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“Suit yourself but we don’t do returns.”
“I see where she gets her sense of humor. I will take very good care of her Thomas, I give you my word.”
I knew that that would be important to a man like him. A man who obviously loved his daughter and wanted only what was best for her. He didn’t give a fuck about my money.
“I give you my blessing willingly, but I have to tell you. I’m not sure about your mother and your other connections. As the groundskeeper you’d think I would be out of the loop. But I’ve seen and heard some things that tells me there might be trouble. I don’t see them accepting her. Just so you know, I won’t stand by and watch my kid be hurt.”
“You and me both sir. Believe me, I know where you’re coming from and I’ve already taken steps to make it right. I need something from you though, I don’t know if mom will give up easy. If she says or does anything to you or your wife I need you to let me know.”
“I can take care of my wife and myself, don’t worry about us. Just make sure that my kid is taken care of and we’ll be fine. Now about my work here. Linda told me you told her to look for a new housekeeper. I guess I’ll be looking for something else as well.”
“You misunderstood. I wanted to talk to you about that. I know how proud you are, but I also know my wife will not be happy living here in this house with you and her mother serving us and neither for that matter would I. Indeed she’s already said as much. I have an idea about that.” I had to word this next part the right way or it will all blow up in my face.
“You can stay in the cottage. It’s a nice home by anyone’s standards. I also know how much you like working in the gardens. My idea is to open a flower shop, your flower shop. You can hire another head gardener if you’d like or continue to do the work yourself, but you’ll no longer be working for me so you’ll have to find someone to take care of the grounds.”
He thought for a while and I tried to put myself in his position. He’d been hurt in the field, nothing too serious, but I knew he had problems with one of his legs. I don’t know what else he’d faced, but I was sure that he was a very talented man who could be doing anything he wanted if given the chance.
“Of course if there’s something else you’d prefer…”
“No, no, it’s not that. I like working with the plants; it’s very therapeutic. But I don’t know about taking handouts.”
“It’s not handouts when it’s family. Think of it as a dowry of sorts.”
“I thought the woman’s family was the one who’s supposed to do that.” His eyes squinted in concentration. How is it that this man who has so little, can only think of giving? While those who had so much fought so hard not to give?
“In some cultures yes, but I don’t think that’s the way it was in the beginning. Didn’t Jacob have to work seven years for his wife because he showed up empty handed or something like that?”
“You read scripture?”
“Sometimes a man needs to find solace in the desert.” He smiled knowingly and I saw him relax back in his chair. After that things grew lighter between us and talk became freer, more relaxed.
I got him to agree to the florist idea with a lot of out maneuvering, but I had a feeling he let me get away with it. Once that was out of the way, I found that I liked talking to him and my assumption of him had been spot on. He was indeed a very honorable man.
We talked about serving and some of the places we’d been without giving too much away. I knew from his skirting the issue that he’d been Special Forces. That was something else we had in common. That and our love for his daughter.
11
As expected, mother was being her usual pain in the ass self. She’d locked herself in her rooms according to the servants and wouldn’t allow them to pack any more of her stuff. That’s okay, I have a key. I sent them to finish what they could. The movers would be here in the morning to help her on her way.
I wasn’t feeling that heavy burden of duty any longer. That weight had been lifted thank fuck, and I didn’t realize that I’d been carrying it all this time. Now that I’d broken things off with Helen, and told mom what was going to be, I felt physically free.
