Heart of Stone

The Arrangement

It was a typical Wednesday for Eloise Winter. She stood in her kitchen hand packaging some jams she had made last night. She placed each glass jar on a kitchen scale, zeroing it out, and measuring it as she filled it to the correct ounce. She then wiped the mouth clean and sealed it with a lid and placed a label on it. A few hours passed as she worked, completely engrossed in her task, until she had about 30 jars of each flavor she'd made.

She was broken out of her task when her phone began ringing. Sighing, she sat at the counter to answer it, realizing how sore her feet were from standing for so long without moving much. Her brows furrowed as she read Juliana's name on the caller ID. She answered without hesitation, hoping everything was okay.

"Hello?"

"Girl, he came back." She immediately said.

"What? Who?" She couldn't mean who she thought she meant, could she?

"Your man." Her voice came through hushed.

"What??" Surprise colored her tone. "Why? Also, he's not my man."

"Okay, whatever. He came to order a floral arrangement for his mom." Juliana explained.

"Ohhh, was Emily able to take his order?" She asked.

"Yeah, she was. But guess what?" Juliana said, a hint of excitement in her tone.

"What...?" Eloise asked apprehensively.

"He asked for you to complete the order specifically." She answered.

"He did?!" The surprises just kept coming.

"Yep, so you better get your notebook out so Emily can relay the order to you." She said.

"Uh...okay. I don't understand what is happening. Why did he ask for me specifically?" Eloise asked, feeling a bit dumbfounded.

"Girl, I don't know. It's probably from the other night. Just take it as a blessing." Juliana told her.

"You really think so?" She asked doubtfully.

"Only one way to find out." Juliana responded.

"I guess you're right." Eloise sighed, putting her phone on speaker so she could open up her notes. "Let me get that order."

Sometime later, after Eloise had finished all of her work tasks for the day, she sat in her chair outside sipping a hot tea. She stared at the order on her phone, wondering why he had decided to come back and order from her specifically. Emily had told her when he came in that he asked for LouLou, the owner of the shop. He then proceeded to explain he was interested in ordering a floral arrangement from her. Emily had told him she wasn't in today and offered to take the order in her stead. He'd politely declined and said he could come back on a day LouLou was in, but Emily told him she'd take the order and pass it on to her.

It was meant to be a large centerpiece for his mother's entryway as a birthday gift. He wanted a very large crystal vase featuring roses, peonies, lilies, birds of paradise, in a mix of different colors. He also stated the order allowed room for changes at the creator's discretion.

What was it that he wanted from her? Wasn't Alexander Pearson known for being rather stoic and serious? Didn't he constantly refute the women chasing after him, instead of turning around and chasing one back? Was that even his intention at all? Perhaps she was misjudging the situation. Perhaps he really did just want a floral centerpiece for his mother and hers had been the most convenient place to get it from since he'd stopped in by chance yesterday.

Scrubbing a hand down her face, she went to the website where she got all her vase and flowerpots from and ordered a crystal vase that she thought would be big enough to suit his needs. She chose overnight shipping, since he needed it for the weekend. Placing her phone down, she cast her eyes out over her garden, looking towards all her flower bushes. She already knew which ones she would pick from.