Flowers on Main by Sherryl Woods

before nine o’clock that Friday morning. I’ll need to know what you want on the Monday before, earlier if there’s something that has to come from another grower. Connie will see that you have a list each week of what’s available. If you need deliveries more than once a week, we’ll adjust the schedule. Or you can come by here to get what you need to fill in.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Like you said, it’s business. Don’t read anything into it. Close the door on your way out.”
    She frowned at the dismissal, but she knew better than to try to prolong the encounter. She’d gotten what she came for.
    And then some.
     
    Jake cursed when his hand actually shook as he reached for his phone after Bree was finally out of his office. He’d been dead serious earlier when he’d decided to drink his dinner, but he wanted company. A man who could still be rattled by an ex-lover six years after the breakup was pitiful enough without turning into a solitary drinker.
    If he’d ever been the type to gravitate toward willing female companionship of the kind that didn’t ask questions or make demands, tonight would have been the night to seek out such a woman. Unfortunately, he’d never seen the value in simply hooking up. He’d always wanted more. He’d wanted what he’d had with Bree. Or what he’d thought he had, anyway.
    That left him with Will and Mack. And when Mack turned out to be busy, it left him with Will.
    “Ground rules,” he said tersely when they met in the bar at Brady’s. “No questions. No trying to psychoanalyze my mood. We are here to drink. Okay?”
    Will gave him a knowing look. “You must have had one hell of a meeting with Bree today.”
    Jake scowled at him. “No questions. Didn’t I make that clear?”
    Will grinned. “You did. And if Ms. Davis, our English teacher, were here, she’d explain to you that the sentence I just uttered was a statement, not a question. Bree O’Brien is the only person I know who can put you into this kind of mood.”
    Jake downed half his beer. “Okay, wise guy, I know I told you not to try to psychoanalyze my mood. I was very clear about that.”
    “But this is so much fun,” Will retorted. “Your love life is much more interesting than watching the Orioles blow another lead, which they’re doing, by the way.” He gesturedtoward the TV above the bar, his expression mournful. “How can they do that night after night?”
    “Because they’re having a lousy season,” Jake said, warming to the safe topic. “The pitching sucks. The bullpen’s worse.”
    “Can’t argue with you there,” Will agreed just as Mack joined them.
    Jake stared at him. “I thought you had a date.”
    “It wasn’t a date,” Mack said, his expression sour.
    “Which means he was out with Susie O’Brien again,” Will said.
    Mack scowled at the assessment, but Jake chuckled. “Don’t mind him. Will thinks he has a deep understanding of our sad love lives. Of course, that raises the question of why he doesn’t have a love life of his own to worry about.”
    “I had a date just last night,” Will said indignantly. “A real one, not like whatever’s going on between you two and the women you maybe are and maybe aren’t dating.”
    Mack’s expression brightened. “Do tell,” he said. “Give us a shining example by which we can live our lives.”
    Will frowned. “Mock me if you will, but this could be the one. This was our fourth date in two weeks.”
    Jake and Mack exchanged a look. Will rarely went out with the same woman more than twice. Either he got bored or they got tired of having him analyze them. In one instance, when he’d gone out for two months with the same woman, he’d belatedly realized she’d actually been using him for free counseling. He’d sworn off dating for months after that.
    Just as Mack was about to speak, Will stopped him. “Don’t worry. This isn’t another Jasmine. In fact, Laura’s a psychologist, too. She has a practice in