Page 29 of Courageous Demands

“Look at me getting all emotional,” she said thickly, getting to her feet and looking at him. “I think maybe it’s time for some hot tea. It was a busy morning at the shop.”

“Ma, I know you want grandkids and…”

“Alec, having children is one of the most satisfying and hardest things to do. There’s so much doubt in your head; you are afraid you are raising one messed-up little version of yourself, plus they are expensive,” she laughed nervously, smiling at him. “Of course, I want to hold my grandbaby someday, but I’m not raising them. I just want you to experience all those feelings and emotions because you have grown into an amazing man – just like your Daddy was, and if he was here, he’d probably ask you why you were dawdling with a bunch of wilted flowers.”

At her smile, he looked down and met her eyes nervously.

“Just enjoy your life, give it everything you can, because it can change in an instant – and we both know that.”

Alec nodded and hesitated. He had been riding his bike down the street when he rode past his house and saw the fire chief’s car in the driveway. Running inside, he was slapped with the reality that his father was never coming home. The tears, the screams of denial, and the way he and his mother clung to each other for hours would be something he never forgot or shared with anyone. Yeah, he might have a smartmouth and vicious tongue, but only because it protected a very soft heart that belonged to a very rare, select few people in his life.

“Ma…?”

“Yeah, baby?”

“The flowers are for Willow.”

“I suspected as much.”

“You don’t mind?”

“Honey, I know you still care for her – I just want you to be happy. If she makes you happy, then I am beside myself with joy.”

“We’re just talking.”

“That’s how it starts,” she smiled at him and patted his cheek. “Go while the flowers still look nice – and have a good time.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Nodding, Alec murmured his thanks again and stared at the bouquet in his hand. Lilies, peonies, irises, and a variety of other cuttings in every sort of color were practically glowing and looked very thrown together. It wasn’t a fancy bouquet of roses, but it was from the heart.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Alec was even more nervous. The flowers looked like they needed water, a vase, or something pretty quickly. As he picked them up off the passenger seat of his truck, he noticed a few petals were already falling and rolled his eyes.

Willow was going to think this was so stupid of him.

Knocking on the door, he almost chucked them into the bushes as he heard a sound, followed by the door opening before him. The moment he met her eyes and she started to push the screen door open to let him inside, her gaze dropped, and he would never forget that look until the day he died.

His mother used to tell him that memories were ‘simple snapshots’ of precious moments that would be forever engrained in the soul. You remembered moments by a certain look, a smell, a feeling but rarely was it ever an entire experience.

Right now, it was eighty-five degrees outside, pollen everywhere, the sun was still high in the sky, the birds were singing, and he would forever smell that honeysuckle in the air associating it with the look in Willow’s eyes. The two would be synonymous, and he was going to buy her some honeysuckle perfume next.

“Hi,” he said hoarsely, looking at her and trying not to stammer as he felt completely bowled over. Her eyes were huge in her face, a brilliant hazel, but there was an obvious melting visible within those orbs, those windows to the soul. Her lips parted, that soft intake of air creating a gasp, as she looked at him in surprise.

“You brought… flowers?”

“A few from Mom’s garden. It’s just a little something and…”

“Oh, Alec,” she began emotionally, reaching forward and grabbing him by the front of his shirt, pulling him inside. He nearly tripped over his feet at the aggressive move – and loved it.

This is just coffee; his brain kept chanting repeatedly. Coffee. That’s it. Don’t make a big deal about coffee with your ex-girlfriend. Smashed beans and hot water. Looks like dirt – tastes divine. Coffee, and that’s it.

His heart was pounding in his chest, and his stomach was doing some weird flippy-floppy things, but the look on her face was something he would never forget… a vital memory.

“Let me get a vase,” Willow began frantically, fanning herself and wiping her eyes as she searched random cabinets, letting the cabinet doors slam noisily. This wasn’t like her. She looked almost panicked, talking quickly as she rushed through several of the cabinets blindly in the kitchen. “Oh my goodness. I don’t know what to say. I’m just completely bowled over and…”

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