery around her curves. As usual, Everly has her hair braided back underneath her sun hat, and she’s wearing her gardening gloves and boots.

Asim looks as delicious as always in his fitted work jeans and a t-shirt that might as well be painted on, the tattoos curling down his forearm taunting her. It’s truly a sin that she isn’t able to spend all her time admiring him, but alas, someone has to finish this up and he’s already said he will only do it if she helps. So Everly grumbles under her breath, turning her focus back to the dirt in front of her rather than the dirt on his delectable backside.

“What was that?” Asim sits back on his knees, and Everly loses her view anyways.

“Nothing!” Luckily, Everly’s face is already flushed from working in the sun. Asim’s been flirting with her relentlessly today, and it hasn’t escaped her notice that he seems to delight in making her blush.

“Mhm.” Asim narrows his eyes at her, then turns back to filling dirt in around the hummingbird bush. “I thinkwe can finish up with the planting today.”

Everly is more than ready to be done sweating, but a twinge pinches her stomach at his words. It’s so easy to be around him, and working together is strangely soothing to her soul; she’s slightly terrified of what happens after, if they’ll still have this connection or spend time together.

She’s been trying to avoid the slew of anxious thoughts that have been threatening her the last few days. They primarily revolve around this topic, of what will happen once they finish this project. Will she still see him every week? Will their dynamic change? Will he enjoy spending time with her if they aren’t doing something he clearly loves? Her breath turns shallow as her thoughts start to race, questioning what—if anything—they have between them while a cramp in her chest makes it even harder to breathe.

“And once everything is planted, then what?” she asks, hoping the tremor in her voice doesn’t betray how confused and fragile she feels inside while her mind continues to race.

“You’ll need some sort of ground cover. Mulch or rock, something like that to fill in between and help maintain the moisture under the soil.” Asim pauses, eyes sweeping over the lower terrace around him. “So we’ll get that sorted out.”

Everly barely hears him, hardly recognizes that he’s speaking and she certainly doesn’t process his words. She’s entirely focused on her breathing, trying to get it back under control and stopping her thoughts from swirling to darker and darker places. Forcing herself to surface, to come back to the present moment, she glances up just as his voice starts to register as actual words that she understands.

“Then that’s it, we’re done," he says.

Everly freezes; her entire body locks up.Then what?That’s it. We’re done. The words ricochet around her head and she feels the blood drain from her face as he confirms every horrible thought she’s been avoiding, the ones she was just trying to pull herself away from.

We’re done.

We’re done.

Asim stands and dusts his hands off, having finished with the hummingbird bush, and looks over at her. His eyes flare wide and he leaps onto the top terrace next to her, placing a hand on her forehead.

“Everly, are you okay? You’re pale as death, do you need water? Something to eat?” Asim asks.

She doesn't respond.