Love Blooms on Main Street by Olivia Miles

Author:Olivia Miles
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2016-07-26T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

16

Briar Creek’s annual Fourth of July festival was a time-honored tradition and one Ivy was especially thrilled to be a part of for the fourth consecutive year. With the exception of the diner and the pub, shops along Main Street closed down for the day, and everyone in town gathered on the square. It was Ivy’s chance to showcase what she did best—not just with the oversized floral arrangements she used to anchor various stations, but to really transform what was otherwise a blank canvas.

“The decorations look even better this year than last,” Grace admired as she stared up at the gazebo Ivy had trimmed in patriotic swag.

“That’s what I was hoping for,” Ivy said, feeling a twinge of pride. She brushed a strand of hair from her forehead and swept her eyes over the green, where people were gathered at round tables covered in red, white, and blue cloths, eating corn on the cob and eagerly waiting for the pie-eating contest to commence. This year, she’d tried to convince Henry to join, but he just shook his head. He may have embraced their small town again, but he had to draw the line somewhere.

“It’s a hot one today,” Grace said, fanning herself. Even the shade of the giant maple did little to offset the humidity that seemed to cling to their skin and made Ivy’s twenty minutes with the hair straightener feel like an official waste of time.

She’d been up since five and hard at work since six, and even though the volunteer committee did the majority of the heavy lifting, Ivy had climbed on a ladder more times than she’d wished to, in a sundress no less.

At the edge of the lawn, Luke called over to Grace, and she blushed a little at the sound of her name. “It never gets old,” she said, and Ivy felt her heart sink a little. It didn’t go unnoticed that a lot had changed over the course of these events… for some. More and more, everyone was part of a pair, and Ivy was still on her own, still the third wheel, still waiting for her chance to belong to someone special.

At least she had work to keep her busy, she thought as a little boy began jumping up to tug at the flags she had trimmed the gazebo with. Heaving a sigh, Ivy turned to Grace. “I’ll be back in a minute. Duty calls.”

By the time she had finished repairing the swag and giving the young man in question a no-nonsense glance that sent him running to his mother, Grace was back on the picnic blanket with Luke and her sisters… and their significant others. And Brett was still nowhere to be seen.

She should be relieved, not disappointed. After all, there was nothing healthy about the little tingle she felt when he was around. That tingle represented hope, and she was done holding out any for that man.

“Where is everybody?”

Ivy jumped, and even before she turned, she knew Brett had come up behind her.

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