Which is becoming a problem. The urge to break someone in half is far too frequent these days.
Nason won’t forgive me. There are sacred lines in a friendship that shouldn’t be crossed. I feel like this is on the same level of sleeping with your best friend’s spouse. You just don’t treat your friends that way. Family is off limits unless expressly told otherwise.
The best I can hope for right now is getting over Lie before we’re caught. Kiss him. Squeeze that hypnotic ass until I’ve had my fill and my infatuation is satisfied, and then we go our separate ways, and no one ever has to know. It’ll be our dirty little secret.
The flower shop and greenhouses don’t have locks on them. There’s not even a fence to keep people out. There isnocrime on Kala. We’re not that kind of community. I’m not even sure we have a jail or courthouse or anything. Technically speaking, this island chain is privately owned. While we actually purchase houses, we’re only purchasing the house. The land it’s on is leased, which means at any time, the owner of the house can be evicted, leaving them with the option of taking their house with them or sell it.
From what I’ve learned, it’s happened once. The man was kicked off the island chain entirely and has not been allowed to return. The event itself is pretty well known. A lesson that ifyou disrupt the peace or cause problems, youcan and will beremoved.
Interestingly, I’m not surewhatactually caused the situation to get to that point. You’d think the crime that led to his banishment would be the lesson.
I poke my head into greenhouses as I make my way through the flower shop backyard. I’ve been to greenhouses and nurseries back in America and I always thought it was amusing and didn’t really lend confidence in their product to walk around nurseries with muddy grounds and no grass. A lack of trees or ambience.
You’re there for plants and they have so little landscaping of their own. It would be like buying a cake from someone who detested dessert and hoping it would be delicious.
It’s Always Flower Day isn’t your typical nursery though. There are wide paved paths surrounded by flower beds, trees, and other beautiful foliage. You’re not walking into the back of a warehouse. You’re walking into a breathtaking garden that happens to have greenhouses.
I find Kellan in the third greenhouse. He’s adjusting the long limbs of an ivy plant. He glances up when he notices he’s not alone and offers me a huge smile. “Hi, Laiken. What brings you here?”
“I’m looking for something to do. Whatcha got?”
He glances around, and I imagine he’s trying to think of a single task on a long list. “How do you feel about replanting?” he asks.
“Lead the way and give me any special instructions.”
Kellan wipes his hands on his pants and smiles. “Sure. Thanks.”
“Absolutely. Glad I can lend a hand occasionally.”
Like everywhere in the world, the businesses on Kala tend to be understaffed. In this case, it isn’t because people don’t wantto do the work. It’s because we don’t have enough housing for the number of employees we need. I think the essential roles are probably filled as a priority and then everyone trickles down from there.
I don’t think Kellan is actually short staffed. I never see that he’s looking for help. But he also never turns down help when they show up to volunteer their time.
“No special instructions. The usual. Give them a good soaking when you’re finished, and of course, you’re welcome to whatever you’d like as a thank you,” Kellan tells me when we stop in the first greenhouse I passed to find him.
“Thanks.” I look around. This will take a while. Perfect job. “Seems to me like you had your day cut out for you.”
He laughs. “I think we bring in as many as we manage to get through each day. We never catch up, which isn’t bad, otherwise I’d probably end up filling this one with flower stock too.”
“I don’t doubt that. When there’s an empty corner, it must be filled with flowers.”
“Yes!” he exclaims, clapping me on the back of my shoulder. “Thanks again.”
He leaves, and I close my eyes to take in the smell of the flowers for a minute. It’s strong, unsurprisingly. I take a breath, knowing this is just what I need to empty my head and relax.
I spend all day at the flower shop. At first, I was only intending to stay until I felt less guilty and my brain was overrun with flowers, but as I continued repotting the little buds from their starter containers into the next size so they could grow bigger, it became a challenge to see if I could get through the whole greenhouse.
To be clear, these aren’t your average backyard home greenhouses. They’re massive. I had my work cut out for me. It’s dark by the time I reach the very last one. Then I spend half an hour studiously watering them before I finally take myleave. While I rarely take a flower payment from Kellan, there’s a single stem of a very pretty orange flower that catches my eye on the way out, and I snag it. It will look lovely against Lie’s complexion.
I don’t head home right away. Since I haven’t eaten more than a cookie that Kellan brought in, I stop at the deli on my way home, eating the sandwich as I take the long way to my house.
I’m unsurprised to find Nason and Miranda out back around their firepit, roasting s’mores. I hear Nason’s voice calling me through my open back door. Damn thing is always open. Good thing the island isn’t filled with mischievous people, or I’d have been robbed blind eight times over.
I set the flower by the front door and head to the back. Elijah’s bedroom window catches my eye. The light is on. That means he’s home. My stomach flips. I haven’t seen or spoken to him all day.
“Where you been?” Nason asks.
“Kellan’s.” I hold up my hands with dirt staining my skin and stuck under my nails. I’m going to need to scrub before I climb into bed.
