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His mother laughed. “I’m sorry for my son’s lack of manners. I’m Mona Wright and this is my son, Wesley.”
He shook hands with both women. Both of them firm, but Jasmine’s had some heat to hers that he felt travel up his arm. The stunned look on her face made him think she felt it too. Could they have just shocked each other? Yeah, maybe that was it.
“Nice to meet you both. I’ll try to redeem myself. Can we get you some coffee? Tea or water? My mother and I were just going to get some coffee ourselves.”
“Coffee would be nice,” Jasmine said.
“I’ll have a glass of water if you don’t mind,” Lily said.
“Why don’t we take a seat and my son can go to the kitchen and wait on us.”
His mother was smirking and both the other women laughed. He turned and went to get the drinks knowing his mother could talk to anyone. He wasn’t sure why he had to be in on this meeting. This was all on her.
He came out carrying everything on a tray and setting it down, Jasmine saying, “Aren’t you supposed to carry a tray in one hand up by your shoulder and not in front of you?”
Wesley looked at her and saw the grin. “Probably,” he said. “But this is the best I can do and probably the first I’ve carried as many glasses or cups. I’m lucky I didn’t drop them or spill a drop.”
He passed the drinks around and sat. “I have to ask,” his mother said. “I know your sisters have flower names, Lily. But do all the employees?”
“No,” Lily said. “Though we do have a few. I like to say it was fate that Jasmine answered my ad for a florist years ago and I hired her right out of college.”
“And she runs the greenhouses now?” he asked. “I must say I’m still surprised to hear that. I guess I assumed you ordered your flowers.”
“My son has been busy learning the ropes of the marina. This is a huge career shift for both of us and we were so lucky that the previous owner took time out of her retirement to help us transition. He hasn’t had a chance to research your business as I have.”
“It’s fine,” Lily said. “I’ve found that men aren’t as interested in flowers as women. Or so my husband tells me.”
“Poor Zane,” Jasmine said. “He’s outnumbered with you, your sisters and Willow.”
“Willow?” his mother asked, smiling. He might have never seen his mother this happy or excited before.
“My stepdaughter,” Lily said. “Though she feels like my daughter. So yes, another flower name. We’ve also got a Violet, Heather and Daisy. Who knows, maybe we’ll get more.”
“And do you have any siblings with flower names?” his mother asked Jasmine. He had no idea what was going on unless it was his mother trying to drag this out so he would sit and spend time with her. You know, smell the roses.
“I actually do,” Jasmine said. “I’m the middle child of five. The boys are the oldest and youngest and just have plain old normal names, but my older sister is Dahlia and my younger sister, Ivy.”
“This is just fascinating to me,” his mother said. “Don’t you think, Wesley?”
“Sure,” he said quickly.
Jasmine snorted and then coughed as if she didn’t realize she’d made that noise. “Sorry,” she said. “You sound like one of my brothers when they didn’t want to be somewhere.”
He felt his face flush. “It’s not that. I’m just busy. Tess might be out later again and I want to be ready for her.”
“Tess is a sweetheart,” Lily said. “She’ll understand if you aren’t.”
“You know Tess?” he asked.
“You’ll discover that everyone knows everyone else in Mystic. But in this case, I know her fairly well. My sister-in-law, Zara, is recently engaged to Ren Whitney, Tess’s son.”
His mother laughed. “Tess has spoken of Ren. He’s just moved back in the area too.”
“He’s had no part in the business from what I’ve heard?” he asked.
“No,” Lily said. “And since I know you’re busy, why don’t you tell us what you’re looking for, Mona, and then we can go from there.”
Wesley was thrilled that he didn’t have to contribute much more to the conversation from that point on. He got to sit there and listen, even look at Jasmine.
