Chapter 18
Eighteen
JAKE
After his long morning jog, Jake stopped by the house to freshen up before a long day at the office. Marley was already at school by the time he left for the office. The smell of slightly burnt toast still lingered in his house as he shut the door behind him.
Hours later, buried under a mound of paperwork, a soft knock sounded at the doorway.
Julie was in her early twenties. She’d gone to Bramblewood University but returned home after graduating to help take care of her sick grandmother. While walking around town one afternoon, she saw the Help Wanted sign in his window and stopped in for an impromptu interview.
He hadn’t been prepared for her, but after a few minutes, they had addressed the basics: hours, responsibilities, and pay.
Jake hired her on the spot. It wasn’t like he was getting a ton of bites.
The sign had been sitting in the window for a couple of years, since he opened the doors to West Family Law.
Besides, Jake was good at reading people, and all of his senses told him he could trust Julie.
So when he found Julie lingering in the doorway in the late afternoon, he found it a little suspicious. Not because she was standing there, but because of the giant I know something you don’t know smile on her face.
“Hey, Julie. What’s up?” The email from Paul was long forgotten.
“I just got off the phone with Rosie,” Julie started.
“Rosie? Is she okay? Does she need help with anything today?” Jake asked, his forehead creased with concern.
“Hmm? Oh, yes, she’s fine!” Julie chuckled as if Jake had made a funny joke. “Actually, she called to let me know she heard through the grapevine you may be interested in the whereabouts of a young supermodel, and she was a little offended you and Marley didn’t include her in the plans.”
“Uhhh…” Jake winced, rubbing the back of his neck. “About that…”
“She also said Gia stopped by to smell the roses and asked about the sign in her window. Rosie thought you should come by.”
“Gia went by Rosie’s shop?”
“Yep.”
“And she was asking about the For Sale sign in the window?”
Julie nodded.
Curiously, he mulled over the information. When they were teenagers, Gia used to stop in to visit Rosie every once in a while and help when she could. The two formed a bond, and when Gia left, Rosie was devastated. Gia had been like a granddaughter to her.
The fact that Gia felt comfortable enough to visit her old stomping grounds could only mean she was getting more comfortable being back home, couldn’t it?
He couldn’t imagine it meaning anything different.
It probably took a lot for her to step foot in the flower shop and visit an old friend.
Especially since it reminded her of her younger self.
Jake was up and out of his seat before he realized it.
“Hold my—”
“I’ll hold your calls for you.”
Jake smiled sheepishly.
Was he so obvious? Desperate for any breadcrumbs left behind by Gia?
The simple answer was yes. He was desperate.
“Thanks, Julie.”
“Go get ‘em, tiger.”
Julie backed up to let Jake through the door, and he squeezed her shoulder affectionately.
It seemed the whole town knew about his and Marley’s schemes. Hopefully Gia didn’t catch wind of it, because he could not afford to send her running out of town again before he made her fall back in love with him.
Jake opted to drive the short distance to Blooming Petals.
Sometimes he wondered why he even bothered having a car in a town as small as Willowbrook, where everything was within a ten-minute walk, but it came in handy most of the time.
With a screech, he pulled his car to a halt in front of Blooming Petals.
The lights were dim, but he knew that didn’t mean it was unoccupied.
Ever since Rosie retired, she had been slowly cutting back on expenses.
Unnecessary lighting and floral arrangements were some things she’d cut back on.
Rosie had had the sign in the window for almost a full year now.
She’d had some interested buyers but declined every offer, claiming she was waiting for the perfect person to walk through her door.
He wondered if she was waiting for a particular person, or if she didn’t want to sell the store, which had been in her family for generations, to anyone.
Unfortunately, Rosie’s husband had passed nearly two decades ago, and she never remarried or had children.
Getting out of his car, Jake loosened the tie at the base of his neck as he headed to the front entrance.
The door squeaked in protest when he yanked it open, announcing his entrance.
Rosie asked Jake to get rid of the bell above the door a few months back, saying it was more of a nuisance than anything else, and the door was loud enough to be heard in the back.
At least once every couple of weeks, he’d get a summons from Rosie to help her with something.
He knew it was more her way to get him to visit than actually needing help, because while Rosie was in her late seventies, she wasn’t an invalid.
They both knew even if she hadn’t reached out to him, Jake would have found a reason to stop in—but old habits were hard to break, so Jake let Rosie have her fun calling him every once in a while.
“Took ya long enough.” Rosie came from somewhere behind the counter. When her head popped up, he nearly jumped back. He hadn’t been prepared for how spry Rosie was.
“There you are. Heard you got a visitor.”
“Mm-hmm. You bet I did.” Rosie lifted something from below the counter and handed it to Jake. “Here, she’ll like these.”
Jake took the bouquet Rosie had artfully arranged, which included lilies, roses, and baby’s breath. He couldn’t recall the names of the other flowers, but it was an artfully arranged assortment with colors in varying shades of pinks and oranges.
“Thank you.” He hugged the bouquet to his chest, reaching into his back pocket for his wallet.
“Don’t you dare, Jakey.”
“I have to pay for these.”
“If you give me your money, I will never let you live it down. I’ll make your life miserable until the day I croak.” She pointed a knobby finger at him.
Jake pressed his lips together, suppressing a smile. He knew she was serious.
“Okay, okay. If you insist. But dinner is on me next Sunday at The Lotus.”
“Fine.” She sniffed, turning her nose in the air. “I accept your offer. Now, do you want to hear what I have to tell you, or do you want to stand there looking like a lovesick fool?”
Jake grinned. “Let’s have a seat and chat.”
Rosie led the way to her back office, where she had a cup of tea and some biscuits. The room was small and cramped, but he crammed his tall frame into the small wooden chair and listened with rapt attention as she recounted her brief reunion with Gia.
“She is going to be the next owner of the shop.”
“She is?” His eyebrows nearly reached his hairline.
“Well, she doesn’t know it yet, but I know she will. She just needs a reason to stay.” Rosie stared at him knowingly.
Jake nodded. Seemed like he wasn’t the only person in town who wanted Gia to stick around.
“I’ve been holding on to the shop for this reason. I can feel it in my bones. It’s meant to be hers.” Rosie’s conviction bolstered his confidence.
Even if he could convince Gia to leave Hollywood behind, he knew she needed more than him to hold her here. Her family and nieces were helpful, but he was afraid she would feel restless or, worse, useless without a goal.
Leaning forward, Jake rested his elbows on his knees.
He stared into Rosie’s depthless eyes. A sheen of tears coated the dark brown. She gave him a wobbly smile, fighting to keep the tears from falling.
“Are you ready to talk about your will, then?”
“Yes, I’m ready.”
The sun was setting over the mountains as Jake helped Rosie close up shop. With the giant bouquet in hand and instructions not to “screw this up” ringing in his ears, Jake ran across the street to The Lotus. He’d grab his car later, but he had flowers to deliver.
The cool air was refreshing as he jogged along Main Street, offering nods or waves to pedestrians who stepped aside for him with bemused expressions on their faces.
He’d barely broken a sweat by the time he stopped in front of the Open sign in the restaurant’s window.
From his viewpoint, he could see the thinning dinner crowd.
His eyes locked onto the tall, dark-haired beauty who was talking to a table of familiar faces: Diem and Alina.
Jake felt the telltale signs of his heart racing at the mere sight of her. It lurched forward when she threw her head back and laughed. His eyes traced her pert nose, continuing down the slim column of her neck and then to her breasts as they bounced with laughter.
He probably looked like a creep or a stalker with the way he couldn’t tear his eyes away from her, even as she moved on to the next table.
She was magnetic, drawing all eyes to her, and she was oblivious to the pull she had on people.
Every movement was effortless, as if she were a ballerina dancing her way through life.
She moved with such grace, it was no wonder people fell in love with her.
Her beauty wasn’t what drew Jake to her, though.
It was in the way she made every person feel like the center of her entire world when she was with them.
Or how she took care of people without wanting the credit.
He knew she stopped in to check up on Rosie because she cared about the widow like family, despite how long it had been.
For all she knew, Rosie was long gone or holding a grudge for the way Gia had left town—but despite the risk, Gia still made time in her day to see her.
And here she was, helping her family and caring for her nieces. He’d heard she offered to take the girls shopping so Minnie could have a little break. Jake knew if Marley asked her for a favor or her time, Gia would say yes without hesitation.
He stared at the woman who had been an integral part of his entire world when they were younger, and the woman she’d grown into.
She was no longer naive. Her eyes told him she’d seen too many things and had lost her innocence, but she was still the same kindhearted person who made him feel less alone in the world.
Gone was the Gia who laughed easily, who had a twinkle of mischief in her eyes.
In her place was a resilient woman who had fought countless battles and lived to see another day.
Now, every laugh and every smile he could squeeze out of her was a gift.
A treasure for him to hold on to in his memories.
So when Gia turned, having probably sensed his eyes on her, and the smile on her face slipped into a scowl, Jake grinned back brazenly and flashed a wink.
He could practically hear her growl of frustration at his display, but when he lifted his hand and brandished the bouquet, the frown slipped off her face.
For a moment, he glimpsed the tender woman inside the hard shell she’d grown around herself.
The one who was surprised by the simple gesture of surprising her with flowers at work.
That was the part of Gia he was trying to reach, so when he moved to enter the restaurant, he didn’t miss the sheen of tears in her eyes as she pivoted and retreated to the back of the restaurant.
The wall was back up, and he was determined to break it down, brick by painstaking brick—until she couldn’t hide from him anymore.
He would be the wall that protected her. He would wrap himself around her and make sure nothing and nobody could ever hurt her again.
All he needed was for her to stay.