Zach had gone for the quintessential male meal—a cheeseburger and fries.She had to admit it looked good.Maybe next time she was indulging, she’d have a burger instead of her usual chicken-fried steak.
They ate in silence and let the buzz of the diner fill in the gaps, but Tilly could only let that happen for a short time before the need to chat welled up inside of her.“Where did you live before you moved here?”
Zach took an inordinate amount of time to answer the question.He swirled a fry in his ketchup before popping it in his mouth and chewing slowly.
He was obviously in witness protection and was thinking of what he was supposed to say.
No, wait!He was starting over and had left a wife and child back wherever he lived.But she discounted that one because there was no tan line on his ring finger—she’d looked when he first sat down.Then again, with his job he may not have worn one, so maybe she shouldn’t discount that theory just yet.
Or, he was famous and had come to Marietta until his most recent scandal died down.Which could be possible, since she didn’t really follow the gossip sites on social media—that was a rabbit hole she never wanted to fall down.
“Is it really that hard to answer?”she asked when he ate yet another fry.
Zach looked out the window, and she really believed he didn’t want to tell her where he was from.“California.I’m from California.”
Considering the size of the state, that could mean he lived anywhere, but seeing as he was reluctant to share any further information, she didn’t push, even though she wanted to.Yet another thing on the list of things not to talk about.Soon there wouldn’t be anything left.
Maybe that’s what he wants.
Tilly should listen to her inner voice, but theyweresitting at a table together.No way could she ignore him.Her mom would be horrified if she’d heard through the town’s gossip train that Tilly had been rude.Eunice Bloom expected all her daughters to be polite to whomever they were with, even people they didn’t quite like.Which during her teenage years had been a little difficult.
In any event, she wasn’t about to start being rude now.“Okay, well I’m a born and bred Marietta citizen.My parents own a flower farm...Well, I should say my oldest sister and her fiancé run it now.”
She’d had no idea that the farm was in financial difficulties until the truth came out after their father died and her sister found the discrepancy when she was going through the books.
At the time, Tilly had wished she’d had more money so she could contribute financially, but instead she’d just been there when she could to help out.She had one idea of how the farm could increase its bottom line, but she hadn’t brought it up after Chrissy and Ryder got together.The man was a billionaire, and he’d injected the necessary funds to do all the repairs and updates to get the farm back on track.
But maybe she could still toss the idea out to them and see what they thought.Tilly always believed the farm should grow poinsettias, the perfect holiday flower and a way to bring in income when it was the slow season because of the colder weather.
She loved them and had a plant of her own that flowered every year.Maybe now that their father was gone...
Her dad had loved his favorite flowers, so that’s what they grew.Roses were his favorite, and now Sunny, the middle of the three Bloom sisters and the real horticulturist in the family, had just come up with a new variety, which was making all the people in the rose world stand up and pay attention, garnering more business for the farm.That could be a stumbling block with her suggestion to her sisters, because now wasn’t the time to expand.But the idea had taken hold, and she wanted to call Chrissy immediately and present it to her.
Obviously, there was no way they’d get poinsettias ready for this year’s holiday, seeing as Christmas was only a few weeks away, but if they started looking at all the processes now, they’d be able to have a bumper crop for next year.
“Although maybe I can source a place where they grow and then get Chrissy to buy them and sell them this year.”
“Buy and sell what?”Zach asked, his brows drawing together in confusion.
“What?”
“Where what grows?”
It took a second for her to realize she’d voiced her thoughts out loud, which was fine when she did it at home, but not so fine when she did it in front of a handsome man.“Oh, sorry, just thinking out loud.”
“Is it something to do with what you’re filling that form out for?”
“No, but it could be.”Tilly liked the idea of covering the stage for the Carols by Candlelight event with red and white poinsettias.How pretty would that look?And they could advertise that, starting next year, Bloom’s Flower Farm would be stocking them.It would be a way to get their farm’s name on national television and give them even more exposure, which would mean more business.
Oh yes, Ilovethis idea.And because I’ll need to source a place to buy them, I can have a fully formed proposal to present to Chrissy.
If there was one thing she knew about her accountant oldest sister, Chrissy liked everything presented to her in a way that would show how beneficial it would be to the farm’s operations and bottom line.Details that would substantiate that the initial outlay would be worth the risk.
A moment of doubt hit her.What if Chrissy dismissed her?Her track record of starting things and giving them up after a couple of weeks was well known.Working at the diner was an early example.Not to mention the guitar she’d assured her parents she wanted to learn.The Easter bonnet parade she’d convinced the school principal would be a good idea.And then...Houston.
Nope, not going there.
Nothing good ever came of her revisiting that particular part of her life.It was over, and she needed to forget how dismal her six months away from Marietta had been.
