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Part of me had hoped that maybe I could stay here but even if I was mentally able to put up with all of the terrible memories inside of the house, I doubt that it’s physically safe to stay here.
I guess that I’ll be staying in the hotel after all and this doesn’t look like it will be the quick trip home that I was hoping it would be.
“Dammit,” I sigh as I take one last look at the house and climb back behind the wheel.
ChapterTwo
Evangeline
“Don’t forget the Zebra Cakes and the popcorn!” my mom calls to me as I head out to do some grocery shopping.
“Got it!” I call back.
I can barely hear her over the sound ofWheel of Fortuneblaring over the TV speakers. She calls out an answer as the door closes behind me and I can hear her clapping when she gets it right.
My mom is quite the character. She raised me as a single mom and has always been the outspoken one. She was the mom who knitted me sweaters and accidentally signed us up for pole dancing classes when I was sixteen. She had meant to do Zumba and I’m still not sure how she managed to mix those two up. The classes had been fun though.
I’m happier in my garden, soil under my nails and a giant sun hat covering my pale skin. That doesn’t stop my mom from always trying to push me out of my comfort zone though.
There was the blind date the other month that never actually happened since the guy stood me up. I didn’t even know that it was a date. I thought that I was just meeting my mom for dinner and when she never showed up, I had driven home in a panic only to see her in her recliner, happily watching her shows. It was only then that she admitted that she had set me up with someone. She was furious that he hadn’t shown up but I think that I dodged a bullet.
She’s always pushing me to meet new people, especially men, but I’m beginning to think that maybe dating and settling down like that just isn’t for me.
I hop into my truck, smiling when I see The Garden Goddess logo on the side. I’m getting ready to open my nursery and flower shop next week and I’m so excited. I’ve been working toward this dream for years and it’s finally about to come true.
I head down our long driveway and into town. We live close to the edge of Rosewood and it’s going to take me close to ten minutes to get to the grocery store.
Rosewood isn’t that big and it only takes about twenty minutes to get from one side to the other. It’s the kind of town where everyone knows everyone else and all of their dirty little secrets.
I wave at a few people, slowing and pulling over to the curb when I see my childhood friend, Sydney, outside of her new apartment.
She just moved back to town a few days ago and it’s been great having her back in town. She’s still getting settled and we haven’t had much time to catch up yet but I’m hoping to fix that soon.
“Hey, Syd!” I call and she looks up, pushing her mane of dark brown hair out of her face.
“Evan!” she says, coming over to the side of my truck.
“Where are you off to?”
“I’m out job hunting. It doesn’t look like there are that many places hiring,” she says with a sigh.
Her green eyes dim and I know that she’s getting nervous that she hasn’t been able to find anything. I’m sure that she has student loan payments that need to be paid and she lives with her grandma who raised her.
“I’m sure that you’ll find something soon! I’ll keep my eye out for you and maybe The Garden Goddess will take off and I can hire you,” I say with a grin.
“I’m rooting for you! Do you need any help getting stuff set up?”
Sydney studied interior design at college and I know that she’s going to have a hard time finding something in that field in this town.
“Want to come see how I set it up? Maybe give me some pointers?”
“Sure! I’ll stop by later today?”
“Perfect. I’m just running to the store to grab some groceries. I’ll grab us lunch after I drop that off and meet you at the nursery?”
“Sounds good. I meant to text you. I ran into Rowan and she was asking about setting up a girl’s night soon.”
“Yeah, I wanted to set one up too. I’ll start a group chat later,” I promise and she smiles and waves at me as we say goodbye and head down the road to the store.
