See?I had a social life. Sometimes I worked. But sometimes I went shopping forhouse plants. Take that, Nolan. You big, dumb idiot.
Ichanged my high-waisted cotton skirt and chambray cropped tank top for a pairof wide-leg black linen pants and a yellow cami with wide-straps that had alittle ruffle along the seam. In another hour I would throw my chef coat overit and be work appropriate, but for now I would fit in with the real world.
Grabbingmy crossbody purse, I glanced around my sparse but trendy apartment and notedplaces that could use a little green. There were a lot of spaces.
Ihad been wanting to get plants for a while. It was either a house full ofplants or a puppy. But I worked too much to take care of something that neededto be fed and walked and required human interaction every day. And I hatedcats.
Also, I hated fish tanks. I’d had one break inmy bedroom when I was thirteen. I’d thrown a baseball at Claire and she duckedinstead of catching it. The ball crashed into the tank and water dumpedeverywhere. Water and those tiny rocks and itty, bitty, shattered pieces ofglass. I had sworn that day I would never own another fish and face a potentialtwenty-five-gallon catastrophe ever again.
Plants.I could handle plants.
MaybeI’d even make an herb garden behind my kitchen sink where the natural lightcould reach it.
Likingthe idea more and more, I headed out the door to meet my friends. Er, my friendand the drill sergeant I knew.
Thenursery felt like a breath of fresh air when I stepped into the cool building.Deep greens and light greens and every color of flower stretched in alldirections, carefully designed to draw the eye and jumpstart the gardener ineach of us.
Itworked on me. This was like some kind of textile therapy. And after my morning,I drank in every second of the calming atmosphere and aromatic air.
“Kaya!”Dillon called from where she stood by a pallet of succulents.
Ooh.Yes, please. I grabbed a basket near the door and headed toward them. “Hey.” Ismiled brightly, feeling more like myself than I had five minutes ago.
Veraand Dillon smiled back. “Hey.”
“Youlook cute.” Vera grinned. “It’s nice to see you not covered in Coke from headto toe.”
Ilaughed. “Yeah, it’s amazing how comfortable I am in a kitchen, but ask me tocarry dirty dishes around for a few hours and I lose all sense of balance and coordination.”
“Ican’t wait to see how you do with reservations.”
“No,”I groaned. “You’re not putting me on the phones, are you?”
Shewaggled her eyebrows and held her thumb and pinky up to her face, mimicking myfuture. “Hi, this is Kaya atSarita, how can Iservice you this evening?”
“Ohmy God,” Dillon laughed. “You sound like a phone sex operator.” She looked atme. “Please don’t ask strangers how you can service them!”
“Thatcould be an interesting career change. My mom would love that.” Smacking myhand to my forehead, I made an angry sound in the back of my throat. “I forgot,I can’t come in this Sunday. My parents are coming to town and I promised tospend time with them.”
Verapouted. “That’s no fun. I’ll have to find someone else to torture this week.”
Dillongave her a look. “You look so nice from the outside. Nobody would ever knowyou’re psychotic if you didn’t go around announcing it.”
Veraflexed her tiny bicep. “Wait till I have a staff of my own.” She added somesucculent arrangements to her massive cart. “By the way, we’re going to starthiring next week if either of you ladies are interested. I can’t promise a saneworking environment, but we’re going to have fun!”
Dillonleaned on me, both of our shoulders deflating. Because… that sounded amazing. Ihad loved working for Killian. Even if he had been a dictator ninety-ninepercent of the time. And even though I didn’t think Vera would be any differentto work for, I liked her a lot.
“Iwish,” Dillon grumbled before I could give my answer. “But I’m fairly confidentif I quit Lilou to work at Killian’s restaurant, Ezra would cut me out of thewill and mail me to Siberia.”
“Hewouldn’t do either of those things,” Vera assured her. “At least he wouldn’tmail you to Siberia.” She paused and added, “The cost of postage would likelystop him. He’s a real cheapskate about those things.”
“Hewould. He’d take it out of my inheritance,” Dillon assured her. “And he wouldnever forgive me, which would be worse.”
“Ah,sibling love,” I groaned. “It’s adorable.” Both Vera and Dillon had brothersthey loved. Which made me want a brother. Clearly, I’d been give the shortstraw with two sisters. We didn’t love each other in that hero-worship kind ofway. We loved each other out of obligation, but we didn’t like each other muchat all.
“Whatabout you, Kaya? Care to apprentice full-time?”
Ibobbled my head back and forth. “Maybe? I want to see how Sarita goes first andI don’t feel like I should abandon Ezra before I try that. Besides, Wyatt wouldkill me if I left him right now.”
