Anne paused. “What?”
Sophie’s head cocked to the side, like she was trying to find the right words to explain it. “Take me and Jimmy. We didn’t fall apart because we stopped caring. It was everything else, the small things that got overlooked, the resentments we pushed down and ignored. We didn’t talk about any of it, so it ended up festering until it swallowed us up.” She paused, taking a moment to shrug. “Maybe it was because we had been together so long. We got together as kids, you know? And even though we grew up like we were supposed to, we still saw each other as those same kids.”
“You still love him, though?”
“Maybe,” Sophie said with a shrug. “But we never learned how to grow together. And if you can’t grow together, you grow apart.”
Another moment passed, then Sophie suddenly shook her head and stood up. “What the hell are we doing? Lamenting pastrelationships? We’re literally here to plan for the future! And I think the first item on our to-do list should be that party.”
Anne laughed. “How about we start with organizing your list of vendors and go from there?”
“Hey, I can multitask,” Sophie said with a wink. “Okay, I’m going to lock up. Meet me out front?”
Anne nodded, throwing her bag over her shoulder and heading to the front room. She had just made it to the sidewalk when her phone pinged somewhere inside her bag. When she pulled it out, she saw a text waiting.
THEO
Hey! Just checking in on those documents? Would also love to run my talent contracts by you. And get your thoughts on the post timeline? Maybe it’s too aggressive, but you tell me.
Anne frowned. It seemed every time she finished reviewing one of Theo’s spreadsheets, another one suddenly needed her attention.
ANNE
Okay, feel free to send it along, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to get to it until after Thanksgiving.
THEO
That’s perfect. Gives me an excuse to ask you out for coffee after I’m back from LA that week. I’m meeting with the network and if all goes well, I think I’ll have a pretty good deal on the table.
She replied with a thumbs-up emoji just as Sophie emerged from the shop, pulling the large key ring from her bag and locking the front door.
“I’m already picturing the postcards I’m going to send out to promote this place,” Sophie said, checking the handle one more time, then turning to Anne with a wide smile on her face. “There can be just an explosion of flowers and then big, dramatic font announcing the opening of…” Her expression deflated.
“What’s wrong?” Anne asked.
Sophie looked up at the storefront again. “What the hell am I calling this place?”
“It doesn’t have to be anything too complicated,” Anne assured her. “Just something that hints at that feeling of getting flowers.”
Sophie rolled her eyes. “Unfortunately, it’s been a while, so I don’t remember.”
It had been a while for Anne, too, but she wasn’t about to admit that to Sophie, especially since the last time she got flowers was eight years ago, from Freddie. The moment rushed back to her in an instant, and suddenly Anne could almost smell the lilacs, feel the soft petals under her fingers, see the triangle note attached.
Annie— It’s a Wednesday and you just got a C for the first time in your entire life. Congratulations, I’m so proud of you. Who wants to be good at microeconomic analysis anyway?
—Freddie
She tried to put the feeling of that bouquet—that gift—into words. “There’s the surprise when flowers arrive, the warmth whenyou realize why. The euphoria when you open the card…” Then she paused. “Euphoria and flora… That could be it.”
Sophie’s eyebrows stitched together. “What?”
“You could call the shop Eufloria.”
A smile slowly spread across Sophie’s lips. “That’s really fucking good.”
CHAPTER 14
Freddie spent the entire car ride uptown to his lunch meeting with Mark Segel trying to forget the night before. Yes, the play was awful, and Cricket’s arrest had been harrowing, but that was easier to compartmentalize, especially after Ellis texted that morning with the news that his sister had been released. No, what he had a harder time ignoring was everything that came after. The car ride, the roof, how Anne had looked at him…
