As we lounged, the forest lazed with us. The morning birds were for the most part gone, replaced by the droning of cicadas. The trees bent to the will of the wind, crashing like the waves of the ocean. The stream was ever so steady, glistening clear blue in the noontime sun. We chattered about our week, occasionally sitting in silence as we took in the atmosphere. Deep in the woods, the city clatter was completely absent here; one of the reasons Jane stopped by so often.
“The flowers sure are brilliant today,” she remarked with a sip of the tea. “Have you been nourishing them a bit?”
“Hm? Uh… no, I don’t think…” I held my breath. Looking out to the fields with her, they were indeed much brighter, perhaps fuller as well. They shone with the same sparkle as the flowers indoors, the ones that were graced by my newfound resident. “I didn’t notice.”
Jane laughs. “It’s all par for the course now, isn’t it?”
“… I suppose,” I breathed. I was glad her gaze was not on me.
“I’ll say, these yellow flowers remind me of the hay fields I used to live by as a child. Come springtime, they’d be completely covered in yellow flowers.”
“Yellow…? You mean dandelions? Those are just weeds.”
“Doesn’t make them any less prettier!”
“That’s an unusual opinion!” I laughed.
“You think so?” Her head turned back to the table and picked up her plate of tea.
“I know so. The sight is horrendous to some. They’re the bane of farmers, especially if they practice reduced tillage. That field mustn’t have been kept well if it was covered in dandelions.”
“Nay, it wasn’t. Kept their sheep roaming around. Must’ve let them eat up everything.”
“Really? Perhaps that field was gone for them then.”
“Maybe,” she shrugged.
“An expensive waste of land.” I took a sip, then settled for a bite of the fruit tart.
“Do you pick these flowers for your shop? Or are they off limits?”
I finished my bite before speaking. “I’ve done it a few times. No harm in a trim-down every once in a while. But I don’t rely on them.”
“Fair point.” She took a sip.
“It’s not like this is the only spot in the forest with flowers.”
“If I were in your position, I would want to keep these for myself,” she laughed. “I don’t know how you can give them up!”
“Half the joy is sharing! I’ve picked some out for y—”
Jane giggled at this notion, setting down her tea. “Well, I wouldn’t call ‘selling them’ as sharing.”
“How else would people get my flowers, then?” I bantered. “‘Stealing’ is certainly not sharing.”
“No, it’s not!” Laughing, she sat back with her sweet tart. “Just love to poke fun at your business-lady demeanour.”
“I do what I can. I still need to be practical with my current situation.”
Another gust of wind. The cicadas hushed for a moment as my hair swept into my face. I’d forgotten to tie it back. Jane took a bite of her tart before speaking again.
“Business seems well, then?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary. Summertime always has the best yields.”
“A lot of customers?”
“Various kinds. People on holiday. Bouquets for events. Couples. Lovers…”
“Any dapper men?” She wore a sly smile.
“Not of my type.”
“Shame.” She took another bite. “I haven’t stopped by in a while. I’ll find a day to pop by.”
“There was this strange man who visited my shop the day before the weekend.”
“Oh?” Another bite.
“Very high-cut and talked nonsense.”
She cracked up, her mouth still full. “Well, welcome to Abbottsville! Where everyone’s a nutter!”
“Unfortunately,” I laughed along. “Don’t mind their space, either.”
“Should have slapped him.”
“Me? Never!”
“Gotta knock some sense into them, one man at a time!”
“You’re just inviting trouble! They’re still customers, after all.”
Her laughs did not stop. “I’d love to see you try.”
“Never!”
“Right, right!” She coughed a bit, setting down her tart.