AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She placed a hand on my forearm. “It’s just eggs.”
“I don’t get many home-cooked meals. I appreciate them when I get them.”
Lily smiled. “I’m happy to cook for you. I like it.”
There was something else there in her words and demeanor. She liked taking care of people, and I wondered if she got a chance to do it often.
“Are you close with your family?” I figured they must live in town if she’d moved into her grandmother’s house.
Her shoulders stiffened slightly, and I probably would have missed it if I weren’t paying close attention to her. “Not exactly.”
She didn’t expound on her response, but I wanted to know more about her. “What do you mean?”
“They don’t live in Annapolis, but in a nearby town. I talk to my mom and sister, Cora, on the phone here and there, but I wouldn’t say that we’re a tight-knit family.” She was quiet for a few seconds, a slice of crisp bacon balanced in her fingers as she took a tentative bite. “Maybe they’re close. I don’t know.”
I was intrigued. She wasn’t telling me much, yet I got the impression that she was an outsider in her family. “Don’t tell me—you’re the black sheep in your family.”
She chuckled and shifted on her stool as if she was uncomfortable. “Let’s just say I stand out.”
From what I knew about Lily, she was sweet, kind, and caring. She wasn’t a troublemaker. “How so?”
“Cora is a doctor, or at least, she’s going to be—I don’t understand the whole process. She’s finishing up her residency. That much I know.” Lily waved a hand. “She’s always been a high achiever. I was terrible in school.”
My heart contracted at her words. She was telling me more about herself, and I couldn’t get enough. “You didn’t get straight As?”
She huffed out a laugh. “Not even close. I struggled to graduate. I loved being outdoors more than sitting in a stuffy classroom.”
I grunted in approval as I shoved more eggs into my mouth. “I’d have to agree with that.”
“I wasn’t what my parents wanted.” She winced. “That’s hard to admit.”
“I can’t believe that.” The picture she was describing didn’t make any sense in my brain. Lily was everything a parent would want in a daughter, even if she wasn’t changing the world by saving lives. There were other ways to reach people, and Lily certainly had touched me.
Her head was lowered over her plate as she moved the eggs around her plate with the fork. “I wasn’t good enough for them. Not driven or ambitious enough.”
“You own a business, and you’re continually looking for ways to expand it. How is that not ambitious?” I’d set my fork aside, my meal forgotten.
Lily smiled sadly. “My parents think owning a business is risky. Stupid even. They’re convinced I’ll fail and end up begging them for help. And I guess they’ll get to sayI told you so.”
There was something in her demeanor, the rounding of her shoulders and her down-turned lips, that made me suspect she believed them. “You know that’s not true.”
“Business is risky. I’m barely making it now. It’s a struggle every day. I never know if I’m making the right decisions.”
I tried to think back to the early days of the garage. “It is hard at first. You might not make a profit for years, but once you break through, it’s amazing.” Bigger decisions came with success, but it felt good to create something that generated an income. I was supporting myself. Not depending on anyone else.
“That’s where I am now. Still in that questioning stage. Have I made the biggest mistake of my life? Will this destroy me? Will I lose everything?” She let out a shuddering breath at her last words.
I loved that she was being vulnerable with me. That she felt comfortable enough to do so. “Risk is scary, but I think you have something here. You’re the only florist shop in town. You’re planning to incorporate the farm with the community. You’re diversifying. I think you’re taking all the right steps.”
She smiled over at me. “I hope you’re right.”
I reached over to squeeze her hand. “I thought you always looked at the positive side of things?” Or maybe that’s what I told myself about her. I’d put her into this neat little box, but she was more complex than that.
She laughed. “That’s what I try to do, but whenever I’m around my mom, I backslide.”
“You saw your mom recently?” I looked over at her.
Lily nodded as she took another bite of eggs. “She stopped by my store a few weeks ago to tell me I wasn’t going to make it.”
