trying to lure you back to work.” Will took a large bite out of his sandwich and chewed while standing. This was a habit of his that got more annoying with time. “Sit down,” she was always telling him. “Sit down and chew.” But he insisted on eating standing up, like a teenager or a farmer.
“I’m not sure what she wants to talk about. I told her I’d meet her for a cup of coffee.”
“Sounds good.” Will’s answer came so easily that Weezy almost felt guilty for lying. Almost.
THE FLORIST WAS LOCATED CLEAR on the other side of the city and it took almost an hour to get there. Sally Lemons had been the one to recommend him to Weezy. “I love working with Samuel,” she’d said. “He’s so creative. A true artist.”
And so Weezy had called him to make an appointment. This was actually the first appointment she’d made since the wedding was called off. All of the others were ones that were already set up, and this felt in some ways like she was crossing a line. It was one thing to peruse websites, and to e-mail for information, but now she was actually meeting with someone. But she was so curious to see what he had to show her, and she loved flowers, and really, what was the big deal?
Samuel worked out of his own florist shop, which was small and damp. There was some temperature-controlled room to the left that housed plants, and a large refrigerated portion up front that held cut flowers. The smell of flowers was thick, but not overwhelming. Then again, Weezy loved the smell of flowers. She loved everything about them, watching them bloom and flourish in her backyard. It was so satisfying to plant something and know what would spring up from the ground—that is, as long as the squirrels and chipmunks minded their own business. You always knew what you were getting when you planted a flower, and Weezy liked that.
When she opened the door, the shop was empty. She walked to the desk and waited a moment, then rang the little bell that was there. A large, balding, sort of roundish man peeked out from the back. “Mrs. Coffey?” he asked, and Weezy nodded.
“I hope you don’t mind,” she said, pointing to the bell. “I didn’t mean to be rude, I just wasn’t sure …”
“Of course not! Come on, let’s take a seat over at the table.”
Samuel was not what she expected. He had the build of an old high school football player, his voice was deep and booming, and he was wearing a blue-checked button-down polo shirt, which was identical to one that Will owned.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Weezy said. “Sally said the nicest things about you.”
“She’s great, isn’t she?”
The two of them sat at a long table and Samuel spread several glossy books filled with pictures of floral arrangements in front of them. Weezy couldn’t help but sneak looks at Samuel. She was surprised at how, well, manly he was. Then she was ashamed of herself for being surprised. What did she expect? That just because he owned a flower shop he was going to be a tiny, delicate, feminine man? Well, yes, that’s exactly what she had expected.
“So, how long have you been doing this?” Weezy asked.
“Oh, forever,” Samuel said with a laugh. “This was my parents’ shop, and I worked here growing up, helping out as a little guy, then part-time during high school and college, and full-time after that. I really took to it, and I was lucky because when my parents got ready to retire, none of my eight siblings was even the least bit interested.”
“Eight!”
“Yes, eight.” Samuel laughed again. “You’d think there’d be a few more green thumbs in the bunch, but there was just me.”
“I love to garden,” Weezy said. “I think of myself as a green thumb too.”
“Great,” Samuel said. “Then this will be fun.” He placed his hands, palm down, on top of the books. “So what I usually do is flip through these books, and just have you point out anything that grabs your attention—good or bad. Then we can look through some of my photos from weddings I’ve done. We can talk a little bit about what you imagine for the day, what flowers are favorites of yours, and so on. Then once we’ve worked through it all, I can draw up a proposal and we can go from there.”
“That sounds perfect,” Weezy said. “And