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After I give her the delivery address and credit card details, I nearly go into cardiac arrest over the extortionate cost of a fucking plant, then hang up the phone.
Glancing over to the calendar on the wall, I take note that it’s Valentine’s Day in precisely two days, and a smile curves on my lips as a flurry of excitement swirls in my belly. And it’s not from thinking about the look on her face when the bouquet arrives; it’s in anticipation of what she will do after.
CHAPTER1
MACKENZIE
My head pounds with each foot I put in front of the other, the relentless pain beating through my skull like a drummer lashing out his fury during a heavy metal rock concert.
Rubbing my temples to ease the pain, I continue my slow trudge down the street, all the while mentally chastising myself for my poor choices in life.
The hangover currently making my morning an insufferable hell being the number one poor choice of all.
I’m never drinking again.
Ever.
Famous last words, I know, but even the thought of looking at a margarita right now has the bagel I shoved down my throat—before dragging my sorry ass out of the house this morning—teetering on the edge of exploding all over the sidewalk in front of me.
And it’s all my best friend Lexi’s fault.
It’s Valentine’s Day today, and with Lexi having just broken up with her boyfriend Adam a week ago, she’d insisted on dragging me down toThe Welllast night for karaoke.
I had every intention of being nothing more than a spectator, eating my weight in a ridiculously large calzone and laughing my ass off at anyone brave enough to get up on stage and make a spectacle of themselves.
However, after we’d drowned oursingle-statussorrows in copious amounts of triple-shot margaritas, along with shots of tequila for good measure, somehow Lexi had me convinced that I harbored some hidden vocal talent that was yet to be discovered. And before I knew what was happening, my inhibitions were cast aside, and blatant acts of stupidity had moved in to take its place.
I cringe internally, thinking back to last night and my five minutes of fame as I belted out the lyrics to‘I Kissed A Girl’by Katy Perry while practically half the town cheered me on.
At the time, I was thoroughly convinced that I had the supreme vocal range of Christina Aguilera. But now that the alcohol-induced haze has cleared and my recollection of events comes filtering back, the memories of my high-pitched off-key voice screeching through the microphone have my body recoiling as flames of embarrassment surge through me.
Which reiterates my earlier declaration.
I’m never fucking drinking again.
And if anyone dared to record my humiliating debacle on their phone, I will make it my mission to ensure they meet their timely demise at the bottom of the Fork River.
“Good morning, Mackenzie,” Elena greets me as she exits the local coffee shop,The Flying Bean, with a muffin in hand and the scent of freshly brewed coffee wafting out the door before it closes behind her.
“Morning, Elena.” I give her a warm smile and stop without hesitation for a quick chat.
It’s the way of life here in the quintessential small town of Clark Falls. With a population of just under four thousand, everybody knows everybody, and making time for each other is just how we roll.
“Busy morning?” I ask, but with it being Valentine’s Day, I have no doubt her morning has been madness. Elena owns the local florist in town and has lived here her whole life. A widow well into her fifties, Elena opened the doors toBlushing Bloomswhen her husband passed away several years ago to make ends meet.
They were tough times for her and her family, but Elena is one of the most resourceful people I’ve ever known. So with a bit of hard work and sheer determination, she turned Blushing Blooms into a thriving business. So much so that she has customers traveling from neighboring towns to purchase her one-of-a-kind bouquets.
“Busy is putting it mildly,” she mutters with a roll of her eyes. “It’s absolute pandemonium. You wouldn’t believe how many unorganized husbands I’ve had banging on my shop door before opening hours this morning and practically offering up the deeds to their homes to grab the last of my stock. Tony and Ronald ended up in a bidding war over the last dozen red roses.”
A giggle bubbles up my throat at the image of those two again going to war. Tony Stevens and Ronald Carter have been sworn enemies their whole lives.
No one knows exactly what happened to cause the rift between those two old geezers, but from the stories I’ve heard, their rivalry dates back to their high school years.
To make matters worse, they also happen to be neighbors and have been for the past thirty years because neither one of them is willing to move. So like two stags locking horns over a territory, the ongoing battle between them has escalated to the point that our town sheriff has had to intervene on countless occasions. Thus making the stunts they’ve pulled on each other over the years a great source of entertainment for our otherwise sleepy little town.
“So, who won?” I ask with genuine curiosity.
“Oh, neither.” She chuckles with mirth. “Some rich tourist here on vacation with his wife took them both out when he slapped three hundred dollars on the counter.”
