Laura’s eyes went wide with shock and happiness.
“I could give her your card?” Tilly offered.
Embarrassment set in. “I don’t have a business card yet. But I can give you the number to the shop or you can come by anytime. I’d love to chat with you and your daughter about what she’s looking for.”
Tilly smiled and nodded. “That’d be great. I’ll check with her schedule and we’ll pop in. In the meantime, try to get some reading in. You look like you could use some good fiction.”
Laura smiled. Just as Tilly turned to leave, she mentioned, “I work over at the senior center. We could sure use something pretty in the entryway. Maybe a fresh large arrangement once a month?”
“Yes,” Laura said with excitement. “I’d be happy to put together some options and work with you.”
“Do you deliver and set up?” She glanced around the bar.
“Yes, absolutely.”
“That would be wonderful, then!” She leaned in and nudged Laura’s shoulder. “I have a budget of two hundred dollars a month for office upkeep, and I think that brightening up the place with some flowers is the way to go.”
“Tilly, thank you so much.”
“Don’t thank me, you earned it. Look around you. You’re the woman behind this beauty.”
It was the one of the kindest things she’d heard in a while and exactly what Laura needed right then. Tilly waved to someone across the room.
“I’ll see you soon, dear,” she said.
“Yes, I look forward to it,” Laura said, and Tilly waved back to her as she walked toward a group of women calling her over.
Laura glanced at the centerpiece on the closest table and felt a twinge of pride. Not for what she’d done, but because someone remembered her mother, remembered the shop when it sold flowers, just like Laura remembered. And Laura had just been hired on merit. On her work and her flowers.
Maybe she could keep her mother’s memory alive in a way after all. Jacob had the warehouse and everything he and her father had built together. Maybe this missing piece really was Laura’s to carry on. A part of her mom that she could build on. Success to earn.
The music slowed and several couples were dancing in a large spot in the center of the bar that had been cleared of tables. It really felt like a community here. Everyone knowing everyone. Laughing and enjoying themselves. Laura wished Hannah was here so maybe she’d have someone to talk to. But no luck.
“Pretty thing like you in the corner by yourself is a shame,” Jacob said, coming to stand by her and looking at the same crowd she was.
“Aren’t you just full of flattery,” she said.
He shot her a wink and took a drink of his beer. There was a casual air between them. Calm. Playful.
Between the almost admission and half details about her past, plus the secret sex she’d been having with Jacob and the not-so-secret fight
s that came before and after, she didn’t really know what they were. Surely not together. But not really enemies, either.
“Looks good in here,” he said and pointed to a centerpiece. “But I have to admit, I think I have the best one at home.”
“Yours was the cheapest to make,” she teased.
“Still the best,” he said with a grin. He set his beer on the bar behind them and took her glass of wine and set it down as well.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Well, I’m looking to do a lot of things, but I wanted to start with a dance.” He held out his hand, and for the first time since she’d gotten to that small town, she felt wanted.
At least for a moment.
She took his hand, and he led them to a spot on the floor. He twirled her once and pulled her back. She laughed and enjoyed that little spin and then settled close, her hand in his, while he led her around the floor with a strong palm on her side.
“You should do that more often,” Jacob said against her ear.