“Can you watch the counter while I grab lunch?” Evelyn asked John who was standing near a tulip pot with his hand touching the dirt.
He looked up at her. “Sure.” She really needed to create a schedule for herself and John so she wasn’t having to ask him every day. He didn’t seem to mind the very loose schedule they ran, but she felt bad about it. As the employer she had to make sure everything was organized and ran smoothly.
She made her way into the green house where all the plants looked quite healthy. Having John helping with all the plant care was a lifesaver for her. Running the counter and caring for all the plants was too much for one person she’d found.
At the back end of the green house was another door. One day she wanted to build more greenhouses out of the back here, but for now she just had her personal kitchen garden out the back.
The shops to the left and right of hers on the street had their kitchen gardens directly behind the shop instead of past a greenhouse, but it seemed to be something that most people who ran a shop did. The shop to her left was a fabric and clothing shop with a woman who sold fabric and sewing supplies to the townspeople and made clothing for Baron Lafett’s family.
The tailor, Sadie, was also out tending her kitchen garden. Evelyn smiled and waved at her neighbor that she normally only saw when they both happened to be out in their gardens.
“How’s the flower sales going?” Sadie called out while walking over to talk. Sadie’s black and gray hair that looked almost blue from the mix was pulled back into a bun in the style that most working women around here wore. Crow’s feet from intense focus lined her eyes. The middle aged woman had helped Evelyn by the empty flower shop from the previous owner who’d left it sitting empty.
“Fantastic. Everyone is buying flowers in preparation for the festival to decorate their homes and themselves during the festival. I can’t wait to experience the festival as a shopkeeper,” Evelyn’s voice rose with her excitement.
She’d only been able to experience it as Lady Elizabeth’s maid, and that had been a very controlled and short experience where she’d been focused on the Lady and attempting to make sure Lord Ramett ran into her Lady and needed to escort Lady Elizabeth around the festival.
Sadie laughed. “Unfortunately the shop keeper experience is sitting in our shops during the day. Some people even stay open into the evening for the increased evening traffic.”
“Do you stay open into the evening?” Evelyn asked. She’d been planning to close around sunset as was her normal mode of operation, but if everyone else was open, maybe she should stay open.
“I don’t. I’m a fabric shop. Everyone buying fabric to make new clothes for the festival buys before the festival, and I’m almost finished Lady Elizabeth’s new dress for the festival. I’ll be heading to her place today to make sure the fit is perfect and doesn't need adjustment.” Sadie paused and looked back at her shop. “And the children would be highly upset if I didn’t take them to see the festival. I’m actually planning on only limited hours and closing completely the third day of the festival to enjoy the festival activities with the family.”
“Will your husband be in town for the festival?” Evelyn asked. Sadie’s husband worked on one of the flower farms outside town, and during certain times of year, like right before the flower festival, he had to live in farm lodging away from his family.
Sadie's large grin answered her question. “He’ll be working the farm shop a lot of the time, but he’s managed to not be on shift the third day, and he’ll be able to spend the evenings at home with us.”
“I’m so happy for you! I know it's rough managing everything on your own,” The two of them always looked so happy when they were together, and it made her feel like a fluffy little cloud to see them. “You two should stop by my shop on the third day of the festival.” Evelyn would make sure they had matching flowers to wear, and she’d get to see them together. It was the least she could do for the woman who’d helped her start the shop.
“MOM! You have a customer!” A teenage girl called from the back door of the shop.
Sadie waved. “I’ll make sure to stop by. See you then.” She left for her shop, and Evelyn went back to work on her garden. She pulled up the competing weeds, poured some water from her nearby rainwater collection barrel on the plants, and then cut leaves of lettuce. It looked like there were a couple ripe strawberries, so she picked those as well.
A quick dunk in the water to clean off the dirt and lunch was ready. Late spring really was the best time of year.
She headed back in to see John sitting on the stool behind the counter. She’d added a couple chairs around the shop specifically for him so that he could sit down and rest with that bad leg of his.
She walked over and held out one of her precious strawberries and a couple lettuce leaves. He brought his own lunches, but she knew fresh was best.
He took them with a smile, “Thanks. You really don’t have to give me your precious fresh food though.
“Of course I don,” Evelyn stated firmly. “A good harvest is best shared.”
He laughed, “I swear you have a different reason everytime you share food with me.”
“Because I do. My mother taught me a thousand different reasons to share food with the people around you,” Evelyn proudly stated her slightly exaggerated number.
“A thousand?” He questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“Well more like a hundred, or maybe fifty, but the actual number of reasons doesn’t matter. The moral of the story is you share the food you have,” Evelyn’s mother had been the type to bake a lot of extra cookies and baked goods around every holiday and they give them out to all the neighbors.
Evelyn felt a wave of nostalgia hit her for the family she hadn’t seen in years. This was her world now though, and it didn’t seem likely that she would go back home.
“Where is your family?” John asked before taking a bite of the strawberry.
“Far away. A different kingdom even,” Evelyn answered with her typical response to such a question and leaned against a nearby wall while eating one of her strawberries.
John looked pensive for a moment. Evelyn didn’t want him to think too hard about where she was from. “And what about yourself?”
“My family is from a town in a forest at the base of the mountains. I didn’t have the money to make it all the way back home after I was discharged. I planned to just work in a flower farm around here till I earned enough money, but no one wanted to hire a cripple for farm labor,” John said and took another bite.
Evelyn felt a little worried by this particular statement. “Are you still planning to leave once you earn enough money to head home?”
He looked down at the lettuce leaves in his hand and then over at her and shrugged. “I don’t feel in any particular hurry to get home now, and I’m finding I quite enjoy this town and working in your shop.”
“I hope you stay. It would be hard to find another employee who is as good at greenhouse flower care,” Evelyn said.
He laughed and ate one of the lettuce leaves she’d passed him. She ate her own lettuce and wondered if he would say more, or would just leave her hoping he wouldn’t leave.
He finished his mini lunch, stood up, and hobbled over to where she was leaning on the wall. “Don’t worry about me leaving any time soon. I think I’ll stay around for a while. A journey all the way back to my home would be difficult in my condition anyway.”
“How long is a while?” Evelyn asked, still a little fear of losing the best employee she could have asked for creeping into her voice.
John was silent for a moment in thought, and then smiled, “To ease your fears, how about this. I promise not to leave as long as you still want me to work here.”
Evelyn let out the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She smiled in response, “Thanks! That does make me feel a lot better. Maybe at some point we will be stable enough you can go visit family, but you’d have to come back.” In just over a week he’d become someone she couldn’t imagine running the shop without. Going back to the crazy state she’s been in before hiring just felt mentally impossible.
He nodded and then became somber, leaning against the counter behind him. “You took a chance to hire a crippled soldier you didn’t know. I will repay that kindness and make sure you don’t regret hiring me.”
Evelyn felt a little odd with how very serious he seemed, and she felt the need to reassure him. “I’m really glad I hired you. I don’t think I could have kept managing everything without your help.”
The door opened interrupting their conversation and a man walked through the door. He ran his hand through thinning brown hair and looked around. His eyes stopped on John, and then moved to Evelyn.
“I’ve heard John say at the bar that you give good relationship advice at this shop. Could you help me?” the man asked, his voice a little strained and desperate sounding.
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