“Christopher Chan.”
Gia’s eyes widened. “Shut. Up. You’re not serious, are you?”
I nodded.
Gia’s spine straightened. “I’m coming, too. Where do we sign up?”
“We still need another,” I said. “Teams can be three or four people. That’s why I asked Juniper.”
Rowan shook his head, looking annoyed. “You’re talking about June like she’s not even here again. And I’m literally going to school for landscape architecture and want to make connections in New York for my future career. I’m not just looking to fangirl some fashion designer.” He turned to Juniper. “If you’re going to join a Bloom team, join mine, not hers.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Fashionisgoing to be my career. This isn’t just a hobby for me, either.”
“But I’m her actual brother! You? You’ve been nothing but judgmental and self-absorbed since you got to this town, like, four seconds ago. Why would you think that would compel any of us to do you a favor?”
That was it. I did not have to sit here and put up with this. I was just about to stand and tell Gia to forget all these people—we’d find someone else in this flower town who could help without a side of nastiness—when Leanne snorted.
“To be honest, I think both of y’all have good reasons to enter, but it doesn’t matter what I think; it matters what Junebug thinks. Why don’t y’all put it on pause and let her decide.” She smiled at Juniper. “Who you gonna help? Your brother and me, or Donatella Versace here?”
Juniper blinked. Then blinked again. Her bottom lip trembled.
Shit.We’d made her uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. I felt terrible. This wasn’t what I’d set out to do tonight. Here I was thinking Juniper was cool and we could be friends, and now I was taking advantage of her just like everyone else did.
I gave her a reassuring smile. “You know what, Juniper? It’s totally okay. You don’t have to do it. I’ll find another way.”
Everyone was silent for a few seconds.
Leanne suddenly sighed, and I don’t know...something...passed over her face. Guilt? Regret? She turned to Rowan. “Did I tell you that Daphne is clearing her one-foot fences again?”
What?Where the hell did that come from? Who was Daphne?
Gia snorted. “You people need to have one conversation at a time.”
Rowan seemed as surprised as Gia and I were at Leanne’s odd statement. “What does your rabbit have to do with anything?”
Leanne shrugged, pushing her hair over her shoulder. “Everything. After her last agility show, she didn’t seem that into jumping anymore. Fred’s still gung ho, but Daphne would just sit there while he hopped over the little fences. But for the last week or so, she’s been jumping again as if nothing was wrong. Drama queen.”
“Still not seeing the relevance here...,” Rowan said.
She gave him an incredulous look. “Don’t you remember? There’s an agility show in Bellville the same weekend as the Bakewell Flower Festival. I said I’d be on your Bloom team again because I didn’t think Daphne wanted to do another show, and I didn’t want to drive over three hours just for Fred. But now I think Daphne will do it.” She grinned. “She’s always been more high maintenance than her sister, but man, her jumps arelegendary. She could be a champion, if she’d stop with the tantrums.”
Gia raised a brow. “Her sister?”
“Fred’s a girl. I know better than to have rabbits of opposite genders.”
“But you said you’d be on my Bloom team!” Rowan was clearly irritated at his friend.
Leanne tilted her head toward him. “Youknowthe rabbits come first.”
Juniper nodded. “You’ve been training them for so long.”
“Look, Rowan,” Leanne said. “I was totally going to stay on your Bloom team and skip Bellville. I made a commitment to you. But now that this opportunity has fallen from the sky, we can all be happy. Daphne and Fred can advance their standings, and you can be on a team with these two.” She indicated Gia and me. “Both you and Tahira have a good reason to enter, and June doesn’t have to.” She smiled at Juniper. “Or she can join y’all if she changes her mind. It can be up to June, no pressure from any of us.”
Rowan’s head jerked back. “I’m not entering with these two! There is no way they’ll take the Bloom seriously! It’ll all be selfies and thirst traps, and I’ll be left doing all the work. Not to mention they don’t know a thing about flowers and—”
“Rowan,” Leanne interrupted. “You taught half our team last year. You can teach them! This way everyone can stop fighting over your sister. You and the fashionista could be a great pair—you could win and have the chance to hobnob with the glitterati. Or the planterati, at least. What do you say?” She was looking at me now. “Rowan’s a champion, you know. And he’s a great teacher.”
I sighed. I’d already seen how good he was with flowers. Rowan and I togethercouldwin. If we could manage to avoid head-to-head combat.
