Page 55 of They Love Me Knot (Starsfalls Omegaverse #2)

Daphne

A nicka is talking with some of the other sellers when I arrive, so I don’t get a chance to ask her where she found the vanilla flowers.

I unload the van with the help of the workers she hired to set up the stall.

Well, I mostly direct as they unload, brawny men and women flexing as they maneuver the heavy buckets and vases around. They’re much faster than I would be, so I don’t protest much when they brush off my help.

Once everything’s out, I get to fluffing the bouquets and arrangements.

Eventually Anicka joins me. “They’re predicting a big attendance this year.

The other vendors said there’s a lot of traction on social media from the other cities in the valley, and even some beyond.

The town council apparently believes the gossip, because they’re by hiring more event staff and ensuring there’s plenty of food and water on hand.

We have plenty of flowers in stock, so we should be just fine, but you might want to mentally prepare yourself for a bigger crowd than we originally anticipated. ”

“I can make more bouquets tonight if we run out of things,” I offer.

We already made most of the arrangements we thought would sell this weekend, but now it might not be enough.

“I’m sure we’ll be fine. Poppy will be at the store, so she can make up some arrangements if we run low. I doubt the store will be very busy, so she should have plenty of time if it comes to that,” Anicka says.

“That’s true.”

The flowers in my great arrangement flutter in the breeze, reminding me of another administrative detail I was going to ask about.

“Where did you find the vanilla flowers? They were delivered just in time!” I say excitedly.

I need to send the farm a thank you card. I’m so thrilled to have found a source for the orchids, and just in time to debut my big display.

Anicka frowns. “I’m sorry, Daphne, I never ordered any. I thought I told you I exhausted all my leads.”

“No, but—come look.” My brain short-circuits, unsure why she doesn’t know what I’m talking about. I grab her hand and pull her out to the van instead of trying to explain.

I carefully unbuckle my treasure and open the cooler to show her the vanilla flowers nestled inside.

“See. There are a ton of different varieties too. They were delivered in an unmarked box at our back door this morning. I thought you would know who it was from,” I say.

Anicka reaches for the cooler, and I reluctantly let go so she can take a closer look. I know she’s not going to be rough with them, but I’m still protective of my little flowers.

She looks through a few of the boxes, admiring the contents like I did, before looking over the cooler itself and handing it back to me.

“Well, they are just what you wanted, but I don’t know where they came from. If there was no packing slip or return address, then your guess is as good as mine,” Anicka says.

“There wasn’t even a shipping address or a stamp, so it must have been delivered personally. No one was around by the time I found it though.”

“I’ve been meaning to get cameras out there. Maybe one of these days I’ll actually do it so we can keep track of who’s leaving us offerings,” she says with a laugh.

“Starsfalls is such a safe town, it’s nice we haven’t needed the extra security,” I say, remembering my first run-in with Ciro.

As much as I appreciate the safety of security cameras, I’m also glad when they’re not around to record me doing embarrassing things.

“I’ll check through my emails and messages, but as far as I know, these aren’t from anyone I talked to. They must be from your flower guardian fairy,” Anicka says.

“I suppose so. I don’t know why anyone would just give them to us though. We were going to pay for them,” I say.

“You know what they say about looking a gift horse in the mouth.”

“It’ll bite you?”

“Something like that. I say, just enjoy your gift. You’re sure it’s not from one of your boyfriends?”

“I texted them about it, but they all said it wasn’t them.”

That’s not technically true. I didn’t send Ciro a message, but Flower Gully already told Anicka they didn’t have any vanilla flowers for sale.

Like she read my mind, Anicka says, “Flower Gully’s booth is just down the next street. You could go ask Ciro in person and see if he’s just trying to be mysterious about it. The other flower farms are down there too, if you wanted to ask around before we open.”

“No, it’s fine. If they want to stay anonymous, I’ll let them.”

We end our investigation with a shrug, and I bring my gift to the booth so I can finalize my masterpiece.