Chapter 36
The Shack, as Mitch called it, was comfortable enough. A few flowers wouldn't hurt the place at all. She could likely help with that, but she hoped she wouldn't be here long. The furnishings were sparse but nice, the lighting soft but impersonal, and the silence left too much room for her thoughts.
Izzy sat cross-legged on the worn leather sofa, her palms cupped around a mug of peppermint tea she hadn’t touched in so long that it was cool now.
She couldn’t shake the image of Noah’s eyes, the way he’d looked at her when he brought in that box.
So sure of himself. Like she was part of some shared delusion he’d been living in for years.
Even the smile he had was off, like something you see in a horror movie before the killer sets off on his spree.
The broken mental capacity of a person who had spent his entire life ruminating on hate and revenge.
She shivered, despite the warmth in the room.
Mitch entered quietly, a slight crease between his brows as he pulled the door shut behind him. He had that focused look again, calm on the surface, but his shoulders were tight, his hands in fists.
“Any news?” she asked, sitting up straighter.
He nodded once and crossed to her, settling on the arm of the sofa. “Fielding just finished his initial interrogation. Noah cracked faster than I expected. He said Noah almost seemed relieved.”
Izzy’s pulse quickened. “He confessed?”
“Yeah,” Mitch said. “Enough to start building an airtight case. The box he brought in? Harmless. Just filled with wires and a kitchen timer. No real explosive components.”
She sagged against the cushions. “So it was a bluff.”
“Yeah. A dangerous one, but a bluff. Still enough to charge him with a threat of terrorism, stalking, criminal trespass, and about five other things.”
Izzy stared down at her tea. “And Delilah?”
Mitch leaned forward, bracing his forearms on his knees.
“This is where it gets deeper. Noah didn’t want to take the full blame.
He gave up details on Delilah in exchange for leniency.
Said she offered him cash and favors to help him intimidate you.
Deliver fake orders. Leave notes. She knew how fixated he was, and she used it. ”
“She manipulated him,” Izzy whispered, her stomach twisting. “Just like she manipulates everyone.”
“She did more than that,” Mitch said. “He admitted he helped her move product, too. Said she promised to cut him in on profits if she expanded. But when he got sloppy, started stalking you instead of keeping deliveries quiet, she cut him off. That’s when he decided to go rogue.”
Izzy swallowed hard. “And now?”
“Now, Delilah’s been arrested. Her salon’s shut down and is still an active crime scene as they go through every bit and part of it to find all they can find.
They pulled evidence from her computer and the office safe.
Bank transfers, burner phones, even a few small bags of product she hadn’t moved yet.
But they're being thorough. She’s going down. ”
Izzy set the tea on the side table and stood, pacing slowly. “So it’s really over?”
“Almost,” Mitch said, standing as well. “We have to wait for formal charges. There’s going to be a lot of legal red tape. But Noah won’t see daylight anytime soon, and Delilah’s not far behind.”
She stopped in front of the window and stared at the bright morning outside. “I don’t know what I expected. Some big... moment. Confetti falling from the ceiling. A banner saying ‘You Survived.’ But instead, it just feels quiet.”
“That’s because your adrenaline’s been running full tilt for weeks,” Mitch said gently. “Now that the danger’s passed, your system’s crashing.”
She turned to face him. “I still feel like he’s out there. That any second he’s going to come through that door.”
“He won’t,” Mitch said firmly. “Not again.”
"What about Travis? Is Sadie safe?"
Mitch smiled, and she stared at his handsome face. "Travis has been arrested, and Sadie is safe. Jayson just went out to the safe house to let her know. She'd likely love to speak to you."
"I want to speak to her too."
Tears welled in her eyes. She blinked them back, but one escaped anyway. He came to stand beside her and pulled her into his arms.
“I’ve got you,” he murmured into her hair. “And you’ve got this. I’ve never seen someone fight harder for what they love.”
“I want to go back,” she whispered. “Not today. But tomorrow. I want to go back to my shop and finish what I started. Rebuild everything they tried to tear down.”
Her heart felt lighter just thinking about it. She could go back to her shop and let the town know she was still in business.
He leaned back just enough to look into her eyes. “We’ll do it together.”
Her lips curved in a small, trembling smile. Her heart fluttered, and butterflies took flight in her belly. “You really want to help me?”
Mitch’s eyes darkened with resolve. “Yes, I think it’s a new beginning for Petal Pushers. Before you were catching up from the loss of your parents and keeping the shop going, and learning everything you needed to learn. Now you have a whole new beginning.”
They stood together in the quiet, the weight of the past slowly falling away. Outside, the town would wake up to the news. The whispers would start, and stories would be told. But Izzy didn’t care. For the first time in weeks, she felt free.
And she knew exactly where to go from here.
"Thank you, Mitch." She took in a deep breath. "Now the big question. When do I go home? And when I say that, it scares the shit out of me to think of being there all alone at night. But it's the only home I have."
He kissed her forehead and squeezed her tightly to him. She could feel the thud of his heart and hear the shakiness of his breathing.
"What if we looked for something together, just out of town, where you can have that big garden you want?"
Her eyes flew open, and she pulled back to look into his eyes. They stared back at her with steady reassurance. "Really?"
His lips curved up into the most gorgeous smile she'd seen from him. "Really. I've fallen in love with you, Izzy Payton. It took me a long time to find a woman who completely and utterly intrigues me, but I found you."
She stared at him for a moment, but no words would come to her. Her brain was utterly blank. What a stupid time to not be able to think.
His brows lifted into that lock of hair that fell over his forehead. She lifted her hand and smoothed it back, then slid her fingers into his hair to the back of his head.
"I've fallen in love with you, Mitch DeMario. I've been trying to figure out when, but it just happened. Even through all of this crap, you managed to take my breath away and made me fall in love with you."
He laughed. A full-on belly laugh, his head tilted back, and the joyful sounds that came from his body made her heart sing. "I could say the same thing about you."
He bent down and kissed her lips. There wasn't a better way to seal the deal.
Two weeks later...
Izzy grinned as the bells above the door jingled. She looked up from the clipboard in her hand, where her inventory list was nearly complete. The door opened again, and again.
Hanna, from Mae's Bakery, stepped inside holding a box with a smile as warm as her cinnamon rolls. “You didn’t think we’d let you do this alone, did you?”
Izzy blinked. “Hanna, what’s this?”
“Cinnamon rolls,” Hanna said proudly. “And a fresh batch of cookies for later. Figured you could use snacks while you get things ready. Oh, and the coffee’s coming. I strong-armed Quinn's son into hauling the carafe.”
Behind her, the bell rang again. Then again.
Sadie stepped in with cautious eyes and a sheepish smile, holding a small potted plant with bright orange zinnias. “For color,” she said softly, then stepped forward and pulled Izzy into a long hug. “I’m so sorry I didn’t see what was happening sooner. I feel like I failed you.”
Izzy squeezed her tightly. “You didn’t. You’re here now. That’s what matters.”
Sadie pulled back, eyes misty. “I want to help make this place shine again.”
“You always had a way with display windows,” Izzy said with a teary smile. “You’re hired.”
Behind them, more familiar faces filtered in.
Jayson brought two DeMario teammates, Blain Davis and Gabby Krill, whom she thought she’d heard Mitch call them, who immediately started hauling crates of supplies from a truck out front.
Gabby grinned at her as she passed by, and Izzy felt like she stood with her mouth open at all the activity.
Sid Hoffman, cool-headed as always, stepped inside with a tablet and a full folder of licensing forms. “Fast-tracking everything the city will need for your reopening,” he said with a nod.
“Consider it handled. Between Grace and me, we've got this covered.
That's why I married someone smarter than me.”
Izzy laughed as she signed the forms Sid had for her. Grace gave her a hug after she'd signed the forms. "What a coup you pulled off here, Izzy. Your picture should be in the dictionary next to "making lemonade out of lemons".
Izzy chuckled. "I didn't do it, Delilah did it to herself."
Grace laughed. "She actually did."
Even Chief Fielding stopped by, setting a hand on the counter.
“Noah, Travis, and Delilah won’t be problems again,” he said.
“You’ve got the department’s full support.
We’ll have patrols nearby for the next few weeks just to be safe.
But they're locked up, and it's only a precaution in case they had anyone working with them we aren't familiar with.”
Izzy could barely keep up with the warmth pouring in.
Mitch stood nearby, quietly overseeing everything with that steady presence she had come to lean on.
She caught his eye, and the smile he gave her melted the last of the fear lodged in her chest. Sid and Grace chatted with Mitch, and she once again heard the bells above the door jingle.
The smell of food took over the floral smell of her beautiful shop, and immediately Hanna and Grace began helping a gorgeous woman wearing the cutest outfit ever open a folding table and arrange the food.
When the woman turned, she recognized Margo Marriott from Sarge's Sandbar.
A minute later, her husband, Jace, entered carrying a huge stainless steel container of something that smelled fantastic.
Izzy took deep breaths as these townsfolk, friends of Mitch's and now hers, showered her with love and support. She'd never felt so much love. Sadie joined her as she thanked Margo.
"I don't know what to say, and please don't think I'm stupid, but this is all so... unexpected, and I don't know what to say."
Margo smiled, and she was stunning, her crisp blue eyes nearly danced in delight.
"Thank you is plenty. Mitch is a good friend, and I hope you will be too.
And we business folks have to stick together.
He told Jace that today was clean-up day, and we started calling in the troops.
And, you can't have people here working and not feed them, so that's where we come in. "
Izzy's cheeks heated. She swallowed the knot in her throat, and her vision blurred. She blinked rapidly to dry the tears that threatened, but dang it if they didn't fall anyway. Sadie chuckled and handed her a tissue. "It's all good, Iz. We've got you."
By mid-morning, the front window had new seasonal arrangements, compliments of Sadie, and Quinn and his employees had replaced the temporary board with fresh glass, plus they fixed the damage in the greenhouse, too, something she worried would take weeks to do.
The space was starting to feel whole again. No shadows, no fear. Just life.
And laughter.
Hanna was directing Ms. Jillie on where to stack coffee cups. Jayson was trying to convince Sadie to let him build a permanent security display case. And someone had brought a Bluetooth speaker, the soft hum of country music rolling through the air.
Izzy stepped outside for a break and was met with the sight of a small hand-painted sign leaning against the lamppost.
Petal Pushers – Reopening Celebration Tomorrow!
Beneath it, someone had added in smaller letters:
Free pastries, flowers, and hope.
Her throat tightened.
Mitch came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I think the town’s been waiting for this as much as you have.”
“I didn’t expect any of this,” she whispered.
“That’s the thing about good people,” he said. “They show up when it matters most.”
Izzy turned in his arms, heart full. “Tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow,” he confirmed. “New blooms. New beginning.”
And for the first time in forever, she didn’t just feel like a florist rebuilding a damaged shop.
She felt like a woman reclaiming her life.