Chapter 5
Landon
Well, well, well. The pretty woman who knocked over my display was the reporter following Natalie and Omar around for the month leading up to their wedding. That wasn’t what I expected.
When Natalie and Omar showed up early for our appointment, Natalie was apologetic about the whole situation and springing it on me. I assured her it was fine, but seeing who the reporter was definitely made it more than fine.
Casey was beautiful. A little older than me, if I had to guess, but close enough to my age that I didn’t feel like a child next to her. She had an easy laugh and was adorable when her cheeks flamed red every time she was embarrassed.
And man did I like seeing that when I flirted with her. She made me feel like I wasn’t destined to be single forever since everyone in town had decided Reegan and I were still a couple and would eventually figure it out and get back together.
Even Natalie made a comment about us reconnecting at the wedding since we were both invited.
Kill me now.
The last thing I needed was to have my dating potential eliminated because the town decided Reegan and I were meant to be when we’d decided we weren’t. That was only part of why I was enjoying online dating.
Or online conversing. It hadn’t progressed to actual dating yet, but I had hope.
“This is gorgeous,” Natalie whispered as she flipped the pages of the display book I kept on hand.
“Sunflowers are pretty classic for fall weddings. They’re simple and fun and make everyone smile,” I told her.
Flowers were my love language. The meaning behind each flower was something I found fascinating, even if sometimes I felt like flowers should say whatever the hell you wanted them to say.
If a bride loved chrysanthemums, I wasn’t going to tell her they symbolized grief in some cultures.
The meaning of a flower was what a person made it, not always what someone said it should mean.
Then again, I was never able to decipher classic literature in high school either.
If the author wrote one thing, I couldn’t make the jump that they really meant something else, which was a metaphor for another thing, and what they really intended was nothing close to what was written. I was too literal. Or so I’d been told.
I was more of the say what you mean mentality. And that translated to flowers.
“I like simple,” Natalie said for the second time.
I glanced at Omar and noticed the hint of a smile on his face. I smothered my own grin, but not fast enough.
“What?” Natalie demanded, her eyes flipping between Omar and me. “You seriously think I’m complicated?”
“I think you’re beautiful and smart and kind. But simple is not a word I’d use to describe you,” Omar said, ending his statement with a kiss.
“How am I not simple? I can’t do complicated. I get overwhelmed, and my anxiety takes over, and I lose it. I like simple.” Natalie huffed, arms crossed as she scowled at her fiancé.
“All of that is true. But nothing about this wedding has been simple. You wanted a band and a DJ, so people could enjoy both. You asked for hors d’oeuvres that could be served when we’re taking pictures, more for when we arrive at the reception, and then dinner.
And don’t forget the three flavors of wedding cake because you couldn’t decide what you liked best.” Omar smirked throughout his entire diatribe.
Natalie’s scowl morphed into a grin as she lost her fight to hold on to her mad. “Fine. I’m not simple. But I really want to be.”
“All those things sound like you’re trying to create a wedding that will make your guests very happy,” Casey said. “Maybe the flowers should be more about what would make you happy?”
My chest expanded with joy. Damn. She got it. I was about to say the same damn thing. “What she said.”
Omar and Natalie chuckled.
“I like simple,” Natalie reiterated. “I want simple. During the wedding, I’m going to have to hand off my bouquet or flower or whatever to Daisy anyway, so simple makes sense. And it’ll look really nice with my dress.”
She looked up at Omar as she said that last part, and he groaned.
“Stop teasing me.” He kissed her, then met my gaze.
“She keeps telling me all these bonkers things about her dress, and I’m pretty sure they’re all lies, but I promised not to look, so I’m left wondering if her dress is really as elaborate as she makes it sound. ”
“You think I would lie to you?” Natalie asked in fake offense. “Why would I do that?”
We all laughed, enjoying the sweet bickering of the couple.
I lifted my gaze to Casey’s and found her watching me back.
The moment stuck, and our gazes held, the two of us lost in a tiny world of our own.
My blood pulsed hot in my veins. My cock swelled without conscious thought. My entire body wanted this woman.
This woman whose name I didn’t know yesterday. Who created an avalanche of chaos in my store. And who was currently creating the same inside me.
Casey tore her gaze from mine, a sharp end to the moment that left me fighting for my next breath and wondering what in the hell just happened.
And how soon I could experience it again.
“So, simple?” Natalie said. “Our colors are navy and white because I couldn’t really think of something I liked with navy. Do you think sunflowers would work with that?”
I held up one finger, then walked toward the refrigerated cases up front.
I searched through for what I was looking for, grabbing one bright yellow sunflower and a handful of navy roses.
I arranged them with the roses a bit below the sunflower, letting the sunflower shine and take all the attention.
I carried the small bouquet back to Natalie and Omar, offering it to Natalie to see.
“Oh, wow,” she breathed.
I couldn’t stop my smile. I loved what I did, but that right there, that exhale of perfection, that’s what did it for me.
I wasn’t always around to see it. Usually someone bought flowers and took them home, but when I was able to see the joy on the face of a customer and know they got it, they really understood what flowers could say, that made my day.
“So simple but not a single flower?” Omar asked with a grin.
Natalie chuckled. “Fine. I’m not a simple person. But you love me anyway.”
“More than anything else in the world.” The sincerity in his tone and gaze hit me hard.
Had I ever felt that way about Reegan? I didn’t even have to ask the question.
I knew I hadn’t. I was drawn to her originally because she was vibrant and fun and the chemistry between us was electric, but over time, we were just comfortable.
The spark that brought us together faded, and instead of parting ways, we held on.
We made plans for our future because we were so wrapped up in each other’s lives we couldn’t see a future that didn’t involve us.
But I never loved her the way Omar loved Natalie. I never looked at Reegan and knew I’d do anything to make her happy. Toward the end, I was spending more time trying not to make her angry than trying to make her happy.
That wasn’t how I wanted my next relationship to be. Or any relationship ever again.
I cleared my throat and forced a smile. “What does work? If one single flower isn’t it, we can do something like you’re holding where it’s a sunflower in the middle of the navy roses, or another dark flower.
We can add some white if you’d like to balance all the colors.
We can do three sunflowers instead of one and see if you like that instead.
This was just to show you the colors together. Do you like them?”
“I love it,” Natalie said. “Thank you. And… I have no idea what I want. Can I see some options? Is that possible?”
“Of course,” I told her, getting up from my seat and returning to the cases. Natalie followed me, with Omar and Casey trailing behind us.
I flung open the case and grabbed flowers, picking white and navy plus a few others that could work if she wanted more variety.
Natalie shook off ideas to add more colors, and we worked out the perfect bouquet for her and her maid of honor.
Daisy was going to get the simple bouquet I put together first, with a single sunflower and a bunch of navy roses.
Natalie was getting the same thing, but with three sunflowers and some small white roses added in for depth. Both bouquets were stunning.
She decided on single sunflowers for the men’s boutonnieres before we moved on to the flowers for the tables.
“You can also get silk flowers to save yourselves some money,” I suggested. “As many tables as you’re going to have, it could get pricey.”
“Let’s see what it costs before we think about other options.”
I nodded. “Sounds good. I would suggest either something very short or something very tall to foster conversation. If you go for short, you could do potted plants, which people can take home afterward. If you go tall, you’re going to need to think about how elaborate you want to go, but simple could be single sunflowers in a narrow vase, so it doesn’t block lines of sight or conversation, but they look nice. ”
Casey’s quick inhale had me looking at her. She was writing something in her notebook and not looking at me.
“What if we did some of each?” Natalie suggested.
Omar and I laughed.
He kissed the side of her head and said, “Definitely not simple with you.”
“Oh, Landon is used to me. Although I have a feeling Andre makes decisions before he comes here so you don’t have to be exposed to all my crazy,” Natalie said.
I shook my head. “I know nothing.”
Casey snorted. Omar laughed. Natalie’s cheeks turned red.
“You are not a problem, I promise you. And I love what I do. I can’t imagine a job that didn’t allow me to get dirty all the time.”
Casey choked. Her cheeks went beet red. I winked at her, and they darkened even more.