Page 31 of The One You Want

“Yeah.” I blew out a breath. “It’s stupid, getting so worked up. These people are myfriends.”

“It’s not stupid. You don’t like public speaking. That’s hardly an uncommonissue.”

I chewed on the inside of my cheek, thinking about that. I was sure that he was right, lots of people probably disliked public speaking. But it somehow felt…different for me. Deeper. Like there was something fundamentally wrong with me that prevented me from feeling comfortable around other people. That prevented me from forming relationships andconnections.

And I think a part of me had always felt thatway.

“Did I ever tell you about my meeting with the bank?” he asked. “When I was trying to get the start-up loan for Potter’sBlooms?”

“I don’t thinkso.”

He laughed. “I was a disaster. Seriously, Jenny, I was such a mess. I’ve never been more nervous in mylife.”

It was hard to imagine steady, strong Grant feeling nervous about anything. “Well,” I reasoned, “you had a lot on the line. This is your business we’re talking about.” It wasn’t quite the same as falling to pieces over a stupid book clubmeeting.

“Right, but it wasn’t even that. I mean, I was nervous about the money, obviously, but that wasn’t the mainthing.”

“What was the mainthing?”

“I had to wear a suit.” He said it the same way some people might sayI need a root canalorI got audited.Like it had been some terriblefate.

“You poorthing.”

“I’m serious,” he insisted, holding out his work-toughened hands. “My sister told me I couldn’t walk in there with my finger nails the way they normally look. She convinced me to go to a salon. I had amanicure,Jenny.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “That sounds reallyrough.”

“It was! The whole time I was getting ready I just felt like the biggest fraud. I didn’t look like me or feel like me—it was like I was putting on a big show. It felt gross. And feeling like that made it really hard to get through the business planpresentation.”

“So what’d you do? How’d you get throughit?”

“Luckily I had a few samples of my work with me. Some of the more exotic stuff I’d be able to sell if I got the greenhouse going. And having the flowers there…” he shrugged. “It made me feel better.” He nudged my shoulder with his. “And yes, I know that makes me a giant dork, okay, you don’t have to sayit.”

“I mean, I’ve already seen you talking to your flowers,” I said, grinning. “It’s not like this isworse.”

“You really meant it when you said you weren’t going to forget about that, didn’tyou?”

“Yup.”

“Anyhow,” he went on. “The point is, having my flowers there—the smell of them, the way they felt, all that familiarity—it helped.” He nudged me again, gesturing at my boxes full of supplies. “Maybe you’ll feel the sameway.”

I shook my head, staring at his open, genuine expression, feeling something a little like wonder. Grant had this way of simplifying everything down, cutting through all the noise that was always in my head, always confusing me, and making it all seem so mucheasier.

“Screw the cat wrangling,” I told him. “If the shop doesn’t work out, you totally have a future in motivationalspeaking.”

“Well, I do get a lot of practice. What do you think I say to theflowers?”

The idea of him giving pep talks to daisies had me gigglinguncontrollably.

“You can stop laughing now,” he said, even though I could see the amusement flash in his own eyes. “We’rehere.”

“Oh.” I looked up at Libby’s storefront. The anxiety was still swimming around in my belly but, somehow, it seemed to have dulled. I wasn’t looking forward to this, but I wasn’t dreading it the way I had beenbefore.

“Will I be risking my life if I help you bring these in?” heasked.

“It’s still early,” I told him. “Most of the girls won’t be here yet. I think you’resafe.”

We unloaded an armful from the cart and carried it into Libby’s store. “Hey, Libbs,” I called out. She was behind the register, helping a customer. “Can I bring this stuffback?”