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“Speaking of beauty, I wish you could see Kate. She’s 27 now, and she is the loveliest young woman I know. Some might say I’m biased, but I don’t care. I love her so much, Mom. Well, you know what it’s like to love a daughter. My greatest desire in this life is to see her content. I know she’s scarred from her father abandoning her, even though she doesn’t like to talk about it. I just pray that she is able to let someone into her life who will love her and never leave her.”

Olivia plucked a tulip from the bunch and held it tight to her chest. “I miss you, Mom. I miss you every day.” Tears formed in the corners of her eyes as she lifted herself off the ground and began to walk back across the cemetery towards her car. Suddenly she heard a man’s voice shout out, “Ma’am! Ma’am! You forgot your purse!”

She turned and saw a figure running towards her clutching two bunches of flowers and her purse. “Oh my goodness!” she cried. “Thank you so much. I am becoming such a silly woman.” The man caught up to where Olivia had stopped in her tracks and gladly accepted the purse that she hadn’t even noticed was missing.

“I saw you get up and walk away without it,” said the man, who was slightly flushed from his sprint across the cemetery.

“What’s your name, dear?” Olivia asked.

“Jacob. Jacob Patterson.”

“So nice to meet you, Jacob. I’m Olivia Henry.”

“Pleasure, Mrs. Henry.”

“Those flowers you have are remarkable,” said Olivia. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen roses that shade before!” The roses he was holding almost resembled a flame, deepening from a soft yellow to a vibrant orange on each petal.

“Thank you. This is a variety I started growing not long ago called Tuscan Sun.”

“Growing?”

“Yes.” Jacob pointed to the truck in the parking lot, which was emblazoned with Patterson & Son Design on the side. “I’m the son. My dad and I have a landscape design business.”

“Is that so? Jacob…do you believe in fate?”

“Not really, ma’am.”

“Good. Neither do I. But I do believe that I am in need of a landscape designer. I have a garden at my house that I would love to expand, but I’m afraid that some of the work is a bit beyond what these two hands can do. How would you like a job?”

“I’ve never been one to turn down work, ma’am. Can I stop by sometime and see what we’ve got to work with?”

“I’ve got to run a couple of errands in town, but why don’t you stop by this afternoon? I’m on Lavender Court. Do you know where that is?”

“Yes ma’am. I live over on Myrtle; not too far from there.”

“Splendid! Let me write down my address and phone number for you, and I’ll see you this afternoon.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Jacob? One thing. If you’re going to work for me, you’ve got to stop calling me ma’am.”

“Yes, Mrs. Henry.”

Olivia smiled. “Hmm…we’ll work on you, son.”

Jacob took the piece of paper that Olivia handed to him and walked back into the cemetery carrying his flowers at his side. She seems like a nice woman, thought Jacob. I think I’m going to enjoy working for her.

~~~~~

“Meredith, I’ll be back in the recommended reading room for awhile, okay?”

“That’s fine, Kate. Anna and I have got it covered here.”

Meredith stood behind the counter with a high school student whom she had hired to help out in the store several afternoons after school. As Kate walked down the hallway to what used to be a spare bedroom, she could hear Meredith say, “Yes, Anna, that’s right. Now count out their change, dear…good. You’ll be running this place in no time.” Kate smiled at Meredith’s encouraging way of training new staff, and remembered how gracious she had been when Kate had first started working for her and was having trouble learning the inventory system.

Kate could be found in the recommended reading room on the last day of every month. It used to be utilized as a storage room but not long after she started working for Meredith, Kate had convinced her to let her do some reorganizing to set aside a room just for those customers who were browsing for nothing in particular. Filled with every genre, from classics to contemporary literature, bestsellers to little-known gems, Kate had made it her pet project to update the room with new choices each month. She paid special attention to a tall, narrow bookcase over in the corner that was labeled Kate’s Picks. She picked ten books per month to highlight to the community as must-reads. An avid reader herself, she loved to introduce others to books that she loved. She was placing a stack of self-help books focused on positive psychology next to the stack of the classic French novel The Count of Monte Cristo when she heard a familiar voice.

“Is this the Shopaholics Anonymous meeting?” Amy was leaning against the doorframe, holding up a credit card in one hand.

“Hey! What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I decided I need a new outfit,” she said, stepping into the room. “And we all know I shouldn’t be allowed to pick out clothes alone. Come with me?”

“Um, of course I’m coming with you. I don’t want a repeat of The Great Orange Sweater Incident.”

Amy winced. “Ugh, don’t remind me. Can you go now?”

Kate glanced at her watch. “I get off work in fifteen minutes. I just need to finish up a few things in here, and then I can go.”

Amy set off to go visit with her grandmother while Kate finished setting up her display. “I hope you all find good homes,” she said to the books on her shelf before leaving the room.

Several minutes later Kate and Amy entered one of their favorite boutiques in town. Amy pulled an orange blouse off the rack and held it up to her body. “What do you think, Kate?”

“I think you should back away from the orange. I repeat, back away from the orange before someone gets hurt!”

Amy chuckled and continued to browse through racks of clothing. Pulling out a teal cardigan, she shoved it at her friend. “You have got to try this on. I love this color on you.”

“You should try it on. Teal totally works with your blonde hair.”

Amy wrinkled her nose. “I’ll pass.” The girls made their way through the store, and soon had their arms full of clothes to try on. Once in adjacent fitting rooms, Amy said over the wall, “So are you all ready for your big Thanksgiving with the Rutherfords? Are you nervous?”

“Ready, yes. Nervous, absolutely.” Kate had been combing through her recipe books for days, trying to pick out the perfect Thanksgiving meal to cook for Ian and his family. She had spent plenty of time with his family in the past, but the idea of being a part of their family Thanksgiving was making her very anxious. “Don’t get me wrong, I love his family. But I’m just curious what they’re going to think. I mean, it’s me…and Ian…and the situation is just very…I don’t know, it’s-“

“Intimate.”

“Ames!”

“It’s an intimate situation. Just call it like it is. It’s not like you’re going out for ice cream. This is Thanksgiving dinner. In Ian’s home.”

“You always do the best job at calming my nerves.”

“Oh please. You wouldn’t respect me if I sugarcoated things and you know it. It’s a big deal, end of story. And it’s going to be great. I just hope you’re ready.”

“Did I tell you that I’m spending the night at his place on Wednesday?”

“WHAT?!”

“Oh calm
down
. In his spare bedroom. I wanted to go grocery shopping in Raleigh so he’ll pay for everything, and there’s no way I’m going shopping on Thanksgiving morning. So it just makes sense to go buy the food on Wednesday, stay overnight, and wake up early the next morning to start cooking.”

“You had better behave yourself, Katherine Violet.”

“Come on, you know me better than that. I’m a good girl.”

“Well, please stay that way. Or else I’ll tell your mother.”

Kate chuckled. “You would, wouldn’t you?”

“Absolutely. For your own good, of course.”

Amy stepped out of the dressing room in white socks, a bright red skirt, and a yellow and white striped shirt. “Ahhh!” cried Kate. “My eyes, my eyes!” Amy slapped her knee and doubled over in laughter. “Why would you do that to yourself?”

“Just so I could enjoy your reaction.”

“Take it off this instant!”

“You got it.” Amy slipped behind the curtain and Kate stepped back into her dressing room. Amy poked her head in just seconds later and said, “You look amazing in that cardigan, by the way. Told you so,” and went back to her room to change out of the offensive outfit.

Kate cocked her head and looked at herself in the mirror. “You are a nice color,” she said. “I think you’re perfect for Thanksgiving.”

“What?” asked a muffled Amy, who was apparently struggling to squeeze her head through the neck of a turtleneck sweater.

“Oh, nothing,” came the response from the dressing room. She smoothed the cardigan, looked her reflection in the eyes and said, “I’m ready.”

~~~~~

“Broccoli puff? What in the world is broccoli puff?” Ian was standing in his kitchen, holding Kate’s cookbook open to a page that seemed to have baffled him.

“Broccoli puff! It’s a classic family recipe. It’s just not Thanksgiving without broccoli puff,” said Kate, who was busy basting the turkey.

“But what makes it…puff?”

“Don’t ask questions. Just grate some cheese.” Ian obeyed and took the block of cheddar cheese and the grater over to the table. He moved aside one of the place settings that adorned the table and got to work.

“I’m really glad you convinced me to buy all these dishes and placemats and… what are these again?”

“Napkin rings, Ian. For a brilliant man, you’re kind of a moron. You know that, right?” A playful grin spread across Kate’s face.

“Sorry, I must have skipped Constitutional Law the day we talked about formal place setting vocabulary,” replied Ian. “Anyway, the table looks amazing. Thanks for bringing the flowers. I never would have thought to get a centerpiece.”

The pair worked in the kitchen for the next couple of hours, putting together everything needed for a Thanksgiving feast. The wonderful smells of the holiday meal filled the apartment. When everything was almost ready, Kate stepped into the spare bedroom where she had slept the night before so that she could get up early and start preparing the meal. Her clothes were laid out on her bed, and she took a quick shower before slipping into the form fitting cream-colored dress she had brought to wear. She let her curls flow freely, slipped some low heels onto her feet, and put on the teal cardigan over her dress. A simple strand of pearls (which she had borrowed from Meredith) completed the outfit.

She stepped out of the bedroom and saw Ian in the living room, fussing with the throw pillows and stacks of magazines. I’ve trained him well, she thought. Now he knows how good his apartment can look and he wants to keep it that way.

Ian turned and saw Kate standing in the hallway. “Wow,” he said, his eyes widening. “You look beautiful.” Her style was very simple and it wasn’t often that she dressed up like this.

She looked at Ian in his khaki pants, lavender dress shirt (which he had argued with Kate over in the store until he tried it on and agreed that lavender was indeed a good color on him), and brown v-neck sweater that perfectly matched the brown of his hair. “You clean up pretty nice yourself, mister.”