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Chapter Twenty-Four
Dean
She’s still not picking up.
I know she said she had tons of work to catch up on during the last few weeks, but I can tell something is different. She’s pulling away from me, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. Hell, I can’t even get her to answer her phone. The only thing I can think of now is to just show up at her door and wait until she speaks to me. Payton’s stubborn and feisty on top of being gorgeous and loyal.
I can imagine that going over well.
But that doesn’t stop me from driving to her flower shop on Saturday morning. Even after she texted me last night after nine and said she just got home and was exhausted from her day and yada, yada, yada. I can feel the coolness that has settled between us.
And I don’t like it.
Not one fucking bit.
Bri is dying to see the flower shop and has not stopped asking questions since we got in the car to come here. Now, pulling up in front of the building and getting out of the car, I’m not so sure this is the best approach. If she hasn’t wanted to spend time with me before, showing up at her place of business, with my daughter in tow as some sort of buffer, probably isn’t going to go over well either.
Oh, well. There’s no turning back now. Bri is already at the door, pulling with all of her might, so I jump into action and help her get it the rest of the way open. As soon as I step over the threshold, I’m instantly assaulted with the scent of fresh flowers. Roses, daisies, hydrangeas, and more, every color under the sun. Not to mention the potted plants and other gifty items like vases and figurines.
I feel bad for not taking it all in the last time I was here, but the last time I kinda only had one thing in mind, and that was relieving the ache in my pants. We didn’t even make it past her workspace. The lights were off so no one could see, but I took her three ways to Sunday on top of that steel table. My balls start to ache as the memory starts to play out. Well, until I hear my daughter yell out that one word that makes my heart beat faster in my chest. “Payton!”
She comes out of the back room, a hesitant smile on her face. But as soon as her eyes land on Bri, the smile is wide and genuine. My daughter launches herself across the shop and straight into her arms. Again with the damn heartbeat thing.
“What are you guys doing here?” she asks Brielle and then glances over at me. Her smile is still real, but I see worry. Something has happened to my spirited girl, and I need to know what. I can’t fix it until I get to the bottom of this.
“We came to see you! I want to see some flowers,” Bri instructs.
“Rachel, can you watch everything? I’m going to give this little lady a tour of the shop,” Payton says to the younger woman at the counter.
“Come over here,” she says to Bri, putting her down and taking her hand. “This is one of my favorite parts of the shop.”
I follow as she leads Bri towards the glass case filled with bright arrangements. “When I first opened the shop, I would come over here and just stare at all the vibrant colors and smell all the gloriously fragrant scents. If the day was particularly stressful, which a lot of them were in the beginning, I would come over here and play with some of the blooms. It always seemed to ground me.”
“Pretty.”
“Yes, they are.”
“Which one is your favorite?” I ask.
She offers me a warm smile. “That would be like asking me to choose a favorite child.”
“I like this one,” Bri says, pointing to an arrangement in the front.
“Oh, me too! If I was forced to pick a flower, I would probably pick those. They’re called forget-me-nots, and most of the time we see them in this pretty blue. But I grow them at my house during the summer and my favorite is these pink ones. I had some brought in earlier this week for a special order. These are the majority of what’s left.”
“I want to see more!”
Payton crouches down in front of Bri. “I have a better idea. How about we make you your own bouquet that you can take home with you?”
“Really?”
“Absolutely. You can help me pick the flowers and everything.”
“Yay! Daddy, I’m gonna work at the flower shop with Payton!”
“Sounds like fun, princess.”
Again, I follow behind as Payton leads Bri to the back room. Together, they pick out a vase, which isn’t surprising at all to be a deep purple color. Then, they head into a walk-in cooler where my daughter picks out bloom after bloom of bright purple, pink, and yellow.
