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‘I don’t know. No one can predict that.’
‘No, but self-fulfilling prophecy and all that. If you go into a relationship expecting to get hurt, you probably will. If you go in thinking you’ll spend your whole lives in love, you’re more likely to work on it.’
Evie nodded. ‘I can see where you’re coming from.’
‘It’s not often I say something quite so profound.’ Diane shrugged. ‘I think it’s true, though.’
‘It could be.’
‘And are you?’
‘Am I what?’
‘Madly in love with him yet?’
Blushing, Evie looked away. ‘No! I’ve not known him long.’
‘Time doesn’t have a thing to do with it.’ Diane grinned and turned to serve a customer.
Stepping back, Evie picked up the cloth and began wiping the back counter down. This feeling wasn’t love, was it? It couldn’t be. She couldn’t love someone without knowing everything about them, could she? She shrugged. Whatever it was that she felt towards Jack, she knew how it made her feel and that was happy. The little flip of her stomach every time he walked into the bakery, the way his grin made her want to smile too. She grinned.
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‘OH, THESE ARE JUSTbeautiful, aren’t they?’ Elsie picked up a stem and laid the delicate peony head in the palm of her hand. ‘And this colour, the pale pink, that was my gran’s favourite of all of them. Every birthday, my dad would buy her a bunch and she’d display them proudly on the window ledge in her best vase. She said they always made the postie and anyone else who walked past the window smile.’ Elsie held the flower to her nose and breathed in deeply.
‘They’re really beautiful.’ Picking up another one, she sniffed it. The sweet, earthy aroma filling her lungs. ‘They’re going to look perfect against your dress as well. The delicate leaves will complement the lace on your dress.’
‘Oh, I do hope so, love. I’m so looking forward to walking down the aisle towards my Ian. I know none of this really matters, not really. It’s nice to plan the wedding and to make everything just-so, mark the occasion, but at the end of the day as long as me and Ian walk out of that church as husband and wife, nothing else really matters.’
Evie nodded. It was all about the love between couples then.
A woman in a green tabard walked towards them. ‘Afternoon. My name’s Sandra. I apologise for the wait. How can I help you today?’
‘Hi, Sandra. I’m Elsie and this is Evie. We’re here to order a bridal bouquet, some bridesmaids’ bouquets, a little flower girl basket and some corsages, please?’
‘Certainly. Have you an idea of the style you’d like and the flowers you want to be included?’ Sandra led the way towards the counter, slipped behind it and pulled out a large order book.
‘Yes, I’d like quite simple and elegant bouquets made up of these pale pink peonies and perhaps a little foliage, do you think?’ Elsie laid the peony she was holding on top of a pile of white tissue paper on the counter.
‘Some foliage would help give the bouquets a little more structure. Yes, I can certainly do that for you. How many bridesmaids’ bouquets and corsages do you need?’ Sandra began writing in the order book, her pen poised for the numbers.
‘Oh, let me see.’ Elsie began listing names and ticking them off on her fingers. ‘Sixteen bridesmaid bouquets. That’s right, isn’t it, love?’ Elsie turned to Evie.
‘That does sound a lot.’ Copying Elsie, she pictured the people who had been around the table at the planning evening and ticked them off one by one on her fingers. ‘Yes, sixteen, that’s right.’
‘Sixteen?’ Sandra looked up.
‘Yes, please.’
Nodding, Sandra wrote the number in the book. ‘And the corsages? How many of those do you need?’
‘One for the groom, two for the best men, thirteen for the ushers. Oh, can you add another one? We might as well order Jack one, being as he’s doing the photos, mightn’t we? And three smaller ones for our pageboys, please?’
‘Okay.’ Nodding slowly, Sandra looked up. ‘I’ve got to admit this is the largest wedding order I’ve been asked to do. It’s not a problem. I like a challenge.’ She grinned. ‘And when is the wedding?’
‘The nineteenth.’
‘Of?’
