Page 3 of Shift of Morals
“Not sure. I’ll have to figure out what’s causing it first. The preservation spell should have held.” I grimaced as I turned the bouquet over, and two more flowers fell off. It was decomposing before my eyes.
As wedding bouquets go, it was simple but tasteful—a mix of blush roses, cream peonies, baby’s breath, and several other filler flowers wrapped with floral tape and blush-colored ribbon. Probably middle of the range in terms of cost, but cookie-cutter.
I’d guess the bride used a popular wedding planner who earned kickbacks from all the local businesses in the town. We had a planner in Joy Springs, but there was no way to tell where this bride had gotten married. Our shop was well known throughout the state, and our customers came from all over.
Our town’s planner had a touch of magic, so she should have sensed something if she’d met the groom. While it wasn’t her responsibility to warn the bride, I’m not sure I could have stopped myself. Inserting myself in other people’s affairs seemed to be my current M.O. One I hoped to correct very soon.
“Are we just going to stare at it and hope it does something?” Tess said in the silence.
Ash laughed. “Evie was in deep thought.”
“Probably wondering how to break a shifter engagement,” Moira said, laughing when I swatted at her.
“I’ll take this over to the worktable in the back, just in case it gets rowdy. In the meantime, what else do we have going on today?”
Moira checked the schedule. “Normal business, but Hattie called yesterday and asked for her order a day earlier than normal.”
“Any special requests?” I tucked the bouquet back into the dampening bag, careful not to disturb the weakest parts.
“She asked for oranges and yellows.” Moira shrugged. “Normal seasonal flowers.”
“It’s a little early for fall colors, but we’re edging closer to autumn, so I’ll see what I can do.” Hattie had been a customer for a while now and ordered a weekly, seasonally appropriate bouquet. I’d helped her out with some landscaping not too long ago and didn’t charge her, so she’d called and requested I bump the size of her bouquets up by 25%.
After that, we’d gotten a few more similar orders like Hattie’s, though most people chose biweekly instead of weekly.
“Tess, can you check the main fridge first for orange and yellow flowers? If we don’t have enough, can you run over to the greenhouse and see what’s ready?”
To keep my mind off Caelan, I’d thrown myself into restoring my greenhouse, a project I’d neglected for far too long. With a little elbow grease from me and Caelan’s handsome healer, Ben, the place was back in fighting shape, with brand new hydroponics to prove it.
A small smile tugged at my lips when I thought of Ben. He was wildly different from Caelan—gentle, caring, communicative, and careful with my feelings. He never pushedor tried to coerce me into giving more than I could, and he respected my boundaries.
Maybe a little too much. We’d done nothing more than kiss, and that was fine, but something was holding him back. Something always held me back, but I was used to being the problem.
Ben and I were both the problem in this relationship. Or whatever it was.
Tess cleared her throat. “Lost in your thoughts again, Evie?”
Shit. “No. Yes.” I waved a hand. “There’s a lot to think about. Fridge first. Greenhouse second. Got it?”
Tess nodded and glanced at Ash. “Want to come with me?”
“To the walk-in?” Moira asked, rolling her eyes at young love.
Tess let out a soulful moan. “To the greenhouse, vampire.”
Ash’s lips twitched. “Of course. You may need some help carrying the flowers back.”
It wasn’t that big of a bouquet, but I let it go.
“Moira, you man the front. Ash, can you check on the deliveries and make sure we have enough stock to last a few weeks?”
The dryad nodded. “Of course. Don’t forget I’m leaving in a few weeks to return to ground.”
I snapped my fingers. “Right. Almost forgot. We need to make a family calendar.” Turning to Moira, I opened my mouth, but she cut me off.
“Got it. Make a calendar. Electronic or hard copy?”
“Hard copy,” all of us said at the same time.
