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“I’m sold. Orchids it is, then.”
She wanders around the office for a while, but I see her smile fade a little more with each step. “Okay, I guess I should get going. I have a lot of paperwork for the shop I need to get finished.”
“You do the paperwork yourself?” I ask, partly because it’s surprising and partly because I’m desperate to get her to stay a little bit longer. I haven’t felt this interested in a woman in a long time, and I’m not eager to let the feeling…or her… go.
“Someone’s got to.” She sighs. “Maybe one day the shop will be making enough money that I can outsource to a bookkeeper, but for now it’s not really feasible. So, I do all the paperwork. And all the ordering. And the stocking. And running the place.”
“You don’t have employees who could help?”
Cali shakes her head. “Not with that. We have three part-timers for the weekends when we’re busier. But it’s just me and my sister, Mari, and our delivery girl during the week. We started the plant shop together a few years ago. It was her dream, but she couldn’t do it alone. I agreed to help her because she’s my sister and I love her. When she asked, I couldn’t bring myself to say no. Don’t get me wrong, I love the customers at Dirty Hoes, but ever since Mari’s husband left her and their two kids, things have been rough with her needing extra time away from the business and I’ve had to pick up the crumbling pieces and often I feel like I’m crumbling, too.” She rushes through the final words and then looks like she’s released something that was a mountain of information. “I’m sorry. That was a lot of info I shouldn’t be telling a new customer.”
I can see the weight that the business has put on her. I understand that commitment level.
She walks to the enormous office picture window, the rays of sun dancing off each delicate curve of her face. I meet up with her and place my hand on her shoulder, a gesture which beckons a soft gasp from her chest as she turns and looks up to me.
“I know what it’s like to have to take care of your family, Cali, and I know what it’s like to have someone absent when you need them.” I take a deep breath. “My father left us when I was eight. He had an affair and got another woman pregnant. Basically left us to up and start a new family somewhere else because he liked them better—his words, not mine. I only saw him once after that, then I decided I would take care of my mother and that she would be enough for me.”
“Oh, Quill,” she says, taking both my hands in hers and squeezing. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. I have to remember we all have struggles in life. I shouldn’t be complaining about mine.”
“No, I want to listen… to you, Cali.”
Her hands, so soft and warm, send a pulsing up both arms that floods all my senses and has every bit of me on fire. Her eyes gleam up at me with empathy, and I wonder if every other bit of her would feel just as soft.
I shrug. “But it was a long time ago. I’ve forgiven my father for not being there for me. I couldn’t keep that pain stewing inside of me. He hasn’t reached out to me in years, and I don’t even know where he is anymore. Point is, I know how hard it is to take care of everything by yourself. It’s exhausting.”
“It is.” She pulls her lower lip between her teeth, eyes smoldering as she stares up at me. I want to pull that lip out with my own teeth, feeling the soft, plumpness under mine, but this is a business visit.
I open my mouth, but she beats me to the punch.
“Would you like to come over for dinner tomorrow?”
“You don’t have to work at the shop?” I ask, cocking my head to the side.
“No, Mari’s going in. I’m staying home to get paperwork due to the state done tomorrow.”
I nod. “I’d love to but let me bring dinner.”
Her smile widens. “Now that’s a deal.”
