Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
We spent the next few days driving as we traced the outline of the claimed land. When we finally made it back to the starting point, I was feeling a little ill.
“It’s too much.” Total understatement. I had no idea how I’d managed to claim that much, but I’d stopped counting at six states.
Caelan had his arm on the back of my seat, fingers toying with a strand of hair loosened from my ponytail. “You took as much property as you could claim.”
I slid him a look. “I didn’t mean to take anything. Can I sign it over to you or something?” I rubbed my forehead. “Or lease it to you for like a dollar?”
He chuckled. “Depends on whether you’re in this for the long haul. I’ll manage the territory until you decide what to do with it, regardless.”
I frowned, not loving his word choice. “Wait. Are you not in it for the long haul?”
A gentle tug on my hair and a reproving look. “I’m in this forever, flower girl.”
My eyes narrowed. “Then why’d you say that?”
He snorted. “Because just a few short months ago, you were doing everything you could to haul ass from me.”
I didn’t say anything for a long moment. “To be fair, you were freaking me out.”
He dipped his head in acknowledgment. “I’m aware.”
“Something has changed?”
“Not at all.”
I crossed my arms and glared. “Then why are you asking me if I’m in it for the long haul?”
Caelan laughed. “Evie, if you wanted to get married right now, I’d skid this vehicle into the court parking lot and drag you inside.
I’m here for you as long as you want me to be.
” He pulled off the side of the road and stopped.
Turning to me, he gently gripped my chin in his hand. “Stop overthinking.”
He was right. I was overthinking. “You haven’t asked me to marry you in months,” I grumbled.
“Do you want me to start again?” His eyes glimmered with amusement.
“No,” I grumbled. “But maybe ask me once. Later.”
Caelan’s eyebrows flicked up. “Oh?”
I nodded.
“When the time is right.”
I nodded again.
A thoughtful look crossed his face. “Alright then. When the time is right.” He pulled the vehicle back onto the road. “Then I suppose your answer is 100% yes, you’re in it for the long haul.”
“I’m going to punch you,” I growled.
Caelan’s laugh filled the air and settled the knots twisting in my stomach. “We’ll work everything out when we get back. In the meantime, I think we should talk about building a house.”
I blinked. “Here?”
“Mmm hmm. We’ll need to visit periodically to keep up appearances and dissuade others from encroaching.”
“Like Ethan.”
He nodded. “And we should start soon. I’ll handle Ethan.”
“A house,” I mused. “How much land?”
Caelan chuckled. “As much as you want, darling.”
He was really good at being a boyfriend. Or whatever we were. Boyfriend didn’t feel like the right term to describe what he was to me.
I wound my fingers in his. “Can we design it ourselves?”
“I’ll never tell you no, Evie.”
I glanced over. “What if I want a pony?”
“I’d ask you what kind.”
I snickered. “Wait until you see the house plans I come up with.”
He picked up our joined hands and pressed a kiss to the back of my palm. “Do whatever you want. As long as I’m with you, I’d live in a hole in the ground.”
Hot and occasionally spoke like a poet. How could I not swoon over him?
Dryads were gentle creatures, but cross one at your peril. One of our more difficult customers was learning this as Moira and I sat back and stayed the hell out of it.
I’d gotten back the night before, reluctantly saying goodbye to Caelan from the vehicle. It was getting more difficult to separate from him, and while that was scary, I realized I was maturing.
Many things had changed since I’d escaped the tree. I no longer took things or people for granted. And the people around me had done the same. My magic was more balanced, and I no longer had to siphon as much.
Rowan’s theory about being touch-starved had been spot on. As outlandish or odd as it seemed, the moment Caelan had stopped hounding me about marriage and we started forming a stronger, more intimate connection, something inside of me had clicked.
Moira and Ash had always been affectionate, but they’d stepped it up a little. Enough to let me know they cared, but also enough to not make it weird. Even Tess was trying, though she had her own issues to deal with after singlehandedly destroying a powerful fae in an effort to save my life.
Ash was always the one to put a comforting touch on my shoulder or brush a hand over my hair as he passed, and I’d always thought he was the gentlest of all of us.
He’d blown that theory to smithereens today.
The woman was someone we hated seeing come in, but her money was spent as well as anyone else’s, and she hadn’t done anything over the top. Until today.
“Excuse me?” Her voice was right on the cusp of a screech.
Ash’s look could have shriveled even the most violent heart. If they were smart. Which this woman obviously was not.
“Ma’am, we all watched you walk out of here with a stunning bouquet. Every flower was at the peak of health.”
“I beg your pardon.” She could not have sounded more offended if she’d tried, but Ash was right.
If someone purchased a bouquet more than a day old, I personally touched it up before I let it go out the door.
Less than a minute prior to the sale, I’d inspected and boosted every flower and greenery in the crystal vase.
Ash didn’t give an inch. “Your item was in pristine condition when you walked out of here, and our guarantee is the flowers will stay that way for a minimum of seven days.”
A hint of craftiness glinted in the woman’s eyes. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. Several flowers died the same day!”
“And you didn’t think to bring it back?” Ash said, one eyebrow raised.
“Well, it’s heavy…”
“No photos either?” Ash pressed.
“I didn’t think to take any. I mean, I’m a long-time customer and thought my word would be enough.”
Ah yes. We’d officially moved to the guilt portion of the argument.
“I’m sorry, ma’am,” Ash said. “Like I said before, we cannot offer a refund to merchandise that’s not returned to our location so we can inspect it.”
That bouquet had been two hundred and fifty bucks and took hours of work to put together.
If this had been a one-time deal, we would have been more flexible, but this was the third time the woman had requested a refund, and Ash, more so than the rest of us, was over her shenanigans.
“Further,” Ash continued, “this is the third time you’ve been dissatisfied with our work. This begs the question of why you continue frequenting our establishment if we can’t seem to serve your needs.”
The woman blinked. “Well, I’m trying to give you a chance to rectify your mistake—”
Ash snorted. “The only mistake here is that we didn’t ban you the second time you asked for a refund.”
She gaped like a fish before her face turned bright red. “This is appalling treatment! I’ll tell everyone what you’re really like. You just wait.”
“And we will put a sign on the door with a picture of your face on it to warn other local proprietors away from your scams.”
I winced but didn’t interfere.
The woman paled. She took a step backward. “You wouldn’t.”
Ash crossed his arms over his chest. “I certainly would. In fact, I bet if I went out right now and asked around about you, I’d find at least two other businesses tired of seeing you come into their shop, too.”
Her eyes slid my way, her face taking on a beseeching look.
She’d get no help from our corner. I hardened my expression and stayed silent.
“Fine,” she snarled. “Wait until you see my online review.”
“Oh no,” Ash said with mock horror. “Wait until you see our rebuttal.”
Moira covered her face but couldn’t stop the sound of her snicker.
The woman turned on her heel and sailed out the door, two spots of color high on her cheeks. Ash’s shoulders slumped.
I walked over to him and slipped my arm around his waist, giving him a gentle squeeze. “She deserved it.”
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh.
“You alright?”
“I’m fine,” he mumbled. “Mostly annoyed.”
I studied his face, the tight jaw and tired eyes. Concern flared in me. I’d seen Ash tired, but never at this level of bone-deep exhaustion. “Need a break?”
“No, but I may work in the back for a while if you don’t mind.” He relaxed a bit and leaned into my embrace. “How are you?”
“I’m good. How about you head there, and I’ll make you some tea?”
“Don’t bring me anything without milk and sugar,” he said with a shudder.
“I did that one time,” I groaned.
“And may you never live it down.” He scooted out of my embrace and headed to the back. Moira’s eyes trailed him until he disappeared behind the doors.
“You think he’s okay?” she asked.
“He will be.”
“He’s better than he was. Things with him and Tess are close to normal again.
” Their breakup wasn’t as disastrous as it could have been, but Ash had taken it much harder than Tess, resulting in some disruptions for the shop, and to our interpersonal relationships.
We were slowly getting back on track, though I doubted Ash and Tess would ever fully recover the friendship they had before.
“Maybe he’s lonely.”
Moira uncrossed her lean, slender legs and rose, stretching and yawning. “I’ll check on him in a little while. In the meantime, I’ll drop off Hattie’s delivery.”
We upped our game for her regular order. This week’s bouquet was a red, white, and green extravaganza, complete with glitter, bells, and candy canes. “Think it will give her a heart attack?”
“Nah,” she said with a laugh. “Hattie is a feisty thing. I don’t think anything we did would be too outrageous for her.”
“Good.” Hattie was a spry elderly woman and one of our favorite regulars.
She had a standing weekly order for seasonal flowers, with the instruction to be as creative as we wanted.
Keeping in mind her age and the style of her house, we dialed our antics down some, but we always made sure we went for creativity and flair.