Read Online Daffodils and Danger by Mary Manners - Free Book Online

whisper. Wyatt released her and stepped back. “Does Sully’s still host line dancing on Friday nights?”
    “Yes, but I haven’t been there in ages.”
    “Maybe we can head that way some time.”
    “Maybe we can.” She glanced back over her shoulder to toss him a look as she headed into the house. “Looks like we’re going to start with dessert, after all.”
     
     
     
     

7
     
    “Mom, Reese, I need you both in the office in five.” Wyatt crooked a finger at his brother. “Don’t even try to head out with that load of mulch until we talk.”
    “What’s up?”
    “Family meeting.”
    “Family…well, aren’t you getting fancy?”
    “Drop the humor and head to the back. This is important, Reese.”
    “Gotcha.” Reese turned to their mother. “You go on. I’ll ring up this last customer and load her stuff, then be right there. But it better not take long. I promised to deliver this load of mulch to Mr. Bruester tonight.”
    “It’ll take as long as it takes.” Wyatt leveled him a look. “Less if you hurry.”
    Mom followed Wyatt back to the office, wiping her hands on her smock as she went. “What’s all this fuss about?”
    “I’d rather just go over it once.” Wyatt motioned to a chair across from his battered desk. Reluctantly, she sank into it. Wyatt filled a foam cup with coffee from the carafe that Kami had brought over only an hour ago. The past several days had been so crazy they hadn’t managed to see each other for more than a few fleeting minutes, and he missed her. Wyatt wasn’t sure what to do with the unsettling emotion, so he merely tucked the thought away as he handed the cup to his mother. “I hear Reese coming now.”
    Footsteps padded the short hallway before Reese’s form filled the doorway, blocking light from the hall. He spun a set of keys around his index finger, jangling them. “Let’s get this party started.”
    “Sit down.” Wyatt motioned to a chair. “Take a load off.”
    Reese nodded. He came a few steps into the room and bypassed the chair to hop onto a two-drawer file cabinet, swinging his legs so his boots thumped against the metal. “What’s up?”
    “As you both know, for the past year the nursery has been like a ship taking on water.”
    “Whoa, wait a minute,” Reese began. “This sounds like an ominous start.”
    “Let him talk, son.” Mom leaned forward, splaying a hand Reese’s way. “Give him a chance.”
    “We’re in danger of losing everything if we don’t make some changes, and fast.” Wyatt handed them each a folder full of information—charts and diagrams he’d spent several days preparing. It all led up to the bottom line. “We all know how diligently Dad worked to start this nursery—to keep it growing and running. I also know how hard both of you have worked while I’ve been away.”
    “Now you’re talking.”
    “Reese, hush.” Mom’s voice was a sharp warning, a tone Wyatt—and no doubt, Reese—found familiar.
    “But that’s the only thing he’s said that’s made sense so far—the only thing of consequence. We’ve been here, working our fingers to the bone, while Wyatt’s pursued his own dreams.”
    “And now he’s left everything he built to come home again—for us.”
    “The prodigal son returns.” Reese crossed his arms, his face flushed. “Why am I not surprised?”
    “It won’t do any of us any good to start a wildfire here.” Wyatt’s jaw tensed as he struggled to keep his voice even. “We need to band together. Dad would have wanted that.”
    “He would have wanted you to stay in the first place and avoid this mess altogether.”
    “Do you want to hear what I have to say, or not?”
    Reese shrugged, banged the file cabinet once more with his boots. “Go on.”
    “OK, then.” Wyatt flipped open to the first page, indicated they should do the same. “You’re a genius, Reese, when it comes to supply and demand. I don’t know how you’ve managed to place all these orders, keep up