Page 23 of My Young Rebel Daddy

But as we walk, I can’t help but wonder what exactly did Snoot mean when he said this wasn’t over?

Chapter 9

Nick

‘Woo-hoo! Aaron is coming soon!’ I sing to myself, gleefully taking a moment of quiet in The Little Petal to dance around and have some fun.

Don’t get me wrong, Ilovethat fact that my florist is so popular.

But sometimes I really do enjoy those moments in the day where there isn’t a customer in sight, and I get to take some time to myself.

I used to work in a high stress and very intense environment back when I was an investment banker. There were some days where I could feel myself getting way more stressed out than I wanted to be.

It’s not quite the same thing now that I run my own florist, but sometimes there are moments during a day when all I want to do is just shut up the store and relax.

But, hey, it’s all good – and as soon as Aaron gets here I’m going to finish off my bouquets for the local old folks home and shut up the store for an hour and go for a nice walk on the beach.

‘Hey-hey!’ Aaron says, striding into the store with two juice boxes, and a bag of treats. ‘Look who brought some tropical tastiness!’

‘Yay!’ I reply, so happy to see my friend – and even happier to see that he had come with supplies. ‘Are they…donutsI see in your bag?

‘They sure are!’ Aaron replies, coming in close to hug me. ‘And they’ve got triple-custard crème filling too.’

‘OMG-OMG-OMG! You got them!’ I reply. ‘It’s so sweet that you remembered I wanted to try them. Wow, thank you!’

‘Hey, what are Little friends for?’ Aaron chuckles, putting the drinks and treat bag down on the store counter. ‘I thought you said you were busy though. Was that merely a rouse to get me here with snacks?’

‘Hehe, no, silly!’ I giggle in response. ‘I’ve been rushed off my feet all morning, but it’s gone quiet all of a sudden. It’s just a case of perfect timing on your part.’

‘Well, of course,’ Aaron giggles. ‘You should expect nothing less from me!’

But before we can even take a single bite out of the donuts, I hear the front door open.

‘Hello?’ I call out, leaning to try and glimpse the customer who has just come in.

Soon, I wish I hadn’t…

‘Oh, Christopher,’ I say, immediately bummed out by the sight of my neighbor Christopher Snoot. ‘Looking for some flowers for a friend?’

‘Hardly,’ Christopher replies, rolling his eyes in disgust. ‘No, I’m here to… warn you.’

‘Warn me?’ I reply, having no idea to what he’s referring. ‘I think I might have missed something, but warn me about what?’

‘That so-called builder you have working on your property,’ Snoot says, a look of barely concealed glee on his face. ‘I have it on good authority that he’s a cowboy. A no-good conman of the highest order. Apparently, he’s got a criminal record too.’

‘No! That’s nonsense!’ I reply, my lip trembling with anger. ‘Jason Rock is an honest man who is good at his job. And I’ve got no reason to think otherwise.’

I want so much to pick up one of the donuts right now and smoosh it right in Snoot’s stuck-up, smarmy face.

I can’t believe he’s making up all this crap about my Daddy – and he needs to know that he can’t just walk into my florist and talk like this.

‘Unless you’ve got anything else to say, you need to take your stinky butt and get out of here,’ I say, my voice sounding emotional. ‘I don’t like liars. So stop lying about my… Daddy!’

‘Pffft, Daddy?’ Snoot says, shaking his head in disgust. ‘Whatever you get up to in your private life is your business, I suppose. Even if it is seriously weird. But you do need to know that your…friend… is not who he says he is. He’s no good! And when he cuts and runs and leaves you hundreds of thousands of dollars down, donotcome crying to me!’

I’m speechless.

I feel angry inside, but like I might burst into tears at any moment too.

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