A Brilliant Arrangement: A Sweet Billionaire Love Story (Falling for the Billionaire Book 1)

by Laila Kelly

  Joleigh thought about what it would be like to live in a house that cost that much. She couldn’t even imagine what to do with all of that house, especially if it were just her to live in it. “Dang, that is a lot of money,” she paused and looked around her kitchen. Outside of China, she didn’t think that they owned anything imported from Europe. “She never did say what she did exactly, just that she was new to the area.” Amber nodded slowly and poured a glass of orange juice for herself and took a seat at the table. Joleigh grabbed her cup and took a sip of her tea and walked back to her room to get ready for the day ahead. She made a mental note of all of the things she needed to accomplish during the day and jotting a few of the most important things down on a piece of paper on her nightstand. She thought of the orders that she had to do today and all of the flowers that she wanted to pick up from the market for the arrangements she had on the calendar. Jotting things down was the easiest way for her to get all that she wanted to do done. Without her daily lists, she would be running around like a chicken with her head cut off.

  Thankfully, she had the benefit of living closer to the flower market than the other shops in her area, and the owner, Bob, had a sweet spot for her. Being the only flower shop in a twenty-five-mile radius helped aid in getting everything that she wanted first. She smiled, reminiscing back to her childhood and going on these early morning flower market trips before her parents dropped her off at school. It made her smile, wishing that she could go back and appreciate those days of being young and carefree. She sighed and walked over to her mirror to see how she looked.

  Her outfit of choice made her look like a kindergarten teacher on picture day, but she shrugged and decided every Thursday didn’t require having a carefully crafted ensemble, nor did she have the time to think of something else to put on. She ran her hands over her shirt to smooth it down and ran her hand through her wild curls. Just like every other day, it was a gamble to see if they were going to cooperate with her or leave her looking like she stuck a fork into her bathroom socket while playing with her hairdryer in the bathtub. Today, she was determined to look somewhat decent and headed to the bathroom prepared to fight the war on her hair. After five minutes of fiddling with a mixture of water, leave-in conditioner in a spray bottle and hairspray her hair was in a sleek ballerina bun that she hoped would live long enough to see five o’clock.

  Joleigh looked over at the clock on her desk and saw that she had fifteen minutes before the flower market opened, and with the ten-minute drive, she needed to be leaving already. She ran through the kitchen, kissed Amber on the cheek and ran out the door, grabbing her lunch off the table. When she got to the flower market, she saw Bob pulling back the gate to let her and three other cars through. Hopping out of her car, she grabbed her plastic bags and her purse and walked up to one of the first stands. There was a large pile of gold, yellow and red pansies, and a booth with winter jasmine. Her morning flower market trips never took too long, and she was out before the sun began to rise.

  She made it to the flower shop with enough time to be able to bring in all of the flowers without needing any help. Joleigh walked around the shop and flipped on the lights and turned around the sign on the door letting the public know that they were open. Once she got the flowers into the refrigerated section of the storage area, she began looking over the list of orders that she had to fulfill for the day. The first few orders of the day were always her favorite because she had the best variety of flowers to choose from and her creativity could flourish easily however she wanted it to. Joleigh used a courier service for most of the orders, as it was just her and Sam who worked in the shop, and it alleviated her having to carry around her bigger orders on her own.

  Sam had been working in the shop for a little over a year. He was a weird, quiet and small guy who grew up with Amber’s younger brother, Jordan. Like everyone in Flowery Branch, it wasn’t very much to say about Sam, other than he’s a sweet kid who came from a good family. Besides, he was very good at listening and he learned quickly, two things that Joleigh desperately needed when it came to an employee. Sam came at the right time, just when she thought that she could no longer handle the shop, he stepped in and helped her out a lot. He reminded Joleigh of a sunflower for some reason, partly being that his favorite color was yellow, and he wore his favorite green pants at least twice a week.

  “Hey Sam, I’m about to head out for lunch. Let me know if we get any new orders and if we do, could you start the bases for them? I should be back in a few minutes.” He gave her a thumbs up and turned back around and headed towards the fridge. Sam rarely went out to eat for lunch. He always went outside and sat on the benches at the park across the street. Him being close by made it easier for Joleigh to get at least a few minutes out of the shop during the day aside from delivering last minute and close by orders. Being in the same place for more than ten hours out of the day, six days a week could give anyone cabin fever.

  She walked down the street of the plaza and looked at the other shops next to hers. Her favorite was the grocery store two doors down, Geno’s. Geno was a big Italian man who owned the grocery store in the plaza and the Italian restaurant in downtown Flowery Branch Circle. He had lived in Flowery Branch and had his stores for as long as Joleigh could remember. One of the things that Joleigh liked most about his shop was that he had sodas from Italy and traditional Italian pastries that were made fresh twice a day. He was always smiling and had a standing weekly order at her shop to deliver flowers to his wife and daughter once a week. “You have to show them what a gentleman does so that they won’t grow up and have to wonder.” She thought it was sweet, and definitely something that she wanted for herself. Joleigh never wanted to get married and then lose the spark that they had as soon as the ink dries on the certificate. Lifelong romance was what her heart desired.

  The thoughts of doubt from last night came flooding back into her mind, and she felt like a cloud had been cast over her heart. She shook her head and decided to head into Geno’s to get something to drink with her lunch. As soon as she walked into the store, Geno walked up to her and smiled, “Hey Joleigh! How are you?” he wrapped his large arms around her, hugs being his other specialty aside from business and being a family man. She smiled, needing the hug more than he knew. “I’m doing alright, how about yourself?” he held his hands up, “I’m doing great! Every day is a blessing and I’m just blessed to be on this side of the Jordan.” Joleigh thought about what he said and made a mental note to be more positive. Things weren’t the way that she wanted them to be, but they certainly were better than they could be. They can always be much worse than they already are.

  “I hear your dad’s doing well, that’s good to know,” Geno stood back with his hand on his hip, leaning against the wall. Joleigh smiled weakly and reached over to grab a shopping cart. “Yeah, he’s doing good. We’re just taking everything one day at a time.” Which wasn’t a lie. There’s never been an instruction manual that can prepare a person for the things that have quickly become Joleigh’s everyday routine. “Well just stay positive and be sure to let me know if you need anything,” he pat her on the back and walked over to the register to help a customer. She nodded and turned around and walked down the energy drink aisle.

  Everyone knowing everything that happens in your life is one of the main characteristics of being from a small town. Intimacy to the max. Joleigh didn’t mind it, most of the time at least. She was lost in her own thoughts when she felt someone tapping her, pulling her out of the ingredients of a new brand of kombucha. She looked up and saw Tamara. “Hey!” she chirped, looking up at Joleigh with a big smile. “Fancy running into you here,” and picked up the same bottle of kombucha. Joleigh returned the smile, “Well my shop is two doors down so I’m here a lot of the time during the week. Geno’s always has really good sales and his product quality is amazing,” while putting two bottles of lemonade flavored kombucha into her cart.

  “I heard that same thing. My next-door neighbor sugges
ted this place to me. So far, I really seem to like this town. It’s just adorable,” Joleigh knew she would. She often wondered what kind of person wouldn’t like Flowery Branch, a cute Southern town with all of the charms that people equate with the South. “I’m glad to hear that. Our Fall Festival is coming up next week, you should definitely come out to see it. It’s definitely my second favorite festival of the year.” Tamara’s brow furrowed, “Your second favorite? What’s your favorite?” Tamara began down the cookie aisle and Joleigh followed, never being able to turn down cookies and blaming it on her walking beside her. “It would definitely have to be our Christmas Festival, with all of the lights and decorations you would think you were in the North Pole, you know, without the whole freezing temperatures and snow thing.” Tamara lit up, “Ooh that sounds amazing. Well I’ll most certainly be trying both of those out,” they both walked towards the register and Tamara let Joleigh check out first because she only had a few items. They checked out their groceries and walked out into the parking lot together.

  Tamara pushed her cart out to her car and began putting her groceries into her car and Joleigh waved to her, “I’ll see you around!” she yelled across the parking lot, “Of course, see you!” Joleigh knew she would be seeing Tamara a lot more. That’s what usually happens when you meet someone new, you meet them and then you see them everywhere you go after that. She watched her finish loading her groceries into her car and push the cart back to the cart area. Tamara’s car was by far the nicest car that was in the parking lot at the moment. She looked closer to see what model it was and the fact that it was a Tesla didn’t surprise Joleigh too much. It was only a few Tesla’s in Flowery Branch and hers was an ivory color that made Joleigh wonder again where she came from, what she did, and how she got it. Putting her nosey tendencies away for a while, she decided to head down to the park. She only had a few more minutes before the time that she promised Sam that she would be back.

  Joleigh looked down at her watch and decided she would take the full twenty minutes that she allotted herself before heading back to the flower shop. She watched Tamara wave as she drove off towards the light before she walked to the park across the street and sat down on her favorite red bench. She pulled out the newest romance book she was currently reading from her lunch bag and began devouring the pages while eating her usual turkey and cheese sandwich. Getting lost in the love lives of her favorite characters helped her believe in the impossible, and even though she wasn’t a Cinderella in any sense of the word, that maybe there was a Prince Charming out there looking to find and shower her with love. Thinking of what could happen helped break up some of the monotony that she felt and just the thought of falling in love and being with a man enticed her into spending more than she cared to share on romance books.

  Before she knew it, her timer on her watch had gone off and it was time for her to walk back. She closed her book and walked across the parking lot and back into the shop. When she opened the door, Sam looked around the corner and came over to her, “Thank goodness you’re back, somebody called and asked to speak with you,” the tone of Sam’s voice surprised her, he was never one to get too worked up about anything. Joleigh looked at her watch, it was only 1:00, and she definitely wasn’t expecting any calls. Anyone who called the shop she usually already knew what they were calling about. She scrunched her brow, “Who was it?” Sam shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, “They wouldn’t say who they were. It was just a man who asked to speak with the owner, and to call him back at your earliest convivence.” He pointed over to the notepad by the phone. “I wrote down the number and looked it up because it isn’t a number from anywhere around here. It’s a Texas number.” Joleigh looked at the notepad that Sam was pointing to. Texas? Joleigh didn’t know anyone in Texas, especially not anyone that would have a reason to call her shop and ask to speak to her personally.

  “And what did you find? Are you sure that they weren’t trying to place an order?” It was highly unusual for them to receive out of state calls around this time of year. The most calls they received from out of the state were usually during Mother’s Day and Christmas. Not during late October. “Well, the Google results said that it’s some sort of agency in Texas. And no, because I asked if they were trying to place an order and they said that this was a personal matter.” She walked closer to Sam and looked at him smiling. He seemed excited, and she furrowed her eyebrows. “The weird thing about it was that they asked for you by name too, like specifically, ‘Can I speak to Joleigh?’,” Joleigh walked behind the desk and looked down at the number and squinted, trying to make out Sam’s chicken scratch handwriting. 713 something… her brain began to hurt trying to decipher the other seven numbers, Jesus he needed to work on his penmanship, “Um, Sam, can you tell me what these other numbers are? I can’t read them.” Sam giggled at her struggle and rewrote the numbers on another sheet of paper so that she could better read them. “Sorry about that, I was in a hurry. Normally my handwriting is a little more legible than this.”

  “Thank you,” and she grabbed the piece of paper and walked back to her office and close the door. She sat down in her office chair and wondered when the last time she actually came in here and sat down for any length of time. She spent so much time out front, or in the back making new arrangements, that her office was just a place that stored her computer, filing cabinet, her lunch, and her purse. She spun around and looked out the window. She needed a moment to just sit and think without any distractions. The opportunity to do so came few and far between. Who could be calling to speak with her personally from Texas? After spending five minutes racking her brain to see who she could know, she chalked it up to zero results and decided to dial the number to see who it was. Of course, that was always the easiest thing to do, but Joleigh wanted to be sure that there weren’t any long-lost relatives that would want to get in contact with her.

  The phone rang twice, and a man’s deep and husky voice came over the phone, “Jamie Caldwell speaking,” he spoke so quickly she didn’t get a chance to think about what she was going to say. Joleigh got quiet and she felt thrown off guard, and her words came out like a cat just got finished doing a number with her tongue. “Um, this is Joleigh, I just received a call from this number to my shop? Who am I speaking with?” She heard some papers rustling in the background, “Ah yes, Ms. Everett, my name is Jamie Caldwell and I was calling you in reference to some questions I have on behalf of a private investigation I’m conducting in your area. I was wondering if you could help me,” Joleigh stood up and began pacing in front of the window. She didn’t know what she could do to help anyone out with any type of investigation. “What type of investigation? And what do I have to do with this?”

  She began thinking about the things that she had been involved in during the past few years and came up with nothing. It certainly wouldn’t be from the few semesters she was in college because she was only there for a year and a half and nothing happened there. “It pertains to an order that you fulfilled yesterday. I was wondering if you could give me the address of the woman that you delivered those flowers to. I can give you the order number and the name of the woman that they were delivered to if that helps.” Joleigh stopped pacing and looked out the window. This would definitely have to be the oddest request that she’d ever gotten, “You do realize that it is against my client privacy that I can’t just give out someone’s address to just anyone over the phone when people call. You do know this, right?” Not only did she not know who she was talking to, but she also didn’t know why he would be needing the address of her customers. She’d seen enough crime shows to know this is a recipe for a blood bath, and she didn’t want to be involved in anything that she didn’t need to be, especially not in anything that could potentially put someone else at risk. Her mind began to race, and she felt her heart beating in her ears.

  Joleigh walked back over to her desk and sat down. She ran her fingers through her hair smoothing it back into the bun that she had created thi
s morning. “And who are you again?” she turned on her computer and looked at her pad beside her. She confirmed what she already knew. Her last order yesterday was her delivery to Tamara. She wondered why someone would be looking for her. “My name is Jamie Caldwell and I’m a private investigator hired on behalf of my client who is looking into a personal matter,” his voice was firm, and it seemed like he meant business. What kind of business, she wasn’t sure of that. A private investigator? Who hires a private investigator to look into something and it has to do with flowers? “A personal matter,” Joleigh repeated, “A personal matter that somehow has to do with me. Can you tell me who is your client?” Jamie began making those rustling paper sounds on. The other end of the line and she knew he wouldn’t tell her. If he was then whoever his client was, he needed to get his money back from him.

  “You know as well as I do, Ms. Everett that I can’t just give you my client’s name. I am a private investigator you know. Emphasis on the private part.” So Jamie was a smart aleck, noted. Joleigh sat back in her chair and laughed to herself, “Well Mr. Private Investigator, I guess I will just have to ask you to find out whatever information you need some other way because I can’t just give you my client’s address. I am a florist, you know, and I have to keep my client’s personal information safe,” She logged onto her computer and typed in Jamie’s name into the search engine. “I mean, how am I supposed to know that you’re a private investigator, and not some serial killer plotting on finding one of my clients?” she continued. The first result that came up was his website and she clicked on it. Turns out whoever Jamie Caldwell is, he actually was a private investigator based in Houston, Texas. That still wasn’t enough for her to give out that kind of information over the phone.