Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
I gave a wry smile. If only things were that simple. If only our biggest concern was still whether or not Brady would show up to work, or whether he was nice, or hot.
“He’s gonna sell the place, Naomi. He’s talking to those corporate guys from New York who kept trying to get Henry to become a franchisee.”
“What? No… what?” Naomi shook her head and furrowed her brow. “That can’t be right. Are you sure? How do you know?”
“Yeah, I’m sure. He told me. Straight from his lips to my ear, just like it was no big deal. And then, like, right after that, my mom came in and invited him to dinner!”
“Oh my God. Are you serious? That’s… really messed up.”
I rolled my eyes. “Tell me about it. She’s giving him hugs and telling him how much we miss Henry and making a damn lasagna for him. Meanwhile, he’s planning on selling the place right out from under us.”
“Okay, wait. Hold on.” Naomi put her hands up in a mock surrender. “This is too much. So, he’s for sure gonna sell the flower shop, and now your mom is like… besties with him? Am I getting it right so far?”
“Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”
I still couldn’t believe it. It all sounded almost comical when she said it out loud—especially with Naomi’s spin on things—but there was really nothing funny about any of it.
The momentary relief I’d felt getting everything off my chest ended just as quickly as it had come, with the feelings of hopelessness and desperation coming back full force.
And even though I was usually the one with all the answers, I was counting on Naomi to come through for me this time.
She was unusually silent, though, and the crease in her forehead—a sure sign that she was concerned and upset—had only deepened as I spoke.
“So… what are we gonna do? What are you thinking right now?” I asked, trying and failing to judge which emotion—concern or anger—her expression indicated. “Are you as pissed as I am? Please don’t start crying, because I definitely won’t be able to hold it together.”
Naomi might not have eaten, slept and breathed flowers like I did, but there was no doubt in my mind that the news would come as a surprise.
And she had been showing an interest in more than just making deliveries lately. I had been teaching her the basics of flower arranging, and Henry had started letting her donate some of the excess stock from the shop to the nursing home where her grandma lived.
I assumed there had to be an emotional connection there, even though Naomi—by her very nature—usually tried to keep things light and breezy, tried to make it sound like she wasn’t too attached.
“No,” Naomi shook her head. “I’m not gonna cry. I’m just… surprised. Shocked, really. But there’s not much I can do. I’ll just keep on keepin’ on and show up to work until someone tells me I don’t have a job anymore, I guess.” She shrugged. “What are you gonna do? Are you still gonna try to move out of your mom’s place soon? I know it was only gonna be a temporary thing when you moved back in with her, but…”
“Yeah, it was supposed to only be temporary. I mean, it still is. But maybe a little longer, now? I just don’t know how I can realistically think about moving out now that I don’t know what’s going to happen at work.”
“I guess we could apply at Simply Flowers if we had to…” Naomi’s tone—and the fact that she didn’t even make eye contact with me as she spoke—made it apparent that it was a half-hearted suggestion, at best.
We’d both commented over the years about how miserable it would be to work for our local competitor, with out-of-state owners and a shop that had none of the personal touches of Patty’s Petals.
“Maybe… but I don’t even think that’ll be an option. I don’t think I’ve ever seen more than a couple of cars in their parking lot at a time. They probably couldn’t even afford to take both of us on, even if we wanted to go there.” I grimaced at the thought. “And even though it probably goes without saying, I’ll go ahead and say it anyway—I don’t wanna work there.”
If it came down to it, I would suck it up and do what I had to do. But even if I did hold my nose and submit an application to Simply Flowers, it would probably mean not only a pay cut I couldn’t afford, but another demoralizing setback. One of what had become a string of recent failures in my life.
“You know you could always come stay with me for a while if things get too rough at home,” Naomi said, smiling. “It might be fun to be roommates for a while.”