Love in Bloom by Arlene James Page B

drawn up by the committee, of local people with related skills, but now was not the time to bring up that subject. He would save that for later.
    Finding a strange kind of comfort in that thought, he went out to see what other works of art his florist from Boston had wrought. Well, not his . Lily was Bygones’ florist. If he was feeling a tad possessive, it was only because he was her SOS contact. And a complete fool.

Chapter Six
    E xhausted but pleased, Lily locked the door of the shop and crossed the street beneath the Grand Opening banner. Miss Mars waited for her on the sidewalk in front of the insurance agency, which seemed to have given away a sizable number of small calendars and ink pens that day. Miss Mars had told her that the agency, a long-established business, was owned by a group in Manhattan, Kansas, and managed by a local couple.
    “The day is a success!” Miss Mars announced, waving one of the hankies she had given away by the dozens. They walked at Miss Mars’s speed toward the Community Room.
    “Where did they all come from?” Lily asked, happily relieved.
    At one point that afternoon, Main Street had actually enjoyed such a traffic jam that the chief of police himself had come out to direct parking into the school lot behind the Cozy Cup Cafe.
    Miss Mars divulged that the committee had purchased advertisements in local newspapers throughout the county and as far away as Junction City and Manhattan. “People kept asking where they could get lunch. We should have chosen a restaurant as one of the new businesses,” she opined, “but we were afraid the town wouldn’t be able to support a full-service restaurant again long-term.”
    “The Everything must have done good business today,” Lily said. “I told half a dozen people how to find it.”
    “The Dills will be thrilled, I expect.”
    They reached the Community Room, and Lily pushed open the door, holding it for Miss Mars then following her inside. They stepped into a hum of ongoing conversations. A table of refreshments had been set up, and several rows of folding chairs ringed the plain white room, but as many people stood as sat. Tate lifted an arm, gesturing them toward two chairs that he had saved. As they made their way through the throng, Lily picked up snippets.
    “Yeah, sure, lots of folks came in, but it was just one day. How you going to get ‘em back?”
    “Pets. How many pets can you buy in a month, now, I ask you?”
    “You just get one birthday a year. In our house that’s four birthday cakes for the whole year. And most folks hereabouts just bake their own, don’t you think?”
    “Flowers grow right out in the front yard,” Lily heard one man say, “and my wife pays ten bucks for carnations. I’ll be putting a stop to that, let me tell you.”
    The good feeling that Lily had enjoyed earlier began to fade, then Tate pointed to a table against the wall.
    “What do you think?”
    Someone had brought in all of the arrangements she’d done for the other shops and lined them up on the table for display. “Oh, look. That’s sweet.”
    “That’s nuts is what that is,” said an angry voice behind her.
    Tate frowned, and Lily spun to face her detractor.
    “That’s uncalled for, Brian.”
    “Uncalled for?” the man demanded. “I’ll tell you what’s uncalled for. Girly cakes and fancy flowers, that’s what’s uncalled for! Why do people need that stuff? What good is it when their cars break down?”
    “Brian, I know you’re disappointed that the committee didn’t choose to bring in a mechanic’s shop, but the investment required to do that was just too high.”
    “So you go for frills? Come on, Tate. It’s a dumb waste of funds.”
    “Dumb?” Tate echoed. “Have you even looked at what Lily’s done? It’s nothing short of genius! And you, Brian Montclair, are a sore loser. You pushed for what you wanted, you didn’t get it and now you’re behaving like a sullen child. The committee didn’t make its