Chapter One – Harper
Harper
Present Day
The bell above the door to my flower shop, Crazy Daisies, rang, and I glanced up to see my sister Amanda.
“Hey, what brings you by?”
Amanda was holding her six-month-old daughter, Mandy, on her hip as she approached the counter, where I was working on the accounting. Aunt Olivia, my part-time employee, was helping a customer.
“Mom asked me to stop by and make sure you have all the flower displays ready for the Mother’s Day brunch and munch.”
I exhaled. “Does she remember she retired?”
My sister chuckled. “I think she forgets sometimes. I’m honestly surprised she isn’t here helping to make them.”
Fighting the urge to roll my eyes, I smirked instead. “Well, if she were here, she would be pleasantly surprised to know that most of them are finished and in the cooler, ready to be delivered tomorrow. I only have a few more to make.”
“Wow,” Amanda said, her brows raised. “You’re really doing this adulting thing pretty good, aren’t you.”
I laughed. “Well, I am thirty, so I’d hope I’ve got my stuff together.” Pointing to the baby, I replied, “You’re doing the adulting thing pretty darn good, as well.” I leaned in and tickled under Mandy’s chin, causing her to giggle.
She put her hands out for me to take her. Walking around the counter, I swept her right out of my sister’s arms. “Hello, my sweet, darling girl.”
“Ha. You wouldn’t have said that an hour ago when she was throwing a fit. She hasn’t taken a nap today, and if I don’t get her down soon, I’m afraid we’ll have a little monster on our hands.”
I laughed. “God, she’s so cute !”
“Yeah, I think so, too.”
Glancing at my sister, I asked, “How’s Nathan?”
“He’s on a jobsite. A new house is being built on the south side of the lake.”
“Really?” I asked, my brows hitching up in surprise. “Local?”
She shook her head. “Nope. And apparently, he can’t tell me who’s building the house because he had to sign an NDA.”
Gasping, I joked, “Oh, please let it be Taylor Swift!”
Amanda laughed and shook her head. “I don’t think we could ever be that lucky, but that would be fun, wouldn’t it?”
“It would be, until we were overrun with visitors. I like that our little town isn’t that big of a tourist trap.”
“Agreed.”
Mandy started to fuss, so I gave her back to Amanda. “You can tell Mom everything’s ready to go and she can stop worrying. It’s crazy to me that she’s on the board for this event—and she’s a mom! Shouldn’t the guys be doing all the Mother’s Day planning?”
Amanda rolled her eyes. “Please. Men don’t think like women. If we left it up to them, there’d be some hot dogs and chips.”
The bell rang again, and we both turned toward the door to see Sean Gallagher walk in. My ex.
“Why is he here?” Amanda asked in a lowered voice.
Sean and I had broken up a few weeks ago, when he’d decided his future no longer included me. I wish I could say I was heartbroken, but it was honestly for the best. For the last year of our relationship, we’d felt more like friends than anything, and we ended our relationship still being friends.
Of course, my three sisters despised him, and that mostly had to do with the public humiliation I’d suffered when he broke up with me. I was pretty sure Tina put a curse on him as well.
“Not sure,” I replied, plastering on a smile and walking toward him. “Sean. What a surprise to see you here.”
“Yeah. What the fuck are you doing here?”
My head whipped back toward my sister. “Amanda! You do realize you’re holding your child, right?”
Amanda snarled her lip at Sean, who took a few steps back toward the door.
“She’s too young to understand bad words.”
“Are you sure about that?” Sean asked.
He jumped back even farther when Amanda took a step toward him.
“Amanda!”
Aunt Olivia hurried over. “What’s going on, girls?”
Turing to my aunt, I held up my hands. “Nothing, everything’s fine. Amanda was just leaving.”
“Not until I get a hug from that little one,” Aunt Olivia said. “I’ll walk you out, dear.”
When Amanda started to walk toward the exit, Sean quickly made his way around a table and out of her way. She stopped and glared, then made a strange sound with her mouth…almost like she was preparing to spit on him.
My eyes went wide as I started toward her.
“I’m leaving. I’m leaving,” Amanda said, glancing toward me and smiling. “Toodles.”
“Bye, Amanda. Bye, Mandy!”
Mandy smiled a toothless grin at me. Once the door shut, I faced Sean.
He pointed to the door. “I don’t trust your sisters. I’m telling you, they’re into some weird magic shit.”
I made my way back toward the counter. “What do you want, Sean?”
He rubbed at the back of his neck, and I knew what that meant. He had something to say, but he didn’t actually want to say it. Been there and done that with this guy.
When he just stood there awkwardly, I sighed. “Just spit it out. I’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“I need a favor from you.”
Placing my hands on the counter, I stared at him blankly. “Listen, I’m not brokenhearted that we broke up, but if you’re here to ask me to make flowers for a new girlfriend, then I’m going to ask you to leave because that’s just plain shitty.”
He looked confused for a moment, then laughed. “No, I’m not here for that.”
“Then why are you here?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest.
Sean paced to the door and back, then cleared his throat. “We need to start dating again.”
I nearly choked on my tongue. “I’m sorry…what?”
He quickly threw his hands up and said, “Not real dating, just fake dating.”
A bubble of laughter slipped out. “Why? And why would you even think I’d entertain that notion?”
Sean drew in a deep breath and exhaled. “When I told you I wanted to break up, it was because I didn’t see a future for us.”
“Thank you for the reminder, Sean. I, and everyone else who’d been at The Green that day, remember clearly.”
“Harper…I think I’m in love with someone else. And I have been for a while now.”
My eyes widened. “Who?”
“Caroline.”
“Stevens?”
He nodded.
“Wow. I mean, I guess I can see it; your mom and her mother are best friends.”
“That’s not the issue, though.”
“Oookay,” I said slowly. “Care to tell me what is?”
He drew in a deep breath as he pushed a hand through his hair. “As you said, my mother and Viola are best friends.”
I nodded.
“Did you ever get the feeling my mother didn’t…”
“Like me? Yes.”
“The reason is because she and Viola had always hoped that Crystal and I would end up together. It was all they ever talked about when we were growing up. They had us doing everything together. Trick-or-treating, holiday photos. They went on vacations with us, and Crystal and I grew up as best friends. You knew that already, though.”
“I did. So, your mother wants you to be with Crystal?”
He nodded.
“But you love…Caroline?”
Once again, he nodded.
“For how long? She went off to college, then was working in Los Angeles.”
His face turned bright red. “She moved back to town about six months ago.”
“Oh, I see.” I leaned my arms on the counter. Now it made sense his break-up and the distance that had grown between us.
Sean nodded. “She was younger than us, and when we were kids, I always thought she was a little nuisance.”
I couldn’t help but smirk. “But she came back to town all grown up?”
He closed his eyes. “All grown up, and perfect in every way.”
I pushed back to a standing position. “Then just start dating her.”
His eyes snapped open. “She doesn’t know how I feel about her. And she’s dating someone.”
My heart sank for Sean, although honestly, I didn’t know why. He didn’t deserve any sympathy from me. “Oh, well…that sucks.”
He let out a defeated-sounding laugh. “Yes, it does. And now, since we’re broken up, my mother has started pushing me toward Crystal again. So much so that she’s planned a weekend in Boston for the two of us. She left a voicemail on my phone, telling me all about it. Then Crystal called me in a panic. She’s just like me—she doesn’t have the balls to stand up to her mother.”
Good Lord, were these two adults or children who couldn’t stand up to their mommies?
“I’m glad to know you can openly admit that,” I said ruefully. “That was one of the things that always bugged me about you. You let your mother walk all over you. But you and Crystal both need to grow up and tell your mothers to shove off. I mean, you could do it with me , so why not Mommy dearest?”
He shot me a dirty look. “I just need more time, Harper.”
“Time for what, Sean?”
His gaze turned earnest. “I think…I think…Caroline might be attracted to me, but she won’t make any kind of move.”
“I would hazard a guess that’s because she’s dating someone?”
Sean ignored me. “If we start dating again, it would hold my mother off and…”
Sean’s words trailed off.
“Ahh,” I said, as I leaned back over the counter. “You think it might make Caroline jealous.”
“Not so much jealous, but you know what they say. You always want what you can’t have.”
“Sean, there is no guarantee that this would work. And knowing how much your mom doesn’t like me, do you think she’d accept that we’re dating again?”
When his cheeks turned red, I slowly straightened again. “You already told her we’re dating again, didn’t you?”
He scrunched up his face as he shrugged. “I might have.”
I spun around and threw my hands up in the air. “Gah! Sean, I could kill you right now!”
“I know! I know!” He made his way around to me and took my hands in his. “I messed up, Harper. I know . I’m so sorry, and I’ll do anything to make this up to you.”
“You lied and told your mother we’re dating again. Did you ever think that I might be involved with someone?”
His face went white. “Are you?”
Shrugging, I replied, “Well, no…but I could be! I might even like someone, and be getting ready to make a move.”
He raised his brows. “Do you like someone?”
For some reason, an image of Sean’s older brother, Declan, popped into my mind. I wasn’t even sure why; I hadn’t seen him in nearly five years. Not since Sean and I had started dating.
I shook the image away and cleared my throat. “That’s none of your business.”
“Come on, Harper. I’ll do anything !”
I raised a brow. “Anything?”
“You name it, I’ll do it.”
A slow grin crept across my face. “I want two season tickets for the New York Giants.”
His eyes went wide. “What?”
Folding my arms over my chest, I nodded. “That’s what I want. I’ll be nice and say Terrace Center.”
“That’s like four-thousand dollars!”
I gave a one-shoulder shrug. “You broke up with me in public, and everyone in this town looked at me like I’d just lost my favorite puppy for days because of it. People whispered behind my back about how sad it was that you didn’t see me as marriage material, Sean. I actually had people calling, ordering flowers to be sent to me …here at the flower shop!”
He grimaced.
“Besides, don’t think I haven’t forgotten one of your college buddies works for the Giants and you told Gavin once you can get discounts on tickets if you asked.”
Sighing, he shook his head. “Fine, season tickets.”
“Time limit for this little thing? It’s almost summer, and I’ll be missing out on prime dating time.”
Sean laughed, then quickly sobered when I glared at him.
“Um, sorry. I wasn’t aware that you were dating again.”
“I went on a date with Gavin just the other night.”
His eyes went wide. “Gavin?”
“What’s wrong with Gavin?”
When he laughed, I glared at him. “Gavin is a sweet guy, but he was simply being nice by asking me out.”
Rolling his eyes, he said, “Besides, Gavin, are you dating?”
“I’m not currently, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t planning on it. I may have been interested in a summer fling. A girl has to keep her options open, ya know.”
His brows rose. “ You ? A summer fling?”
“Or maybe two.”
“Riiight. Okay, so how much time do the season tickets buy me?”
“Well, it’s the beginning of May, so…I’ll give you until June.”
“One month?”
“That’s the best you’re going to get from me.”
“Come on, Harper. I’m going to be paying a fortune for those tickets. I should at least get until July Fourth.”
When I didn’t answer, he started to pace again—and when the bell above the door dinged and Betty Lou Stark, the town gossip, walked in, Sean crossed back to the counter, cupped my face, and kissed me. “I’ll see you tonight for dinner, babe.”
It took everything I had not to shove him away and slap him. When he stepped back, I narrowed my eyes as he said, “Fourth of July, it is.”
“You little ass—”
“Oh, excuse me. I didn’t realize you two were an item again,” Betty Lou said, as her eyes bounced between us.
Sean smiled. “You know what they say. You don’t realize what you have until you lose it. I’m just glad Harper gave me a second chance.”
Standing behind Betty Lou now, Sean winked at me. I forced myself to smile.
“See you later at my folks’ place.”
I lifted my hand and fought not to give him the middle finger. “See ya later.” Inside, I was calling Sean Gallagher every dirty name I could think of as Betty Lou turned back to me, her hands on her heart and a goofy smile on her face.
“I just love love!”
Tina stared at me like I had grown two heads.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“You sold your soul to the devil for season tickets to the Giants?”
I dropped back onto her bed and groaned. “I know! I let my love of football go to my head.”
“Harp, what were you thinking? He dumped you in the cruelest of ways.”
I covered my face.
“Look, I get that you like the Giants, but you just gave up nearly two more months of your life for…for… Sean !”
Dropping my hands, I dragged myself up into a sitting position. “I felt bad for him.”
Her mouth fell open. “You felt bad for him? For the guy who broke up with you because he didn’t see a future with you? The guy who fell for another girl while you were dating? That guy? You felt sorry for that guy?”
“To be fair, I didn’t see a future with him, either.”
“That doesn’t matter!”
I laughed. “It kind of does.”
She waved me off. “Does this mean I have to be nice to him?”
“Only if his mother is around. Otherwise, you can ignore him. By the way, he thinks you put a curse on him and I’m starting to wonder if you did.”
An evil smile spread across her face.
My two younger sisters were always interested in witchcraft after seeing Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman in Practical Magic . They were convinced they had “the gift” like the two actresses’ characters in the movie. It didn’t help that my mother and father thought it was cute and egged them on.
“Tina,” I warned.
“What? It’s just a little bit of fun. You don’t really think I’m a witch, do you?”
When I didn’t answer, she laughed.
I stood up and hugged her. “I’ve got to go. I wanted to tell you and Amanda first, before you heard it from Betty Lou. She walked into the flower shop while Sean was there, and he planted a kiss on me.”
“Gross. Did you tell Mom and Dad?”
The memory of both my parents laughing still left me feeling bitter. “Yes, and they thought it was funny.”
“Your bleeding heart gets you into these situations. I know you, Harp. You only agreed to do it because you feel bad that he likes a girl who doesn’t like him back.”
“No, I did it because I’m getting season tickets for the Giants. Good seats, I might add.”
She rolled her eyes and folded another shirt from her laundry basket. Tina wasn’t married or currently dating, and she didn’t have any kids. She lived in the apartment above the Timeless Cup Coffee shop, where she works, and was perfectly happy with her life. One of these days, though, the love bug would bite, and she’d be in for a ride.
“I thought you had to leave?” she said, when I made no move toward the door.
Shoving her gently on the shoulder, I said, “I’m leaving, I’m leaving. Will you be at dinner on Sunday?”
“It’s Mother’s Day; of course, I’ll be there.”
“Just double checking,” I argued, as I headed toward the door of her bedroom.
“If Sean is planning on being there, I’m dressing in all black!”
I laughed as I headed out of her apartment.