Burning Flowers - Page 31/56

Clarke looked around as Vince flipped on all the lights in the shop. It had been less than a week since he started working on it, and it looked great; ready to open. He'd gotten an inspector in over the weekend to make sure everything was safe, and they gave the go ahead. All she needed now was to get in the new shipments of flowers. "I can't believe what a great job you did," she told Vince, reaching for her phone. "I was so scared that this place would never be the same."

She walked into the office, which still needed some work done to it. The desk had been warped and melted, and there were still a few chunks out of the wall. But the burning smell was gone which was a blessing in and of itself. She dialed Katie's number and got her on the second ring.

"Hey, Katie, is there any chance I could get you to come in today? We have to start ordering flowers again and restocking. It might take a few hours."

"You mean the shop's alright?" Katie asked in a cheery voice. Clarke hated to admit it, but she'd missed that voice. "That's so great. I was so worried."

"Yeah, I found a guy that could fix it up real quick, and it's been inspected. There are still a few minor things, but it's safe to be in."

"Well, I guess I'll see you as soon as I drop the kids off at daycare, boss. Do you want me to call in anyone else to help out?" Katie asked. Clarke knew she was trying to help their employees get some hours and get paid since they'd been out of work for several days, but Clarke was being more practical about things.

"Let's see how it goes and then call someone if we need them, okay?"

"Alright," Katie said with a sigh before hanging up the phone.

Clarke grabbed the business binder containing all the numbers of her contacts where she might be able to order stock quickly and began to go through them, calling each number one by one to see what they had that they could spare for the day. She had to fight tooth and nail to find anyone who was willing to work with her on it.

She heard the door to the shop open and peeped her head out of the office after slamming her phone down on the desk in frustration. Vince had let Katie in the door. "Hey boss, how's it hanging?" Katie asked with her usual wide smile. How she was always so positive Clarke did not know, but she filed it in the back of her mind to ask her what exercise she was doing or what pill she was taking so she could jump on the bandwagon.