Chapter 39
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Athena
I twist the locket around my neck in a circle as I take in the massive delivery that I just signed for.
How is this my life?
My business has reached new heights the past few weeks, and my heart is soaring just as high in my chest.
I’m in love with Liam Wolf.
I don’t need to ask anyone what love feels like anymore because I’m experiencing it firsthand.
I pop open the locket and stare at the pictures of the man and the woman.
The missing pieces of my past don’t matter as much anymore. I didn’t know what my future looked like until now, so the past was what I clung to.
A rap on the shop door turns me right around.
I glance down at my phone.
It’s not even seven a.m. yet. I know it can’t be Liam. He took a call just as we were about to leave my apartment.
He joked with a man named Keats about a missed lunch. I heard him agree to meet him for breakfast today. He asked if I wanted to go with him, but I needed to get here to meet the deliveryman and start on today’s orders.
I inch my way closer to the door until I see my brother peering in.
I toss him a wave and a smile.
He throws me back a big grin before he points at the door handle.
I rush over to unlock it.
“Why the hell do you come to work at the crack of dawn?” Jeremy gathers me into his arms. “I was passing by and saw the lights were on.”
“You were passing by?” I ask with a heavy dose of skepticism lacing my tone.
Brushing a hand over the arm of his black suit jacket, he huffs out a laugh. “I stopped by your apartment last night. You weren’t there.”
I know that his concern is grounded in love. My older brother has always looked out for me. When I was in high school, I was asked to the senior prom. Jeremy insisted on meeting the guy before he agreed to take me to buy a dress.
He wasn’t my dream prom date by any means, but he handled himself well during Jeremy’s interrogation.
“I was out.”
“Smartass,” he tosses the word at me with a wink. “I just want to know if his intentions are honorable, Athena.”
“You might want to jump into this century, Jer.” I roll my eyes before I lower my voice to mimic his. “Were your intentions honorable when you spent the night in Vegas with Linny? Didn’t you two meet for the first time that day?”
A sheepish grin plays on his lips. “Touché.”
“Did you come down here before daybreak to check up on me?”
His gaze falls to the locket hanging around my neck. Jeremy knows the story. He understands that I’ve wanted to patch together my past for years.
“I came here because I love my sister.” He crosses his arms over his chest. “Why don’t you invite him to have dinner with us on your birthday?”
That’s soon. It feels too soon to introduce Liam to my family.
“That deer in the headlight look you’ve got going on is telling me something.” He taps his chin. “If he’s important to you, Athena, we want to meet him.”
I’m touched that he recognizes that Liam isn’t like the other men I’ve dated.
“Give it some thought.” He inches around me headed toward the coolers. “If you feel up to it, there will be an extra chair at our table at Nova for him.”
Nova is the restaurant we always go to when one of us is celebrating a birthday. It’s a family tradition. Jeremy has never offered to add an extra chair for anyone before.
I trail behind him as he heads straight for my workstation. “I’ll think about it.”
He stops mid-step to turn and face me. “I’ll be on my best behavior. I can’t say the same for my daughter.”
I laugh as I round him. “Speaking of Cass, I take it you want a little something to surprise her with when you go back home to tell Linny about this conversation?”
He huffs out a laugh. “She was set to come, but Cass wasn’t having it. She wanted her mama this morning.”
I slide open the door of the cooler and tug two pink roses out of a large bucket. I shove them into his hand. “Tell Linny I love her. Cass too.”
He arches a brow. “Me too?”
Pushing to my tiptoes, I kiss his cheek. “You too.”
As I lock the door of the shop, a hand on my shoulder spins me around fast. I have my key in my hand to use for protection if need be. It’s a trick my mom taught me when I was a kid. I was responsible for getting my younger brothers home from school, so I had a key in my pocket.
We lived in a rental house in upstate New York back then.
We had enough land that we could run through the field and get lost beneath the tall grass if we crouched down.
I’d spend hours chasing Breccan and Zach under the sunshine.
That was our home for less than three months, but I still consider it one of the best places in the world.
Audrey’s hands dart in the air in surrender. “It’s just me.”
I let out a giggle. I had waited an extra thirty minutes past closing time for her to show up to give final approval on the flowers for her wedding.
I texted her twice to ask if she wanted to reschedule, but I didn’t get a reply, so I sent one final message telling her that she could stop by the shop before work tomorrow.
Hurrying to unlock the door, I apologize. “I’m sorry. You startled me.”
She brushes past me when I motion for her to step inside first. “A woman can’t be too careful in this city. You’re prepared in the event of an emergency. I am too.”
She pats the outside of the designer bag slung over her forearm.
I don’t ask what she has in there to fend off a would-be-attacker. Instead, I flick the overhead lights back on and lock the door behind us.
“I just saw your text messages now.” She dips her chin toward the phone in her hand. “I was talking to my fiancé on my way over. Jay. His name is Jay. He’s stopping by to check out the flowers. That’s not a problem, is it?”
Why would it be?
I’ve only ever had amazing experiences when men have joined their fiancées to choose the flowers for their wedding. It’s always a treat for me because I get a feel for the unique dynamic of the couple. That insight is helpful when it comes to suggesting the style of arrangements for the ceremony.
I smile. “It’s not a problem at all.”
Audrey’s gaze leaps over my shoulder to the door just as I hear a faint rap on it. “Speak of the sexy devil. There he is.”
I smile at her choice of words. She’s head over heels for her future husband.
I unlock the glass door and swing it open to find a man with salt and pepper hair and blue eyes hidden behind black-rimmed eyeglasses. “Hi. I’m Athena. You must be Jay. Welcome to Wild Lilac.”