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Lexington, Kentucky
July 2002


Sienna McKinnon hummed along to Norah Jones as she arranged the sunflowers and calla lilies in a vase for one of her favorite customers, elderly Mr. Cannon who often bought flowers to surprise his wife. Sienna loved that the Cannons had been married nearly fifty years and still surprised each other with presents.

“There you go, Mr. Cannon,” she grinned as she tied on the bow with a flourish.

“Ah, Sienna. Maggie will be so happy. She always loves your flowers,” he smiled at her.

“And I’m glad she does. I’m always happy to make a bouquet for her,” Sienna replied.

As Mr. Cannon was leaving the store, the door opened and a man in a University of Kentucky baseball cap held the door open for the older man. Then, he wandered in and headed for a rack of sunflowers at the side of the shop. Sienna frowned, trying to remember if she had ever seen him before. Usually, she remembered most of the customers that came into her shop, unless they came in on Saturdays, which was her day off.

Nope. I’ve never seen him before. Must be new, Sienna thought and decided to see if she could help him navigate through the colorful merchandise of her shop.

Sienna’s Flowers had been in business for three years now, and, in that three years, Sienna was pleased to know that her flower shop was touted as one of “South Lexington’s Best”. Everyone came to Sienna’s Flowers if they wanted quality bouquets and premium flowers. She had a greenhouse behind the cottage where she lived that she had had to add on to when she realized that the produce from her small greenhouse was not going to grow enough to supply the demands of her customers.

As she made her way through the shop to the mysterious, new customer, Sienna stopped to admire the displays of lilies in that corner, the sunflowers and Gerbera daisies in the window, and the traditional display of various roses in the center of the shop. Sure, they could use improvement, but she knew people would buy anyway because what she sold was the best.

Spotting her mystery man, she began to walk through the arbor of zinnias and mums towards him. However, before she could reach him, he turned and pinned her with a lightning blue gaze. Sienna found herself stopped in her tracks and, shaking off the feeling of having had her soul seared, made it to where he stood.

“Hi, I was wondering if you could help me out,” Mystery Man asked before Sienna could introduce herself. She found she liked his voice, which was flavored with the Kentucky accent she had come to adore.

“Absolutely,” Sienna smiled and held out a hand. “Welcome to Sienna’s Flowers. I’m Sienna. Now, did you have anything particular in mind that you were looking for?”

Mystery Man looked around and let out a whistle. “You’re the creator of this flower wonderland? It’s amazing.” He clasped her outstretched hand and shook it. “I’m Brian. And, no, I didn’t have anything particular in mind. Actually, to tell you the truth, I haven’t been in town to see my parents for a couple months, and it’s my mom’s birthday. I thought I’d get her flowers, but everything here is just—wow. I really don’t know what to pick.”

“Well, Brian, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Tell me about your mom,” she asked. At his pointed look, she smiled. “I’m not a stalker, don’t worry. If I know more about the person who the flowers are for, I can pick out the best flowers to suit them. Flowers have their own distinct personalities, and different flowers suit different people. So, tell me about your mom,” she asked again.

“Well, she’s really friendly, loving. She’s very, very generous with everyone. She works with St. Joseph’s Hospital and the Healthy Hearts Club for Kids. Mom just loves to be around people and helping them,” Brian finished.

“Okay, then. Let’s try this,” Sienna started, then broke off. She walked around the various displays and picked out a flower from here, three from there, a few from here, and then asked Brian to come up to the counter. There, she asked him to pick a vase from the various ones she had set on the counter. Finally, she arranged them into the selected vase and finished off the arrangement with a large bow wrapped around the vase.

“Here,” she said, handing him a card, “write a message, and I’ll attach it to the vase.”

Brian studied the flowers in the vase for a few moments then broke into a huge smile. Sienna decided she wanted him to come back to the shop just so she could see that smile again.

“Damn, that’s incredible! Mom’s gonna love it, and there’s no way I could have done that by myself,” Brian smiled at Sienna. Then he scrawled a message on the card and stuck in the envelope.

Sienna attached it to the vase and rang up his purchase. Once he had paid her, Brian looked around the shop again, while hefting up the gorgeous flower arrangement.

“I’m definitely coming back because you’re really talented at this,” Brian smiled at her gratefully.

“I’d be delighted to have you back, Brian. Any time you need flowers, you know where to go,” Sienna added and watched as he left the store.

Glancing down at her watch, she realized that there was only a half-hour left until closing. Pulling her curling, chestnut-colored hair into a bun, she began wrapping up the flowers to put in the freezer, which would keep them fresh for the next day.