Free Wildflowers by Robin Jones Gunn

Sunday afternoon, Genevieve felt refreshed. She told Steven they should do this more often, and she admitted she needed to get away more than she had realized.
    “That’s what the girls told me,” Steven said.
    Genevieve asked what he meant.
    “Anna and Mallory told me you’ve been working too hard at the café. Anna said she thought the two of us needed to spend some time with each other away from all that.”
    “This weekend was Anna’s idea?”
    “No, it was my idea. But Anna’s comments prompted me to put the plans all together. I guess I needed to hear from the girls how hard you’ve been working.”
    Immediately an old, familiar accusation flew toGenevieve’s mind.
You wouldn’t need them to report to you about my life if you were actually around to live it with me
.
    Genevieve determinedly pushed back the wave of anger that threatened to crash over her. She told herself not to think about the negative. Steven was here with her now. He had been with her all weekend. It had been a restful weekend in which the real Genevieve had almost begun to integrate with the shadow of Genevieve who had started out the weekend with Steven.
    The struggle was more intense than she expected. By the time they arrived home, Genevieve had slipped back into the familiar place of darkness and discouragement deep inside her heart. She hid behind her well-rehearsed role of attentive mother and careful homemaker. The girls seemed happy that their mother had glowing reports about the great time she had enjoyed with their father. Anna and Mallory seemed to have no trouble believing all their mother’s words were true.
    But this time, Genevieve knew that Steven wasn’t buying it.

Chapter Six

    G enevieve arrived early for work Monday and noticed that Leah had installed the awning. It looked exactly as Genevieve had hoped it would. The outside appeal of the Wildflower Café was now as perfect as it could be.
    Inside, the brighter lights helped a little. The café was about half full of customers. Leah, who had donned her baseball cap that morning, was making the rounds with a coffeepot.
    “Hey,” Leah greeted Genevieve, “how was the romantic weekend getaway?”
    “Very nice.” Genevieve was aware that everyone in the café could hear her answer. “After all that rain on Friday, Saturday was beautiful on the coast.”
    “We had a high of sixty-eight degrees here,” one of the elderly gentlemen at table number three said.
    “Time to get some corn in the ground, now that the rains have let up,” another man said.
    Leah began to discuss gardening techniques with the men while Genevieve slipped into the kitchen and pulled a clean apron from the drawer. It felt good to be back. This was her domain, and she was full of plans for improvement. With Steven gone for a week, she could concentrate on the girls and the Wildflower Café with renewed energy.
    Her momentum, however, came to a dead stop two days later when Leah handed her the phone and said, “It’s the delivery service for the new tables.”
    Genevieve listened while she stirred the day’s soup in a large kettle. She couldn’t believe what the man was telling her.
    “No,” Genevieve answered him, “it would not be okay for you to deliver the tables Friday. As I explained when I ordered them, I need them today because all of the old tables are being removed today.”
    “I wish I could help you,” the man on the other end of the line said. “But like I said, we’ve had some delivery complications here at the warehouse, and the absolute soonest I can get the two tables to you is by Friday.”
    “It’s not two tables; it’s twelve tables.”
    The man paused before saying, “On the order form here, I don’t see a one before the two. Are you sure you ordered twelve tables?”
    “Yes, I ordered twelve tables and four chairs for each table.”
    “I’m sorry, ma’am, but according to the paperwork Ihave, you only ordered two tables. I’ll have to call you back