Too Many Blooms Read Free Page A

went to join my family.

Chapter Two
    I knelt in the front window of the flower shop, replacing last week’s display with some cheerful lilacs and daffodils. It sure didn’t feel like it, but spring was on its way. We technically have four seasons in New England, but sometimes it feels like winter for half the year.
    As I adjusted the fragrant yellow and purple flowers, I watched Gran and Gramps bustling around as if they hadn’t dropped the biggest bombshell in the world last night.
    This was usually my favorite time of the day in the store. The three of us working together in companionable silence, just before the phone started ringing and customers started coming in. I sighed. I loved the store so much — the creaky wooden floors and creamy white walls, the row of pretty glass vases that I dusted each week. The bucketsthat held ready-made bouquets for walk-in customers. Even the rattle of the old flower cooler was gentle and calming. The only thing that ever changed was the year on the floral supply calendar behind the cash register.
    Of course, things get busy around Mother’s Day, and the days leading up to February 14 are always crazy. We had recently finished up with Easter, with its ton of basket bouquets. And don’t get me started on prom season. But most days Gran could be found quietly arranging flowers while Gramps balanced the books or paid bills. Bliss.
    Not for long, Delphinium Bloom,
I thought morosely.
Not for long.
    “Great work, Del,” said Gran, broom in hand. I turned to her, that same fake smile still plastered on my face. She cocked her head at me. “You’ve been awfully quiet. How are you feeling about the big news?”
    “Okay,” I lied. “I’m happy for you and Gramps.” Although it wasn’t true, I would at least act like it was. Even if it killed me.
    As my grandparents went out back to put some boxes in the recycling bin, there was the familiar
Ring-a-ling-ling!
of the front door opening. The first customer of the day!
    I looked up and smiled. “Welcome to …”
    And stared into the scowling face of Aunt Lily.
    “No need for that,” she said brusquely, taking off her gloves, finger by finger. My dad calls Aunt Lily a throwback to another era. She always looks picture perfect, I have to admit. As usual, her white hair was in a sleek chignon and she was wearing a large hat. She’s the only person I know who still uses hat pins.
    Aunt Lily set her ancient, though pristine, alligator purse on the counter, watching me carefully, as if she were afraid I’d rifle through it. Actually, she had a point. Two years ago, Poppy had made off with her purse and ate an entire tube of Kiss Me Coral lipstick. We called poison control and everything. But my lipstick-eating days are long gone. Aunt Lily, however, did not look too sure about that.
    “Where is that scatterbrained sister of mine?” she asked me.
    I frowned. “Gran is in the back,” I said as politely as possible through my gritted teeth. “Let me get her for you.”
    I get so mad whenever Aunt Lily makes comments about Gran, who tends to be a little scatterbrained, it’s true. It’s where my mom gets it from. Gran has been known to leave her cell phone in the freezer while putting away groceries (never a good idea). And Gramps likes to tell the story of when they first took over the store from Gran’s parents and she accidentally sent a “Congratulations on the Good News!” arrangement to the funeral parlor and a “With Deepest Sympathy” to a new mom of twins. Yikes!
    I found Gran and Gramps walking in the back door. “Aunt Lily is here,” I announced.
    Gran and Gramps exchanged a glance. “You don’t think she already knows, do you?” asked Gramps. Gran shook her head, but she looked worried.
    My mouth fell open. “You haven’t told her yet?” I asked in disbelief.
    “We were going to call her last night after we spoke to your parents,” said Gramps with a grimace. “But in all the excitement, we