“Not at all.” I pull out a pen and the notepad we use to take orders. A part of me wonders if that is something else my brother is going to upgrade. It probably needs it. “The earlier the better.”
“Good,” he taps his fingers against the glass countertop. “I need two bouquets. But I don’t know what to get. Roses seem overdone and they aren’t Tonya’s favorite.”
“Are both of them for her?”
“No,” he laughs, “one is for Layla’s birthday.”
“That is sweet. She’ll be excited to get her own flowers.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m hoping,” he looks around the room again, hoping something pops out at him, “any suggestions?”
“We can do some fun-colored chrysanthemums for Layla.” I think about the little girl in question. She’s definitely not one for muted colors. She likes bold and loud. “Let me think about what else to add in. The perk of coming to us is we know her, so maybe we can all add a little something from each of us.”
“That would be amazing, and I know she’ll love it.” He taps on the counter again. “Now, what about Tonya?”
“No matter what we decide, I do think some roses will be okay. But I think a more subtle color scheme. Let me see what we have on order and I can let you know.”
The grin Reaf has on his face is what makes having this shop worth it. “Sounds awesome,” he glances at his watch, “I better get back to the shop. Johnny was freaking out about a bunch of oil changes showing up out of nowhere.”
“I’ll give you a call in a couple of hours once I’ve talked with the girls.”
“Let me know how much I owe and I’ll stop by after work.” He turns and walks out the door.
“I think I went to school with his brother.” I jump at the sound of Xander’s voice.
“How long have you been there?” I glance toward the hallway.
“Not long,” he gestures toward Reaf’s retreating figure on the sidewalk. “Caroline’s his sister, right?”
“Yep.” At least the focus isn’t on me. This I can handle. “You probably went to school with Bryce, he’s the youngest.”
“Yeah, he played football. I didn’t hang out with him, but I knew who he was.”
“That’s cool.” I don’t know what else to say to that. “Did Emily get you settled?”
“I know where everything is,” he points behind him, “there are a few deliveries that need to be taken out, but Emily said I need someone to ride with me today.”
“Yeah, she likes to control what situations she can.” I rip the piece of paper off the notepad and stick it in my pocket. “I’ll grab Kai and tell him he needs to ride with you.”
We walk down the hallway and the door to the office is halfway open. My brother is on the phone, and it sounds like he’s setting up an interview. Well crap, I guess he’s out since he’s fielding calls.
“I don’t think he’ll be able to,” Xander mimics my thoughts, “maybe one of the others?”
“Maybe.” Though I’m not holding out much hope. I know Caroline has to leave in a bit for something with her son, which leaves Sam or Emily.
Both of them are finishing up some arrangements when we walk into the warehouse. “Can one of y’all drive around with Xander for these deliveries?”
Samantha shakes her head. “No, I have an appointment with bride. She wants to know every kind of flower we offer. I have a feeling I’m not going to like this one.” I swear she better fix her mood before she gets to the appointment.
“I was going to handle the front counter. I need to leave when the shop closes. My parents are requesting a mandatory dinner.” Emily says.
“Mandatory doesn’t sound like a request,” Xander laughs.
“You haven’t had the pleasure of meeting my parents,” Emily grins, “I guess that leaves you. Kai doesn’t have any appointments for you until tomorrow.”
Damn it. That’s what I was afraid of. I’ll be alone with Xander in a van for a few hours. Maybe I’ll get lucky and he won’t talk much. “I guess you’re stuck with me.”
Chapter Eight
