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“I just hope people are willing to cut us some slack if things aren’t exactly the same. I hope everyone in town—especially our long-time customers like Mrs. Linley—realize we’re doing the best we can under the circumstances. Anyway.”
I sighed, doing my best to push those thoughts aside. I had to stay focused, not only for my own peace of mind but for the sake of the business.
“Enough about that. We’ve still got some work to do. Will you check the computer for tomorrow’s orders while I count down the register, please? Let’s get a heads-up on what the morning will have in store for us.”
I slid the cash drawer out of the cash register and started walking it to the still-too-cluttered, still-too-cramped office. I hadn’t been able to bring myself to reorganize it yet, even though I’d been threatening to for years. The clutter still felt way too much likeHenry.
“Aw, you sounded just like him when you said that. I miss all those little things he used to say,” Naomi said with a grin, then her brow furrowed as she let out a little sigh. “When does it start to get easier?”
I could only shrug and blink hard to hold back the tears that suddenly started to well up at her question. I knew exactly what Naomi meant, though. There were a million little moments every day when I’d hear something—or say something ordosomething—that reminded me of Henry. Or the feeling I would sometimes get of someone looking over my shoulder, even though I was usually the only one in the shop.
Under any other circumstances, it might have been a little spooky. But now? Those were the tiny bits of comfort that I could cling to. They were the little things that helped get me through the day.
It wasn’t all in my mind, though. I had no doubt that Henry was still watching over everything somehow. This was my chance to shine, to prove to Henry—and to myself—that I could keep the business running.
And not just running.
Growing. Prospering.Thriving.
The flower shop had been my boss’s baby, and even though I had come to terms with the fact that Henry really was gone—and I didn’t necessarily believe inghosts—there still seemed to be a part of Henry—his soul, or his essence, orsomething—that was still very much alive and well in the shop.
It was a feeling that I hoped would last forever, no matter what changes Henry’s son, Brady, decided to make with the place once he finally arrived.
Even though I had never formally met Brady, I’d always had a little pang of envy when I thought of Henry’s only son. My boss never had talked much about him—or about anything else that happened outside the flower shop, really—but when he had, the pride in his eyes and emotion in his voice had always been apparent.
It was easy for me to imagine how nice it must have been for someone to grow up with such an attentive father.
Sure, Henry had been gruff and demanding, meticulous, and sometimes difficult to please, but those qualities had always pushed me to do better, tobebetter. And they had made the rare praise Henry would bestow so much more rewarding. I hadn’t been given awards just for showing up. I had had to earn every ounce of respect Henry had ever given me, but I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
Working for Henry had made me a stronger person and a better woman than I’d been before. I didn’t doubt that it was mostly due to the fact that Henry had been not only more of a father to me than my biological dad had ever been but also a better one.
At least Henry had beenpresent. That was a lot more than could be said for my real father.
Chapter Two - Joanne
“Jo?”
Naomi’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. She’d followed me back to the office and was leaning against the open doorway. I blinked hard to keep the tears I could feel welling up from actually spilling over.
“I don’t know, Naomi. I’m sure itwillget easier… sometime. But I don’t know when. I wish I did.”
“Have you at least heard anything from Arlo about when Will might be coming to take over?”
“Brady, not Will,” I corrected her. “You should probably learn the guy’s name since he’s going to be our boss soon.”
I thought back over my recent meeting with Arlo, Henry’s long-time accountant and the man who also happened to be the executor of his will. However, I couldn’t think of anything he’d said that might have indicated when the status quo might be changing.
“But no,” I continued, answering Naomi. “I haven’t heard when Brady might get here. Arlo came in last week to go over some paperwork, but he didn’t mention anything.”
Brady was a football player in the National Football League—something I knew nothing about. He wouldn’t be back to take care of his inheritance until his contract allowed—and all that Arlo had been able to say was that it would probably be sometimesoon. Until then, I was the de facto manager, and Naomi’s position was basically the same as it had always been, just with a few extra duties to help me get by.
If Brady wanted to change things when he came on board, that would be his prerogative. Otherwise, it was my job to make sure things kept chugging along just the way they had been for years.
Naomi frowned. “I wish we knew when he’d get here. I hate not knowing. I can’t even remember what he looks like from the funeral.”
If I was being honest, I couldn’t remember, either.
That day—that entire week, actually—had been a complete blur, and not just because I had cried more during that time than I had in the rest of my twenty-six years combined. And while I’d seen Brady in passing at the funeral and briefly paid my respects, focusing on my future boss had literally been the last thing on my mind.
