Ash said a relieved goodbye and buried his face in his hands on the counter in front of Truman. Over the last several days, Truman had learned that Ash loved having his hair touched, and he couldn’t help but see this most recent flop as a bid for him to run his fingers through it.

He scratched Ash’s scalp, and Ash let out a rumbling moan that tumbled through Truman from his scalp to his crotch.

The door swung open in a clanging of bells, and Ash jerked upright. It was Carla Muskee, lugging a large cardboard box.

“Hi, Ms. Muskee,” Ash said as Truman said, “Hello, Carla.”

“Heard you were lookin’ for jars,” she said and slid the box onto the counter. “This the kinda thing you’re after?”

Truman peered in at a jumble of different sized glass jars. A few had brands stamped into the glass, but most were exactly what they needed.

“Yes, thank you!” Truman said.

Ash narrowed his eyes. “Who’d you hear that from?”

“Oh, here and there,” Carla said with an expansive wave and a wink at Truman. “Also heard you might be looking for artists’ work to sell in the shop. Ted’s been doing these watercolors lately. Good stuff. Should I tell him you want them?”

“Oh, um…” Ash looked desperately at Truman.

“Okay, so what we’re looking for are greeting cards with original art on the front,” Truman explained. “So that when people come in to buy flowers, they can get a card to go with them.”

Carla nodded. “All right, I’ll let him know.”

“Best if they’re flower related probably,” Truman added. “Wait, is that your son who makes the sweaters?”

“Mm-hmm.”

Truman wondered if there was anything to be made of that. He could see the bullet journal page of artisan craft ideas now…

“So I’ll tell everyone you want more jars, then?”

“Yeah, thank you.”

She gave a crisp nod and moved to the door. At the last moment, she turned back to Ash. “It’s good what you’re doing here, son. I’m proud of you.”

And before Ash could say anything, she closed the door firmly behind her.

Truman caught the soft look in Ash’s eyes before they became shrewd.

“Here and there, huh?” Ash said.

“Well, when I stopped to get coffee at Bob’s this morning, I mentioned it to him because it looked like he had a million jars lying around. I guess I should’ve remembered that if you say something to one person on Main Street, you’ve put out a neon sign.”

“Thanks,” Ash said. “Once Ms. Muskee knows, everyone knows. So I guess I’ll clear out some shelves in the back to store them.”

“Yay!” Truman couldn’t help feeling giddy with excitement. There was nothing like seeing an idea become a reality.

***