Flowers by Wanda — Natalie King

Her little shop was a big success but did it really matter...when the man she loved was marrying someone else?

Love in Bloom...

Turning her old playhouse into a flower shop was an inspiration, Wanda Montgomery felt. And with her parents in Europe, she was on her own to show what she could do. The yellow and white playhouse was a picturesque attraction, drawing customers from the beginning- Phil Shay, for instance, a handsome young insurance agent.

Wanda was ready to admit that she liked Phil very much, until he brought another visitor to the shop: blond, petite Marty Villman. Still, as the weeks passed, Wanda couldn't be really sure which of them Phil liked best...? Then one morning she overheard him on the phone, talking about flowers for a wedding and heard him say gayly, " Of course Wanda will want to do them!" Suddenly, miserably, she knew it was Marty he was talking to and their wedding he was talking about!

SECOND THOUGHTS...

Wanda dropped her head to the steering wheel and began to cry. If only she had never started his flower business. If only she had gone to Europe with her parents and never met Phil. It just showed what happened when a person tried to be self-reliant!

"I suppose," she told herself between sobs, "I supposed I'll get over this. People do." But..."Oh, Phil!"

Desolation swept over her afresh. It was no use. How could she accept the picture of his blue eyes smiling down at Marty? His arm around her? His voice speaking her name in that tone that said she was his heart's desire...?

Hero: Phil Shay
Heroine: Wanda Montgomery

Also published as: Wedding Bouquet