Chapter 15 Duke
DUKE
It’d been three days since John’s passing.
His death still didn’t feel real. I woke up every morning, praying that our new reality was a bad dream, but I was left disappointed instead.
When I’d walked into his house that day, it had been quiet. Too quiet. The kind that immediately puts your senses on full alert. My body could sense something was wrong before I ever laid eyes on him.
His nurse was kneeling at his bedside, a prayer of mercy and comfort on her lips as she looked up to see me standing in the doorway. I braced myself on the wall, hoping he was just sleeping. How could he be gone when we were talking only hours before? This couldn’t be right.
The heart monitor wasn’t making a sound, but I saw the static line. He was gone.
My mind immediately drifted to Olivia and Lukas outside. They believed they were living in a world in which John Hart was still alive, and I had to be the one to tell them otherwise.
It wasn’t fair for them or me. It wasn’t fair that he was taken before he said goodbye. Everything he said to me—the things he wanted to tell Olivia earlier—he’d never get the chance.
I’d never forget the look on Olivia’s face or the way she screamed and clawed at my arm to let her go.
I held her tightly until she calmed enough for me to safely hand her over to Lukas.
When the transport van arrived, the nurse handled the arrangements, ensuring John’s body was safely transferred to the stretcher and taken out of the house discreetly.
I wasn’t sure where Lukas had taken Olivia, but I knew they were still in the house.
I stayed with the girls while we waited for Grady and Cleo to take them home.
I noticed the tear tracks on both of their faces when they stepped out of Cleo’s SUV.
My heart ached for everyone, but I was hit hardest by Olivia’s haunted silence as Lukas escorted her out of the house.
She didn’t speak to me. She wouldn’t even look at me.
It was like I wasn’t even there.
In the days that followed, Harper and I brought meals to Lukas’s house every night, staying late into the evening, shooting the shit with my friend and reminiscing about old memories. The only person absent was Olivia.
She refused any and all invites to dinner, forcing me to drop a separate plate off at her doorstep before I left. Thankfully, Charlie was staying with Grady and Cleo so Olivia could focus on the funeral preparations.
I didn’t pretend to know what she was going through.
Not only had she lost her second father figure and idol, but also her boss and mentor.
Luke had contacted the family lawyer and the Hartstrings board on the night John passed away, so everything that needed to be arranged could be taken care of.
Despite the time he had prior to passing, John hadn’t planned any aspect of his funeral.
A task that Olivia had taken solely upon herself. Lukas and I had both asked if we could do anything to help. We begged for her to give us a task, no matter how menial, but she refused.
Rolling over in bed, I grabbed my phone and checked my messages. Nothing. Just like I expected. Despite knowing better, I had sent Olivia at least two texts a day to check in. She hadn’t responded yet, but that didn’t stop me from typing out another one.
Duke:
How are you?
As soon as I hit send, I cursed. How are you? What kind of stupid question was that? Her world had just been turned upside down. While I was trying to turn it around, I was clearly doing a piss poor job of doing so.
Quickly, I tried again.
Duke:
Sorry. That was stupid. I just meant that I was thinking about you.
Jesus Christ. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse. I’d gone from oblivious to overbearing in a matter of seconds.
I tossed my phone on the couch cushion and let out a low groan, rubbing my hands over my face.
Respecting her silence and her space was becoming increasingly difficult because I knew it wasn’t what she really wanted.
I told everyone the same thing after my divorce—that I was fine.
That I didn’t need help. That I could handle the crushing pressure of being a newly single dad with ease.
And then, when everyone left me to my own devices, I spiralled out of control to the point I almost lost myself entirely.
I didn’t want that for her. Especially if I could do something to help.
Without overthinking too much, I pushed to my feet and hollered to Harper that we were leaving in ten minutes for school.
I found myself sitting outside the local flower shop, staring at the front door as though it were a taunt. Forget-Me-Not might have been closing up, but I knew the owner, Margaret, didn’t let that stop her from keeping a few fresh blooms on hand.
Like most others in this town, I’d known Margaret since I was a kid.
My uncle used to hire her shop to decorate the city’s floats for every holiday parade.
It was one of my favorite memories. You’d think she was designing for some big city instead of a population of four thousand with the way she was executing these massive, over-the-top designs.
And after she was done, she and her daughter would carefully deconstruct them and send them to nursing homes in the surrounding area.
Knowing her as well as I did was precisely my problem.
For as loving as the woman was, she was also one of the biggest gossips in town.
If I walked my ass inside and bought flowers, it’d be everywhere by noon.
It wouldn’t matter the occasion. It wouldn’t matter that John just died.
Rumors would fly, and the accusations would follow.
I didn’t give too much of a shit for my sake, but I did for Harper’s.
Charlie and Olivia’s, too. I remembered the days Harper would come home from school with dried tear tracks on her cheeks because some kid in her class had been running their mouth about her mom just up and leaving her.
They said awful things. Some true, and some not.
I’d heard the same things from patrons in my bar, but I’d been able to shrug them off.
If I bought Olivia flowers, there was a risk of stirring the pot again, but it was one I was going to have to take.
With a final exhale, I climbed out of my truck and bounded up the steps. The bell above the door chimed as it opened.
“Be there in just a minute!” Margaret called from the back.
Seeing the displays empty and moving boxes packed up behind the register left me feeling hollow. I’d meant to stop by for weeks but hadn’t had a chance. Being here now made it feel too real.
“Sorry ‘bout that, sweetie,” Margaret said, wiping her hands on her polka-dotted apron as she appeared around the corner. Her hair, which had always been bright red, was beginning to show signs of gray. “Final delivery just got in. I wasn’t really expecting anyone.” She paused, realizing who I was.
“Especially not you. How are you, young man?”
“Young man?” I grunted, cracking a smile. “Don’t think I’ve been called that for a minute.”
Margaret scoffed. “Well, if you’re not young anymore, I don’t even wanna talk about what that makes me! Now, what brings you to my doorstep?”
I glanced around, not knowing where to start. I was hoping for a small pre-made bouquet I could grab quickly. I didn’t know the first fucking thing about flowers.
“Would you call me a smart ass if I said flowers?”
She gestured toward the sign on the door before crossing her arms. “I could tell that much. I’m old, not blind.”
“Thought we weren’t talking about ages?”
“Do you want to waste my time some more, or do you want some damn flowers?” she asked.
I chuckled, shoving my hands in my pockets. “I want some damn flowers, but I don’t know what kind or anything. I was thinking you might have some put together already that I could grab.”
Margaret’s narrowed eyes widened as I spoke. “This is for a woman, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but—”
I didn’t get a chance to explain before she started clapping excitedly.
“Oh, I just knew you’d get back out there someday!
You know, Donna Harrison told me I was crazy for even thinking about it—she thought you’d take your sulking to the grave—but look at you!
Absolutely glowing.” Then she cackled. “And now I’m twenty bucks richer! ”
This was exactly what I was afraid of.
“Margaret, it’s not like that,” I began, but she shook her head.
“Sure it isn’t,” she said with a wink. “Now, what are you thinking? Roses for a proposal, perhaps?”
“Christ, woman. No. Nothing like that,” I said. “It’s for Olivia Hart. John just died, and I just wanted to do something nice for her.”
Margaret’s face sobered. Something like regret flashed in her eyes.
“Oh, it’s just awful. I didn’t believe it when I heard.
Though I’m not really supposed to be taking on any extra work right now, I called Lukas that very day to offer my services.
Imagine my surprise when it was sweet Olivia who called me back.
Offered me far more money than I’m worth, I’ll tell you that much.
” She paused, lips pursed in concentration.
“I don’t have much, sweetie, but I’ll make you the best bouquet out of what I’ve got.
Don’t you worry. Give me just a few moments. ”
Without hesitating, she hurried to the back.
The store was quiet, so I could make out the sound of Margaret chattering to herself under her breath as she worked.
Every now and then, she’d let out a loud curse before apologizing and continuing on.
Hearing her made me curious as to what she looked like while she was in the zone, but I knew if I stepped foot in her space, I’d likely have a pair of scissors thrown at my head for disrupting her.
So, instead, I stood in the awkward silence, waiting until the moment I heard her give a triumphant little yell and the patter of footsteps. “I’ve got it!” she said, rounding the corner with her creation.