“Well, you don’t look happy to see me.Expecting someone else?”her sister asked.
Tilly pulled her sister into a hug.“What are you doing here?”
“Can’t I come and see my baby sister because I miss her?”
Tilly may have a reputation of being a little flighty, but she wasn’t naïve.Her sister was here for a reason and it wasn’t to do with what she needed to bring for Thanksgiving lunch in a couple of days.“Of course you can, except that you don’t.Unless you need something.”
“Hey, you know that’s not entirely true.”Chrissy masked the hurt with an overbright smile and Tilly wanted to snatch her words back.
“Sorry, I don’t know why I said that.Come in.Do you want something to drink?”She moved down the hallway back to the kitchen, her sister following.
“I’d love a juice if you’ve got it.”
“I do.”Tilly grabbed a glass and poured the juice into it.“Is everything all right at the farm?Is Mom okay?”
Now that Eunice Bloom had moved into a small apartment a few streets over from Tilly’s place, her social life had blossomed, and she was always off doing something.Things she hadn’t been able to do while she’d raised her three daughters and supported her husband at the flower farm.Something her mom had willingly and happily done, but now she was enjoying her freedom.
“Mom’s good.She and her neighbor Meredith have gone to Bozeman to do some Christmas shopping.They’re supposed to be back in time for Thanksgiving.”
“I’m glad she’s out and about with friends.She deserves this time to live her life and do what she wants to.”
“I agree.Mom said she and a few of her new friends were planning a trip to Disney World in the new year to get away from the cold here.They’re going to get matching T-shirts and buy matching Mickey ears when they get there.”
Tilly laughed.“That sounds amazing.We should do a family vacation there and do what they’re doing.It would be wild if we could have T-shirts with flowers on them and ‘Bloom Family Vacation’ printed under them.”
Chrissy rolled her eyes.“Can you see Ryder wearing a flower-emblazoned T-shirt?And he’s not a Bloom.”
“Absolutely I can see it.He’d do it because he loves you.And he may not carry the Bloom name, but he’s marrying into the Bloom family.”
“He would do that, wouldn’t he?”A dreamy look crossed Chrissy’s face.Tilly couldn’t remember ever seeing her sister look this goofy, even when she’d been in the throes of teenage love with Beau.
A shaft of envy pierced her heart—Tilly wanted that.Wanted to have a man who would look at her the way Ryder looked at Chrissy.The way her father had looked at her mother.
“Are you here to talk about Thanksgiving, then, with Mom being away and all?”
“No, that’s all sorted.You don’t have to bring anything.”Chrissy shifted in her chair, and Tilly’s suspicions that this wasn’t just a sisterly visit for the heck of it were confirmed.“I heard you were doing some big event and came to see if you needed an extra set of hands with the planning.”
Tilly badly wanted to believe that her sister’s offer was from the goodness of her heart, but she wondered if the mayor hadn’t reached out to Chrissy.But that made no sense, considering Chelsea had asked Zach to help her.
But Zach has a job, where he’s on and off, and he can’t be with you every day to make sure you get things done.
That wasn’t anything Tilly didn’t already know, and Zach’s main job would be to deal with getting the permits.She still planned to do everything else herself—well, as much as she thought she could.
Tilly looked directly at her sister.“You heard right, and I’m fine.I’ve got it all under control, and I do have some assistance.Thank you, but I’m good.”
“Who’s helping you?”
Tilly didn’t know why she didn’t want to tell Chrissy that it was Zach.It wasn’t like the whole town wouldn’t know when they started doing things together, because even though she was happy to do it all, she suspected that Zach would put a hundred percent in when he was off shift, no matter how many times she’d tell him she was managing it.He was that sort of guy.“Chelsea organized it for me.One of the firefighters.”
“A firefighter!Does she think you’re going to burn the town down?”
Tilly’s mouth dropped open at Chrissy’s insinuation.She may be a bit “start-stop” with things, but she’d never been so careless as to cause harm to anyone or any property.“No.And I can’t believe you’d say that.”
Chrissy reached out and grabbed her hand, and Tilly had to stop herself from yanking her hand back.“You’re right.I’m sorry.That was uncalled for.”
“Apology accepted, and Zach is helping me with permits for everything and making sure that none of the businesses are breaking the fire code with how many people they’ll have on their premises.”
Chrissy leaned forward, her eyes alight with curiosity.“Permits and fire codes.What have you got planned, Tilly-Pilly?”
