Dahlias for Dominica: A Sweet New Adult Romance (In Bloom Series Book 2)

Dahlias for Dominica In Bloom Series, Book 2 Copyright © 2023 by Kasey Kennedy All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, without the prior written permission except in brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, incidents, and places is coincidental. ISBN-13: 978-1-958942-05-5 (paperback) ISBN-13: 978-1-958942-06-2 (hardcover) ISBN-13: 978-1-958942-04-8 (e-book) Cover and interior design by Alt 19 Creative Author Website: www.kasey-kennedy.com Published by: 
 For my dad,
 thank you for showing me
 what a strong, man of faith looks like
 
 
 Contents
 Chapter One
 Chapter Two
 Chapter Three
 Chapter Four
 Chapter Five
 Chapter Six
 Chapter Seven
 Chapter Eight
 Chapter Nine
 Chapter Ten
 Chapter Eleven
 Chapter Twelve
 Chapter Thirteen
 Chapter Fourteen
 Chapter Fifteen
 Chapter Sixteen
 Chapter Seventeen
 Chapter Eighteen
 Chapter Nineteen
 Chapter Twenty
 Chapter Twenty-One
 Chapter Twenty-Two
 Chapter Twenty-Three
 Chapter Twenty-Four
 Chapter Twenty-Five
 Chapter Twenty-Six
 Chapter Twenty-Seven
 Chapter Twenty-Eight
 Chapter Twenty-Nine
 Chapter Thirty
 Chapter Thirty-One
 Chapter Thirty-Two
 Chapter Thirty-Three
 Chapter Thirty-Four
 What’s Next
 Acknowledgements
 About the Author
 
 Chapter One Nica took a bite of her veggie omelet as she listened to her cousin Izzy prattle on about the upcoming quinceañera for Izzy’s youngest sister, Evie. The quinceañera would celebrate Evie’s fifteenth birthday, a coming-of-age celebration that was an important tradition for their Mexican American family. The girls sat in a small booth in their favorite diner enjoying the mid-morning breakfast Izzy was treating them to before their afternoon classes. Max’s Coffee Shop was between breakfast and lunch rushes so there were only a few other patrons. “Even though you refused your own quinceañera, you have to get behind Evie’s,” Izzy said, cutting into her stack of butter and syrup-slathered pancakes. “Why does everyone think I won’t?” Nica threw up her hands and the small chunk of egg on her fork went flying. “Oops,” she muttered, thankful no one was at the table next to them. “Because you change the subject every time it comes up.” Izzy flicked her hand in a dismissive gesture and the sun streaming in through the window caused her glittery nail polish to sparkle. “I do?” “Yes. The moms are worried about you. You don’t talk about boyfriends; you don’t listen when they try to set you up—” “So why don’t they stop trying?” Nica’s voice rose. This argument was getting old. “The moms” were sisters who after Izzy’s dad had been killed in a car accident when Izzy was little, had combined their families into a large house on the North side of Chicago. The move brought three parents, and eleven children, together in one large, caring family. “Because they want you to be happy,” Izzy replied. “And to them, being happy means being married and having babies.” “But I don’t want that. What about “to each his own”? If they wanted me to be happy, maybe they would ask and listen to what I want. I would be perfectly happy with a roommate—I know it won’t be you forever, because you are on the hunt for a husband—but I’d like a roommate to share the expenses and to keep the loneliness at bay. As much as I love our family, growing up in a house with eleven kids gave me a lifetime’s worth of snotty noses, noise, chaos, and cleaning. Ugh. No thanks.” “Well, maybe I will find a husband and we’ll have a big house with an apartment over the garage, or, oh! A carriage house!.” Izzy clasped her hands together. “Then you can live in your own little apartment on our property and be close by so you never get lonely.” Nica pushed her dark bangs out of her eyes. “And you get a free babysitter. That’s your plan, right?” “No, no, no,” Izzy shook her head vehemently. Her ponytail swung back and forth, and her teardrop-shaped leather earrings brushed her shoulders. “That is not my plan. I will have enough kids so that they can babysit each other. Ha, ha!” “Wow, you are following the family tradition.” Nica finished her omelet and took a small bite of her wheat toast. “When is Evie’s party again? I don’t think I put it on my calendar.” “October twenty-second,” Izzy answered. “Don’t forget to ask for that weekend off from work. We have to go home Friday to help get everything ready. It’s going to be beautiful. And you need to think about a date. If you go to one more family event without one, the moms will lose their minds! I’m hearing little tidbits that they may be trying to stuff the guest list with eligible bachelors for you.” “No! What about you? Why aren’t they trying to do the same thing to you?” “Come on. Don’t be silly. I go to every event with a date. They know I’m looking; that makes them happy.” “They wouldn’t secretly tell men that they’re trying to set me up, would they?” “Oh, they would. They definitely would. You better come up with a plan, prima.” Nica stacked her dishes and looked out the window. If the moms were going to play dirty and start parading men in front of her, she would have to come up with something. She’d start looking around her classes for a potential date. Unfortunately, the men that came into her workplace, the In Bloom Flower Shop, were usually buying flowers for wives or dates. No eligible bachelors came in to flirt with the help. Maybe she needed to get a second job where single men hung out. A bar? A sandwich shop? Foot Locker? She could really use an employee discount for running shoes. Izzy’s voice brought her back to the conversation. “What if I set you up? You’d be surprised how many