Page 60 of The Arrangement

JD’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. “That’s a great idea. Now, important question.” He shifted, so he was leaning on his arm, facing me. “What should I expect today? Should I be helping to sell flowers? Manning the counter? Answering questions? Standing here looking pretty?” he finished with a cheeky grin.

I snorted at that and finished polishing off my coffee, then dusted my hands of muffin crumbs. “As pretty as you are, James, the only one whose job is to stand there and look pretty in this shop is the flowers. But nice try.” I winked at him and walked around the counter to unlock the front door and officially flip the sign to “Open.” To my surprise, there was already a small queue of people waiting to come in.

“Mama, it’s the flower man!” little Rumi shouted enthusiastically in a wisteria purple dress.

Merilee smiled indulgently and playfully rolled her eyes where her exuberant child couldn’t see. “We would have come to support either way, but Rumiinsistedwe had to be here first thing. She also insisted that we bring you special flowers to celebrate your shop opening.”

Rumi let out a scandalized gasp. “Mama, it was asurprise. I wanted to tell him.”

“Oh, excuse me. Rumi has something she would like to give you. Also, Rumi, dear, you can’t keep calling him ‘the flower man’. This is Mr. Weathers.” Rumi scrunched her cute little face in distaste, and Merilee gave me an apologetic look. “We’re working on manners.”

I squatted down to be on Rumi’s level. “How about this? You can call me Mr. Marc. Is that better?”

Rumi thought about it in that serious way only little kids can think about things, then nodded. “Okay. What about your friend? What do I call him? Daddy says his name is JD, but Mama says I’m not ‘upposed to call him that.”

I chuckled and looked back at JD, watching on with undisguised humor. “You’ll have to ask him.”

“Okay!” She went to run, made it three steps into the store, came to a screeching halt, and spun back around. “Oh yeah. These are for you. And your friend, I guess. Mama says it’s important to share, but you don’talwayshave to share if you don’t want to.”

“Thank you, I love them,” I replied, but she was already off to talk to JD. “She’s a hoot,” I said to Merilee as I straightened up, a smile stretching my face.

“A handful more like.” We walked into the store after her rambunctious daughter, allowing more people to wander inside, including, I was surprised to note, a rather surly Martha Elcott.

“I really do love the wildflowers,” I said, smiling softly at the small bundle Rumi’d given me.

Merilee made an aggrieved noise and covered her eyes. “Please don’t feel you need to keep them, though I appreciate you being sweet to Rumi. The flowers you have here are absolutely gorgeous. I imagine the last thing you want crowding yourcounters are mismatched wildflowers my daughter found on the way here.”

“Quite the contrary. Technically, all flowers are wild, or they were. And these are extra special because they were picked with intent and given with joy.” I ran a finger lightly over a long, slim, white petal.

She wiped away a stray tear, though she didn’t seem upset. “Oh my stars. I’m so happy you’ve reopened this place and that you’re bringing the same kind of energy. It’s been greatly missed. Can I… Can I give you a hug?”

“Uh, yes?” Before I could second-guess the decision, Merilee swept me up in a quick but fierce hug. No sooner had she released me than Rumi was bouncing back over.

“Mr. Marc, Mr. Marc.”

“Yes, Rumi?” I asked with a smile.

“I know I said you didn’t have to share your flowers if you didn’t want to, but I wasreallyhoping I could borrow justonefor Mr. James so he can put it in his hair. It’scurlynow! Pretty please,” she asked, drawing out the please until I couldn’t hold back my chuckle.

“I also believe in sharing and would love to. I think this one would look perfect. What do you think?” I pulled a single stem free of the bunch that boasted multiple blooms with slim white petals.

She held it, and I could see literal stars in her eyes. “Itisperfect. Thank you!” With that, she spun on her heel and raced back to JD, who was already kneeling so Rumi could place the flowers in his hair. I met his gaze as he straightened back up, and my heart gave a rebellious flutter. The honeysuckles really did look perfect.

Chapter 30

James

The next few days were a whirlwind of people, flowers, and quick trips for food, followed by collapsing into exhausted heaps. But despite Marc’s smiles and animated conversations with customers—even those actually there to buy flowers and not just stop by to congratulate him on reopening the shop—he was phoning it in. The spark that had propelled him through the renovation, that had snared me to the point where I didn’t believe it was possible to disentangle myself from him without losing vital parts, was noticeably absent.

At times, it only seemed dimmed, like when Martha Elcott requested a custom bouquet that conveyed how someone was a horrible cheat at cards. But the rest? It was just… gone. And on a more selfish note, while Marc still smiled and teased me, he’d also stopped touching me. Sure, there were still the occasional brushes by accident or to get my attention, but nothing like before. To top it off, every time I asked if something was wrong,he looked at me likeIwas the one being weird, and his energy did that weird withdrawal-thing again.

Fortunately, I was doing the lunch run today, and I planned on using every second of my time away from the shop to get some much-needed advice, since clearly I wasn’t making any progress figuring this shit out on my own. So, yet again, I found myself texting Andy. There was something especially galling about having to get relationship advice for a relationship I wasn’t actually in from my little brother. But I passed desperate the third day I woke up to Marc having already bought coffees before I could make any.

ME: You available? I could really use a talk.

Anderson: Give me 5

That gave me enough time to get well away from the shop and closer to my destination. Marc had suggested taking the car given the heat, but I didn’t want to mess up his seat settings and I needed the walk more. True to his word, Andy called five minutes later.