Page 18 of The Summer for Us (Golden Falls #1)

JULIETTE

The week after the Richards family dinner was busier than I expected.

Most days, I would leave the cabin in the morning, spend part of the day working at Lily’s café, and use the other half of the day to meet with people in town.

A few other business owners were looking over ideas I’d put together for them after an initial consultation.

I knew people were hesitant to do business with me since I wasn’t a local, but they were warming up pretty quickly once they heard my ideas and saw the work I’d done at Lily’s.

We painted the main wall a beautiful pastel yellow and used a warm beige for the cat room.

We also added a bird feeder outside the window so the cats could watch birds and other critters.

Now that the walls were painted, my next task was rearranging the tables in the café and bringing in the new furniture I thrifted for the cat room.

The loveseat I found would be comfortable for guests and was made of a fabric that wouldn’t get easily damaged by the cats.

I needed to find a way to get it over to Lily’s since my car wasn’t big enough.

Plus, I still needed to find curtains for the café’s main room and some other little decorations to add some color and tie the space together while staying on budget.

My to-do list for tomorrow was piling up, but it felt good to have tasks I was excited to work on. Lily was a great person to partner with, because she gave me creative freedom and trusted my instincts.

After spending most of the day downtown, I was driving back to the cabin to unwind and possibly enjoy another swim.

As I pulled up the gravel driveway, I did a double take when I spotted two bright-blue ceramic planters with blooming flowers.

They were right next to the wooden steps that led up to the front door. When had those gotten there?

I hopped out of my car, glancing around before making my way toward the front porch. The ceramic planters were the same design I’d been eyeing at Hal’s. The same as the planter that shattered.

Not only did these two planters have flowers, but so did the other two I’d purchased myself. I hadn’t had time to plant the flowers, so for the last couple of weeks, the planters had been sitting empty in the corner of the porch.

Now, I had marigolds, asters, petunias, and dahlias—one type of flower in each planter.

I took another look around the porch, this time noticing the note taped to the front door. I carefully removed it, tucking the tape back and reading the messy scrawl.

Juliette,

I thought long about what you said, and you’re right. You’ll be here for a while, and I want you to feel welcome. Both in town and at dinner, if you decide to stop by again. I’m sorry for our rough start.

I’m not the best with my words, clearly, but that’s no excuse.

I hope this can be a new start for us, if you’re willing.

You’ve likely figured this out already, but yes, I live nearby.

Down the road, actually. If you need anything during your time in Golden Falls, I can try to help.

I’ll leave my cell number down by my name.

I hope you enjoy the flowers. Figured I would leave them out front and you’d find a good place for them.

- Wes

Once I got through the note, I read it again, in disbelief this was from Wes and that he’d been the one to plant the flowers. That was…thoughtful. It didn’t excuse his actions, but I appreciated his apology and that he’d done something about it. Actions spoke louder than words to me.

This is what I’d been hoping for when I asked him to be friends, and while he made no mention of being friends in his note, he gave me his number and offered to help if I needed anything. Maybe we didn’t need to be friends. Acquaintances and neighbors was enough.

We could be cordial.

I fished my keys out of my purse and pushed the door open. I made my way into the kitchen and set my purse and the note on the counter.

I wanted to move on with my day, but I couldn’t stop staring at the piece of paper, mainly the phone number scrawled on the bottom. I should text him, right? Just as a thank you. And to let him know I noticed the flowers.

I pulled my phone out of my bag and unlocked it.

The various unchecked notifications on my homepage caused a sigh to escape me.

While I hadn’t checked social media since getting back from Paradise Love , I still had all the apps on my home screen, which meant I saw the number of unread notifications.

And it was in the thousands. Great. Definitely not dealing with that right now.

The number of unread texts was much better. One from my parents with some photos of their summer in Florida. Another from my brother checking in. And the final one was from Lily about some new treats she was baking.

I’d respond to those soon. For now, I typed in the new number and sent a text to my neighbor.

Me

Thank you for the flowers. You put the blue planters exactly where I imagined them. I’m going to move the other two to the back porch.

Almost immediately after I sent the message, three gray dots appeared.

Wesley

You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked them.

Me

And a new start sounds good to me.

Wesley

I appreciate the second chance. Or is it a third or fourth chance at this point?

Me

Hmm maybe even a fifth chance. I also didn’t realize you had such a green thumb, neighbor.

Wesley

There’s a lot you don’t know about me.

Me

Well, maybe I’ll learn another thing or two about you.

Wesley

And maybe I’ll learn a few things about you, too, neighbor.