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Even if I was in the middle of helping a customer or in the back working on an order, when it was half past three all I could do was stare at the doors and wait for them. My heart refused to beat until I saw them again.
Daisy blasted through the doors, sprinting to me like an eager puppy. When she barreled into me for a hug, I had to brace myself against the counter. How did someone so small have so much power?
“Daddy has a surprise for you!” Daisy vibrated with excitement and it must have been contagious because the moment I saw Grayson, I wanted to run and jump into his arms like his daughter had just done to me.
“Happy Monday afternoon, sweetheart.” He held out a beautiful bouquet of blue and white flowers. They were large and round with tons of blooms on each stem and they had soft, green leaves wrapping up the sides.
“Are we celebrating those now?” I asked, unable to control the grin on my face that seemed a permanent fixture around him.
“Every day with you in my life is a celebration.” He spoke confidently, shrugging his shoulders like he hadn’t just rocked me to my soul.
“Thank you,” I said, feeling shy. “They’re beautiful, what are they called?”
“Hydrangeas. Gemma told me they represent grace and beauty and, in my journey to help you discover your favorite flower, these seemed pretty perfect.”
A fresh wave of happiness heated my face and I tried to hide it under the guise of smelling the flowers. The thought of Grayson, big and intimidating, standing in the florist shop searching for flowers and asking their meanings was difficult to imagine.
Gemma Moon owned the flower shop,Rose Over Bros, and I’d gotten to know her fairly well in the last year. We’d worked together on a few events and I really respected her talent and professionalism. Even though she was the daughter of legitimate hippies, her name was the only clue to her upbringing. Gemma was a meticulous businesswoman and if she knew that Grayson was buying the flowers for me, I had no doubt that I’d be hearing from her soon.
“She knows they’re for you,” he stated, as if reading my mind. “In fact, she opened a tab for me today and has been sending me pictures and flower meanings since I left her shop. I’m pretty sure I’m her new cash cow.”
Never in my life did I think that a man like Grayson would be bringingmeflowers. I stared into his pool water eyes, so intense, as if he was saying that he had no problem claiming me to every citizen of Little Falls and I needed to get used to it.
My stomach vibrated with happiness. Wait…vibrated? The sensation stopped and I realized it was my phone vibrating in the front pocket of my apron. When it began again, I set the flowers on the counter and gave Grayson an apologetic look as I pulled it out.
“That’s weird, it’s my landlord.” Grayson’s eyebrows pinched together in concern. “Hello?”
16
GRAY
Iwatched Lily’s face transform from curiosity to panic in the short phone call with her landlord. The urge to rip the phone out of her hand and take care of all of her problems myself was strong. She hung up and began tearing her apron off as she faced Benji.
“I have to go; do you think you could close up for the night?”
“Of course, what’s going on?” he asked with a worried expression that probably matched my own.
“I’m not sure, something about an accident and my apartment being flooded.” Lily’s voice had gone up in pitch and I could tell she was close to losing it. It was time for me to step in.
“Cupcake,” I called out to Daisy, “go hop in your seat. Let’s go see what’s going on.” I gently steered Lily toward the door and had her buckled into my truck without a single complaint. She must have been in shock from the call because she seemed surprised when we pulled up to her building.
Tenants had gathered on the sidewalk in various states of dress, trying to see what was going on. I led my girls to the front of the group. Lily pointed, “That’s my landlord.”
There was a short, balding man wearing an old Cowboys t-shirt alternatively talking on his phone and trying to answer questions from the people gathered around.
Placing one hand softly on Lily’s back for support, I held Daisy’s in my other as we walked to him. “What’s going on?” The man flinched when I barked the question at him but I couldn’t help it. Lily was worried and anxious and I needed to help her in any way I could.
“Ms. Reynolds, I’m sorry to have to tell you this but it looks like the water heater in the unit above yours busted and flooded the space. It’s empty right now, so we didn’t know anything was wrong. Your neighbor across the way noticed water leaking out from under your front door and when I went in to investigate, I saw the ceiling had collapsed in your kitchen, letting in the water from upstairs.”
“Oh my god,” Lily said. “How bad is it?”
Her landlord grimaced, and led us upstairs. We stood at the door where I’d picked Lily up for our date only two days ago. The carpet squished underneath our feet when we stepped inside and the fabric of her couch was already soaking up the water surrounding it.
“Oh my God,” Lily said again. I craned my neck to look into her kitchen and there was indeed a massive hole where her ceiling used to be. Water dripped steadily onto the linoleum floor and her countertops were covered in debris.
“I’m really sorry about this, Ms. Reynolds, I have an open unit on the other side of the complex that you can move in to, while we get this figured out.” To her landlord’s credit, he seemed pretty upset at what had happened.
“Um, I guess so. I should probably start packing. Maybe I can stay with Benji tonight.” She said the thoughts out loud but I could tell she was trying to work out what to do more than speaking to any of us.
