Seven
Sylvie
Scowling at the space in the trunk is not going to magically make the spare tire appear. Nope, not gonna happen, because I put the spare on a few months ago when I got a flat taking an order to a house in the middle of farm country. I think I ran over a nail that time.
Things got so busy, I forgot to replace it. Two tow truck places have said it’s going to be hours before they can get to me because there has been a huge accident and they’ve been called there to help clear the roads.
The flowers in the back of the car aren’t quite wilting yet, but if they’re out in this heat much longer, they’re going to be ruined. Bringing dead flowers to my client is bad enough, arriving late. Ugh, I can’t abide being late.
I can’t even call Renee to come help because Maria called out sick today, I can’t close the store because she is meeting with a potential bride. Grams would be here in a heartbeat if she was in the state. Not that she could do much to help with my flat, but she could take the flowers. Anyone else I can ask is in work.
This is a nightmare. I call the tow company again, but they just repeat the same spiel. At least two hours.
The sound of a car nearing draws me out of the spiral. I turn to see a truck pulling up. Thank heavens, is this someone coming to help? Putting my hand over my forehead to shield my eyes, I watch as the door opens.
And Ryan steps out. He pushes his door closed and walks over, looking at my open trunk, and the tire iron in my hand.
“Hey, I thought that was you,” he stops by me.
He smells like summer rain and fresh air. Is that even a thing? This is not what I was expecting today. Seeing him again isn’t something I thought would happen. And here he stands, looking at me with concern.
“Do you need help?”
“I don’t think a truer statement has ever been said,” I try to laugh it off.
“Your spare in here?” he walks to the trunk before I can tell him not to. He glances in, then up at me and around the floor. “No spare?”
“Yeah, but…” I point to the front tire.
“Ah,” he nods. “Didn’t get it replaced?”
“Stupidly, no. It slipped my mind. And there are no tow trucks available right now. My flowers are wilting and a client is waiting. No one can come pick me up and-” I put a hand over my face and stop ranting at him.
“Relax,” he steps closer. “The tow trucks are out handling a crash I just came from. It was pretty bad.”
“Oh, crap.”
Ryan smiles crookedly at me. “I have a spare, but it won’t fit your car. How about I give you a ride to a garage and we can get a tire and bring it back here.”
“No, I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not asking. I’m offering. Besides, I’m not about to drive off and leave you here like this.” He looks through the window at the flowers. “Where do they need to go?”
“My client has a baby shower this afternoon. In like,” I glance at my watch and almost faint. “Half an hour.”
“Sylvie, take a breath.”
His hand is on my arm. I stare at it for a moment. He pulls it back and I already miss the warmth and comfort it provided. He has such a calming assured nature.
“Let’s move them to my truck and we’ll deliver them, then go get you a tire,” he steps back and opens the rear door of the car. “Maybe you should handle them, I don’t want to drop anything.”
Before I can argue again, he heads to his truck to open the rear door. I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Regardless of our very brief, very embarrassing history. He’s saving my life right now.
Together, we get the arrangements into his truck, I lock up the car and climb in, giving him the address of the baby shower. While he drives, I call the client and let her know I’ll be there in ten minutes, apologizing profusely.
“Hey,” Ryan says when I hang up. “It’s all good. They’ll get their flowers and we’ll get your car back on the road.”
“Don’t you have work, or things you need to do?”
“I’m off shift for three days, I got time.”
“But… It’s me,” I say.
Ryan glances at me, a little frown line appearing between his brow.
“You know, the woman who lied and embarrassed herself.”
“Forget about that,” he looks away for a moment to check the road. “I’m not holding it against you.”
Well, that’s unexpected. Doesn’t stop my cheeks turning pink.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” he says with a grin. “Okay, we’re here. Let’s do this.”
He pulls up on the driveway and hops out, going to the back of the truck to get the flowers. The front door opens and Ursula, my client and Adeline her mom come hurrying out of the house. Ursula is sweet and friendly and is the one I’ve dealt with the most.
Her mom is not great, very picky and a little difficult. The annoyance is written all over her face as she charges towards Ryan’s truck.
“I’m so sorry I’m late, I got a flat tire,” I say.
“We have guests arriving and the florals aren’t here. My daughter will be here in less than an hour for her surprise and we have to get everything set up,” Adeline snaps.
“Mom,” Ursula tries to calm her down. “She’s here now, we can get this done before Daniella gets here.”
“We have paid a lot of money for these flowers. We don’t need the stress of them arriving late. They better be as we expect them to be.”
Ursula has always backed down to her mom during our appointments. I don’t think she is going to save me now. The client is always right. And I am late. I apologize again when Ryan steps up from behind me holding one of the larger floral arrangements.
Both women look at him. Ursula’s mouth drops open. I get it, he looks gorgeous in his tight white t-shirt and dark blue jeans. His dark hair was tousled when he stopped to help me and it isn’t any straighter now.
“Should we put these inside so you can get ready for your party?” he asks Adeline. His smile is tight, but it seems I’m the only one who notices.
“Well, I suppose she can be forgiven,” Adeline gives Ryan a smile as if I’m not there. “But we expect better service and a certain level of professionalism in appearance.”
She eyes my yellow Capri pants. I glance down and see mud smears on my knees. Oh hell, I didn’t even notice that. It must have happened when I was kneeling down on the road to check the tire. And my hair may be a little disheveled from running anxious hands through it. I’ve probably chewed my lipstick off too.
However, my service speaks for itself and I’m proud of what I do. Yes, I may be late but… all the fight goes out of me, my need to apologize again rears its head.
“I think you’ll find that Sylvie’s service is excellent,” Ryan steps up to my side. He nods to the arrangement he’s carrying. “Her flowers are beautiful and delivering your order is a touch you don’t get from most florists. We might be a little late, but we’re here now.”
All of us are staring at him. I can’t believe he is standing up for me like this.
“Mom,” Ursula gives me an apologetic look. “Let’s get them inside and set up.”
Ryan waits while I pull a tray of small table decorations in baby blue and pink watering cans from the back of the truck.
“Do you deal with people like that a lot?” he leans in close to ask me.
Tightening my grip on the tray, because dropping it in front of Adeline would show my lack of professionalism, I duck my head but lift my eyes to his.
“Not usually. I get the occasional bad bride or mother of the bride but normally I can handle it.”
“You shouldn’t have to handle it,” he says with a frown. “Things happen, people should be more understanding.”
I shrug, not sure what to say to that. I’m still overwhelmed by everything he is doing for me. After what I did to him, he should have driven past and left me stranded at the side of the road.
“Come on, let’s get this inside so we can leave her to her party.”
He winks and walks away. I, on the other hand bang my head on the doorframe. Classy.
Trailing behind, resisting the urge to rub my head, we go out into the huge rear garden which is decorated for the baby shower. There are a number of tables set out where the center pieces are going, so I walk around putting a watering can decoration on each one.
Ryan comes and goes, bringing in the bigger arrangements and follows Ursula’s instructions.
Two other woman have come over to Ryan to ‘help’. Others are watching with unadulterated interest. I pretend to ignore it.
We get everything inside and while Ursula thanks us profusely, Adeline is still bitching about how they have so much to do before Daniella arrives. Despite all the attention he is getting, Ryan is watching me. If he is waiting for me to say something back, it’ll be a long time.
I don’t like confrontation but I will always defend my business. Just not right now. I don’t have the mental fortitude to take on a woman like Adeline. Not today.
“We done?” he comes up behind me.
“Yes, all done.”
He sets his palm on my lower back and guides me towards the house. I give Ursula a wave, she eyes his hand and gives him a longing look. As we step into the kitchen, I hear a woman talking about how she’d like to take a delivery from him any day of the week.
I turn to her, about to demand she apologize for speaking to him like that but Ryan just guides me away, with a small shake of his head. He holds my door open and waits till I’m inside, then shuts the door, hurrying around to his side.
His eyes stay on me a moment, but I keep looking through the windshield. Ryan turns on the truck and backs out of the drive.
After a short while, I side-eye him. “Does that happen often?”
“What?”
“Women saying things like that.”
Ryan ducks his head. He has one hand on the wheel, the other is resting on his thick, muscled thigh. Oh God, stop ogling him. Now you’re doing it too.
“I was more irritated at that woman’s insinuation you aren’t professional because you were a little late.”
“It’s understandable.”
“No it’s not. No one should be spoken down to like that.”
“It doesn’t happen that often,” I admit. “Most of my clients are lovely. They were stressed about getting everything ready on time.”
“That’s no excuse for rudeness.” He looks at me a little longer then focuses on the road. “Anyway, do you have a garage preference?”
“A what?”
“For your tire?”
“Oh, I’m not sure.”
“I know a place, they’ll give you a good price.”
That’s another thing. How much is it going to cost to get a new tire and have it fitted? I keep that thought to myself. My finances aren’t that worrying, but I haven’t budgeted for unexpected tire replacements.
Ryan pulls up at a garage and is greeted by the three men like they’re old friends. I stand beside him and answer questions about the make and model of the car and one man goes to get the correct sized tire for us.
Ryan hangs around while I pay, what I suspect is a heavily discounted price given how Ryan had a quiet word with the man beforehand. When I come back out onto the shop floor, Ryan is busy loading the tire into his truck.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking you back to the car and changing the tire,” he says.
“You don’t have to do that. I was going to get the tow truck to bring me here.”
“The tow trucks that are still too busy to help,” he slams the trunk door and turns to face me.
“I can wait, now that the flowers are delivered.”
“Sylvie, I’m taking you back to your car, and either I can change the tire, or you can, I’m not gonna argue about that,” he smirks. “But I’m not leaving you here waiting for a tow truck. Let’s go, daylights fading.”