Denise hesitated. "You're probably right. I'll be back to work Monday morning. She's talking about going back to work either Tuesday or Wednesday. I'll let you know what's going on with her."

"Thanks, Denise. I know I'm asking a lot."

They remained silent for a moment before Denise changed the subject. "Thanks for rescheduling your vacation and going back to help Eric this weekend."

"That reminds me," Jody said. "I wanted to talk to you about us going ahead with trying to purchase the building next door. Are you still open to expanding the shop?"

"Jody, I don't think I can commit to a project that time-consuming. With Ellen and all, I'm not sure I could promise the hours needed."

"You won't have to do anything but be available to sign the paperwork. I'll run everything by you before I do it, but I really want to do this now." Her voice dropped. "I need this."

They fell silent. "What happens after I come back to work Monday?" Denise asked. "Is seeing me every day going to be a reminder?"

Jody's newfound determination disappeared. What if Ellen really had dumped her for good? Could she see Denise every day without it tearing her apart? She couldn't let this destroy everything she and Denise had worked so hard for. If Ellen chose not to see her again, she'd have no alternative except to get over it and move on with her life. Jody forced a vitality that she didn't feel into her voice. "I'll be all right, Denise. Hey, it's not like it's the first time I've been dumped, right?"

"Oh, sweetie." Denise sniffed.

"Don't you dare start crying, Denise Murray. I'll get through this. You were right all along. I'm too old for Ellen. She would have moved on eventually." Jody rushed on before Denise could interrupt her. "It's better that she did so right away. I don't want to talk about it anymore. Are you prepared to expand the shop or not?" Jody quickly started telling her about the interior designer Eric knew, and about Eric's offer to help with the renovations.

"Do you think this designer is any good?" Denise asked. "I mean, he's still in college."

"I don't know. I trust Eric's opinion, but we can ask him to draw up some preliminary sketches and see what he suggests. Of course, we have to actually buy the other building first," Jody reminded her.

"Go ahead. Start talking to Mrs. Jimenez. If we get the building, then we can talk to Eric's friend," Denise said.

Eric came into the shop just as she was hanging up with Denise. "How are you feeling this morning?" he asked as he gave her a hug.

"Ready to start over. I'm going to talk to Mrs. Jimenez today and try to buy the shop."

Eric nodded his approval. "Good. That's what you need. Loads of work to keep you busy." He started gathering supplies to begin filling orders.

"I'll make the deliveries," Jody said as she flipped on the display lights.

"Fine with me. It's getting hot out there already. You know I hate it when my face gets a sheen," he called from the workroom.

Jody shook her head and started dusting the displays. She kept a watch out until she saw Mrs. Jimenez come around the corner to unlock her shop.

"Eric, I'm going next door. I'll be back as soon as I can."

Jody put the dust rag away and took a deep breath. She had to convince Mrs. Jimenez to sell them the shop. Otherwise, what would she do with herself until she found a way to deal with Ellen's rejection?

As she went next door, she tried to think of how she would bring up the subject of buying the shop. If she sounded too eager the price would probably go up, but if she sounded nonchalant, Mrs. Jimenez might decide it wasn't a serious offer and sell the shop to someone else. Since no great words of wisdom hit her in the twenty-five or so steps from the doorway of Petal Pushers to the doorway of the card shop, she decided to play it by ear.

Mrs. Jimenez looked up from behind the counter and smiled. "Jody," she called out. "Have you come to buy my shop?"

Shocked, Jody nodded. "How did you know?"

"Your friend Denise has been dropping hints for weeks."

Jody looked around and noticed that most of the inventory had been sold. "You're almost out of inventory," she said, feeling foolish for stating the obvious.

Mrs. Jimenez motioned to her. "Come and have some iced tea with me, and I'll sell you this store."

That was exactly what she did. Jody left the store an hour later feeling confident that both she and Mrs. Jimenez had gotten what they wanted. There was still paperwork to draw up, lawyers to consult and bankers to convince, but those were just annoying details.

She stopped at the approximate point where the two shops came together and closed her eyes. She would make the new Petal Pushers the finest flower shop in all of south Texas.

Thoughts of Ellen tried to push in, but she turned them away. Ellen had made her decision, and Jody would have to find a way to live with it.

Chapter Thirty-One.

Jody stood outside the lawyer's office and waited for Denise. The humidity of late June was beginning to make her wish she had waited for Denise inside. It had been almost five weeks since Ellen's surgery. Noninvasive ductal carcinoma in situ had been the final diagnosis. The lab report on the lymph nodes had come back negative, but Dr. Wray had still prescribed a series of radiation treatments.

Ellen was in her second week of those treatments. She would have to go for treatments five days a week for six weeks. Each treatment lasted thirty minutes. Her appointments were scheduled for three-thirty. Because the treatments left Ellen feeling tired and washed out, Denise had been leaving early to take her. Denise had been true to her word of letting Jody know how Ellen was progressing, but Jody quickly discovered it wasn't enough. During the first week after Ellen's surgery, she would reach for the phone to call Ellen several times a day. Her low point came when she found herself driving past Denise's house, hoping to catch a glimpse of Ellen.

Disgusted by the desperation she felt, Jody had driven home, determined to never think of Ellen again. Of course, that resolution had only lasted until the next thought.

"Sorry," Denise said as she came out. "I swear I have a bladder the size of a Ping-Pong ball."

"Do you want to grab some lunch before we go back to the shop?" Jody asked.

Denise glanced at her watch. "I guess Eric can handle things for another hour. Where do you want to go?"

"How about Burger Barn. It's on the way and their service is fast."

"Sounds good."

They started toward Denise's car. They had ridden over together to sign the closing papers on the card shop. The building inspection and loan application had gone smoothly, allowing them to close quickly.

"I can't believe we actually did it," Denise said as she unlocked the car. "We're really going to expand the shop."

Jody smiled as she climbed into the car. She knew Denise would now start to second-guess their decision.

Denise slid the key into the ignition. "You don't think we made a mistake, do you?"

Jody laughed and it felt good. It seemed like it had been a long time since she had really laughed.

"What's so funny?" Denise demanded.

"You're so predictable," Jody said, fastening her seat belt.

"I just want to be sure. I know the shop's revenue is up ten percent from this time last year, but you never know."

Jody reached over and squeezed Denise's hand. "It was the right thing to do. We'll be fine." Jody sat back and heard Denise's sigh of relief.

"You're right. It's time. The shop is so cramped you can't cuss a cat without getting hair in your mouth."

Jody looked at her and frowned. "Where do you come up with these weird sayings?"

A look of confusion crossed Denise's face. "What weird sayings?"

Jody shook her head. "Never mind. I interrupted you. What were you about to say?"

Denise paused while she gathered her thoughts. "Oh," she said and rushed on. "We need to hire another full-time employee. I don't know about you, but I'm getting tired of working every other weekend."

Jody thought about how empty her life had felt since she last saw Ellen. Free time didn't seem so important to her. Suddenly she felt an overwhelming need to see Ellen.

"Does Ellen ever ask about me?" Jody inquired, embarra.s.sed at having to ask.

Denise didn't answer right away. Her silence told Jody more than she wanted to know.

"Sweetie, don't take it personally, but all of her energy is focused on recuperating."

Jody felt like a whiny brat. "That's all she should be thinking about," she agreed. "I thought, maybe ..." She let the sentence trail off.

"Every evening at dinner, I tell her about my day at the shop," Denise said.

Jody looked at her. "What do you tell her?"

Denise shrugged. "Everything. I just ramble on. She seems to enjoy hearing the stories. I tried to ask to her about the note a couple of times, but she refuses to discuss it." She stopped talking long enough to negotiate a turn. "She spends her spare time reading or sitting on the patio watching the birds."

"Birds?"

"Yeah, she asked me to buy a bird feeder and birdseed. I fill them for her each afternoon. She seems to enjoy watching them."

Jody suddenly had an idea. "Denise, would you mind if I planted a rosebush in your backyard? I'll do it during the day while Ellen is at work."

Denise glanced at her and frowned. "A rosebush?"

"It's a long story, but I think Ellen would enjoy it."

"If you think it'll make her feel any better you can fill the backyard with rosebushes."

"I think one will be enough," Jody said, feeling better than she had in days.

Eric wasn't alone when Jody and Denise returned to Petal Pushers.

"Here they are," Eric called as they came in.

"We stopped for lunch," Denise said.

"How did the closing go?" Eric asked.

Denise waved the envelope full of paperwork. "All signed, dated and stamped."

"This is Oscar Zamora." Eric nodded toward the young man beside him. Oscar was only a few inches taller than Eric. His long, black hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

"The fabulous interior designer we've been hearing so much about," Jody teased, as she extended her hand to the ruggedly handsome young man. "It's nice to finally meet you."

Oscar shook Jody's hand and then Denise's. "I've heard so much about you two, I feel as though I know you already."

"Oscar has been working on some preliminary designs to show you. Wait until you see what he has done," Eric said, clearly unable to control his excitement.

Jody pushed her backpack beneath the counter. "Well, let's see them. I, for one, am ready to get this baby started."

Oscar took a notebook from the counter and flipped it open. "I have two different designs to show you. Of course, these are only meant to acquaint you with my work. If you decide to allow me to design your new s.p.a.ce, we'll sit down together and talk about what you two had in mind."

Jody sensed his nervousness. "Let's see what you have."

Oscar cleared his throat. "The first one is a cla.s.sical look." He revealed a drawing that had been done in colored pencils. The design was beautiful, but the Greek columns and flowing drapes were too elaborate for Jody's taste.

Denise took the design and studied it closely. "Oscar, this is beautiful, but I think we need something simpler."

Jody looked up to see Eric practically jumping up and down. "Show them the other one," he said, patting Oscar's arm.

Oscar looked at him and smiled, shaking his head. "You're so obvious."

"I can't help it. Hurry up and show them."

"Well, with that buildup I can hardly wait," Denise said.

Oscar flipped a page over to display the second design. Even before she had fully viewed it, Jody felt her breath catch. She turned to Denise and saw she was staring at the sketch. Denise took the drawing and held it so both she and Jody could see it. The plan was simple but still managed to portray a sense of elegance.

The design would turn the shop into a garden. There were several individual groupings that suggested flowerbeds. Rustic benches served as display tables, and strategically placed ficus trees gave the overall scheme a park-like feel.

"Is this a stream?" Denise asked.

"Yes, it's made from a molded plastic sealed with polyurethane. You won't have to worry about it leaking, and a pump keeps the water circulating, so it'll remain fresh-smelling. Here"-Oscar pointed to where the stream ended- "is a pool where the water will run into and allow it to be recirculated. The runoff won't be very high, so it won't be too noisy, but I thought the sound of running water would be soothing for you and your customers. Eric told me that a lot of your walk-ins are people who are picking up an arrangement or plant to take to a loved one in the hospital."

"You're right," Jody said. "What is all this going to cost?"

"That's the beauty of it all," Eric said, again patting Oscar's arm.

Denise and Jody both laughed. "Eric, I've never seen you so excited about anything," Denise said.

"We can do most of the work ourselves," Eric jumped in, too excited to wait for Oscar's more studied explanation. "Look at this." He pointed to the design. "We won't have to knock out the entire wall. We'll remove sections, frame them out for additional support, and then Oscar's plan trims them out to resemble arbors. So instead of the customers walking through doorways between the buildings they can go through the arbors that will have live plants growing around them."

"But what is all this framing and stuff costing?" Jody asked again.

Eric rolled his eyes at her question.

"Calm down," Oscar told him. "You've had more time to look at these than they have."