Page 75 of The Little Flower Shop By the Sea
Eventually I’d managed to persuade her this was something she could do – and do well – and we’d had a preliminary meeting with the bride to discuss her requirements.
This afternoon Katie’s back with her groom, Jonathan, to discuss the designs Amber has come up with for the wedding, and to confirm how many flowers will be required – plus the all-important cost.
‘So,’ Amber says as we wait for them to arrive, and she puts the finishing touches to a birthday arrangement for a grandmother of pale pink roses, meaning grace, and white lilies, meaning majesty. ‘What’s happening with you and lover boy?’
I roll my eyes as I watch her. Since Marie’s visit, Amber has been quite open about her use of the flower books for guidance in her arrangements, and she will happily inform me which flowers she’s using and why. The science of it – I preferred to call it that rather than magic – was fascinating, but I still preferred to let Amber deal with the actual arranging of the flowers. I wasn’t ready to be that hands-on just yet, even though I had to admit I was finding being in the shop much easier these days.
‘I assume you mean Ash?’ I reply, pretending to be aghast. ‘We’ve only been on one date!’
‘But what along, and if I might say, verynoisydate that was.’ Amber winks as she places her final stem into the green oasis holding her arrangement in place.
I blush. ‘He says he’ll call me, if you must know.’
‘Ooh, like “I can’twaitto see you again” call you? Or “I’ll see ya around” call you?’
‘I guess the first. But —’ I cut Amber off before she can say anything. ‘It’s not anything serious. Ash isn’t that kind of guy, and I’m not interested in anything too heavy right now.’
Amber shrugs. ‘OK, if you say so.’ But as she swivels the arrangement round on the desk to check it, she murmurs, ‘Not with Ash, anyway.’
‘What did you say?’
‘Nothing!’ she sings. ‘Oh look, here’s our bride and groom, I’ll just take this out back.’
Katie and Jonathan appear in the doorway of the shop, and I go over to greet them.
‘Hello,’ I say, shaking Katie’s hand. ‘And you must be the happy groom,’ I say to a not-too-happy-looking Jonathan, who shakes my hand dismally. ‘Is everything all right?’ I ask as they sit down on the chairs we’ve placed in a corner of the shop for our meeting. ‘You seem worried.’
Katie looks at Jonathan as if she’s going to burst into tears.
‘The wedding is going to have to be cancelled!’ she says, fighting back tears as Amber appears from the back room and hurries to join us. ‘Our perfect day is off.’
‘No, it’s not, darling.’ Jonathan puts his arm around Katie and tries to console her. ‘Not yet anyway,’ he says to us.
‘But why?’ I ask. ‘What’s happened?’
‘The hotel has had a mix-up with our booking,’ Jonathan explains, while Katie sniffs on his shoulder. ‘They say they can’t hold our wedding on that day because they already have another wedding booked. The other couple take priority because they paid their deposit first.’
‘They can’t just cancel you altogether,’ I insist. ‘Surely they can offer you another date instead?’
Katie shakes her head sadly. ‘Not anything that works for us. It’s either midweek or much later in the year – they’re fully booked. That’s why we wanted to hold our perfect day there, because they have such a great reputation. Plus their grounds are absolutely stunning, it would have been perfect for our photos.’
‘It happens,’ Amber says. ‘When I was at the florist’s in New York, we had a couple who got double-booked at the Plaza! Can you imagine a hotel like that double-booking you? It worked out well for them in the end though – they got married in Central Park, it was very romantic, so I hear. Much nicer than the Plaza would have been.’
‘Maybe you could find somewhere else?’ I suggest. We can’t afford to lose this booking, it’s too important, both financially and for Amber’s confidence.
Jonathan shakes his head. ‘Nope, everywhere local is fully booked throughout the summer. We may have to put it off until next year…’
Katie lets out another huge sob, and scrabbles in her bag for a tissue.
Amber produces a beautiful white lace handkerchief and passes it to her instead.
‘Thank you,’ Katie sniffs. ‘You’re both so lovely, that’s why we wanted you to do our wedding. It would have been so special to have had Daisy Chain providing the flowers. My mother was a huge fan of your grandmother’s way with flowers; she never stopped raving about her before she died. Your grandmother did the flowers for her funeral.’
I nod. I’m thinking. Something Amber said has given me an idea.
‘How would you feel about having a different sort of wedding?’ I ask tentatively, my brain still trying to keep up with all the ideas that are suddenly flooding in. ‘Like Amber’s New York couple?’
‘How do you mean?’ Jonathan asks, looking dubious.
