Page 130 of Ruthless Contract
"You sure?"
I nodded. "It's not the end of the world. We still have a few days before the wedding. I’ll make sure those flowers are here."
“Okay,” she said, and went back to sweeping the floor.
I sighed. There was one store that should have these flowers in stock. Our New Orleans branch. Ivy's family ran that location. I hated the thought of calling them. Not because they wouldn’t gladly send the flowers over.
But because they’d ask questions. Her mom would want to know what happened to my order. And then she’d ask me if there was anyone they needed to kill. They were a murderous bunch. Normally, I went to them as a last resort.
If her mother suspected something was wrong, she’d tell Ivy. The last thing I needed was Ivy cutting her mission short because she thought something was wrong back home. Unfortunately, I didn't have another choice.
I needed those flowers. I pulled up the number for the New Orleans branch and pressed call. As the phone rang, I glanced at the order number I’d written down. Had I really written down a number for a different order?
If so, what did that order number go with? When the phone was answered, I talked to Ivy’s mom, letting her know that I messed up an order by mistake. After being lectured for about ten minutes, she agreed to overnight the flowers.
After ending the call, I went back through my emails because I recalled getting a confirmation email. But it wasn’t there. There was no email confirmation. No Thank You For Your Order email or anything.
Fuck. Had I really messed up? I needed a break. I was losing my damn mind. But at least the event wouldn’t suffer because of my mistake. Thankfully, I made it through the rest of the day without any more screw-ups.
Another plus was that Rome hadn’t popped up out of nowhere to add more stress to my day. The following morning, I arrived at the flower shop determined to have a better day, a more productive day.
The emergency shipment from Ivy's family's branch in New Orleans arrived before lunch.One problem solved. I’d just needed the rest of the week to cooperate, and everything would be okay.
When I went out for lunch that day, everything was fine. When I returned from my lunch break, everything was a mess. As soon as I entered the shop with my To-Go bag, Kelly hit me with bad news.
“Hey, Blossy,” Kelly said from behind the counter, laptop open in front of her. “We got an email from Magnolia Floral Imports."
"Good,” I told her, smiling. “They're probably confirming next week's shipment.”
She shook her head and turned the laptop my way so I could read the message. The look in her eyes worried me. I approached the counter and stared down at the screen. My smile disappeared before I reached the second sentence.
Dear Ms. Brooks,
After careful consideration, Magnolia Floral Imports has made the difficult decision to permanently cease operations effective immediately. As a result, we are unable to fulfill your pending orders or continue our supplier agreement.
We sincerely appreciate your business over the years and apologize for any inconvenience this sudden closure may cause.
We wish you and Blossoms & Vines continued success.
I simply stared at the screen. That didn't make any sense. Magnolia had been around forever. My grandmother had ordered flowers from Magnolia. After she retired, my mom continued using them.
When I eventually took over the business, I'd never considered finding another supplier because there hadn't been a reason to. Magnolia had always been there. Just last year, the original owner’s granddaughter took over, and the business had been going viral on social media ever since.
"They're... closing..." I whispered.
"I know," Kelly muttered. “I’m shocked. But it happens. You know that little diner around the corner that I go to for lunch? They have a sign on their door that they’re getting ready to close. Oh, and yesterday, Dayana mentioned that the store next door has a sign on it, saying it’s going out of business.”
“Really?” I asked. I hadn’t even noticed. “Times are hard,” I muttered.
Still, Magnolia closing so suddenly, while still having orders to fill... well... that felt strange as hell. However, I didn’t have the time or energy to waste figuring out why Magnolia had closed its doors. My problem was the flowers I would no longer be receiving.
“Handle the front,” I told Kelly. “I’m going to go work in the back for a little.”
“Okay, Blossy.”
I headed to the back and put my food in the fridge. Then I entered my small office and pulled out my laptop. I immediately opened my supplier list and started making calls. I needed to get those flowers in.
They weren’t ones we normally kept on hand at any of the branches. And we didn’t grow them in our nursery. Yet, our bride had wanted them, and we’d promised to get them for her. We had to keep our promises.
