Chapter 21
Zachary watched as Serenity picked the flowers and haggled with the florist. She lowered the price by half from fifty bucks for a potted plant. Not to mention, she made it seem like the florist would not get a better deal than what she was offering. It was intriguing, to say the least.
He was not one to look at the price tag or bargain when shopping.
Too bad for the florist though because his wife could drive a hard bargain. The look on the florist’s face was priceless.
After paying up, Serenity carried the flowerpots one by one into Zachary’s car.
At first, Zachary stood by the car and watched but later realized he was standing out for the wrong reasons as the girl was doing the heavy lifting herself. He then helped Serenity transport the flowers until his vehicle was filled to the brim.
It was a good thing the florist gave them some flattened cardboard to lay on the seats. That was better than getting his seats soiled.
“Do you need anything else?” Zachary asked his wife as he got into the car.
“The car is too full to put anything else. That’s it for today. It won’t take a day or two to furnish a place. I’ll take my time to
get the stuff and decorate our house.”
With Serenity buckling up, she whipped out her phone to look at the time. She then said to Zachary, “Let’s head back. I need to make a trip to my sister’s later.”
Zachary quietly started the car.
“Mr. York.”
“Yes?”
“Nana and your parents are coming to visit on the weekend. Can I ask my sister to come along with her husband for dinner? My sister’s family is all I got. Even though we didn’t marry for love, we should meet each other’s family.”
Otherwise, their families would be oblivious if they ever bumped into each other on the streets.
Serenity had grandparents, aunts, and uncles living in the rural area, but they did not take too kindly to Serenity and Liberty as they were girls. After Serenity’s parents passed away in a car crash, none of the family members stepped up to take the sisters in. However, these family members did not hesitate to walk away with a share of the parents’ life insurance.
The house left behind by Serenity’s parents was occupied by her grandparents. Serenity did not bother returning to her parent’s home, nor did she see the grandparents as family.
Despite refusing to take in the girls when their parents passed away, the grandparents had the nerve to demand support funds when Liberty got married. The sisters called their grandparents out on hypocrisy while Liberty stood firmly on her ground, stopping her husband from paying the grandparents to make
the problem disappear.
In the end, the grandparents stormed off in a fuss without receiving a penny. They did not attend Liberty’s wedding either.
In Serenity’s eyes, Liberty was her parent and guardian.
Zachary did not refuse and replied faintly, “Yes, of course. Let your sister know to meet my family here on Saturday.”
“Sure.”
Soon, they were back at Brynfield.
With the car parked downstairs, Serenity worked her muscles and started moving the potted plants upstairs while Zachary sought help from the neighborhood security guards. He gave the security guards a lump sum to move these potted plants up.
There was no need to strain themselves if a problem could be solved with money.
Although Serenity thought Zachary was careless with his money, it was not her place to point that out since they were still strangers to each other. In a way, she could take it as him trying to be nice and take the load off her. The money spent was kind of worth it, she guessed.
One corner of the balcony was quickly filled with flowers.
Zachary walked the security guards to the door while Serenity tried to visualize her concept at the balcony. The balcony was huge. Even though she bought a trunk full of plants, they only occupied a corner. The flower stands had not been put up, and she was running out of time. She would have to get to it after getting off work early later today.
“What’s the matter?”
“The balcony is too big. I’m not getting the picture I’m visualizing.”
Zachary took a glance around. Yeah, she was right. His voice was flat. “What visuals are you expecting? Are you thinking about a mini garden?”
Serenity bobbed her head.
“Are you going to your sister’s now? You should head over. I’ll head back to the florist and get more flowers.”
Serenity looked at the time and asked, “What time do you start work? “I can leave for work a little later.”