Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
And that wouldn’t necessarily bother me too much—I didn’t know what I didn’t know, after all—but for some reason, being around Joanne made me feel uncertain about… everything. Like I had something to prove, even though she was probably one of the most agreeable people I had ever met.
“You’ll probably have to go to the bank to get some of that information,” Joanne continued, finally. “I’ll take a look and get everything I can together, but I’m certain Henry didn’t keep copies of some of that stuff here in the shop. When do you need it by?”
“Well, there’s no rush, really. But the sooner, the better.”
Chapter Nineteen - Brady
I looked back at the computer screen, the numbers from the previous week’s order making me remember another question I’d had. “Oh, there was one other thing I was wondering about.”
“Okay, sure.”
Joanne sounded a little more guarded than she had before, no doubt feeling cautious because of the subject at hand. It was exactly why I had hesitated to ask for help, but it really was unavoidable.
“Just some of these numbers on last week’s order—the supplies, in particular. Like, we haven’t received any huge shipment of flowers that I can see, but we’re getting tons of extra boxes and ribbons, all sorts of things. Is that normal?”
She looked puzzled for just a moment, and then her eyes widened as they lit up.
“Oh. Oh! Right! Oh my God, I can’t believe I didn’t even think about it before. The Anderson-Beachman Wedding!”
She bent down and looked over my shoulder at the computer screen.
“Yeah, those are all for the biggest wedding Castle Falls has ever seen. We put in for the supplies early, so there won’t be any surprises when the big day gets closer. Your dad was always adamant about that, and there’s a lot more coming. Those things from last week are just the beginning. If there’s one thing you don’t want to mess up as a flower shop, it’s someone’s wedding.”
I sat back in my chair and nodded. “Okay. That makes sense. But… do we really need that much stuff? I mean, if I’m just gonna sell the place, does it even matter that much?”
Joanne blinked, then cocked her head to the side.
“Wait, no. I’m sorry, but… no. You can’t sell before the Anderson-Beachman Wedding. You just can’t. First of all, it’s… a wedding. The day for showing love and affection and… faith in humanity. And maybe I’m sappy or cheesy or… whatever.” She waved a hand in the air. “In my opinion, though, it’s the best day of someone’s life.”
Joanne took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.
“But even if you disregard all of that, you still can’t sell before then. Not if you want to show a profit for the quarter, anyway. We started designing orders weeks ago, and there’s still a month left before the actual wedding. It’s literally going to be a huge day. Not only would it be disastrous for your profit and loss statements to just… just skip it, but you’d be letting down dozens—hundreds—of people in the process. This wedding has to happen.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face and let out a long, slow breath.
I knew Joanne was right, of course, but it was just so frustrating.
I’d already been in town for over a week, and it felt like things were moving at a glacial pace. The very last thing I wanted was to spend another month in Castle Falls, just waiting for a wedding, but what choice did I have?
I needed to show a profit if I was going to get the best deal possible in my negotiations with the New York chain, and Joanne certainly had a point about letting down the people who depended on the shop to make their day special.
I might not have much love for the town I’d grown up in, but the flower shop had obligations to those people who had already placed orders, and I would follow through with those obligations. I simply had to.
“You’re right,” I said, nodding slowly. “The Anderson-Beachman wedding has to happen. It will happen. And I’ll be here to help.”
I stopped myself before I could ask the very next question that had popped into my mind—whether or not Joanne had someone to attend the wedding with. I didn’t think so, and of course it wasn’t any of my business, but… I was still tempted to ask.
As passionate as she seemed to feel about the event, she certainly deserved to have someone to spend it with.
I tried to ignore the little pang of something—jealousy?—that I felt whenever I tried to picture her getting wined and dined by some mystery man.
No, best to shut down that line of thinking before it could even take off. If Joanne did have someone to spend that day with, then great. She deserved to be treated well.