Burning Flowers Read Online Free Page A

People were randomly
slamming on their breaks to turn into every fast food joint they
passed, and it was getting on her nerves.
    “Well, I wanted to tell you that I ran into
Mr. and Mrs. Coleman today.” Her mother never went anywhere she
could run into people, so that told Clarke they were probably
clients which didn’t surprise her one bit. They had always been the
type to be sue-happy. They also happened to be her ex-boyfriend’s
parents. And by ex-boyfriend, she meant the first guy in high
school she ever made out with. His name was Bobby, and they’d
gotten their braces stuck on each other freshman year. But for some
reason he’d always stuck in her mother’s mind. It was the only
thing Clarke had ever done that her mother approved of; probably
because his parents were rich and seemingly perfect.
    “So?” Clarke asked impatiently.
    “Well, it turns out Bobby is now Dr. Bobby
Coleman; a surgeon in fact. And it seems not only is he still
interested in you; he also has a job available for a medical
biller. He’s willing to train you and hire you. It’s like a double
whammy, right?”
    Clarke scoffed, feeling ready to throw up at
the idea of working at the office of a plastic surgeon, which is
what she knew he was from Facebook. She also knew he could use a
little plastic surgery himself. “Mother, I own a flower shop. I do
not need a job,” Clarke explained, feeling annoyed. Her mother had
never had the confidence in the idea of her running her own
business much less a flower shop. She didn’t see any money or
security in it. Nor was it a practical job like hers.
    “I thought you might be ready to give that
up now, but I can see you’re still in denial.”
    Clarke felt her face getting hot as she
reached the street to turn on to get to the shop. She was on the
home stretch. It would give her a good excuse to hang up on her
mother. “My business is doing very well, Mother, even if you
haven’t noticed.. And why would I think of giving it up? If I did
then I’d be a quitter, Mother. You know, like Dad was?” Clarke said
harshly. How could that woman be so contradictory?
    The conversation couldn’t have ended sooner
as Clarke hit the end button on her dashboard and looked up in
horror as she approached her flower shop. She pulled the car to a
screeching stop and got out, her hands on either side of her face
with her mouth open in a silent scream. Through the glass she could
see flames rising, destroying her flowers and her shop. She looked
around as she felt a tug on her sleeve as Katie pulled her back.
Another associate; Rita and a couple of customers were standing
next to her. They retreated to the front of a costume shop across
the street as Clarke heard the sirens that meant the fire
department was close by. The fire hadn’t spread over to other
businesses yet, but they were beginning to evacuate too, and she
felt like she was the center of attention in the worst possible
way.
    As she watched her hard work and the last
way she had to earn her mother’s love and pride go up in flames,
she felt Katie rubbing her back to comfort her.
    Luckily, it didn’t seem to take long for the
firemen to stop the fire, and the chief came out to speak to her
with soot still on his face. “Are you the owner?” the man asked
with a deep southern drawl. Clarke nodded and stepped forward.
    “Can you tell what in the world caused this?
Did somebody do it on purpose?” Clarke asked, feeling dread pushing
down on her chest. But she couldn’t think of anyone with any reason
to hurt the business other than her mother. But her mother was a
lawyer and wouldn’t dare to get her hands dirty that way. Or would
she?
    “It’s pretty clear it was an electrical
fire. You’ll have to get an inspector out here to see exactly what
went wrong so you can get it fixed, but it’s common in these
downtown businesses. Don’t beat yourself up about it ma’am.” He
tipped his fire hat as if it were a cowboy hat. “You should wait