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Chapter 18
We walked hand in hand to the small booth at the front of the patch of the dirt parking lot, to the sweet old man sitting on a stool. He smiled at us, his wise eyes looking back and forth between Grant and me.
“Good morning, I’m Ollie. How are you two doing today?” I smiled back at him, rocking back and forth on my heels, so excited I could hardly stand still.
Grant answered, “We’re good. Can we get just one tall cup for the flowers?”
Ollie nodded and rattled off a price as Grant handed him cash. As he opened his register and counted back the change, he gave us a small smirk.
“Enjoy yourself.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “My favorites are on the back left of the field.” He winked and I giggled, grabbing the cup from him with both hands.
Grant patiently followed me down the aisles of flowers, holding our cup as I took my time finding each perfect flower and placing it in his hands. He watched me bounce back and forth between the aisles, grabbing tulips, poppies, delphiniums, and roses of all different shades, bearing a small grin on his face the whole time. After thirty minutes of being patient with me, I realized he must be bored out of his mind. I looked up at him and his eyes have not left mine the entire time.
“You must be so bored. I’m sorry. We can go if you’d like? I think I have enough.” He grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together.
“I’m having fun watching you, Hart. Just grab whatever you want and I’ll be here.” I strolled down the aisles, no longer needing more flowers but just being in his presence. Every once in a while, I would stop to point out a specific flower and tell Grant all about it. He seemed interested in everything I was saying, or he was just a really great actor. Either way, I felt relaxed in his presence.
The more Grant and I were together, the easier it became for us to be upfront with each other. It was refreshing. It was a lot easier than tiptoeing around each other. I lightly kicked the dirt underneath my sneakers and headed down another aisle of flowers.
“Are you going to miss work when school is out?”
I laced my fingers in Grant’s hand that rested on my left shoulder. “I don’t necessarily miss my work; staying up till eleven and waking up at five each day is not ideal. But I miss my sweet kids and some of the parents. Some of them make my day, really.”
“I have a lot of respect for your work. I know I could never do that. It’s just not in my DNA.”
I looked up at him. “You don’t think you would do well with kids?”
Grant stilled slightly, and it was clear I struck a chord when I mentioned kids. I backpedaled immediately, knowing I stuck my foot in my mouth by bringing up children to a guy I am barely seeing. “Not that I was thinking about you having kids, I just mean working with them. Or teaching them. I’m not asking if you want kids. That didn’t come out the way I wanted it to.”
Grant looked down and didn’t see my eyes after my word vomit. “I just am not a kids guy, that’s all.”
I felt the need to push that button. “But why though? You don’t have any friends with kids? Or see kids and just want to squish them? I know you probably don’t want them for a while but it doesn’t seem fun to you? Even when they’re a mess, they’re just the cutest mess. Ugh especially when it’s a little chunky baby, or a toddler eating ice cream and they’re getting it everywhere. Oh I love when they-“
He stopped in the aisle and I quieted my rant. “I really don’t want to talk about this anymore.” His harsh voice brought me back to the first day I met him. He was cold and standoffish. I lowered my voice, “Sorry. I’ll leave it.” Even though all I want to do is ask you more questions.
He must have realized his short tone because his face softened and he reached out to brush my arm lightly.
“I’m sorry, Hart. I just am not really in the mood to unpack all of that right now.”
My heart was telling me to push, to ask him all the questions, and try my best to unlock this vault. But I simply nodded my head and laced my fingers through his. He smiled down at me and the mood lightened. I had questions that I wanted to be answered, but I also had this man with me now and I didn’t want to waste our time together.
We walked back to the truck hand in hand. Passing by the older man, Ollie, again, he grinned and waved us off, and I sat in Grant’s passenger seat, rearranging my flowers in the cup till I was satisfied. I pretended not to notice the way Grant kept sneaking glances my way as I played with my flower arrangement.
