Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 154037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Running the sides were refrigerated cases where we kept the premade bouquets, and the front was spinning card displays and a few racks for special gifts that sat in front of the windows that overlooked 9th Street.
Pride swelled. Sometimes I still couldn’t believe that I’d brought it to fruition.
It’d always been a dream, and for once, I’d gone for it.
Made something my own.
My spirit flailed and expanded, a need lighting inside me to finally claim that for other aspects in my life, too.
It was time.
I pushed open the glass door framed in white wood, and I crossed to the edge of the sidewalk. I glanced both ways before I darted across the street.
A brand-new café had opened directly on the other side, and they’d contracted with me to bring them fresh flowers to decorate their tables with every day.
I loved that a bit of Moonflower was getting splashed all over this town.
I whipped the door open to Sunrise to Sunset Café.
Inside, it was posh and trendy while somehow still managing to be comfy. The walls were done in rustic red bricks, and the floors were a dark-stained concrete. Booths that looked more like leather couches ran the length of the front windows and the back wall. Tables fronted them and regular chairs sat on the opposite side.
In the middle of the restaurant were high-top tables surrounded by stools.
A long counter ran the right side, and the kitchen was to the back.
I headed for the counter, grinning wide when I saw Sienna working the espresso machine with her back to me.
“Um, excuse me, can someone get a little service around here?” I had to lift my voice over the whirring of the machine, my words fully a tease, though she whipped around like she thought someone was actually complaining.
The irritation drained when she saw it was me, and she wadded up a hand towel and threw it at me.
I laughed as I dodged it.
“You brat. I thought I was going to have to deal with a disgruntled customer at six-thirty in the morning. On a Sunday, mind you.” She kept her voice low so the few tables already in the restaurant wouldn’t overhear, her brown ponytail swishing around her shoulders as she shook her head at my antics.
Sienna had moved to town about a month ago and had gotten a job here soon after the café had opened.
I was all about welcoming new friends.
I’d struggled with it for a long time.
Friends.
Being confident enough to open myself up to new people.
Terrified of trusting.
A pang of grief nearly consumed me when I thought of what I’d lost. How closed off I’d been after I’d lost the first true friend I’d ever had. The one person I could confide in. Dream with and laugh with.
It’d all started when I’d taken a leap when Charleigh had come to town and had moved into the apartment above Moonflower. There’d been something about her that had made me do everything in my power to befriend her. It was the best thing I’d ever done, and now that I’d started, I didn’t intend on stopping.
“I’m sorry,” I said around my laughter.
“You are not.” Sienna gave me a death glare that was completely faked.
I shrugged. “I couldn’t help myself. You were ripe for the picking.”
“And here I thought you were one of the nice ones, and it turns out you are just plain mean.” She went back to prepping the gourmet coffee she’d been making, her voice light with the jest.
“What do you expect when I hang out with my brother and his friends all the time? Giving someone shit is our love language.”
“Aww, you love me?” Touching her chest, she set the cup on the counter so the server could pick it up.
“Of course, I do. Just like you love me. Adore me. Can’t live without me.”
I let my voice get more outrageous with each word that fell from my mouth.
“I told you that I was the best around and you absolutely had to be friends with me, didn’t I?” I laid it on thick.
“Only about thirteen times,” she deadpanned.
I laughed before I asked, “Speaking of, when are we hanging out next?”
We’d met a couple times, once to get coffee and another to grab a cocktail. She’s been super nice, and it was fun. She wasn’t afraid of getting giggly and goofy with me. It wasn’t like she was going to replace my Charleigh or anything. No one could slide into the spot reserved for my best friend who’d basically become my sister, but it was cool to have someone else to hang out with since Charleigh spent so much of her time with River and Nolan now.
I moved to the nook at the end of the counter where the owner, Neena, asked me to leave the flowers each day.