Shoved (Moonlit Lake Matchmaker #4)

Chapter 2

SERENA

SPLAT! “Oopsies!” My daughter Sadie’s eyes widened as the cupcake she was eating fell and landed frosting side down on the floor in the back room of my flower shop. Of course.

“Ugh. Sadie, what did I tell you?” I snapped, blowing a strand of hair out of my face. I was bending over a holiday centerpiece, adding the finishing touches. The smell of pine filled the room from the sprigs I clipped for added greenery. This piece needed to be completed and delivered to the senior center that afternoon. I had also been putting together the bouquets and boutonnieres for a wedding. The fragrant white jasmine mixing with the pine was heavenly. I should bottle that—in my spare time.

My work table was organized chaos, holding all of these projects in varying stages of completion. Sadie sat on a stool on the other side of my worktable. I’d hoped the cupcake would keep her occupied long enough for me to get this piece done. “If you would’ve sat still, like I told you to, you wouldn’t have lost your cupcake, and I wouldn’t have to stop working to clean it up.”

Sadie held her hands out to the side with her elbows bent and her palms open to the ceiling to emphasize the obvious. “But Mommy, if we had a puppy, it would clean up my mess, so you wouldn’t have to.”

“A dog would eat your cupcake alright, and lots more. It still wouldn’t solve the problem of you losing your cupcake.”

“I wouldn’t mind giving a puppy my cupcake, even if it was the last one. Because it would give me kisses on my face, like Junior does. And that tickles.” She put her hand to her face and giggled.

My friend AJ had adopted a puppy recently, and Sadie was absolutely in love with that dog. I’d love more than anything to get one for her, but I had all I could handle with my business and Sadie. My sanity was hanging on by a thread. Thus my uncharacteristic snapping at my sweet girl.

The cupcake was an extra from the batches I baked last night for a party at the senior center. Sadie had already gone to bed by the time I finished decorating them, so I saved one for her to have while I worked. I also promised Jojo that I’d stop by the coffee shop in the morning to pick up her coffee donations and bring them over with my cupcakes. And I couldn’t very well bring cupcakes and coffee and not have a centerpiece for the table. So my day was off to a busy start, not unlike every other day, actually.

I adjusted my reindeer antler headband and cleaned up the sticky mess on the floor before returning to the holiday arrangements. Ever since Thanksgiving, I’d been playing Christmas music in the shop and wearing either a Santa hat, elf hat, or antlers. This was my favorite time of year. I loved the decorating, the shopping, the good cheer, and all the festive events.

Along with my daily orders, I was frantically finishing the arrangements for tomorrow’s wedding. Thanksgiving and Black Friday were behind me, but I was still crazy busy trying to get all the holiday decorations, gifts, and arrangements ready for the rest of the holiday season. Not to mention the holiday weddings this month. And the centerpieces I donated each week to the nursing home.

I’d just finished wrapping the gold ribbon around the bride’s bouquet when the door jingled. I peeked my head out front to see who had entered the shop. It was Tillie dropping off some flowers she’d harvested from her garden. “Hey, Tillie. Come on back. What’d you bring me today?”

“The last of my fall flowers. Needed to get them out before the snow hits. Brown-eyed Susans, asters, mums, and sedum. I’ve also got some dried flowers from earlier in the summer that you may be able to use as well.”

“Wonderful. I’m working on a wedding right now, and the bride gave me free rein to create whatever will bless them with a happy life together.” My superpower, if you want to call it that, was tuning in to people and the flowers that are right for them. I was fluent in the language of flowers and what they meant, which was why I named my shop Message in a Blossom . “The bridesmaid dresses are dark green, so these flowers you brought, along with some pine branches and cranberry sprigs, should really stand out. The main flowers of the bridal bouquet are red tulips and white jasmine—symbolizing love and passion. These will go perfectly with those. Don’t you love a pop of color this time of year?”

Tillie gestured toward the bride’s bouquet standing in a vase on my workbench. “If they look anything like this one, they’re sure to be stunning. The bride was smart to let you be creative and follow your intuition. I’ve never seen such gorgeous and unique arrangements. The way you combine your creativity and your intuitive gifts astounds me.”

“I’ve seen the things you create for your shop. You do the same thing with your custom oils and remedies.” Tillie had a shop outside of town where she sold things made from her gardens, like handmade soaps, cosmetics, oils and tinctures, and even herbal remedies. She also sold some of the flowers she grew in the summer, but the flowers are actually a small part of her business. Not competition for me at all, in fact, Tillie and I liked to collaborate and support each other’s businesses.

“So I know what I’m talking about.” She turned to Sadie. “And how’s my favorite little ray of sunshine?”

“Good. I wanna write a letter to Santa this year. And I need to do it right away, so he has plenty of time. Can you help me write it?”

“I don’t know, but that’s a great idea. What do you have on your list that’s so special it needs extra time?”

She cupped her hands around her mouth and leaned over and whispered in Tillie’s ear. Not having mastered the art of quiet whispering, I heard the words “a dog and a daddy” as clear as day. My gut clenched. Sadie had been asking more questions about why she didn’t have a daddy like other kids. I’d explained that her dad was a soldier and died before she was born. But apparently, that explanation wasn’t enough to satisfy her desire for a father.

Her request for a dog was something she mentioned at least a hundred times a day. Visiting AJ’s puppy seemed to placate her on that account. But this was the first time I’d heard her say she wanted a dad. What was I going to do about that? I couldn’t exactly rent a dad for her. There weren’t really any good father figures in her life at all. My own father took off before I graduated high school, having some wild oats to sow, or some crazy thing. I saw him about once a year, and that was more than enough. Not a good role model for Sadie. At. All.

It was my job as the mom to bring a dose of reality, or a wet blanket, to the party. As much as I wanted her to believe in the magic of the season, the last thing she needed was to be disappointed by not getting what she asked for. “Remember Sadie. Santa can only bring things that can be made by the elves and can fit in a chimney.”

Sadie slumped on her stool and let out a dramatic sigh. “Then I don’t know what to ask for.”

“You have plenty of time to think about it. Remember that toy we saw in the store that had a stuffed puppy, a leash, and a dog bed? You wanted that so bad. That would be a fun thing for Santa to bring you.” Not to mention, I already bought it for her and it was hiding in my closet.

“I guess,” she pouted. “But a real dog would be so much better.”

Tillie leaned in to Sadie, as if telling her a secret this time. “When I was a little girl, a few years older than you are now. I entered a contest to win a trip to the beach and waited every day by the mailbox. But instead of the winning postcard, I received a card from my cousin, who invited me to spend the summer at her farm. I was a little disappointed at first, but that summer turned out to be the best of my life—riding horses, milking cows, and learning to fish in the pond. The weekend at the beach couldn’t have compared to all those adventures.”

Sadie’s face lit with excitement. “Maybe when Santa brings me a dad, he can bring me to a farm like your cousin’s, where I can ride horses and milk cows. That would be fun.”

Tillie covered her mouth to hide her laugh.

“This is what happens with you try to philosophize with a four-year-old, Tillie.”

“What I meant, Sadie, is that sometimes we don’t get what we want, but we get something better, and other times what we want comes in unexpected ways. The surprise is what makes it interesting. Don’t you think?” Tillie winked at Sadie then turned to me. “And sometimes what we think we don’t want is exactly what we need. Don’t you just love the unexpected blessings in life, Serena?”

“Sure. Sadie was the best unexpected surprise of my life. Right, kiddo.” I rounded the counter and placed a soft kiss on her head.

In a serious and prophetic sounding voice, Tillie said, “Love has a way of finding us, no matter how hard we try to resist it.”

No way. No love or matchmaking for me. Tillie may have found a perfect match for AJ, but I wasn’t interested, not in the least. “Like I told Sadie, I’ve got my hands full already. Actually, more than full. I don’t want or have time for love, man, nor beast right now.”

“Might not be what you think you want, but could be exactly what you need,” Tillie replied in a sing-song tone. “And you might be surprised how much better life could be with someone to share the load.”

“Or infinitely more difficult. Sorry, Tillie, you’ll have to take your matchmaking mojo somewhere else. I’m not interested.”