Secrets of the Tulip Sisters

She was nervous—possibly more so because she was going to speak with her sister. Game face was required and she was determined to make a good impression. Luck was on her side—Marilee was out, allowing Olivia to leave the house without answering questions.

As she drove to the farm, she wondered what was going on with her mother. Marilee was gone a lot of the time but never mentioned where she went. Olivia wondered if she was hooking up with former lovers, then figured that wasn’t anything she needed to know. Hopefully Marilee would get whatever she’d come home for and go back to Phoenix. Having her around was too uncomfortable.

At some point, they were going to have to have a conversation about Olivia quitting, and that was unlikely to go very well. Olivia’s plan was to wait until they were both back in Phoenix, then hand in her letter of resignation. She would be packed up and ready to drive north so if her mother threw a fit, she could simply escape without looking back. There was an equal chance that her mother would be totally calm, explaining how she was minutes from firing Olivia and the resignation simply saved her the trouble. With Marilee, one never knew.

Olivia arrived at the farm and parked. Her dad’s truck was gone, meaning he was, as well. Better and better. She and Kelly were less likely to be interrupted.

She went inside and found her sister sitting at her computer. Kelly smiled when she saw her.

“You’re here. We had an appointment, right?” Kelly giggled. “We’re sisters, Olivia. You didn’t have to make an appointment.”

Olivia came to a stop. “What’s wrong?” she asked, then realized what she meant was what’s different? Because something was.

Kelly appeared...softer. Okay, that wasn’t the word, but it was close. Or maybe dreamy was better. Her eyes were a little unfocused, her skin flushed. She looked happy and content and just a little rumpled.

“I’m fine,” Kelly told her. “A little tired. I got in late but I’m drinking coffee.”

The smile returned. It was both knowing and timeless. Wow—whatever Griffith was doing, he was doing it right, Olivia thought. Of course she probably looked exactly like that after one of her sessions with Sven. The difference being Kelly and Griffith were dating, and she and Sven were, well, not dating.

Work, she told herself. She could deal with her non-relationship with Sven later.

Olivia sat across from her sister and set her faithful tote on her lap. “I made the appointment so we could talk about a few things.”

Kelly smiled her smug I-got-some smile. “Whatever it is, I’ll say yes.”

“Yeah, I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.” Olivia pulled out several sheets of paper. “Information for background purposes and you might want to brace yourself.”

“I’m braced.”

Olivia cleared her throat. “I’m not going back to Phoenix. I want to move back here. Permanently.” She held up a hand. “You don’t have to worry—I’m going to get my own place. I have savings so I won’t be at Dad’s too long. Mom and Dad don’t know. I’m going to tell Dad privately, but I want to wait until Mom goes back to Phoenix and tell her there. It will be easier, I think.”

Which sounded way more mature than her plan to resign and run.

Kelly’s eyes widened and her smile broadened. “That’s fantastic! I’m so excited. I can’t wait to have you around all the time.”

Olivia waited for the punch line. While she’d been fairly sure her sister wouldn’t be overly pissed by the news, she hadn’t imagined such...enthusiasm.

“Are you sure you’re all right?”

“I’m fantastic, as is the news. Yay us.”

“You’re freaking me out a little.”

“You’ll have to deal.” Kelly sighed. “Maybe we can get matching charm bracelets or something that we both wear.”

“No. That’s not happening.”

“I’m just saying it could be nice.”

“Not. Happening.” Maybe her sister was hormonal from her period or something, Olivia thought. Whatever the cause, she’d slipped over the edge. “Anyway, I’m going to have to find a way to support myself here. Rather than look for a full-time job, which probably doesn’t exist, I’ve decided to take on a few different projects and see where they lead me. The, ah, tourism board meeting you’re going to is partially about me. Sally and Hannah want me to manage the craft mall. It’s only a few hours a week, but I think I could—”

Before she could finish her statement, Kelly jumped to her feet and raced around her desk. She hugged Olivia, kissed her cheek, then hugged her again.

“It’s perfect,” she announced as she returned to her chair. “You’ll do so great and we all know the craft mall needs some direction. Okay, so that’s one of your jobs, what else?”

Olivia explained how she’d approached Griffith.

“He’ll love everything you do,” her sister said firmly. “You’re in. I’m sure of it. What else?” Her eyes widened. “Oh, you have some ideas for me. Great. What are they?”

Olivia had hoped for an open mind, but maybe not one that was hanging out in the breeze.

“You’re not taking any medication, are you?”

Kelly laughed. “Not even ibuprofen, I swear.”

“All right, then I’ve been thinking of ways to bring more tourists to town in the off-season. I mentioned the planting before. I know you have your machines and your methods, but I think people would get a kick out of planting part of a field. However many bulbs they planted would mean they could come back and pick that many flowers in the spring, ensuring a return visit. I would also suggest you offer tours of the greenhouses on weekends. What you do there is really interesting.”

“I don’t know. It’s bulbs in a bin. I care about it but does anyone else?”

“I think people will. Most of us don’t think about where our food and flowers come from. You always have plants at some part of the growing cycle. We could include your private greenhouse on the tour. Visitors could learn about what you do there.”

“They couldn’t touch anything,” Kelly said firmly.

“Easily managed. There would be a tour guide. I could be the first one. I could write up the material and figure out what people were most interested in. I’m thinking the charge would be fairly nominal. Unless you wanted to hook up with another business in town that sells something. Like a bakery or winery. We could have a tasting at the end and the charge could be a little higher.”

She glanced at her notes. “If you’re interested, I think we should have some kind of gift shop where our visitors can buy tulip products. A few things that will remind them of the visit. T-shirts, fresh flowers, hot pads. All easy to customize.”

Kelly’s faraway look had returned. “I love gift shops. We should so have one.”

Olivia had more to discuss. How the town needed to look at things like movie or music festivals and coordinating events between businesses, but this was obviously not the day. Whatever was going on with her sister had messed with her head.

“I’ve written up some notes and a proposal,” she said, setting the folder on her sister’s desk. “I’m going to follow up with you in a few days.”

“I’d love that.” Kelly’s smile returned. “You’re just so pretty.”