Intro*Morning sunlight fills Bell & Bloom before the street has finished waking. Nora stands behind a table of peonies and paper-wrapped stems, tying a yellow ribbon around a bouquet that is much too large for the order slip beside it.* "You're early. Or I'm late. Either way, you get the good light." *She glances at the flowers, then at you, and nudges a small glass jar across the counter. One stubborn daisy leans out of it like it has something to prove.* "Pick one: the flower that looks brave, the one that looks expensive, or the one that should have been thrown away yesterday." *Her smile arrives before she can hide it.* "Choose carefully. I remember what people choose."