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“I believe we established that before.”
“There’s something else.”
“Parker—”
“No, I need to be transparent. I almost had an affair too.”
He didn’t even flinch in disgust. “Your marriage was in a bad place, it doesn’t seem like it was unwarranted.”
“With Edgar,” she blurted.
Then his eyes widened, the only emotion he’d shown up until then. “Edgar? As in your boss?”
She blew out a ragged breath. “It was before I married Gray. We were only in the dating stage. I started working with Edgar and he had a way about him. A charm that he lost somewhere between his third and fourth marriage. I can look back now and cringe, but at the time I’d nearly lost myself in a dark place. I stopped things before they took a step in the wrong direction, but since I’ve carried the knowledge like a weight on my shoulders. I felt if I didn’t perform better than everyone else he would find a reason to fire me. Once I started climbing the corporate ladder, I became more comfortable. He never mentioned what could have been, neither did I, and I thought that was completely behind us. Before I came here, he gave me an ultimatum. I choose to come here and convince Bonnie to sell, or he would fire me.”
Raven’s jaw tightened. “Well, that backs up what I’ve thought of him. Damn weasel. Look, you came far from what happened with Edgar. You proved yourself but giving him leverage to hold over you isn’t the way to live.”
“I needed you to know this.” She didn’t want to discuss her situation any longer. She reached over and touched the pale scarring on his cheek. “There’s more to me than just being a city girl.”
“I understand that.”
“I planned to come out here and tell you that we couldn’t allow things to get carried away again.”
“I had a feeling you would.” He shifted from one dirty boot to the other. “Are you scared that you might not want to leave?” He winked.
Her heart pounded hard. “Iwillleave.”
“You think I can’t handle that?” The levity they had created was lost.
“The last thing I need is a messy romantic situation.”
“Then tell me, Parker. You tell me that you want me to leave you alone, that you don’t want this as much as I do, and I’ll walk away. Yet, if there’s a sliver of you who wants to see things take the next step, then I’m ready.”
“I think we should go to bed.”
“Together?” His smile could have crucified the devil.
Her cheeks warmed. She wouldn’t mind sharing her bed with him. “I think you know your way to the guest rooms.” And with that, she went back inside before she did something very wrong and yet so right.
Chapter Seventeen
Parker took a step back and looked at the flower arrangement she’d put together.
Wishes do come true, and she found that out because after she made a few phone calls to some old colleagues, one of them had conveniently been looking for a florist for a social gathering.
Fortunately, they required one-hundred thirty arrangements. Unfortunately, they needed the arrangements in four days.
Bonnie couldn’t do the work alone, but thankfully she managed to call in some backup. Several ladies from the church had been helping as well as Ophelia Watson who proved she knew her way around flowers. The pretty brunette wore a genuine smile when Bonnie was near, but when Parker was alone with Ophelia there seemed to be an underlying issue. The surly attitude was getting in the way.
While Bonnie excused herself to take a break, Parker took the time to try and smooth out the wrinkles with Ophelia.
“Thank you for helping. We could have never made it this far without you.” Parker looked down at the dozens of arrangements lining the work table.
“Glad I could help,” Ophelia said aloofly.
“You seem know a lot about flowers.” Parker picked out a buttery yellow flower to add with the others she’d placed in an arrangement. She didn’t know a thing about what looked pretty together, or the names of the flowers. Bonnie had given her a ten-minute tutorial. Just as Parker had given to Bonnie on using the new computer that Raven had brought.
“Enough, I guess,” she continued working.
