**HEY YA'LL! So here's the next chapter! I promise after this one things will pick up, but I had to go with the timeline in SOMH because it's intertwined with major events in this book! ALSO - JUST SO YA'LL DON'T GET CONFUSED: DATE IN THE STORY IS February 14th (one month and 3 days after the last chapter) - AFTER THE TIME JUMP IT'S March 3rd**

Tansy's POV

I scrambled around the back of the store like a chicken with my head cut off. The last month had flown by and next thing I knew, it was Valentine's Day. It was safe to say that the last two weeks had been absolutely hectic with hundreds of orders for massive bouquets of red roses coming in left and right. It was all hands on deck today as we had a long line of customers ever since we'd opened at nine am, though I'd been here since five finishing up all of our last minute orders that I just couldn't say no to. I didn't have the heart to do it.

"Tansy, I can't find this guys invoice and he said he paid you over the phone two weeks ago!" Crystal, one of my more absent-minded workers, muttered while looking like she was up to her eyeballs in stress.

"How much was the order for?" I asked, stopping what I was doing to give her my full attention so we could resolve the issue with as little conflict as possible.

"He said it was around $200 dollars." She fretted. I narrowed my eyes at her, knowing that she wasn't good with confrontation, and told her to finish up the arrangement I was almost finished with and that I would handle it. Stepping up to my front desk, I gave the man a charming smile.

"Hi sir, Crystal said you were having a bit of an issue. You mind explaining it to me?" I spoke sweetly, doing my best not to draw attention to the both of us from the roughly 12 other people waiting.

"Yes! She misplaced my order slip that shows that I've already made my payment! I don't know who it was that I spoke with, but I already paid for these damn flowers weeks ago!" He growled, putting on a show for not only me but everyone else around us. My smile went from sweet, to snarky in seconds.

"Are you sure it was this floral shop?" I asked, trying to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Yes, I'm fucking sure!" He yelled, now having attracted 100% of the attention in the room.

"You see, sir," I sneered viciously, "this story you've concocted is quite impossible as we don't take payments over $50 dollars over the phone for security purposes. Period. Every single one of workers on my small list of staff know this rule very well and wouldn't have broken that rule for any reason, so you can take your lying, con-artist ass and get the hell out of my store!" I growled back, smacking my hand down on the countertop to emphasize my anger. He swallowed audibly before storming out of the store, avoiding eye contact with everyone on his way out. Pussy.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, upset with myself for allowing my temper to get the best of me in front of a room full of paying customers. In my defense, Knox's current health status had taken a major toll on everyone in the family, myself included. Not only was I feeling the weight of his absence, but I couldn't bear to see how dead inside Poppy looked.

I took a death breath in through my nose before blowing it out through my mouth and putting on a big friendly smile for the rest of the people in the store. The action seemed to settled their ruffled feathers before the next customer approached me once again. I was almost done with the transaction when the voice of one of my favorite people yelled out my name comically loud. Calla forced her way to the front - something that proved to be extremely easy for her as everyone just seemed to move out of the little ball of energy's way.

She gave me a pleading look before I just smiled and nodded, letting her know it was okay to come around behind the desk. She darted towards me before reaching her hands up for me to pick her up. I did so before resting her on my hip as I finished ringing up the man's order.

"Have a nice day!" I said with a friendly smile before motioning for Crystal to take over for me so I could take Calla with me to the back. This had become a routine of ours. She would come visit me two or three times a week and would just hang out for a few hours. She would watch me make arrangements with an intensity I'd never seen in a little kid ever before. Occasionally, she'd help me put together new arrangements to sell. Other times she would busy herself with the princess coloring book and the extravagant pack of crayons I'd bought for her. Everyone at the shop had quickly fallen in love with her, just as I had. Some employees had even taken to bringing in juice boxes and Calla's favorite animal crackers to keep on hand in case she wanted something to snack on.

The little girl was spoiled rotten, and she knew it. Agatha had even started to warm up to me in the times we'd seen each other. I think she was just grateful to have a few hours out of her day where she wasn't having to scold Calla, who I'd come to understand didn't like to behave for her nanny, no matter how hard I tried to convince - or bribe - her.

"Where's daddy?" I asked, wondering if I was ever going to get a chance to meet the man in question.

"He's working today. He said there's a BIG BIG BIG project that he has to finish!" She exclaimed while using her arms to emphasize her words. I just laughed quietly at her theatrics before setting her down next to the little chair and desk set I'd purchased for her at a thrift store about a week ago. It was the perfect size for her tiny body, and it made my heart melt every time I saw her sitting at it while furiously coloring. I had situated her workspace right next to my own desk so that I could keep an eye on her while I was filing bills and other important paperwork - that of which I was currently way behind on due to the holiday.

"Tans?" Calla called quietly. I looked down to find her already peering up at me.

"Yes, honey?" I asked, setting down my pen and pushing my reading glasses onto the top of my head.

"I don't like the girl daddy brought home last night." She whispered as if she didn't want anyone else around us to hear her. I furrowed my brows as a small scowl pulled at my lips.

"How come?" I murmured gently. She scooted her chair back and came forward to crawl up on my lap. I smoothed her wild curls down as she looked to be deep in thought.

"She's not very nice to me, and she steals all of daddy's attention. I had a bad dream last night and when I went to go get him his door was locked and she was in there. Daddy couldn't hear me because she was yelling too loud!" She rushed out, her voice growing louder and louder with her anger. "I wish you were my mommy! Why can't you be my mommy!" She cried out, tears starting to collect in her eyes. My eyes widened as my brows shot up practically to my hairline with shock.

I had no idea what to say. What were you even supposed to say back to that? How do you explain to a four-year-old that, that's not how relationships work? Dear lord, this kid just put me between a rock and a hard place.

"I'm sorry, baby, but it doesn't work like that." I sympathized dumbly, not knowing what else to tell her. "I may not be your mom, but that doesn't mean I don't love you, honey. And you know that you're always welcome at the store whenever you want." I cooed, gently wiping away the tears that had escaped her eyes and run down her chubby little cheeks. She just nodded sadly before burying her slightly snotty nose into the crook of my neck and wrapping her arms around my shoulders as best she could. We sat like that for a few minutes with me stroking the back of her head until I realized she'd fallen asleep - even with the hustle bustle of the store causing a racket around us. That nightmare probably kept her up all night I thought, knowing it was the only logical answer for her strong emotions not but a few minutes ago.

I let her continue to sleep on my shoulder while I tried navigating my work with only one arm - something that proved to be quite the challenge. It was about an hour and a half later when Agatha wandered into the back to pick up Calla for the day. Her eyes softened at the sight of the little girl's peaceful face as she slept quietly.

"Her dad said she looked a little ill when she woke up this morning, but that she was fine after a few hours. I was worried she'd caught a bug or something." She murmured to me, though made no move of taking the little girl from my arms.

"Yeah...about that, how well do you know her dad?" I asked, trying my best to not come off as intrusive.

"Not much, really. Very good looking, but he tends to keep most personal business to himself. I've never seen anyone but him and the little one at his place whenever I go. Why do you ask?" She spoke, her face scrunching up in confusion.

"No reason in particular. I was just surprised that all this time you've been bringing her to my store, and all this time she and I have spent together, and her father hasn't called or come in not once to meet me and make sure I'm not some crazy psychopath." I joked lightly before slowly easing myself out of my chair.

"Do you have a car nearby? I don't want to jostle her around too much trying to hand her off to you." I explained. She nodded before jerking her head in a gesture to follow her. I gave friendly smiles to all of the customers in the front of my shop, even those who gave Calla questioning looks. I instantly regretted not putting my coat on for the quick jaunt outside as my skin froze the second it met the harsh wind. I gently laid Calla in her car seat before strapping her in and caressing one of her cheeks in the palm of my hand.

I quietly shut the car door before waving goodbye to Agatha and quickly dashing back into my store. I furiously rubbed my hands together to get back some of the warmth I'd lost when I glanced up and saw the pitied look in every single one of my employees' eyes.

"What?" I croaked out, unsure of what to think about the feeling of unease swirling around in my stomach.

"Evan called..." Crystal choked out before swallowing audibly and looking away to the floor. I felt my heart lurch to my throat before I snatched my phone up from the desk and darted into the back. I locked myself in the employee bathroom before quickly redialing the number I knew by heart.

"Tansy." Evan rasped out through what was clearly a sobbing fit.

"Oh God, what's happened? What's wrong?" I demanded breathlessly. If something happened to Knox...

"It's mom. She's gone hysterical. No one can talk to her, she just keeps breaking things. She was mumbling earlier about the cabin a-and...Tansy what are we supposed to do?" She cried out. I felt the corners of my eyes prick with tears as I sniffled.

"Your father always takes her away to your summer cabin for Valentine's day. They've been doing it ever since their third year of marriage. This is the first year since then that...just, just hold tight, okay? I'm going to get my stuff and I'll rush over there." I insisted, already breaking out from the bathroom and haphazardly grabbing my things.

"She won't listen to any of us. We keep begging her not to drive like this but she's insisting she needs to get back to the hospital. I don't know if we'll be able to keep her home much longer." She admitted with a pained tone of voice.

"I just need like ten minutes. Just keep her occupied for ten more minutes, okay?" I assured before hanging up the phone.

**

The memory of the dead, haunting look in Poppy's eyes when I saw her a little over two weeks ago was nothing like the Poppy I was seeing in front of me now. There was a twinkle in her eye as she continued to hog all of Knox's attention as the rest of the family just looked on with grateful smiles.

My phone went off in my pocket for the third time in the last hour, something that I couldn't hide from my two closest friends.

"Your phone has been blowing up, Tans. Who's the new man?" Evan hinted while raising her eyebrows saucily at me. I just snorted before rolling my eyes at her and hiding my phone screen against my chest. I'd rather they all think I was texting a boy than knowing the truth; that I had taught Calla how to text using both Agatha and her father's phone after her constant begging one day.

"That's for me to know, and you to never find out." I warned with a playful glare before typing out a quick reply to Calla's text and shoving my phone back into my pocket. She had asked if I could take her to target, her new found "favorite place in the world", but I wasn't willing to take her anywhere with me until I met whoever the hell claimed to be raising her.

Unfortunately, I was running out of excuses to use on her. She was one of the smartest, most intuitive little girls I'd ever met and I knew that it was going to be sooner rather than later that she'd call me out on my lies.

I snapped out of my thoughts when everyone started laughing while looking at me.

"Sorry, what'd I miss?" I asked sheepishly.

"I just said that I could set you up with Scar's friend Tan-"

"Ugh! No!" I instantly scoffed, cutting her off before she could finish her sentence. "The last time you set me up with someone, Ellie, it was Robby and you were so sure he was going to be 'uber perfect'. You were right when you said he was at least book smart, but that's it." I ribbed before Ellie laughed behind her hand as she tried to hide her smile.

"In my defence, he was getting an A in the hardest macro econ class offered." She defended with her hands up in front of her.

"It's probably best that you don't set her up with him, baby. She'd eat him alive, he's not used to so much attitude." Scar teased before playfully nibbling at Evan's ear. She giggled before whispering for him to stop, causing a pissed off grumble to come from Knox's direction.

"Well, I've got to get home. I'm opening the shop early tomorrow to get some pre-spring cleaning done. I'll see you all later." I spoke before giving everyone a parting hug and meandering off to my car. I was intently scrolling through an email that Crystal claimed to be 'URGENT!!!!!!' when someone knocked shoulders with me as I was exiting the elevator in the parking garage.

"Watch it asshole!" I grumbled to the back of the guys head. I raised a single brow when his hand came up to ruffle his wavy brown hair when I caught sight of his sparkly pink painted nails. My eyes widened before I shook my head in dismissal and got in my car, anticipating the moment when I got to jump into bed and sleep.