Page 2 of Flowers Go Flying in Crumbleton
As the owner of the one and only florist in Crumbleton, Milly spent a high percentage of her working week talking nuptials with over-excited brides-to-be. In fact, if she was forced to put a number on it, she’d bet that well over half her words in any given day were allotted to bouquets, button holes and bridesmaids’ posies. Perhaps that was why - when it came to Saturdays - Milly never felt like getting involved in the whole big-white-dress extravaganza.
Nope – Milly didn’t usually do weddings. She preferred to keep things strictly business. Deliveries only - and even then, she did her best to nip in the back door, drop off the blooms and then get out of I Do City before anyone could spot her. Sure, she was invited to enough of the blasted things to fill every single Saturday until she hit retirement, but cute little girls scattering rose petals and nervous guys with flower-stuffed buttonholes weren’t really her thing.
Milly didn’t have anything against weddings in particular - after all, they were responsible for a hefty chunk of her livelihood. It was the bit that came after I Do that she had a hard time with. The whole idea of pledging her life to one person? Weird. A bit scary. A bit…
‘URGH!’
‘What?’ gasped Jo, nearly dropping the carton of buttonholes she’d just picked up.
‘Sorry! Nothing…’ said Milly, quickly casting around for an excuse for her involuntary outburst. ‘Erm… I thought I saw a spider, that’s all.’
‘But you’re not scared of spiders,’ said Jo, narrowing her eyes and cocking her head.
‘Or… maybe a bird?’ said Milly.
‘Riiight…’ Jo snorted. ‘Gotta watch out for those terrifying robin-tarantulas here in Crumbleton. Seriously, boss, I think the idea of going to a wedding has loosened one of your screws!’
‘Oi!’ laughed Milly. ‘My screws are all fine and dandy, thank you very much! Now… let’s get moving. You start loading while I check this lot over.’
Jo shrugged and headed off to open up the van, ready to receive the day’s deliveries. Milly breathed a sigh of relief the minute her trainee disappeared from sight. She just needed two seconds of peace to get her head back on straight.
Drawing the massive bridal bouquet towards her, Milly turned it slowly to make sure it was absolutely perfect. It wasn’t her kind of thing - but it was exactly what the bride had asked for. Large, bright and impressive had been the three stipulations for the bouquet - and Milly was confident she’d managed to achieve all three. She just hoped the bride had been busy with the dumbbells because the thing weighed an absolute ton! Still, it looked amazing and would be complemented perfectly by the flower girls’ bright hoops and the gerbera buttonholes for the men.
‘So, what’s different about this wedding?’ said Jo, bouncing back into the shop.
‘What do you mean?’ hedged Milly, tweaking a bit of greenery that really didn’t need adjusting.
‘I mean,’ said Jo with exaggerated patience, ‘you barely know the bride or groom.’
‘Do too!’ said Milly.
‘Go on then,’ said Jo, ‘what’s the bride’s name?’
Milly racked her brain, her eyes darting around as she tried to remember. ‘Elizabeth!’ she said triumphantly.
‘You just cheated and looked at the order pad!’ snorted Jo.
Damnit, she couldn’t get away with anything!
‘Anyway,’ said Jo, ‘my point is - why go to this one when you’ve turned down invitations to about a hundred others?’
‘Well… it’s local,’ said Milly with a shrug. ‘I could hardly tell Elizabeth that I couldn’t manage to make it down as far as the Dolphin and Anchor, could I?’
It was true – the wedding was taking place in the old hotel right at the bottom of Crumbleton’s steep hill… but that wasn’t the real reason she’d finally broken her self-imposed wedding ban.
‘Yeah… I’m not buying it!’ said Jo, narrowing her eyes. ‘Try again.’
Milly shook her head and let out an exasperated sigh. Jo was right, of course - but there was no way she was about to admit the real reason she’d accepted this particular invitation. If she let it slip that she had the hots for the best man, she’d never hear the end of it!
‘You’re going all pink,’ Jo noted with interest.
‘That’s because you’re stressing me out right now!’ growled Milly. ‘Get cracking with the loading, will you?’
Jo grinned at her, completely unruffled as she grabbed the bridesmaids’ flowery hoops and trotted back outside.
Milly shook her head again, widening her eyes. Thank heavens Jo would be leaving to make a start on the deliveries in just a few minutes. The girl was like a dog with a bone if there was even the slightest scent of impending gossip… and this would definitely count as gossip if she let the cat out of the bag.
She’d managed to keep quiet about her crush for months. Eighteen months and counting, in fact. The last thing she needed to do was let his name slip out in front of Miss Gob-Almighty Burton!
