She looked at the massive, golden cloud in his arms. A smile, slow and genuine, spread across her face—the first one in weeks.
"They don't just grow on command," Mara said softly, but she wasn't dismissing him. She reached under the counter and pulled out a heavy, leather-bound ledger. "There’s a grower in a hothouse three towns over. He’s a fanatic. Keeps bulbs in a deep-freeze to trick them into thinking winter has passed, then wakes them up with artificial UV and timed misting." "Can you call him?" buy daffodils out of season
"No," he said, tucking a bright yellow bloom behind her ear. "The world was just running a bit late. I went ahead and started without it." She looked at the massive, golden cloud in his arms