He didn’t look like he’d been jogging. He didn’t have a drop of sweat on him, but instead of interrogating him, she gestured to Gabby, who was standing next to her with her mouth hanging up. “Gunnar, this is Gabby. She owns the shop.”
Gabby extended her hand when Gianna nudged her. “Uh, hi. It’s so nice to meet you. I’m a big fan of your music.”
Gianna was used to people gushing over Gunnar, but it was still hard to watch, especially since she’d tried so hard to keep her past and present separate.
“Gi tells me she loves working here,” Gunnar said, turning on the charm. “And living here. I can see why now. I took a tour of the place this morning, and I have to say it’s charming.”
Gianna raised an eyebrow. Gunnar wouldn’t know charming if he fell over it. He appreciated big, bold, and ostentatious.
“Well, I love having her here,” Gabby said, smiling at Gianna. “Not only is she great company, but she does an incredible job. Especially with the wedding bouquets. It’s hard to believe she came to me with no experience.”
Gunnar chuckled as he eyed Gianna. “I guess she didn’t tell you about all those fundraisers she organized back home, huh? They were always trying to cut costs, so Gianna and her volunteers did it all. From mailing invitations to decorating the venue.”
Gabby raised her finger, shaking it at Gianna. “Hah! I knew you were holding out on me. Why didn’t you tell me you had experience with event planning?”
She knew if she talked about her previous life it would lead to questions she wasn’t prepared to answer. “It’s not like I was a pro, Gabby. I just did the best I could. But I’ve learned so much from you.”
“You could learn even more if you took that course I told you about, the one for floral design and event planning. Have you thought any more about it? We could definitely use an event planner on staff to work on weddings.”
“Um, I haven’t really had time to think about it.” She’d been too busy thinking about when her ex intended to leave. “But I will. I promise.”
“On that note,” she said, sliding a glance in Gunnar’s direction. “I’ll let you two chat.”
“Uh, before you go, Gabby,” Gunnar said. “Maybe you could help me. I’d like to buy some flowers for a special lady, but she’s always accusing me of being over the top.” He snuck a peek at Gianna out of the corner of his eye. “I used to brush it off, but I can see now that was a mistake. She definitely appreciates the simpler things… and I love that about her. So, what do you suggest?”
Gabby’s smiled spread as she reached into the cooler. “I personally love these,” she said, handing him a bouquet with lavender chrysanthemums,white roses, and purplePeruvian Lilies accented withwhiteAsiatic Lilies and lush greens. It was tied with a lavender satin ribbon and Gianna had commented how much she loved it when Gabby made it the day before. “Don’t you, Gianna?”
“I do,” Gianna said, between clenched teeth.
“Perfect,” Gunnar said, withdrawing his wallet and handing over his black credit card. “I’ll take them.”
“You wouldn’t mind ringing those up for him, would you, hon?” Gabby asked Gianna. “I really have to get started on those orders.”
“No problem.” Gianna faked a smile as Gabby walked towards the back, but not before shooting Gunnar a knowing smile and wave. “So, you always go jogging with your credit card?”
He laughed. “Not usually, but being in a new town and all, I thought I might see something I wanted to buy.”
She handed him the debit machine so he could enter his pin number, though she knew the number by heart. Unless he’d changed it after their split.
After she gave him the receipt, she started to wrap the flowers.
“Don’t bother,” he said, smirking. “Just bring them home with you later.”
“Gunnar, you shouldn’t be buying me flowers. We’re not together anymore, and I don’t want to give the girls the wrong idea about us.”
His gaze darkened as he leaned his hands on the glass countertop. “You think I don’t know I made a mess of things when we were together? I never sent you flowers just because and I should have. Every damn day, in fact. Because that’s how often I was thinking of you, every minute of every day that we weren’t together.”
She was stunned by his claim. He could go away for weeks, months even, without telling her how much he’d missed her. “Why are you saying these things now?” she hissed. “Just to torture me? To punish me?”
“No, I would never do anything to hurt you,” he said, his voice soft. “I did enough of that when we were together. I just want to make up for that in some small way, if I can. I know flowers don’t even begin to make up for all the shitty things I did or for taking you for granted for all those years or—”
“Stop,” she said, raising her hand. “I can’t do this here. I’m at work. Besides, it’s pointless rehashing all of this. We’ve been apart a long time. We’ve both moved on with our lives.”
“You may have moved on. But I haven’t.”
“I don’t know what you want from me,” she said, desperately trying to make him understand what he was doing to her. “I don’t know why you’re doing this. You say you’re sorry for the way things went down. Fine. I believe you. I forgive you, if that’s what you need, but I can’t keep doing this.”
“Doing what?” he asked, lowering his voice further still. “Talking about what went wrong so maybe we can make it right?”
“Make it right?” she all but shrieked. “Make what right? It’s over. We’re over.”
“Can’t you even entertain the possibility that maybe I’ve changed, that perhaps losing you changed me?”
“No.” She shook her head violently, barely refraining from covering her ears. “No, I can’t.” Because if she did, she’d be right back where she started. In love with an emotionally unavailable man.
