Page 15 of Trial Run

“How did you end up delivering flowers? Did you always want to be a florist?” he asked.

She gave a quick glance in his direction. Other than his death grip on the door frame, he was looking straight ahead out the windshield. He probably needed conversation to distract him from the fact they were picking up speed, turning onto a larger street.

She gave a little laugh. “Nope. This wasn’t the original plan. But life threw me a few curveballs and here I am.”

“What did you want to do before? If you don’t mind my asking.”

“I was in a degree program for horticulture at the university. I was the first person in my family to go to college. My mom was so proud. She died of cancer when I was in my third year.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It was a long time ago.”

She felt Ben’s gaze on the side of her face. As usual, he had a way of listening that made her want to talk more. He didn’t judge. He understood all the ways life got complicated.

She took a deep breath and went on. “Anyway, my plan in college was to start a landscape design business. But I dropped out to get married a few months after Mom died. That changed everything for me, made me question everything. I only had a year left before graduation, too. At the time, I thought I could finish school later, but …”

“Other things happened?” he supplied.

“Right. I ended up on my own with a kid. A single mom, like my mom was. I never thought I’d be like her, but history repeated itself there.”

“That must have been hard.”

Ben didn’t ask where Marco’s dad was, like so many people did. He just listened, and him being a good listener was very dangerous, because there were a lot of things about her marriage she’d never told anyone, and she didn’t intend to start now.

After this week, she’d never see him again, and she wasn’t about to expose all her inner hurts to another person guaranteed to disappear from her life.

“It was hard,” she said lightly. “But I’m doing fine.”

She kept her hands at ten and two on the wheel as she navigated the rest of the way to their stop.

* * *

Ben’s patient was thrilled with her new flower arrangement. When the older Black woman answered the door, her first expression had been confusion, which transformed into delight when she saw the sender’s name on the card.

“Oh, this is so beautiful.” Beverly turned the flower pot one way and then the other, admiring the deep indigo blooms from different angles. “And they’re from Dr. Friedman. How thoughtful of him.”

“Yes, I’m out delivering a big order from him today.”

“I’m not surprised he did this. He’s an amazing doctor. I’ll definitely send him a thank you note, because these made my day.”

“Flowers will do that, won’t they?” Nell gave the woman a warm smile.

“You’re absolutely right.”

Beverly squinted over Nell’s shoulder, across her driveway at the parked van.

“Is that Dr. Friedman in the car with you?” she asked, her voice filled with confusion. “It’s hard to see with the reflection on the windows. But I thought I saw someone who looks like him in the front seat.”

Nell froze, unsure if Ben would want his patients to know he was here with her. She hadn’t asked him about this part.

She gave a nervous laugh. “Just a friend of mine who came along with me. The glare is really bright out this time of day.”

“Of course.” Beverly gave another long look at the van, as if trying to see past the glare. “Well. Thank you again, my dear.”

“Have a wonderful day.”

Nell jogged down the steps and climbed back into the van. Ben was staring out the windshield with a strange expression on his face.

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