Prologue 

“Thank you for making the trip here. I know it’s a few hours away,” Rose Bloom said to Daisy Jones.

She was trying not to wipe her hands on her pants, as she knew they were dripping wet with nerves. There was so much riding on this interview. 

“Not a problem,” Daisy said. “I was thrilled to get your call earlier in the week that you wanted me to come in for a second interview. And I appreciate you doing the first one remotely.”

When she’d applied for this position a few weeks ago she knew it was a shot in the dark she’d get a call, living hours away, but she’d been picking up and moving most of her life.

And she was sick of doing it. She knew she had to find that one place where she wanted to stay. Something told her this might be the spot.

Or she was damn well hoping it was.

“Poppy and Lily will be here soon. Lily is on a call and Poppy is dealing with something in the store.”

Daisy knew the three sisters owned Blossoms and that the jewelry part of the business was the last to be added on and the smallest right now. Rose had explained all of that in the first interview.

“That’s fine,” she said. “I’ve got all day. Being self-employed I can come and go when I need to.”

“And you’re okay closing down your online store if you are hired here?” Rose asked. 

She knew that was going to be a condition even before she started the first interview.

“I have no problem at all. The thing is, I’m creative. I enjoy working with my hands and wasn’t able to do that at the store and decided to do it on the side.” It’s not like she was making that much money in the jewelry store and it was taking time away from when she could make her own products to sell online.

There was a knock at the door and it opened with Rose’s sisters coming in. Having been an only child, she already saw the bond these three shared just by the way they looked at each other.

“Thanks for taking time out of the day for this,” Rose said to the sisters. “Lily and Poppy, this is Daisy. Sorry, this is just funny to me. Daisy, not everyone has a flower name in our company, but there are three others.”

“Really?” Daisy asked, grinning while she shook hands with Rose’s sisters. Poppy was very stylish; Lily was too. Rose seemed more basic like Daisy was dressed today and she already knew they’d get along great. “Can I ask what their names are?”

“Jasmine and Violet work in the flower shop full time,” Lily said. “And in our greenhouses that are on my personal property. We just hired Heather who has a science background. She has an office here but will be working in a lab area at the greenhouses too.”

“I find this so fascinating,” Daisy said. “I understand that you all have flower names and it’s how the business started, but the odd chance of hiring more…”

“I like to think it is fate,” Poppy said. This sister was almost bouncing in her seat with excitement. Poppy had to be the fun one of the bunch. 

“Maybe it will be fate for me too,” Daisy said. She hoped she wasn’t pushing it by saying that, but in her gut, she just wanted to be honest.

“Tell us about yourself,” Poppy said. 

Here they went, she thought. Time to do the best she could and hope she came out on top for once.

“I was just explaining to Rose that I’ve always been creative. I loved working in the jewelry store and doing sales, but it didn’t give me the creativity to make anything and I missed it. I grew up with a single mother and we didn’t have much. Most things I had to learn to make myself if I wanted them. Money wasn’t always flowing and I like pretty things.”

Poppy smiled and looked at her two sisters. “We know something about that.”

“That is how I started with the candles and soaps,” Lily said. “Those were things that we didn’t have the money to buy, but I loved how they smelled. We had all sorts of flowers here to use too.”

“I’ve read your story,” Daisy said. “I found it intriguing. I love learning new things. I’m not afraid of hard work. I did go to college for two years because my mother wanted me to. I’ve got a general business degree and was a shift manager at the jewelry store, but it was a chain and things were done their way. There was no freedom.”

She didn’t want to think of those two years she struggled in school. She hated every minute of it, but she wanted to make her mother proud who’d never gotten a chance for a college education.

“We aren’t a jewelry store here,” Rose said. “We have a section in our store for jewelry, but I don’t see me ever wanting my own store.”

“That’s fine,” she said. “I wasn’t looking to work in a store full time, but if you need me to ever fill in there, I’d do it. For the whole store. Again, I just love everything you stand for. If you need me at the plant, I’d work there too. I’m all for teamwork and doing what needs to be done to get to where the business can thrive to its fullest.”

The minute she said she wasn’t looking to work in a store she wished she could have rewound her words and hoped the rest of her explanation didn’t come off as desperation.

Rose looked over at Lily and Poppy and Daisy held her breath hoping she covered herself well. “That’s great to hear,” Rose said. “I don’t know that it would come to working in the plant, but there would be hours that you would have to go to the store and deal with customers that need pieces sized or altered in the jewelry section. I’ll deal with custom orders, but it would be helpful to have other clients taken care of too.”

“Again,” she said. “Not a problem. I like talking to people and I like working alone. I can be very adaptable. I’ve done it all. I think I’m trying to find that happy place. I don’t want you to think I’m being wishy-washy either. I’m just honored to be considered for the job and for a chance to learn and prove myself to you.”

“If we offered you the job,” Poppy said, “when could you start?”

“As soon as I could find a place to live,” she said. “I’ve got a friend in the area, about twenty minutes away. She told me I could crash with her in the short term if I need to, but her place is small. I’d be staying on the couch and that is fine either way. I’m not sure of the availability of apartments in the area, but I did search out costs to get an idea.”

It’d be tight she knew, but living with her friend short term would help. She was home with her mother now and just needed to be on her own.

“We could put a few feelers out if need be,” Rose said. “It’s been a long time since one of us has rented anywhere, but we do know people.”

“That would be great,” she said. This was going well in her mind and she was trying to stay calm.

Hours later she was at her friend Mindy’s house. She hadn’t planned on staying the night, but the interview just went on and on in the most wonderful way possible.

“Daisy,” her mother said on the phone. “It sounds as if it went well if you are still there?”

“I’m at Mindy’s. I’m glad I brought a change of clothes with me just in case. I’m not sure why I thought of it but am glad I planned it out. After my interview with the three sisters, Rose took me for a tour of the plant and then out to lunch.”

“That sounds promising,” her mother said. There was no excitement in her mother’s voice and she was kind of glad she was able to make this call and not see her mother’s face.

“I know you don’t want me to leave home,” she said.

“It’s not that,” her mother said. “It’s just that I’m going to feel like I’m losing my best friend. You lived on your own for a bit but were close by.”

She’d moved out a few years ago and had roommates, but one by one she’d lose people as it was so hard to afford. She’d finally given up trying to find more people to live with and went back home feeling like such a loser.

Helping her mother with bills was better in the long run, though her mother never wanted to take her money. 

At twenty-six years old there was no way she wasn’t helping her mother with expenses when the woman raised her alone since she was eighteen.

If her mother could do it, then Daisy could too.

“I won’t be that far away,” she said. “Just a few hours. You can come and visit.”

“You’re sounding like it’s a done deal,” her mother said. She heard the sniffles too. Shit.

She wasn’t sure if this was because Daisy was moving out as her daughter, or as her mother said, her best friend.

She’d lost count of how many times in her life she’d wished it was more a parental relationship than a friendship, but she supposed she and her mother grew up together.

“I’ve got a good feeling,” Daisy said, then went on to explain how the interview went. “I just need to figure out a living situation.”

“Could you stay with Mindy?” her mother asked.

“I don’t know,” she said. Mindy was in the shower now and it was something she was going to talk to her about. “There is time yet and I don’t want to get my hopes up.”

“I only want what is best for you, Daisy. I’ve always wanted that. Maybe you can make more out of your life than I did mine.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re a great mother and so strong and I’m proud of you.”

Though she believed the part about her mother being strong and being proud of her, she wasn’t so sure she believed the part of “great mother.” It was more like great friend.

Her mother laughed. “I’m proud of you too, Daisy,” her mother said. More sniffles. “I need to run. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

She was glad to hang up the phone just now, but there was a lot of guilt over her decision to move if she got the job.

“How did it go with your mom?” Mindy asked, coming out of the bathroom of her tiny apartment. Daisy would be sleeping on the couch tonight. She hated to even ask to stay for more than a night but had to at least have a plan.

“What I expected,” she said. “She’s happy for me but upset.”

“It’s time you moved out on your own,” Mindy said. “Your mom is a grown woman. She should get out and date.”

“I tell her all the time,” she said. “She dates, but she’s always put me first. Maybe with me leaving, she’ll try. I don’t know.”

Mindy shrugged. “You won’t know anything until you try.”

“Speaking of trying,” she said. “Don’t suppose you’ve got any idea of places to rent in this area if I get the job? Cheap places. Or someone looking for a roommate?”

“Sorry,” Mindy said. “I don’t know anyone. I’ll keep an eye out for you. You can stay here a week or so if need be.”

Which told her not to ask for more. “Thanks,” she said. “I’ll let you know.”

She didn’t want to lose this opportunity, but if she couldn’t find affordable housing, she might not have a choice but to be stuck where she was.

You can’t break the cycle if you can’t get out of the damn circle.