Page 6 of Forever Love at Fleur's Flower Shop

And that’s when she’d been brave enough to use her inheritance to follow her dream, and she’d opened up Fleur’s Flower Shop. A dream which reminded her of Matty every single day. A dream she’d spoken about with him time and time again throughout their five-year relationship and one he’d made her promise to make reality some day.

And now this man who had propelled her ambitions into reality was standing right outside her shop, his head tilted back as he stared at the sign above the window.

Pulling off her glove, she gnawed at her thumbnail. What was he thinking? Was he pleased for her? Did he even remember their conversations? Did he remember the promise he’d forced her to make?

Probably not. He was probably angry at her, angry for turning his life upside down without explanation. Angry for making him feel as though he had to leave the place he was born and raised. Angry that she’d not been in touch.

Or relieved that he’d dodged a bullet? Maybe.

She watched as he shook his head slightly before walking away. With the coast clear, she shoved her hands in her pocket and pulled out her keys and made her way towards her shop.

Chapter Five

Happy with how it had turned out, Fleur placed the finished table decoration in the fridge. That was all the flowers for the Robson’s anniversary dinner completed, and they looked good, even if she thought so herself.

She turned back to the large table in the middle of the chilled backroom of the shop and glanced out of the huge window into the shop as the door chimed, announcing a customer. It was Bea. She’d been expecting her to come in but had assumed she’d have at least until closer to lunchtime before Bea closed up the bookshop for a few minutes to head over and interrogate her.

No such luck. Leaving the strips of cut stems and loose leaves in a mess on the table, she pushed open the door into the shop. ‘Hey, Bea. Have you closed up for a break already?’

‘Hey, no, Lindsey popped round, so I begged her to look after the shop for me while I brought you this.’ Bea smiled as she held up two takeaway cups of coffee and two bulging paper bags.

‘Aw, please tell me that’s one of Pat’s little carrot cakes?’ Stepping forward, Fleur took hold of one of the cups as Bea passed her a bag.

‘Of course.’ Bea took a sip of her coffee.

‘Thanks.’ Placing her cup on the counter, Fleur opened the bag and broke off a chunk of carrot cake before popping it in her mouth. If she was about to be subjected to an interrogation, then at least she’d be watered and fed.

Placing her hands flat against the counter on either side of her cup, Bea looked at her. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not here to bombard you with questions. I’m sure you have your reasons for leaving things in the past.’

‘Really?’ Fleur spoke around the chunk of cake in her mouth before looking down and wiping the crumbs from her jumper.

‘Yes, really. And don’t sound so surprised! I’m your friend. The last thing I want is to force you to tell me something you don’t feel comfortable speaking about.’

‘It’s not that, I…’ Fleur slumped her shoulders. How did she explain this? ‘It’s not that I was keeping something from you, it’s just that it happened so long ago. I mean, ten years is a long time, right? And it wasn’t the proudest moment of my life.’

‘Oh, I get it. Honestly, you don’t have to explain anything to me.’ She picked up her coffee cup again. ‘These things happen and I’m certainly not one to judge. Heck, I should have left Adam at the altar! I would have saved myself years of heartache if I had.’

‘It wasn’t like that.’ Fleur lifted her thumb to her mouth, forcing herself to lower it again before she chewed down on the nail and instead tugged off another chunk of cake. Up until seeing Matty last night, she’d almost overcome her nail-biting habit.

‘I’m just saying that we all do things for a reason and there’s no point in going through with a wedding if you knew it wasn’t the right thing to do.’ Bea reached out and rubbed Fleur’s forearm.

Looking down at Bea’s hand on her arm, Fleur swallowed as her stomach churned, the all too familiar churn of emotionsshe’d spent so many years bottling up and compartmentalising. Burying. ‘I did want to marry him. I wanted to marry him more than anything in the entire world, but…’

‘You wanted to marry him?’ Drawing her hand back to her cup, confusion swept over Bea’s face. ‘But you left him at the altar.’

Fleur nodded slowly. ‘Yep. I left him because it was the right thing to do. The right thing for him.’

‘But…?’ Bea shook her head. ‘I don’t understand. If you wanted to marry him, then why didn’t you?’

‘I…’ A movement on the street outside caught Fleur’s eye, and she felt her heart begin to hammer. It was him. It was Matty walking across the green, straight towards her shop. ‘It’s him. I can’t speak to him. Not yet. Cover for me.’

‘What?’ Bea glanced out of the window behind her before turning back and locking eyes with Fleur. ‘Isn’t it best to clear the air?’

‘Yes, but not now. I just can’t. I need time to… I don’t know. To think. Just cover for me.’ Ducking down behind the counter, she reached up again for her coffee and cake before crossing her legs on the cold floor as Bea walked behind the counter.

‘Fleur! I don’t know what I’m doing.’ Bea whispered loudly as she stepped around Fleur’s legs.

‘You’ll be fine. Just remember, don’t let on that I’m here.’ Picking up her coffee cup, she pulled it towards her lips, grateful for the warmth of the liquid inside. Her shop was always cool. It had to be because of the flowers and bouquets she displayed on the shop floor, but sitting on the tiles as well…

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