Free Love in Bloom by Arlene James Page B

you, too.”
    “Still, I appreciate it,” Lily told her. “I wouldn’t have gone on my own.”
    “I assumed as much,” Coraline said. “The committee members agreed not to press the newcomers to join any group in town until you’d had a chance to settle in and establish yourselves, but I thought you might appreciate getting out.”
    “Very much,” Lily told her.
    The three women chatted about that and the flower arrangements that Lily had put together for the new businesses as they drove to the church. Coraline raised her eyebrows at the idea of using such things as old bread boxes, percolators and rusty pipes as vases, but Ann bragged about Lily’s artistic eye. Privately Lily basked in the praise.
    They parked next to the front walk. Lily got out while Coraline gathered her Bible and handbag. The old white clapboard church looked like something from another era, with its diamond-shaped window above a tiny vestibule and a stately steeple towering over the sanctuary. A newer section of the building branched off at the back, giving the building a T shape. Lily could imagine those original Bronsons climbing the steps to the vestibule as the bell rang from the steeple, the ladies in long draped skirts, the gentlemen in their frock coats. Miss Ann got out on her side and started forward, but Lily felt rooted to the graveled parking lot until Coraline reached back and linked arms with her.
    “Come along. And smile. No one’s going to bite you.”
    Lily laughed, her shell of uncertainty cracking. Her feet barely touched the sidewalk before the townsfolk descended. Coraline stayed close, making brief introductions and forging ahead toward the steps. Lily nodded and replied softly to every greeting, smiling all the while and letting Coraline tow her toward the building. Just as they reached the steps up to the narrow double vestibule doors, Ginny Bronson rounded the corner of the building with her granddaughter. Isabella broke into a run, a sheaf of papers fluttering in her hands.
    “Lily! Grandma, Lily’s here. Look what I got for you, Lily.”
    Lily pulled free of Coraline and stooped to catch the child, going almost to one knee. “Hi! I didn’t know I’d see you here.”
    “You’ve saved me a side trip,” Ginny said, shielding her eyes from the morning sun with an upraised hand.
    The girl thrust the papers at Lily, exclaiming, “I did all the flowers for you. See!”
    “She hasn’t let them out of her sight all morning,” Ginny explained.
    Lily took the papers, straightened them as best she could and began sorting through them. “Why, Isabella, did you color all of these?”
    “Uh-huh, and I stayed in all the lines.”
    “You did. How pretty.”
    Isabella pulled one free and held it up. “This one’s my favorite!” She had colored each petal of a sunflower a different shade, everything from yellow to magenta.
    “A rainbow flower,” Lily said. “Very creative.” Isabella beamed.
    “I drawed one,” she reported, “but Daddy says it looks more like a fireworks than a flower. What do you think?”
    “A lot of the fireworks the other night looked like flowers,” Lily noted, going through the papers to find one that had been hand-drawn.
    Lily caught a look passing between Coraline and Ginny. She assumed that the latter had just confirmed that Lily had spent the Fourth of July with the Bronson family. Lily wished that she could tell them not to read too much into that. Instead she concentrated on Isabella.
    “Oh, this is definitely a flower,” Lily declared. Isabella’s little chest puffed up. Lily neatened the papers and held them carefully against her heart. “Thank you. What a perfect present.”
    Isabella literally preened. “You’re welcome.”
    Ginny Bronson shared another look with Coraline then pressed a hand to her granddaughter’s back. “We’d best get inside now. Don’t want to be late.”
    They went off to climb the steps and disappear through the double doors into the tiny