The rain starts in the middle of our second install—soft at first and enough to make us believe it will pass quickly.
Delaney’s kneeling beside a bed of lavender, her hands tucking the roots in the soil gently and precisely. I admire her working longer than I should. She hums under her breath, a song I can’t place.
“Are you going to watch everything I plant?” she asks without turning around.
“You have a touch with plants and flowers.”
She looks over her shoulder. “That is a compliment, right?”
I chuckle and kneel beside her, digging the next hole for her. “It’s a gentleness, like a caress.”
She reaches across me, lightly putting the roots in place then sliding the dirt to fill the hole. “It’s called nurturing. I like to think the calmer you are, the more it feels at peace with the earth.”
I sit back on my ankles, and she puts up her hand.
“I don’t want to hear it.”
“What?” I hold out my hands, unable to take my eyes off her.
“That it’s some new age thinking. I’d like you to know, in my private garden, only two things died, and they were both roses.” She sighs. “Should’ve been a sign.”
“I wasn’t judging. I love to watch you work.”
She side-eyes me, reaching farther to dig the next hole, but I get there first.
“What?” I ask when she doesn’t continue the conversation.
“It’s just… this needs to stay platonic between us.”
“I only said I love to watch you work. I don’t see the harm in complimenting you.” We start on the second row of lavender.
Honestly, I should be on the seventh hole with the hackberry trees being planted along the fairway, but I can’t seem to find it in myself to leave her.
The other night when Wren told me she went riding with Leia and her mom had braided her hair, I was pissed that I’d missed it. Though to see her doing something so motherly with my daughter might’ve broken that final thread of willpower and had me kissing her.
Delaney stands and stretches, water dripping from the ends of her hair. “Thank you.”
I sit back and stretch my arms, watching her tip her head back. “Don’t thank me. It was purely selfish reasons that I came over to help you.”
I forgot how exciting it is to flirt with her.
“No, for giving me the job. Convincing me to take it.” Her voice is soft. “It draws me out of my head and reminds me who I am.”
I stare at the water that’s coming down a little steadier now, the dark clouds looming overhead. “It’s the best. You’ve been missing out.”
She laughs and tilts her head back again, closing her eyes, face lifted to the sky, allowing the rain to wash over her. She throws her arms out at her sides, her chest rising and falling. She’s breathtakingly gorgeous, and I want to kiss her more in this moment than I did the other day in my kitchen.
“Why did you allow him to tell you to stop?” I’m taking a chance with the question, but I’m desperate to know since the Delaney I knew would have told him to fuck off.
She hesitates, and when she does finally speak, her voice is low. “It’s not like from day one he said, ‘You’re not going to work.’ It just happened slowly. He was gone a lot, we had the money, and it made sense for me to stay home with Leia at first. But I see now, I let myself shrink to fit a life I never really wanted.”
The air shifts around us… thickens, as guilt washes down on me faster than the raindrops.
She looks up at the dark sky again. Rain traces her cheekbone. And for a second, I forget all the shit between us.
“You’re here now, and you’re definitely making the most of it.” I glance at the lavender perfectly planted by her side.
“Well… thank you again.” Her lips tip in a sweet smile.
