Chapter 28
Taylor
It’s been a month since my dad and Conner made a deal and Larson Landscaping became Green Witch Gardens.
Conner insisted on the name change since my dad said nothing could stay the same, and I’m not complaining.
I love it. Especially since the logo looks a lot like my silhouette in a sundress holding up a plant.
It’s sweet, whimsical, and easy to remember, my mom said.
Sounds like some woo-woo shit, my dad teased.
They both approved, wholeheartedly, which was something Conner was nervous about.
The property and everything are still in the process of being transferred, but Conner hasn’t stopped moving forward since the moment he shook my father’s hand, gave him a hundred bucks, and kissed the hell out of me afterwards.
Beep, Beep!
The sound of him driving by my shop sends happiness through my veins. He does that every day as he comes and goes. He’ll likely stop in for lunch. And be back for dinner.
He’s going to move in with me soon, I hope. We haven’t had a chance to discuss it much further than saying his lease is up in another month.
It’s a beautiful day. The sun is shining, my tea is sweet, and I’m in my favorite white sundress and black rubber boots that are caked in mud.
“It’s planting day!” Grace squeals from my front yard. “Are you ready to get dirty, baby?”
I laugh because that’s a line Dean uses in a lot of his thirst traps. Speaking of which—
“Have you seen Conner’s latest post?”
Grace fans herself. “It’s like five hours long.”
She cracks me up. The video is only a minute long, all short clips of him smearing dirt all over himself. But I get what she means. “Really? I thought it was six hours, not five?”
“He nailed that one. I swear he’s been on such a roll lately. He’s glowing with happiness and it shows, girl.”
We make our way to the greenhouse where I have boxes of fresh pots to fill and bags of different soil.
“I love this,” she says, enjoying the variety of old windows that make this place so special.
“Conner and Nick salvaged all these windows and doors and built it for me for my twenty-first birthday.”
“Wow.” Grace seems to appreciate it even more knowing that.
And given all that’s happened, I look around and see it through new eyes too…
Carly and I get back from our girl’s trip super late. The connecting flight was delayed twice, and it was a long way home from the airport thanks to road work. She’s missed her other connecting flight and can’t fly out again until later tomorrow now. She’s crashing at my place.
“I hate it here,” she sighs, staring out the window.
I don’t get why. I love Bear Creek. I don’t want to ever leave.
“The Salt Lick is probably still open if you want to call the guys and have them meet us out. I’m sure they were going to make a big deal for your birthday,” Carly says, yawning.
“No way. My feet and back are killing me. I stink. Plus, I’m still hung over from yesterday.”
“You mean this morning.”
“Whatever.” I can’t even tell what planet I’m on much less what day or time it is. I just know I gotta go to bed asap.
I pull up to my house and see Conner’s truck first. Nick’s is parked opposite his. A frown tugs at my mouth. “What are they doing here at this hour?”
“Probably crashed on the couch waiting for you is my guess.”
For some reason, that makes me happy. I love having everyone over.
And I love my house that’s all cozy and little.
My parents helped me purchase it, and I have the mortgage through them which is the only way I could ever afford it.
I was able to convert the detached garage into a crystal shop, which is connected to dad’s landscaping business.
Gems-n-Stems. Cute, huh? The stems part is still in the works.
I’ve been propagating like crazy to keep inventory costs down, and the orchids I’ve saved from other stores, which I bought at a deep discount, have needed a lot of patience and care to bring back to life.
I’ll get there though. Don’t you worry. Soon I’ll have a thriving business that I built from the ground up, just like all Larson’s do.
“Shhhh,” I whisper, quietly opening my front door and preparing to tiptoe inside so I don’t wake up anyone. But the living room is empty. There is, however, a small fire burning out back and the sound of faint music playing.
Carly opens the back door and then spins around and crashes into me. “Holy shit.”
Her head hit my nose. “Ouch!”
“Shit. She’s here,” Nick says. “Con. Wake up.”
“Hmm?”
“She’s here.”
“I’m here!” I yell behind Carly who, for whatever reason won’t let… me… past… her. “Carly, what the hell. Get out of my way!”
“Let her,” Con says and I’m so confused and tired, I think my mind is playing tricks on me because when I finally grab Carly by her shoulders and forcibly move her out of my way, I’m struck stupid by the sight in my backyard.
“Happy Birthday!” Nick and Conner both yell at the same time.
“Wooo!” Nick does a little dance. “Do you like it?”
My mouth drags on the ground as I slowly walk up to a greenhouse. An actual greenhouse. In my own backyard.
It’s made of different sized windows and doors all painted happy colors. It’s charming and chaotic and perfect.
“We tried to make each one a happy color,” Conner says, scratching his head. “I was shooting for all your favorites. Couldn’t find the right shade orange though so I went with that one for the side piece.”
My heart’s galloping. It’s like I’ve stepped into a dream. “This is all for me?”
Conner follows me inside it like a shadow. “Do you like it?”
“I love it.” My gaze drifts from one beautiful window to the next. There’s even some with stained glass. “Oh my god, I can’t believe you did this.”
“Nick helped. He was able to get a lot of these from work.”
Nick works construction, and he’s got a thing about repurposing as much as possible.
“Is that…” I point at stained glass mural with a girl on a swing that’s hanging from the moon.
“From the library? Yup. They had it in storage, and I was able to make a deal with them for it because they weren’t planning to use it anymore, anyway.”
I can’t imagine what it might have cost him to get that. It was my favorite part of going to the library when I was little with my mom and I cried when they took it out and replaced it with a plain window after it got an expansion.
“We uhh… tried to put in a water line to make things more convenient for you in here, but it wasn’t as easy as we thought it would be so I got you a longer hose that can reach all the way inside here from your house.
” He points at the corner where there’s a long black hose coiled on a wheel.
“I also wanted to put in a little water feature, so you had nice namaste noises too.” There’s a tiny battery-operated fountain on a shelf.
“Thought you could double this place up as a greenhouse and a place to do your yoga.”
I’ve started training so I can get my certification to teach classes.
And this is the perfect place to practice.
Looking up at the ceiling makes me want to cry. I can see the whole sky. “Look at the moon.”
Conner doesn’t respond, so I turn my gaze towards him and realize he’s staring at me. It feels like there’s something more he wants to say. I think we’re both holding our breath.
And God, how I want to kiss him. I want to crawl up his body and wrap myself around him and never ever let go. I want to thank him for always making my life so special and for always having my back and understanding me.
Fidgeting, I twirl my amethyst infinity ring around my finger and wish, wish, wish he loved me like I love him. Not as a friend. As a soul mate.
“It’s late,” I say, because I’m a fucking dumbass with no courage to go after what I really want and risk being shut down and humiliated a second time.
Conner clears his throat. “Yeah. I should uh… get back to my place.”
Nick and Carly stumble in, laughing loudly. “No way,” Nick says.
“Way. It was crazy. I thought for sure we were going to get arrested.”
The energy shift is a harsh relief. “Hey! What happened to what happens on girls’ trip stays on girls’ trip?”
Carly shrugs. “It’s Nick! He doesn’t count!”
“Ooof.” He grabs his chest. “That hurt, girl.”
“You’ll be fine.” She pats his shoulder. “Wow, you guys knocked this out of the park.” She looks around and gawks at everything. “What are the shelves made of?”
“Whatever wood we could get our hands on.”
She runs her hand along a bench. “Is this a church pew?”
“Yup,” Nick proudly beams. “Found that sucker in a barn.”
“Who’s barn?” Conner and I ask at the same time. We look at each other and smile, then wiggle our fingers at each other.
“You guys are wild with your shared brain.”
I wish we shared a heart, but I guess some wishes don’t come true.
“Anyway, this baby here,” Nick taps the top of the bench. “Came from Honey Pete’s.”
There is no way on this green earth I’m going to ask why that old man had a pew in his barn. But now I see the words, “Lettuce Pray” painted on it and I know damn well Nick did that. He has the worst handwriting.
“Huh.” Conner stuffs his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t know you got that thing from Honey Pete.”
“What did you think?” Nick frowns. “That I took it straight out of a church?”
“Hey, it wouldn’t be the first time you did some shit like that,” Carly chimes in.
Nick gawks at her. “Oh, you’re one to talk.”
Conner grabs Nick by the back of the neck. “Okay, time to go home. We all have work in the morning.”
“What time even is it?” Nick asks.
“Two-thirty,” Carly answers.
He stomps around the side of the house, dramatically whining about how he has to lay brick in three more hours so why don’t we all stay up and eat waffles.
Conner kisses my forehead and wishes me a happy birthday one more time before he leaves, dragging Nick with him.
Carly and I make it to the kitchen before she asks, “Cuz, are you sure you don’t want to try one more time with Conner?”