An Easter Bloom

Amanda Raymond moved back to her family's flower farm after her father Craig Raymond's passing a year ago. That milestone not only was to help her mother Grace Raymond run the farm, but led to her turning her back on the church for God taking her father away from them. Amanda and Grace are facing problems this Easter season, one of their most economically profitable seasons of the year, with the unseasonable cold weather meaning no flowers yet. Behind on the mortgage payment, they are at risk of losing the farm, Craig's legacy. While Craig was the floral designer in the family, Amanda, who has no training or natural ability at such, works toward a Hail Mary in planning to enter the annual Easter statewide flower arranging competition, the $20,000 first prize which would tie them over financially. The only reason why Amanda is considering it is because Lori Matthews, a trained now retired florist who has just moved to town and who Amanda helped out of a bind in their first meeting, has offered to be her teacher. Many of Lori's lessons take them away from the floral table, sometimes to the church where her son Derrick Matthews is the new pastor, that initial entrance back into the church still being a painful one for Amanda. Both Lori and Derrick are facing their own demons, one which Lori may have to face in moving to town, and one Derrick has run away from in moving to town. In the process of the floral competition, their collective issues may come to a head as Amanda and Derrick start to fall for each other.—Huggo