In a small town, as rural as one can be and yet be defined as a town, an old flower shop sits off a side street, long forgotten but still lovingly maintained by its owner, Emily Bronson. Widowed ten years ago at age 42, she refused to abandon the small flower shop her father had opened when she was a girl. Emily’s husband had provided enough for her in his will to allow her to keep her little greenhouse behind the shop operable and to live in the residence that was part of the shop.
The front of the shop became almost obscured over the years, with tree branches drooping in the yard between the shop and the street out front. The concrete driveway had broken up little by little until it looked more like cobblestones and loose rock.
Next door in a house slightly smaller than the flower shop lived Emily’s best friend, Wilson Greer, who preferred to be called “Willie.” Widowed himself, Willie was impressed with Emily’s devotion to growing flowers and donating them and plants to people in the local hospital, most of whom she had never met. He and Emily became close friends in no time.
On one particular afternoon, Emily was leaving the back of the shop, walking towards the greenhouse in back when she heard a loud clanging noise next door. She rushed across Willie’s back yard and knocked breathlessly on his back door, “Willie! Willie, are you all right?”
More clanging and a soft moan from inside compelled her to open the door. Stepping inside, she saw Willie struggling to get to his feet, numerous pots and pans littered the kitchen floor. It was as though he was stepping on marbles; he kept slipping each time he reached for help on the island in the middle of the kitchen.
He grasped at anything but only succeeded in pulling more pans from their stack onto the floor around him. Emily smiled at his predicament and stepped closer to extend her hand to him. She saw the mountain of flour too late and her foot slipped as well and she tumbled face first onto Willie’s flour smitten coveralls.
They wrestled in the flour, each trying to help the other until they realized they were only hindering each other and their giggles evolved into thunderous laughter amongst the field of pots and pans around them.
Willie leaned onto his side and Emily slipped her arm around him and suddenly they realized the closeness of their embrace. Smiles faded as Willie touched her cheek and pressed his lips to hers. Emily did not protest, but clutched him tighter as the kiss became more passionate.