He grinned, running a hand though his damp locks. “Annie told me about the daffodils. I’m happy for you. And for Annie.”
“You’ve always been a good friend to her,” I said.
“She makes it easy,” Tyler said. “Mom will be out in a minute. On a call. Some work thing.”
Their Lab, Lucky, came over to give me a lick. I knelt to pet him. “How’s the best dog in the world?”
“He ate an entire piece of chicken earlier,” Tyler said. “You see the shame in his eyes?”
I laughed, noting Lucky’s vigorous tail wagging. “I see no shame.”
“He stole it right off my plate,” Tyler said. “And then made a run for it, out to the yard. He’d eaten the entire thing before I could even get to him.”
“Lucky, youarea bad dog,” I said, giving him another scratch behind the ears.
Tyler led me into the kitchen. “Hunter’s out too. Recording over at Wes’s. Ivy’s in town.”
“That’s exciting.” Ivy James, one of the biggest singers in country music at the moment, was a good friend of Hunter’s. She and Hunter wrote songs together and separately, with Ivy recording many of them. Ivy’s career had exploded in the last year, mostly due to Hunter’s songwriting and Wes’s excellent engineering. I’d heard rumors that she was dating Jack Wilder, another famous country star.
“How’s your summer going?” I asked, sitting on a stool at the island.
“Good. Busy with baseball.”
“Your matchmaking days over?” I asked, teasing him.
“You were our hold out,” Tyler said.
“You kids took a big risk,” I said. “But I can’t lie and say it wasn’t worth it. You rascals pulled it off.”
“I heard we should add Poe to our gang of matchmakers,” Tyler said, eyes twinkling.
“I think he only had one match in him. He doesn’t seem inclined to walk into town ever again. In fact, he’s been curled up on my bed asleep for the better part of two days.”
Seraphina came in, holding out her arms. We embraced, both saying sorry at the same time.
“You guys had a fight?” Tyler asked. “No way.”
“Just a spat,” Seraphina said. “Nothing to worry about.”
Tyler excused himself and left us alone.
“Tell me everything,” Seraphina said, taking my hand and leading me outside to the patio.
“How much do you know?”
“Annie texted Tyler, who told me. Flower bed. Daffodils. Poe running back to the store. Epic.”
“You’re right about Dorian,” I said. “I was just protecting myself.”
“I understand. I felt much the same when Hunter and I were first dating. I pushed him away a few times. Which is why I knew what you were doing and really wished you could spare yourself more pain by doing so.”
“Daffodils were my mother’s flower,” I said. “So they weren’t allowed in the garden.”
Seraphina knew about my mother’s treatment of me. She’d been there at Jon’s funeral. She’d opened her door to me when I learned of my mother’s death the year before. Like it was with us, we could speak in shorthand.
“But I’m letting the past stay there,” I said. “And they’re Annie’s favorite flower.”
“There will be daffodils?”
