Coffee Affair had created an arch that outlined their doorway in bright sunflowers, as well as adding a little coffee cart outside of the shop that was proving to be popular, if the line was anything to go by. The cart had been painted pastel green and a large board to the right gave town residents the chance to have their photo taken outside of the coffee shop while putting theirfaces in the holes cut in the various flowers painted on it. April made a note to herself to come back and pose with Emma and Izzy later. She thought she’d make a fabulous daffodil.
“Wait here,” Luke said, before darting off to join the line.
As she waited, April heard music playing faintly. Looking to the north end of Main Street, she saw a small stage had been set up, and a local artist was strumming a guitar soothingly. April felt a wave of calm wash over her with each note, and she smiled in the gorgeous spring sunshine.
“April!” a voice called from the other side of the street, and she squinted to see who it was. Penny was stood outside The Garden Table waving vigorously, and April smiled as she walked over.
“Penny, it’s so good to see you! Sorry for rushing out of the restaurant the other night without saying hi,” April said humbly, hugging Penny as she spoke.
“Oh, don’t be silly. Luke texted to explain what had happened. And then Ethan was telling me that Noah said at practice that your ex actuallyshowed up, but that you sorted him out.” Penny was talking a mile a minute, as usual, but punched April’s arm supportively as she spoke. “Good job, April. Takes a lot to stand up to a guy like that.Douchebag.”
“Did somebody call?” Luke appeared at April’s shoulder, grinning, a black coffee in one hand and a strawberry matcha in the other. “Thought you mightlike a little treat, babe,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to April’s forehead as he handed over the cup.
“You guys are too sweet, honestly,” Penny said, beaming.
“I think my high-school self would throw up if she could see us now,” April laughed, then something over Penny’s shoulder caught her eye. “Oh my God, Pen, that display isgorgeous! I can’t believe you’ve done that with my flowers!”
“She was up until about two a.m. watching YouTube tutorials,” said an amused voice as Ethan strolled up the street toward them. “But good to know her waking me up to show me her work was worth it.”
“I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed for you, Pen,” said April kindly.
After a few more minutes’ chatting, April and Luke said their goodbyes and carried on up the street, enjoying the ambiance and looking at the other entries. There were lots of other beautiful displays, flowers used to decorate store signs and doorways, or to create spectacular window displays that turned Main Street into a riot of color. The local bakery had done something very experimental with a loaf of bread that had flowers pushed into it, and April couldn’t help but giggle at it.
“You may think it’s trash, Jones, but I think it’sart,” said Luke seriously, before also beginning to laugh.
April was delighted to see how fully the community had gotten behind the festival—everywhere she turned, people were out chatting in the street or else walkingout of stores with bags in hand. She couldn’t help but think that in some small part, she was responsible for all of this. Luke seemed to be thinking along the same lines, as he drew to a stop and pulled April around to face him.
“I just wanted to say, April, I am so beyond impressed with what you’ve managed to achieve since you moved back.” His smile was almost shy as he went on. “Starting your business, coming up with the idea for the festival and supplying all the flowers, beating me and saving Main Street … You’re just seriously impressive, Jones.”
“Beating you was the easy bit, Pointer. It’s like second nature at this point.” He rolled his eyes, but she smiled sweetly as she said, “Thanks, you big softie. Don’t think I could’ve done it without you.”
“I bet you could. And what did I say about not spreading the fact that I’m a softie around? I have my reputation as a bad boy to worry about, Jones!”
She laughed properly at this, the joyful sound ringing out as they walked a little farther until they reached April Blooms. The pink window frames gleamed in the late-morning sunshine, the window displays of various bouquets the most vibrant of any on the street.
“It’s sort of weird being on the outside of the store. Like I’m pretending to be a customer,” she mused as she pushed the door open, enjoying the soft tinkling of the bell.
“Hi, welcome to—Oh, hey, honey, I didn’t expectto see you here today! And Luke, how are you doing, sweetie?” Kathy beamed at the two of them as they came into the store, and April gave her mom a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Hey, Kathy. I’m good, thanks. We thought we’d swing by town on our way back from apartment hunting to see all the competition entries.” Luke smiled as he took a sip of his coffee.
“I don’t think we’re going to hang around for too long, Mom. I just wanted to make sure everything was going OK. I know you think I need to rest but, honestly, I’m happy to take over for this afternoon if you want to head home.”
“Absolutely not, young lady. Luke Pointer, I expected better of you than letting my daughter come and check up on me.”
“Sorry, Kathy, you know what she’s like. Total control freak,” said Luke with a wicked grin.
“Don’t I just,” Kathy murmured, her blue eyes studying April’s face with such a knowing look that April almost felt like she was being X-rayed.
“Hey, less of the slander, please! And if I am a total control freak, it’s only because I learned how to be from my mom.” April stepped back just in time to miss Kathy’s hand as it swatted at her.
“Well, I can hardly deny that I’m a bit of a control freak, too, but I’m only that way because Martin was incapable of getting anything done without me watching over him. Absolute nightmare, yourdad—couldn’t finish one task without starting five others.”
April was only a tiny bit surprised to hear how easily her mom spoke about her dad these days. It was totally different from her early days back in town, when any mention of him had brought tears to their eyes and a lump to their throats. It still hurt to think about him, of course, but April loved the fact that she could now do so and remember all the joy that she associated with her dad, too. It felt to her likethiswas how he would have wanted his family to remember him, with all his odd habits and ridiculous projects, with all of the love and affection they’d had for him when he was alive.
“April, honey, could you get me a new roll of paper for the register? And thenleave, please, and enjoy your day off?” Her mom’s stern tone broke April out of her reflections, and she rushed to the back room to grab the paper.
When she returned a minute or so later, she saw Luke and her mom laughing about something, and she paused, drinking in the scene.This, she thought,will never get old. She gave her mom the paper and kissed her goodbye, waited for Luke to give Kathy a hug, and then the two of them headed back out into the sunshine.