The Neighbor Favor(36)

Dahlia appeared at Lily’s side and observed her work. “Looking good. But make sure you surround the peonies with the roses, not the other way around.” She gave Lily’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Benjamin, how’s that bouquet coming?” she asked, bustling over to Lily’s father, who sat several feet behind Lily in the shop’s office. He held up the bouquet, which looked pretty decent to Lily, but Dahlia frowned and began rearranging the flowers. Benjamin leaned his tall frame backward in the chair and used the hem of his shirt to clean his glasses’ lenses, smiling ruefully as Dahlia amended his work. He caught eyes with Lily and winked. They were definitely not the perfectionists of the Greene family and were often subject to Dahlia’s gentle corrections. And unfortunately, the EmpoWOMENt seminar hadn’t gone as successfully for Lily as Dahlia may have hoped.

It had been pretty typical as far as career seminars went. Women who were in powerful positions at various companies spoke about how they’d climbed the corporate ladder. There’d been a networking hour afterward, and before disappearing to chat with her Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority sisters from Brown, Dahlia had encouraged Lily to introduce herself and get some business cards. Lily didn’t see the point in speaking with women who worked in tech and engineering and accounting, when it had nothing to do with editing books, but for Dahlia’s sake, she’d agreed to try. However, before Lily gathered the nerve to approach anyone, Edith had texted her in a frenzy because she’d discovered that their production manager, Brian, was leaving the company next month, and his replacement would be an employee who was transferring from M&M’s UK office. Edith was furious that (1) Brian was leaving. She hated change and new people. And (2) not only would she have to work with a new person, but they’d be coming from an entirely different country. She wanted to know how different the production process might be at the UK office. What if this new person took too long to acclimate and the imprint’s production schedule suffered? This only further supported her conspiracy theory that the president of their division was planning to shutter the imprint soon. Edith found this so stressful that she was unable to rest on her Saturday afternoon, and therefore Lily couldn’t rest either.

Needless to say, Lily had stood in the corner, placating Edith and her irrational fears via text for the remainder of the seminar. She hadn’t done any networking or received a single business card.

She’d felt so bad for disappointing Dahlia that she’d offered to help out at the shop. Her parents were preparing a last-minute order for a wedding a few towns away in Somerset. Apparently, the original florist backed out because they’d gotten into a physical fight with the bride. Wedding season was no joke.

Lily’s phone vibrated on the counter beside her and she grimaced, expecting to see another text from Edith. But instead it was a text from Nick.

    Hey, we still good for tonight?



Lily tried to ignore how her stomach flipped at seeing his name flash across her phone’s screen. They’d exchanged numbers the other day after leaving IKEA, and tonight she was joining him at his friend’s birthday party with the goal of finding a potential wedding date.

Yep! Lily texted back. She’d felt a slight thrill as they’d stood outside of IKEA and she’d watched him add his number to her contacts. He’d squinted and quirked his mouth while he typed. Even his focused face was handsome, because of course it was.

Seconds later, he replied: Cool.

Then: Hope you’re having a good day.

    Thanks, you too!!



She cringed after hitting send. Were two exclamation points really that necessary? It sounded overeager. She didn’t want Nick thinking that she liked him, especially since he’d told her that he wasn’t trying to date. It was true that she still found him attractive, and his random monologue about a Swedish IKEA had only intrigued her more about the inner workings of his mind, and he was the first person she’d ever told about Strick and she appreciated that he hadn’t judged or pitied her. But she wouldn’t act on those feelings or let them fester and blossom. She’d decided that their kiss in Violet’s kitchen had been a result of repressed horniness and overexcitement after surviving an elevator brawl. Nick was going to help her find a date to Violet’s wedding, and that would be the extent of their relationship. She wasn’t even sure if they were friends. She was proud of herself for jumping in and asking for Nick’s help, though. Now if only she could properly apply that assertive energy to moving up in her career as well.

The bell over the front door chimed and Lily looked up to see Iris and Calla walking toward her.

“Auntie!” Calla shouted. She ran to Lily as fast as her little legs would allow, and Lily scooped her up into her arms.

“Hey, lady,” she said, holding her niece close. Calla smelled like chlorine. Lily glanced at Iris, who looked sleek in her black workout tank and tights. She wore a black baseball cap, concealing her short cut. Letting out a full-body sigh, Iris sat on the empty stool behind the counter. Lily let Calla down, and she ran over to her grandparents, who showered her with hugs and kisses.

“We just left her swimming class,” Iris said, rubbing her forehead. “And before that it was ballet. In an hour she has karate. I could sleep for a year straight and I’d still be tired.”

“I didn’t even know three-year-olds could take karate class.”