Divided Interests (Southern Bride 3)

Our friends slowly started to bug out, one by one they said their goodbyes and we thanked them for coming. I had been worried at first about how it would go. Neither Lucas nor I had really hung out with our friends from Johnson City in ages. A few had gotten married, one or two had kids, but once we all got together, everything fell into place. When we had called our friends and told them we were going out to celebrate getting back together, they’d all been so supportive. I had missed this group of friends. The small talk between the years, the random texts or Christmas cards hadn’t been nearly enough. Lucas made everyone take a vow we’d do this once a month.

When only Milo stood before us, the last of our friends, he picked up my hand, smiling at the ring. His eyes lifted, and he looked at me, then Lucas.

“Do I even want to know what happened between you two?”

Lucas and I exchanged a knowing look, then both said at the same time, “No.”

“Fine, I’m going to just go with it. You’re back together, you may or may not be engaged, and I’m going to guess there is no more talk of buying anyone out?”

“You would be correct,” Lucas said.

“On which part?” Milo asked.

“All of it,” Lucas said with a slap on Milo’s arm.

He rolled his eyes. “You two were always so weird.”

I stood in the middle of the large, open room. “I can see it now! The brick walls will be painted white. Maybe some cabinets over here, in a light shade of pink or even white and grey.”

Lucas leaned against the opposite wall with a wide grin. It had been four days since we had stumbled onto the two chests. Two weeks since he had moved in. And everything had been perfect.

“You know, the furniture in the storage shed…there might be some pieces you could use for the flower shop.”

I smiled. “Lucas, that’s an amazing idea.”

We had yet to make our way to the storage unit. I knew we were afraid of digging up any more secrets.

“Will you sell other things, besides flowers?” Jen asked.

“I think so! It would be so fun going to market. You could come and help me pick out some things.”

“What is market?” Lucas asked.

“It’s a trade show where you can go and look for items to carry in your stores,” I answered.

Jen walked around tapping her finger to her chin. “You know, there is a girl here locally who makes soaps and lotions using goat milk. You could talk to her about carrying her items here. She even does soap petals to put into baths. They are amazing.”

Excitement bubbled up. “I love that idea! And the apiary that’s right outside of town has products from their honey bees. We could stock their stuff, as well.”

Jen nodded in excitement.

“What about baskets?” Lucas said out of the blue.

Jen and I turned to look at Lucas. So far, he had remained quiet, asking a question here or there.

“Baskets?” I asked.

He looked unsure of what he was going to say. “Never mind. I was thinking out loud.”

“Please tell me what you were going to say. I want your input too, Lucas.”

His smile seemed uneasy. “This one time I saw this flower shop, and it reminded me of you. On the outside, the owner had wicker baskets that were filled with flowers. It reminded me of you when you would walk the flower garden with your mom and Grams. You’d cut the flowers and lay them in the baskets. I always thought it looked nice. Might look cute outside your little flower shop.”

My jaw fell open, and I rushed over to Lucas, throwing myself into his arms.

“It was a cute idea, but don’t you think you’re giving him a little too much credit?” Jen asked.

Lucas chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. “Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?”

I kissed him. Lucas pushed his fingers in my hair, drawing me even closer as he deepened the kiss.

“Okay, seriously, I know you’re making up for lost time, but no one falls into a romantic kiss like that for the hell of it!” Jen stated.

Smiling against Lucas’s lips, I whispered, “You just named the shop.”

His brows pinched in. “What?”

“When I was in France, right outside of Paris, there was this little flower shop, it was called The Little Green Shop. I thought at the time that it was a cute name. You said the little flower shop, instead of green, but it’s the perfect name.”

I took a step back and tilted my head as I regarded him. “As a matter of fact, there were baskets outside, with flowers in them.”

Lucas let his smile slip, and I realized why he had acted so indifferent. “You’ve seen that shop, haven’t you?”