Burning Flowers by June Beyoki Read Free Book Online Page A

what? I think maybe it’s a good
idea. It’s about time I get to know more about Clarke and her
family.” Vince let his dimples indent in a half smile, and Clarke
fought the urge to put her head in her hands and scream. Now she
was just being ganged up on.
    “Well, great then. See you there.” Her
mother waved like she was Miss America and then left the shop,
leaving Clarke feeling even less confident about her shop and her
life for that matter than she already did.
    “So, she seems pleasant,” Vince commented,
leaning against the counter.
    “You’re kidding me, right?” Clarke busted
out, distressed. “She is the least pleasant person on the
planet.”
    “I was being sarcastic, Clarke. Now I know
where a lot of your issues stem from. It must have been tough,
growing up with her,” he said softly, working his way closer to
her.
    She sighed, and looked up from under hooded
eyes at him. “You don’t have to go. In fact, you don’t have to go
along with this at all. It was just the first thing that came to
mind. I didn’t want her to know about what happened to the shop.
She doesn’t believe in it.” Clarke looked at the ground, and Vince
approached, daring to pull her chin up with one finger.
    “Look, I know you’re not that into me or
whatever you girls say, but I can see you really struggle with her.
I’d be happy to help you out for a little bit. Besides, you could
always pay me for it and then I don’t have to go look for another
job,” he joked, causing her to smile just a little.
    “Okay,” she agreed. “Let’s do this.”

Chapter Eleven
    Clarke crossed her arms and
stood back, looking around at her shop. It was a bit of de ja vu considering
about a week or so earlier she was doing the exact same thing
before everything happened. Over the period of the last two days,
they’d managed to get in enough flowers so that the place didn’t
look empty. There wasn’t an Easter section any longer, but she had
the Easter look book on display at the front counter for ordering
purposes. They had plenty ready on back log that Katie had set up
for about a week or two out.
    The prom section was back and in some ways
better than before, and there was a wide array of simple roses as
well as bright spring colors in the right hand corner that were
really good for making Clarke feel better.
    “It looks pretty good,” Vince commented,
coming in from the office. He’d been finishing the back part of the
shop up so that everything would be ready for their reopening on
Thursday.
    Clarke looked at him nervously, thinking
about their date later. It really wasn’t a date, but just in case
her mother showed up again they were being careful to stick with
the plan, and she had told him she needed to talk with him about
what to expect. That dinner was going to be a lot of pressure on
the both of them, and he needed to be prepared.
    “It does look nice,” she agreed with a sigh.
“I’m just afraid it’s never going to be perfect again.”
    “Clarke, nothing is ever going to be perfect
for you. Just enjoy the fact that our shop is back up and running,”
scolded Katie as she came in from the back as well. She had been
calling the other staff members to let them know when they would be
reopening so that they could come back to work. Vince chuckled, and
Clarke shot him a look, so he stopped.
    Katie glanced between them suspiciously and
walked over to Clarke, giving her a side hug. Clarke quickly pulled
away. “Why don’t you go ahead and take a load off. It’s been a
rough week for you. I can handle everything. It’s not like we’re
open yet anyway,” Katie offered. Normally Clarke wouldn’t go for
such an offer, but she was really anxious to get things over with
Vince.
    Clarke nodded and looked to Vince. “I think
I’ll head over and get a coffee and a sandwich maybe. I’ll see you
Thursday, Katie.” Katie nodded with a surprised smile. She was
probably freaked out that Clarke finally too her advice to