She let out a sigh of defeat. “No, not even an inkling. Maybe you could give me a hint?”
“I’ll do you one better.” I moved next to her and took the iron from her hand.
“Sorry.” Her posture slouched when she realized I was taking full reign.
“No worries. We’ve all gotta start learning somewhere.” I demonstrated where to pour in the water and turned the dial to the proper setting. “You know, I’m kind of surprised you don’t know how to use an iron. Your clothes are always so perfect, and it seems like half of your wardrobe is business casual.”
“It is,” she confirmed with a hesitant laugh. “I get my stuff dry cleaned. My mom always did so I got in the habit of doing the same.”
I kept my expression neutral as I nodded. “I see. Makes sense.”
We only dry cleaned in my family if we were going to a wedding or funeral. Even now, with Dad’s pay bump and Mom’s consistent gig working as an analyst for a tech company, we still didn’t use money on things that could be done with a little elbow grease.
I handed the iron back to Yara to let her have a go at it. When it looked like she had the hang of things, I moved back to what I’d been doing.
“I never asked,” Yara said between her soft humming as she ironed. “What made you come up with the idea for this film?”
“Honestly? Part of it had to do with the emergency team,” I confessed.
Her eyes widened a bit. “No way. Really?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Mixed in with some things I experienced last year.”
She stuck out her bottom lip. “Aw. May I ask what or is to still too raw to talk about?”
“Kind of still raw,” I admitted. “But, long story short, I lost all my friends because of a break-up.”
Yara sucked the back of her teeth, disappointed. “That’s the absolute worst. Something like that happened to me in middle school… not to trivialize what you went through. Middle school drama’s definitely different than drama at our age. I just… I kind of get what you’re going through.”
I smiled, grateful at her attempts to connect with me. “Thanks, Yara.”
“This film’s going to be beautiful,” she insisted. “I can tell you’re passionate and talented.”
My cheeks warmed, and I busied my hands with readjusting the setting on the camera. Nothing needed fixing at the time, but I was desperate to do something with my hands. Compliments were my kryptonite. I never knew what to say or how to respond.
A car pulled up in front of the greenhouse. I was grateful for the distraction. When I walked over to the windows to get a clearer view of who it was, my shoulders fell a bit in disappointment.
Until now, I didn’t realize I’d been holding out hope for Dakota to drop in. Even if it was only for a few minutes to say, ‘hi.’ He texted me earlier that he’d left an extra key for the greenhouse in our mailbox. But that was it as far as communications went between us. I missed him and that both scared and excited me. My fingers itched to reach for my phone and text him. I resisted. I had to maintain some level of calm this early in our relationship. We were taking things slow, after all.
“Good evening, ladies,” Ari greeted once she appeared at the top of the stairs. She wore a bright yellow tank tucked into wide-leg pants. In one hand, she held a cardboard cup tray with three drinks. And the other hand, a carrier with a brown rabbit inside.
“We have a special guest?” I grinned, looking at the cute, small creature. Its eyes were droopy like it was getting ready for a nap.
“Was I not supposed to come today?” Ari removed her small sunglasses, slipping them into the front of her shirt. Her eyebrow cocked up in confusion. “I made a special batch to celebrate.”
“Oh, you didn’t have to,” Yara said with a tight smile on her lips.
I laughed. “No, I was referring to the rabbit. You’re right on time, Ari.”
She blew out a relieved breath. “Great. I thought I got my days mixed up again. Here, take a drink. It’s vegan and gluten-free.”
“Thanks.”
I grabbed the offered cup with skepticism and sipped. Yara watched me drink with large, concerned eyes. The bamboo straw filled with a chunky, green substance. The drink was shockingly not as horrible as it looked. In fact, after a few extra sips, I’d say it was downright incredible.
“Holy shit,” I said. “What’s in this?”
“Good, right?” Ari beamed, so please with my reaction she did a little dance with her shoulders.
