Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
June
Living in a small town had turned me into a nosy bitch.
My eyes were glued to the front window of my flower shop. I watched as Dallas led the gorgeous woman who’d nearly run me over last week from the cafe back to Whynot Stay. They were laughing. Smiling.
Madi.
They looked really cute together. Both tall with dark hair. Like a movie star couple.
I leaned forward over the arrangement I was working on. I didn’t tear my gaze away until Dallas’s muscled back disappeared behind the handcrafted wooden door.
Fuck. Jealousy was ugly. I had no real reason to be jealous, either. I wasn’t dating Dallas. Dallas was just a friend. I was pretty sure he saw me as an extension of Avery, therefore I was firmly in the “little sister” category.
Liar.
It was the lie I’d been using to soothe myself. The problem was that it had a fatal flaw.
That one night.
I’d told myself it was a mistake. It had been a mistake, because since then, nothing had been the same between us.
Anytime I saw him, I thought about the way his lips had felt against mine.
Sparks popped up my spine as he’d yanked me against him, rough and demanding. Our lust searing me like a brand.
I’d known Dallas my entire life and there’d never been a single drop of attraction between us.
One kiss had ruined it all.
Which made the ugly cluster of feelings in my chest even worse.
It didn’t help that Dallas wasn’t just attractive—he was a mechanic, a volunteer firefighter, regularly helped our community, and had a fucking little free library in his front yard. He read books, for god’s sake. Real books.
Not to mention he had the prettiest damn eyes I’d ever seen on a man. They were like two windows to what he was really feeling. His heart reflected there—stormy when he was upset, sweet when he was happy, and troubled when he looked at me.
Kissing him had been a mistake. A mistake I’d told no one about. Not even Avery or Evie. It’d been nine months since his rough hands had lifted me onto the porch railing at Avery’s house and he’d kissed me into the new year until stars spun around us.
But then I panicked.
“Dammit,” I sighed.
I needed to pour all my untapped sexual energy into either another tattoo or prepping all the orders I needed to have ready by Monday.
At least the wedding had gone well. Bridezilla had mellowed out and had started crying happy tears over how gorgeous the flowers were. Ironic, considering how she’d treated me Friday, but it was all over.
I dropped my shears on the counter and rolled my shoulders.
My flower shop blossomed around me, the crisp scent of roses and plants sweetening the air.
Like Avery’s art studio, my shop was full of color.
Not only from the countless floral arrangements that would be picked over by the end of the day, but from the pink walls, my olive green tiled counter, and the burnt orange velvet stool I sometimes perched on when the day was slow.
Rarely was there ever a slow day, though. Even my Sundays were packed.
My phone beeped and I peered at the screen as a couple notifications came through.
“Oh god.”
The video I’d posted early this morning about my custom mums was getting a lot of views. Excitement was a trapped bird in my chest, followed by wing-fluttering nerves. Already, a couple orders from other towns in Texas had come through.
My phone lit up again and I casually peeked. Ugh. This time, it wasn’t a good notification.
Alice Moore
Why are you not texting me back? Are you really so busy you can’t even respond to me, June?
I wish I had a daughter who loved me
Well, I wished I had a mother who loved me. I cleared the text message, tension simmering between my shoulders as another order came in.
The last video someone in our friend group had posted that went viral was Mateo’s, and it was literally just him getting dressed in his stupid firefighter uniform.
My theory was that it went viral because of his mustache and suspenders.
I’d heard Levi and Avery wax poetic about those two things on more than one occasion over a meal. It was really cute, actually.
One thing I’d grown a new appreciation for was how much Mateo and Levi loved Avery and each other. They gave me just a shred of hope that one day I’d be scooped up and shown that I was lovable.
Until that day, I remained convinced I wasn’t. At least not romantically. I could probably blame that feeling on a lot of things—my mother constantly berating me for not being perfect, the fact that I was never good enough, or even my own personal hang ups around relationships.
In a perfect world, I could jump straight into a long term relationship with someone who knew all the broken parts of me and wouldn’t break them more. But to get there required vulnerability, and vulnerability required letting someone see the sticky parts of me I kept all to myself.
At least I got to see my best friend be happy. Now, I just needed Evie to find someone (or someones), and our lives would be all set. Because falling in love was certainly that easy.
Until the hero showed up at my doorstep, my one true love was running my shop.
Mum season was breathing down my neck. It was a Texas tradition for the homecoming game that if you were taking someone with you, you got them a corsage the size of our state.
I swore, they’d gotten bigger and bigger over the years too.
I was drowning in boxes of ribbons, trinkets, and all the other things needed to make mums. By the end of this month, almost everyone going to homecoming in Whynot would be wearing a corsage handmade by yours truly.
After this, I’d have a small break before the holidays truly hit—which were never as intense. I usually breezed through them until Valentine’s Day rolled around, then it was another two-week nightmare.
Even with all the work of running my own business and the occasional nasty client, I loved it.
About five years ago, Lisa, the local shop owner, had been ready to retire and I’d happily taken up the torch.
For as long as I could remember, flowers brought me joy.
They grew so easily with love and care and a little understanding.
Some days that meant my spine felt twisted from hunching over the work table or my hands were covered in a thousand nicks from rose thorns.
But it was all worth it. I’d built myself something I could be proud of. And most days, I was.
My phone lit up again and I craned my head as another custom order came through, followed by yet another text.
Alice Moore
Seriously, you can’t be that busy, June. No one buys your flowers. They’re always wilting anyways
Well, at least she hadn’t called me names yet. I silenced her messages and tossed my phone down, shaking my head as I fought the tremble rolling through my body.
Without fail, she always made me feel small. But I’d be damned if she’d ruin my day for more than two minutes.
So many times, I’d considered leaving Whynot.
I could get away from her. Away from the nosiness that was default around here.
Whynot was a small town that didn’t have the allure of a city.
It was quaint and quiet and mostly peaceful, aside from when we had tourists rolling through for festivals.
The fall festival planning was already well under way and I was looking forward to seeing so many people in our streets with their fresh boots.
I was also looking forward to supporting my friends while they did the planning .
. . and then asked me last minute to run something.
That’s how it always went, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.
Whynot was home. I’d built something for myself here. I had the endurance of a weed sprouting through the cracks of a sidewalk, and refused to be yanked from my roots.
The bell above my front door jingled as it swung open, pulling me from my daydreams. I straightened as my niece bounded into the shop with a cheesy smile.
Behind her was my younger brother.
Ethan shoved his hands in his pockets with a smile that never quite reached his eyes anymore. It used to, before Rebecca. But since she left him and Laura, he hadn’t been the same. I was pretty sure she’d completely shattered the man, and for that—I loathed her with every cell in my body.
“Aunt June, Aunt June,” Laura chimed. “Can we go to Avery’s to paint? Dad said we could do an art class but he has to do something.”
My niece would be an amazing auctioneer with how fast she could talk. I snorted and leaned forward over my counter, arching a brow at her. “Did you have coffee?”
She balked. “No! Of course not. Can I?”
“Absolutely not.” I did not want to imagine a world where my niece got a hold of caffeine. I suppressed a shudder. “You’d talk so fast my ears would start to smoke.”
Laura grinned and I narrowed my eyes. She’d lost another tooth sometime in the last couple of days.
“Did the tooth fairy come?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said, and then glanced back at her dad. “I got twenty dollars and I want to spend it on candy, but Dad said we should spend it on something else.”
“Well, that’s the perk of it being tooth fairy money. You can buy what you want.”
Ethan met my gaze. I already knew that look. I loved my brother. I really did. But he always needed something, and showing up without a text was usually a sure indicator that he was about to ask.
“What’s up?” I aimed for nonchalance, and ended up sounding squeaky.
He winced. “I was going to see if you could watch Laura tonight and tomorrow.”
“Until tomorrow?” I echoed.
Laura looked between us, her cheeks reddening slightly. “One day I’ll be old enough to watch myself and then it’ll be much better. I can walk to school tomorrow—”
“No, it’s okay,” I rushed out. “I can take you to school. I love having you around, Laura. You’re my favorite niece in the whole world.”
“I’m your only niece,” she pointed out.