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“You sound a bit put out by that thought. Care to tell us why?” Macy asked.

No way was she answering that. And Macy still hadn’t told her why she wanted to meet with her. Yes, she could turn the conversation back in that direction.

“What I’d really like to know is why you asked me here.”

Macy wagged her finger. “Uh-uh, I know what you’re doing here, and it’s not going to work.”

Kelly rolled her eyes. “Fine. You want to know why I have a problem with him? It’s because I don’t want to think of my flowers as being a kiss-off gift to Tate Prentice’s latest bed partner.”

Of course, the song would finish while she was speaking. Her words echoed around the bar and everyone looked her way, including Tate and his brother.

Seriously, where was that damn sinkhole when she needed it?

“Well, okay then,” Charlotte commented and waved a hand in the air. “Nothing to see here, folks. Go back to your beer.”

Another song blasted out of the jukebox and everyone did as Charlotte asked. Could this day get any worse? Everything in Kelly wanted to turn toward Tate’s table and see what he was doing. How he’d reacted to her outburst. Her cheeks burned and she didn’t need a mirror to know they were bright red.

“So, that thing I wanted to ask you, I’m not sure it’s a good idea now.” Macy toyed with her straw.

“Nothing you say now could be as bad as just announcing to the whole bar what I think of Tate’s personal life. I might as well shut up shop now. No one is going to want to buy flowers from me.”

Maybe she could look at getting back in accounting. Move to a big city again, where the chances of her being the main topic of conversation over the evening meal at Betty Lou’s Diner were slim.

She could learn to love numbers again, couldn’t she?

A shiver of revulsion swept through her at the thought of being chained to a desk instead of being free to create beautiful flower bouquets. Maybe she could find a florist job somewhere.

“Stop it, Kelly. Just because you said something about Tate doesn’t mean you’re going to lose business. Probably the opposite. You know how this town is, they’ll all drop by wanting your beautiful arrangements,” Charlotte said.

Well, hopefully, everyone felt the same way as Charlotte. She, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure. She’d love to be proved wrong though.

“I agree with Charlotte. Here goes nothing.” Macy leaned forward and Kelly copied her actions. “You know I’m the new chairperson for Founders’ Day committee.”

“Yep. You’re doing an amazing job.”

“Thanks, Kel. I’ve got big shoes to fill, seeing as Meg Dawson has left and she could do everything with her eyes closed.”

“Macy, you’ve toured the country and the world. If anyone can wrangle the masses to do your bidding, it’ll be you,” Charlotte said, smiling big at her sister-in-law.

“I don’t know about that, Char, but I appreciate your vote of confidence. Anyway…” She redirected her attention back to Kelly, and immediately Kelly sat a little straighter. There was a glint of humor and challenge in Macy’s gaze, and she wasn’t sure she really wanted to know what her friend was about to ask of her.

“We’re going to change it up a little bit this year. We’ve decided to hold some events in the town square like always, but we want to have some of the vendors display their wares at another location.”

So far, it didn’t sound too onerous. It was fine by her to have her stand at the other location than the center of town. No doubt Macy had a plan to get people to and from both sites.

“That seems like a good idea. If you’re asking me to relocate to the alternate place, I’m happy to.”

“Well, that’s good to hear, but no, that’s not what I’m asking. What I want to know is if you’ll oversee the setup at the other location. You’ll have full control of where you want to place the stands. How you want to decorate them. We’re going with a red-and-gold theme for the satellite site and the usual red, white, and blue for the center of town.”

“But I’m not on the committee. Shouldn’t the person in charge of the other location be from there?”

“Well, yes, but I know you do most of the flower arrangements for the weekend, and I just think you have such a better eye for decorating than”—she lowered her voice to a whisper—“Mary-Beth Jones. God, I love that woman, but honestly, her sense of style is so outdated it’s not funny.”

Kelly had to agree. Mary-Beth was a much loved member of the community, but every time Kelly had suggested a different type of flower arrangement for the urns on either side of the stage, Mary-Beth had put her foot down and said, “You don’t mess with tradition.” So Kelly had done the same arrangements for the last few years. It would be nice to branch out.

Okay, so maybe the day was going to get better.

“I love the idea of being in charge of the decorations and the other location, but seriously, Macy, I don’t want to step on anyone’s toes. I’ll gladly assist, but it really should be a committee member who does this.”