Flowers on Main (33 page)

“What do you mean?”

“I heard there have been a couple of scenes with Jake recently. One at Brady’s and another at the pizza shop. Are you doing okay?”

She gave him a rueful look. “Word does get around, doesn’t it? Did the gossip also happen to mention that I caused one of the scenes? Jake was responsible for the other one. I suppose that makes us even.”

“But it obviously doesn’t make you happy,” Mick noted, seeing the sadness in her eyes.

She shrugged. “How could it? I love him, Dad.”

Mick looked startled by the admission, which wasn’t surprising given the way both she and Jake had been acting. “You sure about that?” he asked.

Bree nodded with certainty. “I just forgot that for a little while, made some really stupid mistakes, and now it may be too late.”

“It’s never too late,” Mick told her. “Not as long as you’re both available. Just look at your mother and me. We may not
have gotten past all the obstacles yet, but we’re on the same path and we’re making progress. It’s made me hopeful.” He cupped her chin and winked at her. “You take heart from that, okay?”

Bree felt the ache in her chest ease. Maybe Mick was right. Maybe all wasn’t lost with Jake, after all.

J
ake had reached his limit when it came to Bree. She was in his face every time he turned around. He had to deal with her because of her shop. Apparently he had to accept that she and his sister were suddenly bosom buddies again. And she was in his head 24/7. Something had to change.

Gathering his courage, he drove over to Flowers on Main at the end of the day, hoping to catch her alone. Instead, he walked in the door and found Jenny behind the counter. There was no sign of Bree. That annoyed him even more.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded irritably.

His niece beamed at him. “I work here,” she said excitedly. “Every day after school and every other Saturday. Isn’t that awesome? Bree’s the best boss ever. And she and Mom have been friends practically forever, so being here is not like work at all. She treats me like family. I’m saving up so I can buy a car once I get my regular driver’s license.”

“Forget it. You’re not getting a car,” he argued. “You’re barely seventeen. You don’t need a car. You can walk anywhere you need to go in this town.”

“You had a car when you were eighteen. Grandma told me.”

“I was working a summer job that required me to drive all
over the place with a lawn mower and all sorts of other junk. I needed a truck. You get a job like that we’ll talk again.”

“I don’t think Mom’s going to be as mean about this as you are,” she said confidently.

Jake frowned at her. “Wanna bet? The point is, you don’t need to be saving up for a car now. If you behave and keep your grades up, I’ll buy you a car when the time comes,” he said. Anything to get her away from Bree. It was just one more thread binding them together. Each thread alone might be fragile, but together they were strong. And even when he was most exasperated with her, he couldn’t deny that she was still the woman he loved.
That
infuriated him most of all.

“I want to earn the money for my own car,” Jenny said with a level of maturity he’d had no idea she possessed. “It’ll mean more if I do.”

Since nothing else had worked—not his weak attempt at intimidation or an outright bribe—he said, “Does your mother know you’re doing this?”

A little of the glow in Jenny’s eyes dimmed at his harsh tone. “Of course she does. She set up the interview with Bree because I’d told her I thought it would be great to get to work here.”

Of course she had, Jake thought. It was just one more thing to get under his skin.

“Where’s Bree now?”

“She ran over to Sally’s to pick up a couple of croissants. She and I have tea every afternoon. Isn’t that cool? I’m brewing the tea right now. It’s Earl Grey today. You want some? I’ll share my croissant with you.”

The last thing Jake wanted to do was go to a damn tea party with his niece and his ex-girlfriend, fiancée, or whatever the heck Bree was. “I’ll pass,” he said tightly. “Just tell her I stopped by.”

“You should wait. She’ll be back any minute,” Jenny said.

“I don’t have time to wait.”

Jenny gave him a knowing look. “It’s true, isn’t it, what Mom told me?”

“I have no idea what your mother told you.”

“That you still have a thing for Bree but you’re too stubborn to admit it. I remember when you were crazy about her, you know. You’d go all mushy whenever she was in the room. You’re still doing it, even when she’s not around and you’re just talking about her. It’s in your eyes.”

God bless his sister, he thought sourly. “None of your business, or Connie’s for that matter.”

“But it
is
true,” Jenny said confidently. “It’s written all over your face.”

“I most certainly do not still have a thing for Bree,” he insisted. “She’s infuriating. She’s caused me no end of trouble. She’s made us both the subject of gossip more than once. I came over here to put a stop to it.”

Jenny didn’t look even remotely convinced by his declaration. In fact, she wore the very amused expression Connie usually had on her face when he was reciting the same facts to her.

“Give her my message, okay?” he said as he turned toward the door, just in time to come face-to-face with the woman in question.

Bree was standing outside, the bag of croissants in her hand and a look that spoke volumes on her face. She was clearly no happier to find him on the premises than he was about having a confrontation in front of his niece. He yanked open the door and stepped aside to let her in, all too aware of the light, intoxicating scent of her perfume as she passed.

“I was just leaving,” he muttered, not looking at her.

“He came to talk to you,” Jenny contradicted. “He never said what it was about.”

“Business,” he said hurriedly, “but it can wait. I’m late for another appointment.”

Bree looked skeptical. “If it’s business and it was important enough for you to drive over here, let’s discuss it now. Our tea can wait, and I’m sure whoever you’re seeing next won’t minding waiting an extra five minutes.”

Jake figured walking out now would only prove that he’d come here on another mission entirely. He seized a topic out of thin air. “It’s about costs. With gas going up, we’re going to have to start charging for deliveries. Or you can come to the nursery and pick up your order yourself.” He liked that one. She’d most likely be there when he was out on a job, which would cut their contact way down.

“How much?” Bree asked.

For a second, gazing into her eyes, he’d lost track of what he’d said. “What?”

“The price for delivery. How much are you going to charge?”

Since he’d invented the increase on the spot, he had no idea. If he made up something outrageous just to scare her off, his other customers might get wind of it and panic. “Ten dollars to commercial customers,” he said eventually.

“Ten dollars?” she repeated, her eyes sparkling with amusement. “You came all the way over here to tell me you’re going to add ten dollars to the bill for delivery?”

“Yes.”

She regarded him with unmistakable disbelief, then nodded. “Okay, then. Sounds perfectly reasonable to me. I’m surprised you didn’t do it sooner.”

“Yeah, well, we’re big believers in customer service. I kept hoping the gas prices would retreat.”

She set the bag of croissants on the counter and kept a skeptical gaze on him. “I don’t think you came over here to discuss a delivery charge at all.”

“Me, neither,” Jenny chimed in. “I think maybe I’ll go take a walk.” She looked to Bree. “Is that okay with you?”

Bree nodded.

Jenny bounced over and gave him a peck on the cheek. “You’re a lousy liar,” she whispered in his ear before she took off.

Bree studied him. “What’d she say to put that guilty expression on your face?”

“That I’m a lousy liar,” he admitted, resigned to having the discussion he’d originally come over here to have. It was just as well. In another few minutes, he might have forgotten all about how angry he’d been at her.

“You’re a terrible liar,” Bree agreed. “What are you really doing here?”

Jake walked past her into the backroom. “You coming or not?” he asked irritably when she didn’t immediately follow.

“We can talk out here,” she said. Suddenly there was a nervous edge in her voice, as if she feared being alone in a cramped space with him.

“We could, but I’m not sure you want to risk the entire town seeing us.”

She stepped through the archway into the workroom, but kept as much distance as she could between them, including the width of her worktable. “I don’t think seeing two people having a conversation, even the two of us, is cause for gossip.”

Jake met her gaze. “We’re not going to talk.”

That definitely disconcerted her. To tell the truth, he was a little disconcerted by this turn of events himself.

“Then what did you have in mind?”

“When I got here, I had a lot of things to say,” he admitted. “Now I just want to do this.” He moved slowly and deliberately in her direction. To Bree’s credit, she stood her ground.

When he was close enough, Jake traced a finger along the curve of her cheek. He felt her tremble beneath his touch.

“Jake.” It was part protest, part plea.

His lips twitched. “Yes, Bree.”

“What’s going on?”

“I wish to hell I knew,” he said roughly. “I just know that things can’t go on the way they have been. I’m a mess. I even yelled at Mrs. Finch the other day when she called me to come back for the thousandth time to check one of her precious lilacs.”

“You yelled at Mrs. Finch? That’s like kicking a sweet, innocent puppy.”

“I know. I felt awful. I planted three new lilacs for her to make up for it.”

Bree lifted her hand as if to touch him, then lowered it to her side. “Be sure, Jake,” she implored. “Don’t do…well, whatever you were planning to do just now, unless you’re ready to move on. This on-again, off-again stuff is too hard.”

“I can’t think beyond right now,” he said honestly. “This is what I want right now. I want you back in my arms, back in my bed.”

“Back in your life?” she asked, searching his face.

Jake almost said yes, because he knew it was what she needed to hear. “I think so,” he said, knowing he was leaving room for doubt, enough room to end this moment before it really began.

To his regret, though not his surprise, she stepped back. “You need to go. Find a way to forgive me, Jake, or there’s no way for us to be together again.”

Jake wasn’t even sure it was about forgiveness anymore. It was about fear, the kind of paralyzing fear that came with knowing that if he reached out and she wound up leaving him again he might not survive. He refused to share that kind of vulnerability with her.

She apparently drew her own conclusion from his silence. “Jake, did you read the pages I gave you from my manuscript?”

He shook his head. He’d stuffed it in a drawer, out of sight, though not out of mind. He was afraid of what those pages might reveal.

There was no mistaking the disappointment in her eyes. “I wish you would.”

“Why? They’re just words, Bree,” he said, deliberately minimizing her work. “They’re not going to fix anything.”

“They’re not
just
words,” she said heatedly. “They’re raw, painful emotions on those pages.
My
emotions!”

He’d guessed that. In fact, it was what scared him most of all. Because if he read those words, if he saw Bree’s perspective on what had happened between them, he might be forced to let go of the anger he’d been clinging to all these years.

And then he’d have no defenses left at all.

When Jake had gone, Bree tried to compose herself, but Jenny returned before she had a firm grip on her emotions.

“Uncle Jake can be such a jerk,” Jenny said after getting a good look at her red-rimmed eyes. “What did he do? I was hoping he was here to patch things up. I loved it when you were together because it was almost like you were family.”

Bree smiled at the teen’s willingness to rush to her defense, even against her own uncle. “You’re still like family to me,” Bree told her. “Whatever happens between your uncle and me won’t change that.”

“Why can’t you fix things? It’s obvious he’s still crazy about you.”

“We just have some unresolved issues,” Bree told her.

Jenny looked justifiably puzzled. “If you have issues, aren’t you supposed to sit down and talk about them? Isn’t that what adults do? When I get mad at Mom, she won’t leave me alone till we’ve talked it out.”

“First, she’s a mom,” Bree said. “It’s in her job description to make sure you two resolve things. Second, Jake’s a guy. They never want to talk about anything. They just want it to go away.”

“But he’s the one who came over here to talk,” Jenny protested.

“He
thought
he came over here to talk. Then he got other ideas.”

Jenny’s eyes widened. “He, like, made a pass at you?”

Bree reddened, wishing she’d been more discreet. “I didn’t say that.”

“But that’s what happened, isn’t it?” Her expression brightened. “Way to go, Uncle Jake!” she blurted, then looked guilty. “You’re not mad about it, are you? I mean, it wasn’t, like, totally gross or anything, was it? You guys used to kiss all the time. I saw you.”

“I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to discuss my personal life with an employee,” Bree said, smiling to take the sting out of the words. “Even one who’s like family to me.”

“But he’s my uncle. I could help.”

“Something tells me he’s already getting more unsolicited advice than he can handle. It’s better if you don’t bring this up.”

Settling on a stool at the counter, Jenny tore off a piece of her chocolate croissant and popped it into her mouth, her expression thoughtful. “Love’s really complicated, isn’t it?”

“You have no idea,” Bree responded.

“Do you think you have to sleep with a guy just to prove you love him?” Jenny asked, almost causing Bree to spill hot tea all over herself.