Bree frowned at the advice. “Why should I make it easy for her?” she asked bitterly.
“You don’t have to,” Gram said mildly. “But I can see which way the wind is blowing around here. I think she and your father are making peace. She’s become a part of Abby’s life already, and she’s reached out to Jess, you and Connor now. If you reject her out of spite, you could wake one day and find yourself on the outside.” She touched Bree’s hand. “I don’t want that for you. For all your stubborn O’Brien independence, I think you need family, perhaps even more than the rest of us.”
Bree didn’t want to admit Gram might be right. She certainly didn’t want to confess how disturbing she found the prospect of everyone else reuniting and leaving her behind.
“I’ll think about what you said,” she promised eventually. Standing, she bent over and kissed Gram on the cheek. “Love you.”
Gram’s hand found hers and squeezed. “And I you. Never, ever forget that.”
Bree left the kitchen with a lot on her mind, troubling thoughts she didn’t especially want to deal with. Thankfully, though, she had a long, long list of things to do. Maybe that would drive all those dark thoughts right out of her mind.
“No, no, no,” Bree muttered a few hours later as she hung up the phone. Why hadn’t she made this one call before she’d gone off and signed a lease to open a flower shop? It wasn’t like she could back out now. There were too many people—okay, Abby mostly—awaiting her failure for that to be an option.
“What’s the problem?” Jess asked, regarding her with concern.
Bree had set up a temporary office at the inn, while the painters and Mick were working on the shop. As much as she’d wanted to spend the extra time with her father, the noise level made it impossible to make all the phone calls that needed to be made. She could have made them at home, but this was better. It gave her a few hours a day with Jess, and she’d discovered she liked having someone around with whom she could discuss ideas for the business. Jess had learned a lot about starting something new, had made more than her share of mistakes along the way. She wouldn’t judge Bree for making a few, as well.
“This day just keeps getting better and better,” she muttered. “First I had to deal with Mom.”
Jess’s eyes widened. “You talked to Mother?”
Bree nodded. “She called the house.”
“For you or Dad?”
Bree hesitated. “Me, I think. At least Gram handed the phone to me the second I walked into the kitchen.” Thinking about what Gram had said earlier, she frowned at her sister. “Do you really think she and Dad could patch things up?”
“If you’d asked me that a few months ago, I’d have said hell would freeze over first, but after seeing them together the night of the opening party here, I honestly don’t know. Anything’s possible.”
“How do you feel about that?” Bree asked her.
Jess hesitated, her expression thoughtful. “Weird, I guess.”
“Me, too,” Bree admitted.
Jess gave a dramatic shudder. “Let’s not talk about Mom and Dad getting back together. Who was that on the phone just now and what did they say to upset you?”
“I’ve just discovered that there is one major flower wholesaler close enough to supply the store,” she reported to her sister, not even trying to mask her dismay. This was an unexpected and very unwelcome wrinkle.
“So what?” Jess asked. “As long as they’re good, you’ll be fine. Are you worried that the prices will be higher because it’s virtually a monopoly or something?”
“I’m worried because that wholesaler is Jake Collins,” she snapped. “Why didn’t you tell me he now owns Shores Nursery and Landscaping?”
Jess blinked at her tone. “Hey, don’t jump on me. I thought you knew. He’s worked there forever, even when you were going out.”
“There’s a huge difference between him working there and owning the place. And as I recall, they didn’t operate as a wholesaler back then. Now he’s apparently one of the biggest growers around here, too. What’s he doing, taking over the flower world, acre by acre?”
Jess shrugged. “I don’t see why any of that matters. It’s been years since you two split up. You’re both adults. This is business. Surely you can be civilized.”
Bree wasn’t so sure of that. Their last encounter had been anything but civilized. She’d expected a little anger, but not the heat radiating off Jake in waves that could have roasted marshmallows.
“It will be awkward,” she said finally in what was the most massive understatement she’d ever uttered.
“Then don’t deal with him,” Jess suggested, still unconcerned. “As big as the business is now, he probably has plenty of people working for him. Deal with one of them. He’s usually out on jobs anyway. I see him all over the place.” She grinned. “He looks really, really fine, by the way.”
Bree knew, though she had no intention of acknowledging just how fine she thought he looked. This situation was disastrous enough as it was. If Jess or anyone else in the family thought there was so much as an ember of that relationship that wasn’t stone cold, they might try to fan it back to life.
“I can’t avoid him. It seems I have to deal directly with Mr. Collins if I want to open an account. Mr. Collins makes those arrangements. Mr. Collins decides if Shores Nursery can accommodate another wholesale customer. If not, she’s sure Mr. Collins would be happy to recommend an alternative, although there’s no other grower or supplier half as good within a fifty-mile radius. I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle her perky little neck.”
Jess stared at her. “Okay, Bree, what’s really going on here? Is this just about some kind of old news between you and Jake?”
Bree regarded her blankly. “Of course, what else could it be?”
“I’m not sure, but to tell you the truth, for a second there, you sounded a little jealous.”
“Jealous? That’s ridiculous.” She frowned. “It’s just that this woman sounded so, I don’t know, adoring. It made me a little crazy.”
“I’ll say,” Jess confirmed. “What I don’t get is why. I thought you were the one who dumped him.”
“It wasn’t exactly like that,” Bree said.
Interest sparked in Jess’s eyes. “Then what was it like?”
Bree sighed. “Never mind. You said it. It’s old news. I’ll figure out some way to deal with Jake to get the flowers I need.”
Of course, that assumed that if she ever succeeded in getting past his obviously protective gatekeeper, Mr. Collins would even give her the time of day.
Jake crumpled up the fifth message he’d had from Bree in two days and tossed it in the trash can. He scowled when he realized that Connie had caught him doing it. She marched into his office, a lecture clearly on the tip of her tongue.
“Don’t start with me,” he warned.
“You need to call her back,” she told him in her oh-so-patient mother-hen voice.
“I don’t have to do anything,” he said grimly.
“Now, there’s