Chapter 11 #2
“Might as well make yourself useful, Jamie,” my dad said calmly, shooing me to the door.
Ali’s neck whipped around to me. Her face lit up with amusement. “Jamie?” she mouthed.
I rolled my eyes, fighting off a grin despite the deep shit I was about to be in with my dad.
Placing my extra hoodie on the check-out counter, I wandered toward the door to greet the customer.
My hands slightly shook as I walked. My dad was probably jumping to horrible conclusions, and I couldn’t even fix it.
I wasn’t sure if he’d be more pissed that I skipped practice or that I brought Ali here, but I knew I’d be in deeper shit if I ignored a customer.
Of course the customer turned out to be old Mildred from next door.
She came in about once a month and rarely ever made a purchase.
I think she only ever came in to haggle me with a million questions about plants.
I’d come to think of my interactions with Mildred as a hockey game—she played offense, and I played D.
She was constantly firing off questions at me, and I was constantly trying to block them. But today…today I couldn’t focus.
“Well this doesn’t make sense,” Mildred barked at me.
“What’s that?” I asked, looking to my right where Ali and my dad were talking.
Ali now had my hoodie stamped with “McQUAID #26” draped over her shoulders, which made me feel oddly pleased.
But the other oddity: Ali actually had my dad smiling, and I wished more than anything that I could hear what they were saying.
“Well, annuals and perennials are kind of mixed up when you think about it,” Mildred croaked. “Annuals should be the ones that come up annually.”
“Ah, no, ma’am.” I scratched my cheek. “Annuals mean you have to plant them annually.”
“Well, I know that, but that’s pretty stupid,” she said, looking at me like I was the one who should change it.
“Yeah, I dunno.” I shrugged, really hoping she’d get bored and leave already. Craning my neck, I tried to spy on my dad, who was now leading Ali around the shop explaining different flowers to her. Ali said something, and my dad laughed. He actually fucking laughed.
I could just barely make out my dad giving Ali the usual spiel about plants that I’d heard about a thousand times throughout my life: “It’s called mother nature because she is actually a mother to us, and she wants to nurture us; we just have to let her,” my dad explained.
“Not sure if you know this, but just touching the soil can be healing.”
“Touching the dirt?” Ali blurted out, making my dad chuckle.
“Yes, the dirt. There’s a bacteria called mycobacterium vaccae which is said to actually be a mood booster. That specific bacteria can trigger—”
“Well, I’ll come back,” Mildred announced, looking me up and down with a frown. “Maybe you’ll be more useful tomorrow.”
“Yeah, yeah, okay,” I said distractedly.
As soon as she hobbled out the door, I practically jogged to the back of the shop to join them.
“She’s a stubborn one,” my dad said, pointing out his favorite rose. “Always rises first and dies last. Resilient.” He nodded. “I’m always sad to see her go.” He grinned fondly at his favorite plant.
A crease formed between Ali’s brows. “When will she go?”
“Oh, not until the fall. Roses typically die off in the fall, then we prune them for the winter so they come back stronger in the spring,” he rattled off.
My dad was already moving on to the next plant, but Ali’s attention lingered on the single rose. She gently reached out to touch the petals.
“Resilient,” she muttered to herself with a small smile.
I stared at her. “Yeah.”
“Oh.” She jumped slightly at my voice, then laughed. “Jeez, is that lady finally gone?” She craned her neck to look at the front of the shop. “She was talking your ear off.”
“Ha, yeah, like my dad’s talkin’ yours off,” I said with an apologetic grin.
“What? No way.” She smiled. “I like him. He’s nice, Jamie.” She said my dad’s nickname for me in a teasing way and gave me a little hip check that had me struggling against a grin. “He’s like a grumpy teddy bear,” she decided.
My eyebrows shot up. “My dad? Grumpy I agree with, but teddy bear?” When it came to my dad, I’d use the words fair, strict, respectful. He was nowhere near as warm as a teddy bear. Then again, I couldn’t make my dad laugh the way Ali just had.
Giving me a little grin, Ali scampering off to listen to my dad rattle off more useless information about plants.
An hour later, Ali was sitting behind the counter petting Hank, my crazy ass beagle who never stayed still for more than two seconds.
Hank currently looked like he was being drugged by her cuddles.
He wasn’t even trying to eat the grilled cheese I made for her, which was quite literally insane to me because he was always going after my food.
I was busy wrapping up an aloe plant for a gift order when a phone started buzzing incessantly. Thinking it was Kappy—because he never sent just one message, he had to send about five at a time—I checked my phone, but it was empty. So that meant…
“Is someone bugging you?” I asked Ali, nodding to her phone beside her.
“Huh?” She looked up, then at her phone. “Oh.” After scrolling through her phone for a minute, she huffed and threw it back down. “It’s just Mark.”
“Ah.” I ran my tongue over my teeth, stalling myself. There was so much I wanted to say about him, but I knew I had to be careful with my words. I had a feeling if I was too vocal, her guard would slam up, and then she’d have no one to talk to about him. “How’s that going?”
“I broke up with him,” she said quietly, keeping her eyes on Hank.
My heart picked up speed. Fuck yes. I wanted to yell out in celebration that she was finally rid of that jerk, but seeing the slight frown on her face made me immediately feel like a dick. “You okay?”
She swallowed hard and gave a small smile. “Yeah, I mean, it was time. He graduated, so things were changing with school anyway.” She sighed. “And Katrina couldn’t care less about me now.” She gestured to her arm. “She thinks this is a career-ending injury.”
“But it’s your arm,” I said slowly. “I could see if it was your knee or ankle, but not your arm.”
She shrugged. “She thinks I’ll have fear now.”
I snorted. “She’s dead wrong.”
Ali gave me a small smile of thanks.
“Were those the only reasons you were dating him? School and Katrina?” I asked hesitantly.
Her eyes went a little glassy as she stared at the ceiling. “I hope you’re not judging me.”
“No,” I said quickly. “I just want to understand.”
She quickly swatted a tear away and stared at me, as if deciding whether or not I could be trusted.
“I won’t judge, I promise,” I whispered as earnestly as I could.
Her lips pursed with a swallow. “He did make my life easier at school. As soon as Anastasia left, it was like I had a target on my back. But he made sure no one said or did anything to me. And then, well, Katrina liked us together. It just worked. But those weren’t the only reasons.
” She rolled her lips together, like she was trying to wrangle in her emotions.
“It’s just weird. He could be mean and gruff sometimes, but I think he really did love me, ya know?
He said it anyway. It’s hard to just…” She shook her head.
“It’s hard to be alone, ya know? And I guess I feel bad for him.
He’s really upset over the breakup, and it's hard not to be there for him after being together so long.”
Moving slowly to give myself some time to think, I sat down next to her and pet Hank along beside her.
“I think that’s normal. You’re a nice person with empathy, of course you feel bad about something ending.
But Ali…” I waited until she looked up at me with her warm brown eyes.
“There will be someone else who loves you who never acts mean or gruff to you.”
“You think?” She had so much hope in her eyes that I wanted to kiss her right then and there.
But I had to back down. She was clearly vulnerable and hurting from the breakup. It was way too soon. I didn’t want to take advantage.
“I know so, Ali.” I gave her a firm nod.
She blinked quickly, like she was fighting off more emotions, before laying her head on my shoulder. “Thank you, JP.” She sighed. “My whole summer is going to suck because of this.” She gestured to her casted arm. “Can’t believe I’m actually looking forward to the school year now. Great.”
I sat there in silence, racking my brain to come up with an idea, any idea, of how to help her. “I wish I could make it all better for you,” I whispered.
She remained silent.
“Ali?” I whispered.
Her brow wrinkled, but it was clear she fell asleep.
Looking around the store, I knew I needed to finish up a few more things before closing, but there was no way I was moving. Not when she was finally getting some good sleep. I was almost afraid of breathing too hard and moving her head.
Laying my head back against the old wood-paneled wall, I couldn’t help but wish I wasn’t leaving for junior hockey at the end of the summer. Because who would be looking out for her? What if she needed help? Would she go back to Mark?
The door chimed with someone entering. “Hey, Jamie, let’s finish up—”
“Shh.” I cut off my dad.
When my dad’s eyes drifted over Ali laying on my shoulder fast asleep, he nodded and quietly laid his gardening gloves on the counter.
“She’s a nice girl,” he whispered. “You don’t have to be nervous to bring her around. She’s welcome here whenever she wants to come back.”
I blinked in shock at his words. “You’re not mad I skipped practice?”
His brow furrowed as he shook his head. “I mean, you made a commitment to your teammates, so you really shouldn’t let them down. But it’s a game, Jamie. You’re allowed to quit if you want. Is there something you want to tell me?”
I quickly shook my head. “No, today was just…” My gaze went down to Ali’s pretty hair as I searched for the right word. “Today was different.”
He gave a slight nod. “Good. That’s good,” he said, surprising me again. “What’s that face for?” he asked with a quiet chuckle.
I smirked. “Never thought you’d be okay with me skipping practice for a girl.”
“So, it was for her.” He gave me a small ah-ha smile. “Relationships are important. I know we haven’t really talked much about that kinda thing.” He rubbed his forehead, looking like he was struggling to find the right words. “Relationships are important,” he repeated again.
“Oh, we’re not…”
He waved his hand in front of his face, shooing off my words. “You know what I mean. You’ll have to bring her back around after Thanksgiving so she can see the whole place lit up.”
He was right. Ali would love this place in all its Christmas glory.
We spent a pretty hefty budget on lights and decor to stand out as the premier Christmas tree farm in metro-Detroit.
But I didn’t have the heart to tell my dad I’d probably be missing both Thanksgiving and Christmas this year depending on my hockey schedule.
My dad turned to leave, but his words planted an idea in my mind. Just because I’d be missing it didn’t mean Ali had to…
“Wait, dad,” I whispered urgently.
He paused by the door.
“I’m leaving in the fall.”
He shifted his weight. “Well, you want to, don’t ya?”
“You’ll need someone to help out around here,” I pushed on.
“You still offer co-op positions with the public high school?” My eyes dipped to Ali.
“She could use… I mean…” I shook my head, not knowing how to phrase this.
“If she wants… I just… I won’t be able to look out for her,” I finally said.
“And school for her, it’s…” I cut myself off.
I didn’t want to share her business, but I hoped he could piece together what I was saying.
A line formed between his brows. “If that’s what she wants, she’s hired. You can train her this summer if she wants.”
My body flooded with relief. “Okay, I’ll ask her.” I dropped my head against the wall and released a deep breath. “Thanks, Dad.”
“But if you’re working together this summer, no messing around.” He wagged his finger at me. “I mean it. Don’t hurt her or…” His mouth flattened in distaste.
“Or…?” I asked, taken aback.
“Or you’ll be sorry.” He pointed his finger at me. “I mean it, Jameson. I don’t stand for men putting women in bad positions.” His cheeks flushed with emotion as he said it. “You’re leaving, and she’s young. If I find out you’re taking adv—”
“I’d never hurt her, I swear,” I said quickly. “And if I did, I’d want you to do whatever you’re threatening.”
With a hesitant nod, his eyes drifted to the floor before he shuffled away.