Page 80 of Cuts Like An Angel: Part 3

“I’m surely going to try.” He’d give it his all. This child, Rosie … they’d want for nothing.

“Hey, did you get her anything? Rosie, I mean?”

“Get her anything. I’m supposed to?”

“No. Not really. I mean, yes, but … go and buy her some flowers. Go out and get her the biggest bunch you can find and leave them where she can see them when she comes in.”

“Flowers?”

“Yeah. We love that kind of shit. We tell you we don’t but honestly, I don’t know a single woman who doesn’t like flowers. Of course, my husband never bought them except in an apology, so make them special for her. Make them about good things. And chocolates. Let her know you’re happy.”

“She knows I’m happy. I’ve told her.”

“Yeah. And she is also female and us women are the masters of overthinking. I can tell you; she’ll be at work thinking about this all now. She’ll be wondering if you’re really happy. She’ll be going over every reaction you gave, every expression. Trust me. Go and buy her something, give it to her the moment she comes in.”

“I don’t know. Rosie isn’t like other women. She’s independent. She doesn’t show it so often, but she is …”

“Trust me. She wants special. We all want special. We like to make you guys think we’ve got everything sorted, but in our heads we’re a mess. Buy her some flowers, hell, buy her loads and decorate the room with them.” There was another sound on the other end of the line. Something like a bell, or a chime, whatever it was, it was loud. “I’ve got to go,” Dana said, “But you go and buy her those flowers. If she doesn’t love them, I’ll cook my husband dinner. Hell, I’ll even cook his little hussy dinner.”

“I wouldn’t want you to do that. I …”

“That’s how confident I am. God, I’m so excited for you. You deserve this, Josh. I’ve got to go. Speak to you later and thank you.”

“You just keep laughing,” William said and hung up.

There was a fire in his belly, something. Probably indigestion or hunger, he thought to himself, or … the idea that Dana was right, and he did need to do something for Rosie. Do something special.

He tapped the phone to his chest as he glanced around the room, a slow smile crept along his mouth, slowly twisting his lips. Flowers. Yes. Chocolates? Definitely.

“Hey, Maria,” William said, as he walked from the kitchen to her room, “I’m gonna head out for an hour. Do you want anything?”

Even the sour faced old woman couldn’t spoil his mood right then. This was going to be great. It was all going to be great.

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