I watch from a distance as Lottie walks out of my parents’ house in a dress most people wouldn’t think of as wedding attire but fits her style and what she and Brooks are trying to accomplish today—just to celebrate their love.
My mom pauses, and Brooks lowers Wren to the ground, his gaze unable to stray from Lottie. Mom squeezes my arm, and her quick inhale says we shouldn’t be watching their intimate moment. Wren shouldn’t be either, it should be shared between them, but I can’t blame her. Even I can’t take my eyes away from them. Their love grew so deep so fast, it spurs a memory from years ago that I swallow back, just like every time it surfaces.
Brooks breaks the distance, opens his arms, and Lottie walks right into them as though she never belonged anywhere else.
“To think how long she fought that.” Mom lays her head on my shoulder with a sigh. “That kind of love doesn’t come around for everyone.”
She doesn’t look me in the eye but rather walks away toward the house.
I admire the couple for a second longer than I should. Shame crawls up my spine like a spider because I had a love like that a long time ago.
Then I turn and head toward the planters because there’s no sense in thinking about things that can never be.
A half hour later, I’m annoyed and snapping at my three cousins who are giving me shit as they’re each planting the plant they picked out.
“Six inches,” I say to Jude.
“I won’t plant it at all if you keep watching over me like I’m a child using a knife for the first time.” Jude glances at Ben, and they both roll their eyes.
“I know you think I just play with dirt all day, but there’s actually a reason I do things the way I do.”
“Here?” Jude asks, stabbing the soil right next to the one my dad planted five minutes ago.
“Yes, but… ugh. Just give it to me.” I take the shovel.
That’s when I finally spot some of the workers from The Perfect Petal unloading the flowers, while Lottie trails behind them, moving toward the raised garden beds.
“Oh, not there!” I leave my cousins to do what they want with one garden, rushing over to the flowers being put out.
“Hey, it’s okay, I’m not picky,” Lottie tells me because she doesn’t understand how this can all be ruined.
“If we don’t plant them right, some won’t make it. I told you to let them pick the plants, and I would plant each one. Or someone from The Perfect Petal could handle it.”
Lottie laughs and squeezes my arm. “That’s no fun. I want it to be their way of planting something for our future. Every time I look at this garden, I’ll remember this day.”
She keeps talking, but I’m not listening anymore.
Because my eyes catch on a brunette figure near the flower carts.
My heart seizes. My breath stutters. My stomach sinks.
It can’t be her. There’s no way. I knew her parents had moved back—ran into her mom at the library one day during story time for Wren—but no one told me she was back.
“Delaney?” I say, my voice raw.
She looks up and draws back when she sees me. “Hi, Bennett,” she says calmly.
Too calmly. As if she’s had time to prepare. As if she’s had time to brace herself, while all I can think about is how much more beautiful she looks than the last time I saw her seven years ago.
Chapter Four
Delaney
Poppy has always been persuasive, but she’s upped her game in the years I’ve been away.
By the time her Jeep pulled out of my parents’ driveway, she’d convinced me that I should take the open position at The Perfect Petal. She made her case, and I couldn’t refuse because the fact is, I need the money. Since I arrived, I’d been focused on getting Leia settled into her new environment, and the few feelers I’d put out for employment had led nowhere. I need a paycheck, plain and simple. If it means I might cross paths with Bennett on the rare occasion he’s in his office, then so be it. According to Poppy, he never comes in. My number one priority is Leia and getting us the hell out of this town, and I can’t do that without a job.
It all sounded great until I came face-to-face with him. His good looks have deepened with age. Dark hair, eyes a shade of brown that once looked at me like I was his everything. But the warmth they used to hold is absent, and they don’t reflect any of the love they once did.
