“What’s a remedy?” Andrew asked his mother.

“A solution,” she answered. “Something I’m fresh out of.”

“Gabe’s got lots of dust bunnies.” Andrew patted her shoulder as he looked around the shop. “Maybe even some dust rhinos.”

Angi let out a small, tired laugh. But the boy’s face cleared. Gabe knew the kid hadn’t meant to upset his mom. He remembered what it had been like to try to coax smiles or an infrequent laugh from his mother, the effort made more challenging by the fact that she was usually nursing a hangover or halfway to her next buzz. His mom was a mean drunk.

His gran, in contrast, hadn’t had a mean bone in her body. She’d been sweet and caring, always ready with a kind word or a hug for her grandson. Being back in Magnolia made Gabe miss those summers he spent with her with an intensity he hadn’t felt in years. It also reminded him of the things about Magnolia that hadn’t been good for him.

Angela Guilardi topped that list.

“I meant you can sweep up around the restaurant,” he clarified. “Do some odd jobs for your mom to keep yourself busy when you finish your homework.”

Angi straightened, shooting him a curious gaze, like she couldn’t figure out why he’d be offering suggestions to make things better for her son.

She could get in line behind Gabe on that front.

“The restaurant’s already clean,” Andrew reported as he moved to the front of the store. “I’m just in the way.”

“You’re not,” Angi argued. “Everyone there loves you, Drew.”

The “yeah, right” look Andrew shot his mother was priceless. Gabe had to hand it to him. He might only be a tiny wisp of a kid, but he had one hell of a backbone.

“I can come here after school and work for you,” Andrew told Gabe. “You need help.”

“No, I don’t.”

“He doesn’t,” Angi said at the same time.

The kid rolled his big, guileless eyes. “You said you’d put me to work.”

“Just for today if it’s okay with your mom.”

“I’ll come every day,” Andrew countered.

“No.”

“Drew, if you want things to do after school, I can find stuff at Il Rigatone.” Angi wrinkled her nose. “That’s a better place for you, especially with your asthma. There might be things you’re allergic to in here and definitely the...” Gabe followed her gaze around the shop, noticing the dead flowers decaying on a shelf and the general clutter in every corner. He had a tendency to overlook those kinds of details. His goal was to get through the trickle of orders as fast as he could so he could visit Gran at the nursing care facility he’d moved her to, or return to the solace of her house.

In truth, the florist part of running the flower shop wasn’t the thing he liked best about returning to Magnolia. Instead, he loved his grandma’s old greenhouse behind her house a few blocks away with the scent of fresh dirt filling the air. The intricacies of botany fascinated him, and he tended her garden and the living things she loved with a dedication he hoped would make her proud.