I laughed. “Okay, then you could have calledMase,” I reminded her. “He doesn’t have any kids yet, and he’s a doctor. You know, an actual medical professional, with the fancy degrees and everything.”
“Puh-lease. Mason is useless. He’s the most laid-back doctor I’ve ever met. He’d be like, ‘Oh, she’s crying? Well, is her temperature under a hundred and seventy? Is she puking major organs? Has her head started spinning around spontaneously? No? She’s fine.’” She rolled her eyes. “When he has kids, he’ll be singing a different tune.”
“Won’t be long now, right? He and Victoria are getting serious.”
“Sadly, yes.” She held up a hand. “And before you get on my case about thinking no one is good enough for my baby brother, let me say that Lauren doesn’t like her either, and you haven’t been around Victoria enough to see the bullshit we’ve seen.”
I gritted my teeth. Leandra wasn’t wrong, but I didn’t have to like it.
I’d had a great plan when I moved away. I was going to be back in Baxterconstantly. I’d be able to take care of all the needed repairs on the rundown farmhouse I’d bought from my grandmother. I’d still be everyone’s favorite Uncle Micah. I’d never miss a family dinner.
But shit had gotten busier and busier, and making time was harder than I’d thought. If Mason hadn’t moved into the house and taken it over, I’d be sunk.
“Oh, speaking of family functions,” Leandra began. She ducked down to her purse and pulled out a piece of pink construction paper decorated with unicorn stickers and crayon writing. “This is an invitation to Olivia’s sixth birthday party. Unicorn horns are optional, sparkles arenot.”
I looked down at the paper in amusement. “Her birthday’s in October.”
“Oh, yes. But we’ve been talking about party themes since January. We had to start a Pinterest board.”
“I… have no idea what that means,” I admitted. “But you tell my girl that I’ll be there. Might require a minor miracle to get me in unicorns and sparkles, though.”
“I’ll tell her.” Leandra grinned and set her hands on her hips. “So. What do you need me to do?”
I sighed. “You know you don’t need to come. I hate pulling you away from your kids and—”
She held up a hand, palm-out. “We’ve discussed this. Lauren and I both like the break from our kids and our husbands. And you’ve done so much to helpus—Lauren, Mase, and me—we want to pay it forward. We’re proud of you.”
I scratched at the back of my neck, uncomfortable with the praise.
“Maybe rearrange the bouquets out front?” I pointed toward the cellophane-wrapped flowers sitting in five-gallon buckets on the ground in front of the booth. “I kinda just threw them there earlier.”
“On it. Hey, we might actually do a decent business today, huh? Now that we don’t have any competition?” She tilted her head at the empty Ross booth and grinned, and I had to force myself not to look over there again.
“We’re not trying to outsell anyone today. We’re here to get…”
“Goodwill not sales,” she recited, smiling again as she knelt down to do her work. “I know. But I’ve got a bit of a competitive streak. I’m like my big brother that way.”
I grinned as I tweaked a display of potted daisies.
“Just FYI, though?” Leandra added. “Next time you come to a cookout, expect a family intervention.”
“Pardon?”
“Pardon?” she mocked. “You heard me. There’s no reason why you can’t afford to hire another person to help you out at the shop.” She popped her head up. “And I’m not talking about Saturdays, because Lauren and I have that covered. But what about all the other days?”
“I have help! Belle Porter is talented! She—”
“The lady who can only work four hours a day, four days a week? Not enough.”
I shook my head. “If you only knew how hard it was to find skilled people or to train someone new. Not everyone learns about flowers at their grandmother’s knee like we did.”
“Oh, we learned a lot of shit at her knee, Micah, but arranging flowers wasn’t part of it. You learned that all on your own, and someone else can too, while you relax. It’d be nice to see you fuckingsmilefor a change.”
“The cost is—”
“You forget that my husband is your accountant and I’veseenyour books. You can afford it.”
“Hey! That’s privileged information.” I folded my arms over my chest and tried to scowl. It wasn’t any more effective on her now than it had been when she was sixteen.
