AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He is sweet on the eyes.”
“He is,” she said. “What can I get you today?”
“Why don’t you tell me what you think looks good.”
It was a game the two of them had. Mrs. Grady would tell her if she had something specific in mind, but she hardly ever did. She just loved to get fresh-cut flowers.
“I’ve got some yellow and orange freesias that would go great with the same color dahlias.”
“That sounds lovely,” Mrs. Grady said.
“I’ll be right back,” she said, going into the back to get the flowers and bring them out to arrange at the counter. Mrs. Grady liked to chat while it was done.
“Those are beautiful and so lush,” Mrs. Grady said. “Perfect fall colors. My Harold. He sure did love the fall.”
“Harold?” she asked. It was the first time she’d heard the name.
“My late husband. We were married for forty-two years.”
“I’m sorry,” she said.
She was guessing Mrs. Grady was in her late sixties, maybe early seventies. She honestly didn’t even know her first name either. She’d always called her Mrs. Grady because she’d been told she was a teacher that turned shop owner a long time ago.
“Don’t be. Harold and I had a great life together.”
“How long has he been gone?” she asked.
“Ten years now,” Mrs. Grady said. “Didn’t even get to retire fully. We had all these plans to have one of the kids take over the shop or sell it. Guess it wasn’t meant to be.”
“You could still do those things,” she said.
“I could, but I enjoy the shop. My kids have moved out of the area. They aren’t far, a few hours away, but Mystic was too small for them. They’ve encouraged me to find someone else. I told them I’m too old.”
“You’re never too old for love,” she said.
She was putting the flowers in the vase, and when it was done, she’d pull it out and wrap them with a bow. Mrs. Grady liked to use her own vases and she knew how big to make it now.
“They say that, but I think you can be. When you find that one true love, it’s hard to move on from it.”
Jasmine sighed. Not what she wanted to hear. “I think people can love more than one person in a lifetime.”
“I believe that,” Mrs. Grady said. “But I’m too old to look. I’m happy where I am in my life. If I were younger I think that would be a different story.”
She turned when Ivy came in. “Sorry. Didn’t know you were with someone.”
“Ivy, this is Mrs. Grady. Mrs. Grady, this is my sister, Ivy. She is now employed as an assistant for Lily, Poppy and Rose.”
What started out as only doing it for Lily soon turned into all three and she wasn’t surprised that happened.
Her sister was smarter than she gave her credit for and had ideas for a lot of things. Not only that, some of the things she was going to be doing for Lily could be merged with Poppy and Rose.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Mrs. Grady said. “I had no idea Jasmine had a sister. She never talks much about herself.”
She never did with customers. She didn’t want to be one of those people.
“There are three girls and two boys in the family,” Ivy said.
“Really?” Mrs. Grady said. “You’ll have to catch me up on that at some point.”
