Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Say It With Flowers: The Italian Series, #4
    Say It With Flowers: The Italian Series, #4
    Say It With Flowers: The Italian Series, #4
    Ebook122 pages1 hour

    Say It With Flowers: The Italian Series, #4

    By Suzanne D. Williams

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    She sighed, the sound long, and returned her head to his shoulder. He held her there, and for one moment chose to pretend it was all right. For one moment.

    And then the truth returned. She was engaged to someone else, and he had no place in it except to deliver the flowers.

    His heart shoved into his throat.

     

    Benito Bottari fell in love the moment Arabella Howland walked in the door of his florist shop. However, her pending nuptials stand in the way.

    It seems happiness is forbidden him again, and he must watch another woman leave with someone else. Until a warning spoken by her best friend tells him all is not as it seems. Arabella's in grave danger, and it's up to him to stop it.

     

    Book 4 of 5 in THE ITALIAN SERIES by best-selling author, SUZANNE D. WILLIAMS. Stand Alone. HEA. 27,000 words.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSuzanne D. Williams
    Release dateJan 1, 2016
    ISBN9781524207502
    Say It With Flowers: The Italian Series, #4
    Author

    Suzanne D. Williams

    Best-selling author, Suzanne D. Williams, is a native Floridian, wife, mother, and photographer. She is the author of both nonfiction and fiction books. She writes a monthly column for Steves-Digicams.com on the subject of digital photography, as well as devotionals and instructional articles for various blogs. She also does graphic design for self-publishing authors. She is co-founder of THE EDGE. To learn more about what she’s doing and check out her extensive catalogue of stories, visit http://suzanne-williams-photography.blogspot.com/ or link with her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/suzannedwilliamsauthor.

    Read more from Suzanne D. Williams

    Related to Say It With Flowers

    Titles in the series (5)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Suspense Romance For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      A new LIFE

      Jun 29, 2022

      A new LIFE
      6 min read

    • Article

      Just A Drink

      Feb 3, 2022

      Just A Drink
      4 min read

    • Article

      Time For A Change

      Jul 9, 2021

      Time For A Change
      5 min read

    • Article

      Just Passing

      Aug 17, 2020

      Zoe cracks the curtain in the bay window and watches as he bounces from one foot to another in the cold. Tap, tap, tap, he goes at the letterbox. But she shouldn’t even let him in. He’s trouble. He throws his arms out and shouts through the glass: “S

      5 min read

    • Article

      Mr Tinsel

      Nov 9, 2022

      Mr Tinsel
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Ghost Of A WEDDING

      Jun 23, 2021

      The Ghost Of A WEDDING
      6 min read

    • Article

      Something SPECIAL

      Feb 21, 2023

      Something SPECIAL
      6 min read

    • Article

      The Italian INFLUENCE

      Jan 19, 2022

      The Italian INFLUENCE
      9 min read

    • Article

      The Gas Station

      Mar 15, 2019

      Mary believed there were two kinds of people in the world. There were those who were seen and those who were not. Mary considered herself the latter. She hadn’t lived in the town for long, only a few months. It was known for its beaches. It swelled w

      10 min read

    • Article

      Coffee Ghosts

      Jan 6, 2022

      Coffee Ghosts
      7 min read

    • Article

      Sounds Like FUN

      Jun 23, 2020

      Sounds Like FUN
      6 min read

    • Article

      Family Matters

      May 15, 2020

      Family Matters
      5 min read

    • Article

      The King’s passion

      Aug 11, 2021

      The King’s passion
      11 min read

    • Article

      Waving Not Drowning

      Aug 8, 2022

      Waving Not Drowning
      6 min read

    • Article

      The DATING GAME

      Aug 3, 2022

      The DATING GAME
      8 min read

    • Article

      With this RING

      Aug 8, 2023

      With this RING
      6 min read

    • Article

      If The Hat Fits

      Aug 18, 2020

      If The Hat Fits
      7 min read

    • Article

      Birthday Surprise

      Sep 17, 2021

      Birthday Surprise
      5 min read

    • Article

      The King’s passion

      Aug 11, 2021

      The King’s passion
      11 min read

    • Article

      We Don't Talk About That Here

      Nov 4, 2021

      We Don't Talk About That Here
      4 min read

    • Article

      Seeing the LIGHT

      Mar 2, 2021

      Seeing the LIGHT
      5 min read

    • Article

      A Perfect Wedding

      Apr 6, 2020

      A Perfect Wedding
      5 min read

    • Article

      With this RING

      Jul 21, 2021

      With this RING
      6 min read

    • Article

      A Gentle STIRRING

      Mar 13, 2024

      A Gentle STIRRING
      6 min read

    • Article

      I’ll Not Risk Myself

      Feb 10, 2024

      My phone reception is better outside the laundromat, so I spend most of my time waiting for laundry on the bench near the door. I don’t talk with my friends, but I surf the news. I like to know what’s going on. I don’t like people to know about me, t

      13 min read

    • Article

      A Perfect Match

      Apr 5, 2021

      It’s my sister’s fault that I’m standing outside a hair salon on the Saturday of my anniversary, too scared to go in. I’m not sure I was this nervous on my actual wedding day. Androulla had been bugging me for months that my look needed “updating” an

      7 min read

    • Article

      LOVE ME, Love Me Not

      May 18, 2021

      LOVE ME, Love Me Not
      6 min read

    • Article

      The DATING GAME

      Apr 2, 2024

      The DATING GAME
      8 min read

    • Article

      Dancing In The MOONLIGHT

      Jun 14, 2022

      Dancing In The MOONLIGHT
      6 min read

    • Article

      Soul On Sale

      Aug 10, 2022

      I was waiting for the call at the telephone booth. I’d been waiting for fourteen or seventeen minutes and finally, I decided to leave. It was pointless. I only had a 20-dollar bill on me and no coins for the slot. Hard rain was coming, some type of s

      9 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Say It With Flowers

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Say It With Flowers - Suzanne D. Williams

      CHAPTER 1

      THE TINY GOLD BELL clinked against the glass door, and Benito Bottari did an about-face, a smile rising to his lips, one which broadened at the sight of the attractive female poised on the welcome mat. Buon giorno. How may I help you?

      The woman who’d entered leaned on one shapely hip, causing her pink tweed pencil skirt to tighten. Benito did his best not to stare, but evidently failed because she smiled. A knowing smile.

      She stepped forward between the racks of gift cards and refrigerated floral cases to the counter spanning the opposite wall, and once again, he failed not to stare. Blonde hair coiled perfectly on the nape of her neck, light green eyes, and the most beautiful complexion. Exquisite.

      Benito Bottari, he said, in an attempt to regain himself.

      She tilted her head, displaying the loveliest expanse of creamy neck. Nice to meet you, Benito.

      He swallowed, his thoughts scattering like sand in the wind.

      She moistened her lips. I need to order flowers for a wedding.

      A wedding. The word whisked in his mind and settled. Wedding?

      She laughed. Yes. Mine.

      Her wedding. Of course. This was a florist shop. Benito awakened, his blood considerably cooler.

      How about we go in the back where you can look through our catalog and decide what is suitable? He motioned her around the counter and through the narrow doorway into his office. His nerves ramped up. A wedding. He hadn’t supplied flowers for a wedding yet. This would be an important first. It could put him on the map.

      Please, sit, he said.

      She obeyed, perching herself on the edge of the seat and folding her legs beneath her. You’re new, she said, dropping her purse onto the floor.

      He moved behind the desk and lifted a binder from a shelf in the corner. He placed it in front of her and flipped open to the tab entitled weddings.

      New shop, yes, ma’am. New to town, no. My family has been here since my nonno came from Sicily. You will perhaps be familiar with B&B Funeral Home? That is my brother, Salvatore.

      One hand on the plastic-wrapped pages, she cast him a glance and gave a small nod. Yes, I’ve passed it.

      If I may ask, what brought you to us?

      She flipped the page, her head bent over the book. Mmm, I like supporting new ventures, and it’s a small wedding. I thought you might give me a good price.

      The best price.

      She paused and tapped a photo. I like this. A lot. But maybe in lavender rosebuds. And I want a matching bouquet on the reception tables, same roses mixed in with spring flowers. She held her finger in place but sat back in the chair. Tell me Benito, do you have a good eye?

      A good eye?

      She nodded. Yes. For flowers. Can I trust you to pick out what will work without the headache of specifics?

      Of course, Signorina. I am the creative one of the family, a fact which has often put me in last place amongst my brothers.

      Brothers? You mentioned one. You have another?

      Yes. Marco. He is a doctor, newly married with a captivating young daughter.

      Her face brightened. I like you. Maybe it’s the whole Italian thing that appeals to me, though my heritage is Irish with a hint of Dutch. Or maybe it’s your having so much family. I want to have a large family someday, though I’m afraid Fredrick isn’t so keen. He says it will ruin my figure.

      Benito’s gaze traveled across her flawless skin, along the contours of her shoulders to a trim waist and shapely pair of breasts. I cannot see that would ever be a problem with a woman as beautiful as yourself.

      The color of her cheeks heightened, but she didn’t look away. The motto above the door, she said. Who came up with that?

      I did. It’s my venture, which my brother Marco and my old uncle helped fund.

      I like it, she said. Say it with flowers. Catchy. It brought me here. She paused and released the binder, resting her hand in her lap. But I’m thinking it’s not so necessary now. You do just fine with words.

      BENITO BOTTARI WAS an extremely handsome man with excessive charm and a winning smile. If she were not here because of her own wedding, she’d make an effort to know him better.

      That thought neither surprised nor dismayed her. Fredrick was a handsome man as well, but in a more robust way. He was tall and broad-shouldered with close-cropped brown hair. Pleasant enough to look at, perhaps not as much fun to speak with, and he could care less about flowers.

      She extended her hand. Arabella Hoyland, soon to be Arabella Bos.

      Bella, Benito said. Taking her hand, he raised it to his lips. A lovely name for a lovely lady.

      His breath was hot on her knuckles, and his lips moist. She left them there in his grip probably longer than she should, lowering her hand slowly, conscious of the cooling of her skin in the air-conditioned air.

      Benito, she said. You are attached?

      No reason to ask that, except she wanted to know.

      He tilted his head, a twinkle in his eyes. No, something my mama reminds me of daily.

      She laughed lightly. I can’t imagine why. I find you captivating.

      He acknowledged the compliment with the dip of his chin. Flattering words will get you a discount in hopes I might see you again.

      Even to marry another?

      Benito seemed to measure his response, though the look in his eye never faded nor his smile. That is my loss and his gain, a fact I will regret with longing.

      And I. That thought did surprise her. She and Fredrick had dated for two years before he’d proposed. The proposal had been expected and accepted as a matter of course. Why wouldn’t she? He was well-employed, if a bit over-worked, and generous, as exampled by his buy-what-you-want instruction today.

      Generous but dogmatic. She stared this fact in the face and the same seed of doubt arose that Stella had planted the day after he’d asked.

      He’s not good enough for you, and you don’t love him.

      Didn’t she? If he met all the right qualifications, then what was there not to love?

      I wish you’d think this out. You’re comfortable with him, but out there somewhere is a man who will sweep you off your feet.

      A man with dark hair and gray-green eyes who owned a florist shop. She shoved this thought way down inside and rose to her feet.

      Mr. Bottari, consider yourself hired. I will make a list of what I want and the date and get it to you within two days if that’s acceptable?

      Fine.

      Good. She stepped toward the door and made to reach for the knob, but his hand landed there first. He clasped it tight, unwavering, and she was forced to gaze at him, his face but a foot away.

      Bella, he said softly. If you need anything, anything at all, I am at your beck and call.

      Her heart fluttered and sank in one breath, and an impossible wish lay leaden on her tongue. She left it there and carried it with her out of the shop and onto the street, barely allowing herself to exhale until seated in her car. And then it emerged unbidden in the shape of a tear that she swiped away before it could fall.

      BENITO WATCHED HER leave, leaping in place at the chime of the door. It clicked closed, seconds later with finality.

      A dance, that’s what that was. Though he’d touched no more than her hand, it’d come as the result of a finely tuned pirouette of words.

      He shut his eyes and savored the moment, knowing it had ended, but not wanting to let it go. It always happened this way with him. His other chance at love had come at age twenty with a woman he hadn’t known was married, and that, of course, had blown up in his face.

      He released a long breath. As he had back then, he must move on. He had a life to live, a business

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1