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“Thanks.” She ran her finger over the plastic flowers in the little plastic vase.
Jacob laughed when he figured it out. “Is that a crocus?”
She nodded.
He shook his head and laughed again. He couldn’t help it. “Crocus in a Focus?”
She gave him a shame-faced smile. “Yeah. I got Fred after graduation – he was old then. My friend at school got a new VW Beetle. I don’t know if you know, but they come with their own little bud vase and a big smiley face daisy. I thought it was awesome. I wasn’t worried that I didn’t get a new car, but I was so jealous of that flower!” She laughed. “I went out and found a vase for Fred and I bought him his very own crocus.”
Jacob couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. “What about the other one. What’s that?”
She ran her fingers over the bright blue one. “It’s a cornflower. I got that one while I was away at college. The state flower of Kansas is the sunflower. I love sunflowers, but it didn’t seem very original. And to me, the flower that reminds me most of home is the cornflower. They’re just such a pretty blue. They used to grow along the side of the driveway on the farm – they still do. I … they just remind me of home.”
She took the flowers from the vase and then shook her head and put them back. “If he’s going to stay here for a while, I don’t need to take them out yet, do I?”
“No. You don’t.” He was so tempted to tell her that she could stay here for a while, too. But he still felt like he needed to build up to that. It was a crazy thought. She was right when she said that they barely knew each other. He could be laying himself open to all kinds of trouble. But he knew that he wouldn’t be.
She swung her legs out and Jacob got back to his feet. When she climbed out, she stood before him and looked up into his eyes. “I’d love to find a way to stay here, but I don’t think I’m going to be able to do it.”
He rested his hands at her waist and looked down into her eyes. “Stay with me.”
She frowned. “I … you still want me to?”
“I do. But I think you’re just talking about tonight, and I’m not.”
“What do you mean?”
He sucked in a deep breath before blowing it out slowly. “This is going to sound crazy, and it might well be crazy, but it doesn’t feel it. I’m saying … I’m asking you, to stay here with me.”
She still looked confused, and he couldn’t blame her.
“I rattle around in this big old place by myself. I have more room than any one person could ever need. Come and stay with me. You wouldn’t need to look for another place. You could break your lease because you wouldn’t need to find the money for a new place. You could even give Aiden his half of the deposit back – if you want to.”
Her eyes grew wider and wider as he spoke.
“I told you it might sound crazy.”
She pressed her lips together. “I couldn’t do that. I … it’s so kind of you to offer, but …”
“But what?”
She shook her head. “I just couldn’t.”
“You can’t? Or you don’t want to?”
She swallowed visibly. “I … it wouldn’t be fair to you.”
He cocked an eyebrow at her. “From where I’m standing, what wouldn’t be fair to me would be you saying no.”
“How?”
“I like you, Becca. I’ve already told you that I want to see where this can go. If you leave and go back to Kansas, I doubt we’ll ever get the chance to find out. If you say no to coming to stay here with me, it looks like Kansas is your only other option.”
“I … I could rent a room from you.” He could see that her mind was racing, and he was thrilled that she wasn’t sticking with a hard no but renting her a room couldn’t be further from what he had in mind.
“No.”
She pressed her lips together, still looking stunned.
