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“An ex? His mom? I don’t know.”
“Oh, that’s right. His mom shows up periodically. But I think Hailey told her to stop last time. Not that it would have worked.”
“I don’t know what the problem is if he won’t tell me. But if he doesn’t want to share with me, and if he’s pulling away, then what difference does it make?”
“It makes a difference if you have feelings for him,” Gia said gently.
That surprised me because Gia didn’t seem like someone who gave much credence to feelings.
“I love him.”
There was a collective sigh around the table.
“I knew when we got together he might not be able to handle it. He said himself he hasn’t been in a lot of relationships. He said he didn’t know what he was doing. But I thought we’d work on it together.”
“You can’t help him if he won’t let you.”
I drank the water, hoping it would soothe my dry throat. The waitress got our orders, and talk turned to what needed to be done at the farm. Everyone offered to pitch in, and Gia said she’d have the landscaping service come out to maintain the property for me.
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“It’s one of our venues, and I’m confident it will be self-sustaining by the end of the summer.”
I’d been searching for my parents’ approval all my life, but I realized theirs didn’t matter. Not when I had friends and colleagues who believed in me. “Thank you, Gia. I feel like all my dreams are coming true.” Except the one where I had someone to share in the joy. Someone like Jake.
He wasn’t what I thought I wanted. He was so much more. If only he’d let me in so we could work on things together.
“When women lift each other up, everyone wins,” Gia said. “We’re not competing. We need to help each other.”
“I love that. Women supporting women.” Remi raised her glass of iced tea, and we repeated the sentiment while we clinked glasses.
I really hoped I could figure out this thing with Jake. But if not, my life was full. I had friends, and my business was finally taking off.
Not afraid to reach out to my friends for advice, I said, “I need to do more networking, so if you know of anything I could attend, let me know.”
Sophie’s forehead wrinkled. “I can’t think of anything right now, other than having a table at one of the festivals in town, maybe even at the Farmer’s Market.”
“But that’s more of a time commitment. I should be the one there, and on the weekends, I might be busy with farm events and planting.”
Gia’s eyes widened. “I have the best idea. We should host a party for the Happily Ever Afters vendors to advertise the weddings we offer and our individual businesses. I bet we could even make it an annual thing.”
“I love that,” Remi said.
We spent the rest of lunch discussing ideas for the Happily Ever Afters showcase. I left, feeling even better about the future of my business and my friends. I tried not to think about what was going on with Jake.
When I approached the door of my shop, there was a vase of flowers on the sidewalk. My stomach dropped. Had someone returned one of the arrangements? I looked around to see if anyone was hovering nearby. Not seeing anyone, I picked up the vase, unlocked the door, and went inside. Flipping the sign fromBe Right BacktoOpen, I carried the bouquet into the back of the shop.
If it was a dissatisfied customer, I didn’t want anyone else to know if they happened to walk inside.
The arrangement was all sunflowers and yellow roses. I loved how bright they were, but I hadn’t sold one of these lately because they weren’t in season here. Pulling off the card, I read it:Forgive me. Love, J.
My heart stuttered, then picked up the pace. Jake had sent these. I should be upset that he didn’t buy from me, but he’d bought me flowers. No one had ever bought me flowers. My parents thought they were frivolous, and who else would, when I owned my own store?
Jake knew that I longed for the one thing that no one thought I needed—flowers from someone else. It was amazing to be surrounded by what I loved the most day in and day out, but I longed for someone to send something to me. It meant so much more.
I moved the bouquet to the front counter, took a picture of them, and sent them to Jake.
Lily: Thank you for the flowers.
