She Can't Imagine Life Without Roses

Florist Aimee Love has a gift for arranging roses.
With this being the Year of the Rose, Aimee has a record number of orders.
Problem is, all the roses in the southeast have been destroyed by a blight.
Enter the goddess of love who promises Aimee she can have all the roses she
needs. She just has to convince their owner to sell them to her.

Ken Hartman has a gift for growing roses. He keeps the hospital and
nursing home supplied with the blooms. He wouldn't dream of selling them.
But when a beautiful florist asks for his help, he finds himself wanting to
give her so much more than the roses in Aphrodite's Garden.

Aphrodite's Garden
by Deborah Grace Staley

"I can see you need convincing," Venus said. "Look into my eyes, honey.
Don't be afraid."
Aimee swallowed hard and made eye contact with the most perfect set of
blue eyes she'd ever seen. Suddenly, the room seemed to spin and something
like silver and gold dust swirled around her. In the haze, she saw a garden.
A beautiful garden filled with row upon row of perfect roses. Every color,
every variety, all carefully tended by the nurturing hand of a tall, handsome man.
The vision dissipated. Once again, Aimee found herself focusing on blue eyes.
"Aires can't touch this man's garden. It's protected by Zeus. Believe
me, Aries wouldn't dare incite Daddy's wrath." Venus giggled. "He's afraid
of lightening. Can you believe? He's the god of war, but he cowers like a
baby when Daddy throws his lightning bolts." Her laughter was as light and
carefree as the tinkling bells on Aimee's shop door.

This is for real, Aimee thought. How can this be for real? Is this what
sleep deprivation does to a person? At some point, do you begin to hallucinate?
"You're not hallucinating, honey. You gotta have a little faith. I've
brought you this far. I won't desert you now." Venus dug into her
heart-shaped purse, found a card, then held it out. "Go and see this man.
He has all the roses you'll need for the rest of your life." Venus winked,
then continued. "It might take some convincing to get him to part with them
for commercial use, but it's time the two of you combined resources...if you
know what I mean."
"I'm sorry, but I don't." Aimee shook her head. "I truly don't."
Venus leaned against the counter. "I'll give it to you straight, honey.
You've done the loner thing too long. You deserve some big, broad shoulders
to help carry the load." She leaned back and put on her hat. "I'll pay him
a visit, so he'll be expecting you." She fussed with the angle of her hat
before continuing. "There's no time to lose. June first and the Rose Day
Parade are only three days away. And that's just the beginning of the
month's love-ly festivities."

Venus grabbed her purse and sashayed to the door. "You should make the
trip to see Ken first thing in the morning."
"But—"
Venus turned, her hand resting on the door. "Don't lose faith. Help's
less than a hundred miles up the road."
Aimee looked at the card. She couldn't afford to take a day away from
the shop. "I don't know."
"Don't worry about the shop. Everything will be fine. I've gotten my
people out of tighter scrapes than this. If I could work something out with
Hades and Persephone, trust me, a few roses are a piece of cake. Now, be a
good messenger of love and promise me that you'll go first thing in the
morning."
"I promise." Even as she said the words, she couldn't believe she'd
agreed. I must be absolutely insane.

Copyright © 2002, Deborah Grace Staley