“This place can’t be real.” Daniela’s voice is barely above a whisper as she leans over the steering wheel.
“I was thinking the same thing.” There’s a banner over the street with information about a flower festival of some sort. It’s odd this is even a thing. I mean we have the farmer’s market in the city and they have flower shops. But to have an entire festival about them seems a little much.
“Maybe they are smart and working with the film makers popping up in the state. I think most of the shows they’ve been shooting have this vibe.” Jacob adds from the back.
He has a point. It would be good for town revenue. Not that it’s any concern to me since I don’t live here. But it couldn’t hurt.
“Oh, there’s the flower shop.” I point ahead. It looks like we’re coming into the downtown area. There isn’t much to it. There are roads that shoot off to the side, but in the middle, it looks like there’s a gazebo. Asheville really is picturesque. Maybe I’ll suggest my sister take her bridal photos in the area if this is the look she’s going for. She’d never get authentic pictures in the city.
“Damn, Jas, you spotted that from here?” Jacob laughs. “You must be starving.”
“I am.” I sit up straight in my seat. “The sooner we pick out flowers, the sooner I can stuff my face.”
I can see my sister roll her eyes. “Because that’s a visual I want in my brain.”
“Hey, next time feed me before we leave.” We could have avoided all this if she had given me a set time we were leaving. Of course, it would have helped if I hadn’t completely ignored my alarm.
Dani pulls into an open spot in front of the shop, and I open the door as soon as the car is in park. The name is Whoopsie Daisy and I can’t help but grin to myself. I love a good pun.
Jacob rushes out of the car after me to open my sister’s door. He really is a gentleman. If there were more guys like him in the world, I wouldn’t choose the single life.
They take their time, hand in hand, to walk toward me. Okay, I take it back. There’s no way I could be that lovey dovey with someone. I open the door and let them go inside first. All of this is for them, after all.
“Welcome to Whoopsie Daisy, what can we help you with?” I glance toward the voice, and the woman looks familiar. I can’t place where I’ve seen her, but it seems like I know her from somewhere.
“We have an appointment to look at flowers for our wedding. It should be under Daniela Campos.”
“Of course.” The woman walks out from behind the counter. “I’m Paula. I’ll be helping you today. Is there a specific flower you have in mind?”
As soon as she says her name, the puzzle pieces fall into place. This is Parker’s big sister. Does she know who I am? I guess I’ll find out, but I’m not offering the information first.
I don’t know if he’s mentioned me to anyone since he wants me to help with his image. This feels like it will be a very long and potentially awkward meeting.
Nine
Parker
“Parker!” Piper is calling me, and I have no clue why. I’ve spent the morning making sure everything is ready to go for the baby shower next week and dodging calls from the woman putting it on. But, if I know what’s good for me, I better go see what she wants.
When I walk into the main room, it’s chaos. There are people everywhere. It’s not a holiday weekend, and I can’t figure out why we are so busy.
I rush behind the counter to join my sister. She has to be frustrated if she hollered my name like that in front of customers. “What do you need me to do?”
“Jump on the other register so we can get the lines moving. I don’t know where all these people came from.”
“Will do.” I spring into action. People are buying multiple bottles at a time. We don’t have any sales running and it’s odd. I’m not questioning it, though. It might be busy, but that means business is good.
A customer is looking over the wine options and I take the moment to ask her, “Is there something going on in town?”
“It’s Spring Blooms time. I know the festival isn’t for another few weeks, but we rented a couple of party buses to look at all the wildflowers and get pictures. It’s too busy during the actual festival, and the good areas will be trampled.”
“That’s a smart move.” I can’t believe I forgot about the Spring Blooms Festival. Learning this new position made me lose track of the time. It’s a good reminder, though. I’m supposed to work the booth for part of the weekend.
She places her order, and I grab her bottles as she pays. Within twenty minutes we have everyone out the door and on their way.
“We really need to get some help in here. We were already busy, but with the festival happening soon, we need more people.”
Piper takes a big breath and lets it out before leaning against the counter. “I have someone coming in tomorrow for an interview. Hopefully they can start on Monday so I can train them.”
