Page 42 of Trial Run

She hadn’t imagined the insane chemistry from their first kiss. Feeling like she had to touch him, and if she didn’t have more, she’d die. They both wanted more, so why couldn’t they have it? Just for a few weeks. Just to see.

She’d felt wanted. Necessary. Even though she didn’t believe him when he’d tried to give her credit for his leaving the house, it felt good to be appreciated. Her chest ached at the way he’d looked at her, as if she was good at something, good for him. It would be too easy to want more of that feeling.

It already terrified her, how easily she’d come to trust him. She’d let him into her house, where he should have been out of place with his formal clothes and reserved manners, and instead he’d fit right in. At her dinner table, sitting on the couch with her son.

She couldn’t let herself picture a future with him. It was only three weeks, and when the three weeks were up, their relationship would most likely be over, too. Better to have the exit ramp in place. That way, she’d have an easy way out when things didn’t go well.

But for now, she would let herself enjoy this time. Three weeks with a gorgeous, stern but gentle man who wanted her, and she wanted him right back.

She grabbed the van keys off the hook and went outside to pull the van around to the front of the shop. They had a large number of deliveries to load today. She backed the van up to the door, parked it, and opened the back doors.

Amy emerged from her office, lifting her chin in greeting. “I’ll help you load up today. We’ll need to organize things back here to fit it all in.”

“I appreciate it.”

“Why don’t you sit in the back, and I’ll hand you the potted plants,” Amy said.

Nell nodded and crawled into the van. Amy passed her potted green plants first, which she lined up in rows on the shelves in back. As each plant passed through her hands, she turned it around, checking for dead leaves. She pinched off a couple as she stacked the plants.

When she turned around, Amy’s eyes were on her.

“How did you know to do that?” she asked.

“Do what?”

“When you took the leaves off, you pinched the stem in the right place. Above the node.”

“Well, that helps it grow better.”

“I never told you to do that. Jackie doesn’t do it.”

Nell gave her a little smile. “I know a few things about plants, I guess from my college classes? But it’s also a hobby. I have lots of plants at home.”

Amy’s brow furrowed. “You’ve never talked to me about college. You studied botany?”

“Horticulture. But I didn’t finish the degree.”

“Why didn’t you say so on your application? I had no idea.”

“Because I didn’t finish school. I dropped out. It didn’t seem important.”

Amy squinted at her in disbelief. “Are you telling me all this time, you knew how to tend these plants like a professional, and you didn’t tell me?”

“I just kind of … did it anyway?”

Amy was silent for a moment. She seemed to choose her words carefully before speaking.

“The last few months, some plants have gone missing from the shop, and I couldn’t find receipts for them. I thought someone was stealing them.” She fixed Nell with a stare.

Nell shook her head, frantic. “Oh, no. I’d never steal them. They didn’t like the pots they were in, or the watering schedule, because Jackie always over waters them, so I took them home with me, but I always—”

“You brought them back alive.” Amy cracked out a laugh. “The first time one of those damn finicky ferns reappeared looking twice as good as before, I didn’t recognize it. I thought someone had left a new plant in the store, which didn’t make anysense. Thought I was losing my mind. But it was you, wasn’t it? You brought it back after you fixed it up.”

Nell crossed her arms over her chest. “It wasn’t happy before. Who would have bought it, looking like that?”

“No one, that’s who.” Amy paused, looking up into the van. “You’re a good egg, Nell. But a strange one. There’s a lot of stuff you never told me. Next time, no sneaking around. If you want to take a plant home, just tell me. Come on, help me get the bouquets next.”

They headed back into the store to collect the wrapped bouquets, which would be stored in buckets on the floor of the van.

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