Page 97 of The Long Way Found

LUKE

"Ineed to stop by Suze's," Luke said as they left The Ridge on Tuesday evening. "She's been texting me all week about seeing her new setup."

"The flower shop?" Jack asked.

"Flower shop slash landscaping empire," Luke corrected with a grin. "Come on. You'll want to see this."

Suze’s Bloomz sat on Main Street, its windows full of spring arrangements. Suze was in the back warehouse space, surrounded by landscape design catalogs, stone paver samples, and various pieces of industrial equipment.

"Luke!" She hugged him, then turned to Jack. "And you brought the professor. Good. I need a smart person's opinion."

"On what?" Jack asked.

"This." She gestured around the warehouse. "I'm expanding. Full-service landscaping: design, installation, and maintenance. The movie and TV productions are coming in here constantly now, and they need everything. Period-appropriate plantings for Western sets, modern landscaping for contemporary shows—you name it. I've already got three contracts lined up."

Luke whistled. "Suze, this is huge. With the new state tax breaks, they’re going to keep coming here.”

"I know. It’s great and terrifying all at once. But Molls has the floral shop handled, and I've been doing landscape design on the side for years. Might as well make it official." She showed them a rendering of a Western town facade set among authentic prairie grasses and wildflowers. "This is for that thriller they're shooting near Silverthorne. They want it to look like 1880s Colorado."

Jack studied the plans. "This is impressive."

"Thank you." Suze beamed. "I'm hiring two more people, maybe three. My nephew's been bugging me about moving here from Phoenix. I might finally have enough work for him."

"Your empire," Luke said, shaking his head in admiration.

"Damn right. And … I’ll be able to support the Ridge more and get some of these productions to step up, too. That should help with your funding issues.”

"Yes, please! Just gotta make it through this fundraiser with some gas in the tank, first.”

“Plus, they’ll need fitness facilities. Maybe you could put together some mobile units of equipment. I don’t know. Something to think about.”

As they left, Jack took Luke's hand. "Your people are impressive."

"They really are."

CHAPTER 37

JACK

They grabbed sandwiches at the deli on Wednesday afternoon—Luke during his lunch break, Jack between classes.

"Colonel Garrison!"

Jack looked up to see Martinez waving from a corner table. Amir sat across from him, both with coffee cups and iPads, neither looking at study materials on the devices or in their notebooks.

"Study session?" Jack asked as he and Luke approached.

"Something like that," Martinez said, grinning.

Amir's cheeks flushed slightly. "Guapo is helping me with some reading for a class."

"Military history," Martinez added quickly.

They chatted for a few minutes, and Jack noticed how Amir's eyes kept drifting back to Martinez. He noticed how Martinez leaned in when Amir talked, their knees almost touching under the small table.

"We should let you get back to it," Luke said, smiling.

As they walked away to order, Luke leaned close to Jack. "You see that?"