Page 116 of The Paid Wife: A Lesbian Romance

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when it came to hearing her ideas, but Dani was truly

interested. It started that fluttery feeling in her stomach again.

“About the shop. You should start carrying herbs or teas or

packets of seeds. Maybe a section for handmade goods besides

the artwork? I guess that’s just jumping on the bandwagon.

You love cactuses, so that’s what gave me the idea. They’re

trendy. You could carry your own cactus kits, with seeds and

overpriced painted pots. You could get local artists to paint the

pots, or you could spray paint them yourself, gold or copper,

because that seems trendy too. Or you could just have the

seeds in super cute little bags, so people could take them

home. Maybe throw in a few possums or a llama or two.”

“Possums and llamas?” Dani laughed, though not

maliciously. “How about a few unicorns and some macramé?”

“Exactly!” Emily stabbed another piece of cheese. It

resisted coming off the plate, but after she worked at it for a

while, she got the tines of the fork stuffed underneath.

“Maybe. I love the cactus idea. Everyone should have a

bunch of cactuses strewn all over their place. Being a plant

mom is second only to being a cat mom.”

“Catnip!” Emily blurted. “You could package it and write

on the bag, ‘Nip - the choice drug of cats everywhere.’” She

hesitated a second before she burst into giggles again.

She’d been in such a terribly sad mood in the car, but it

seemed as though she’d revived. She hadn’t forgotten about it.

She couldn’t unhear any of the things her dad said, but she did

feel better. She felt better being in Dani’s presence. It was like

she was free to be herself without fear of recrimination. She

could be silly. She could giggle. She could laugh and laugh

until tears trickled down her cheeks like she was doing now.

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