‘You’re not your aunt. This isn’t nineteen-twenty-five. You don’t have to be married to be respectable. You don’t have to listen to your family or this town or anyone. It shouldn’t matter if you’re with me or not. So, people don’t want to book you for weddings? Sell them something else. You have the power here, Daisy. Use it.’
She blinked. ‘Damn,’ she whispered. ‘You really have thought about this.’
Elliot took her hands in his, kissing the backs of each one, flipping them and pressing his lips to her palms. ‘I love you. I will be here for you however you want. I just don’t want you thinking that your success has to hinge on our relationship. You can do this, Daisy. With or without me.’
‘So we fake break-up?’
‘To show the town your relationship status is irrelevant.’
‘And then I?—’
‘Think outside of weddings. What other big events are out there? Graduations?’
Daisy thought about it, her heart ramping up for a different reason now. Excitement. Hope. She’d been so focused on weddings she’d lost sight of every other life event. People needed flowers for all sorts of things, didn’t they?
‘How aboutquinceañeras—baby showers?’ she ventured, tentatively.
Elliot lit up. ‘Perfect.’
‘Milestone birthdays.’
‘The big Five-O. Definitely.’
‘Anniversaries?’
‘Sure! You could do a million other things, and once people see how amazing your flowers are, they won’t remember anything about this absurd rumor.’
‘Maybe Kira could help me with the rebrand on social media. She’s good at that stuff.’
Elliot smiled at her and her heart broke a little bit. He was so beautiful.
‘So, we’re fake broken up, but we keep doing this, right?’ She gestured between them, Elliot’s bare chest and the tangle of blankets covering their legs.
He tackled her into the pillows, and her laughter rang out into the night sky. ‘Hell, yes,’ he said, his face buried in her neck.
‘Good,’ she said, her fingers raking down his back. ‘Because I love you, too.’
ChapterThirty-Seven
‘Sorry I’m late!’ Iris said, rushing over to their table at the pub. Daisy and Kira were already working their way through a plate of nachos and their first round of margaritas. ‘Owen was fussing and Olive was not at all convinced that I needed a night out with only other grown-ups. She said that sounded boring.’ Iris blew out a long breath. ‘But Archer practically shoved me out the door, so… here I am.’
‘We are very glad you made it,’ Kira said, scooting over in the booth to make space for Iris.
‘And I only cried a little bit on the way here.’ Iris grabbed a cheesy chip and stuffed it in her mouth.
‘We’re proud of you,’ Daisy said and Iris smiled.
‘Thank you. Okay, now, what did I miss?’
‘Kira was just telling me that David and Hailey decided to go with a destination wedding, after all. So, they won’t be getting married in Dream Harbor.’
‘Good. We didn’t want them here anyway,’ Iris said and Daisy couldn’t help her laugh.
‘And now she’s showing me my new and improved Instagram account. Look at how gorgeous this is,’ Daisy said, passing her phone to Iris.
‘They’re all your designs. I just curated them,’ Kira said with a smile. It was more than that. Kira had taken beautiful photos of her flowers all over town. Daisy had donated free bouquets and centerpieces to any business in Dream Harbor that wanted one. She’d themed them for each shop, and the owners and customers had loved them.
But the real luck had come when Kira booked a 50th wedding anniversary party at the farm. Apparently, no one was worried about Daisy breaking up a couple that had been together for a lifetime, so Kira managed to get her the job. Daisy replicated the couple’s flowers from their wedding day right down to the bride’s cream-colored roses and the woman was so happy she cried. And then Daisy cried.
