Page 1 of My Recluse Valentine

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Blossom

It's Valentine's Day. Loveis in the air, and so are snowflakes—not the light, fluffy ones that were falling earlier when I first started my trek up the mountain in my trusty pink van to deliver Valentine's flowers to people lucky enough to have a loved one willing to pay the outrageous prices charged on a day meant for love.

No matter how hard I try to keep my prices down, the high demand for flowers on Valentine's Day drives up the amount I have to pay my distributor, which trickles down to my customers. The least I can do it drive through a little snow to make sure their flowers arrive for this special day.

If only it was a little snow.

My windshield wipers can barely keep up with the heavy, wet snow. Don't even get me started on where the road ends and the shoulder begins. I'll be lucky to make it back to town without getting stuck in a ditch. It's good that my cat Milo joined me on this journey instead of staying back at the flower shop like he normally does. Not that I want him to be stranded with me, but at least I'm not alone on Valentine's Day.

I left my flower shop, Where Hope Blossoms, in the more than capable hands of my assistant, Sienna. Usually, I would have one of the two teenage boys I hired to deliver the flowers, but with the snow and winding mountain roads, I thought it best to make these deliveries myself.

Besides, I'm not sure how much longer I could stand watching Sienna's self-proclaimed bodyguard, Wyatt, hover around her all day, growling at every man from ages fifteen to ninety-five that she was his every time they got too close to her.

What would it be like to have a man so in love with you he would be that possessive?

Sienna is a fool for not agreeing to date Wyatt, but that's her story to tell, not mine.

This town is filled with handsome, possessive mountain men. Why does the one I want, have to be such a recluse? Chance only comes into town every few weeks for supplies. I'm almost positive he has a wife or a girlfriend living with him—he stops by my shop every time he's in town for a bouquet. He was in only a few days ago, so I won't see him for a while.

My heart races at the thought of his big, muscular body with the tattoo sleeve on his left arm. He pushed up his sleeves the last time he was in my shop, and I almost melted on the spot when I got a glimpse of the corded veins running through his ink and how I wanted to trace them with my tongue.

A slight moan escapes my lips, earning me a grumpy meow from Milo. He glares at me from his spot on the passenger seat, riding shotgun in his new cat car seat. "Sorry, buddy." I take my right hand off the wheel, only long enough to run my hand over his head and down his back. "I'll make this quick. And we'll be back home in no time." I promise my cat before my thoughts wander back to Chance.

Needing a break from those dangerous thoughts, since there's no point in lusting after someone I can't have, I pop an old CD from one of my favorite classic groups, ABBA, into my van's CD player, another perk of my trusty old van. As luck would have it, the first song that plays is "Take a Chance on Me."

Perfect. Now, all I can think about is Chance taking a chance on me if he ever leaves his wife or girlfriend because, of course, I'd be the first in line. "Yeah, right." I snort, disturbing Milo again.

If his glare shows his disapproval of my snorting, I might as well plan on being utterly alone tonight. "You know what, Milo? It's Valentine's Day today, and we are both single. I, for one, am going to embrace my status." Ignoring Milo, I crank up the music and belt out the lyrics as loud as I can, wiggling my hips in my seat as I bob my head to the beat.

Feeling light and carefree, I glace at Milo's still disapproving stare as I sing along to the ba ba ba's. I take my eyes off the road for a split second to tickle my finicky partner under his chin, hoping to coax him out of his grumpy mood when the van slides sideways. I snap my gaze back to the road, grabbing the steering wheel with my right hand to correct the slide of the van, but I'm too late as the van slides headfirst into a snowbank.

"Holy crap, Milo. Are you okay?" I check on Milo first. A giggle escapes my mouth at the "WTF" look he is giving me. "Sorry about that, Milo." I apologize, hoping to soothe his anger at the sudden crash into a small but still dangerous snowbank. "It's good I bought you that cat car seat." At first, it seemed like a silly purchase, but now that I know Milo is safe and sound, I'm glad I spent the hundred and fifty bucks on it.

After a few strokes of my hand down his head and back, Milo relaxes back into his car seat, dismissing me with a flick of his tail.

"Let's see if I can get us out of this mess." I put the van in reverse, gently stepping on the gas pedal, only to have my wheels spin helplessly from side to side, digging the van further into the snowy ditch. "Well, shoot. That didn't work." I take my foot off the gas pedal and put the van back into park.

My next option is to call Bernie, the local tow truck driver, to see if he can pull me out of the ditch so I can make my final flower delivery for the day to Mrs. Nelson. She and her husband are in their late eighties. Mr. Nelson called into my shop to order the flowers since they don't get into town often anymore. With their age and the fact that they live high in the mountains, it's hard for them to make the drive into town. Most folks help delivertheir groceries and other supplies, so they don't have to make the journey. Chance is the only person who lives higher in the mountains than they do.

The flowers!

My thoughts are interrupted by Mrs. Nelson's bouquet of a dozen red roses in the back of my van. The classic Valentine's gift for their classic love story—high school sweethearts, married seventy years and counting.

After a quick glance in the back of my van, I breathe a sigh of relief at the still-secured vase of roses tied to the bolted-down racks I had installed into the van for deliveries. Now, I need to figure a way out of the snowy ditch to deliver the flowers and get home for my own Valentine's romantic comedy movie night with Milo.

I take my phone from the cup holder, only to find no signal. "Just great." I push the driver's side door open and step out, only to sink into knee-deep snow. "Even better." I huff as I stomp my way out of the ditch onto the road where the snow is only ankle deep, I hold my phone out at arm's length, and spin around in a circle, searching for that elusive cell tower signal.

"Find what you're looking for, Blossom?" A deep, sexy voice says from somewhere behind me, causing me to jerk in surprise. Where did he come from? My feet flyout from under me as they tangle in my haste to turn around to see if it truly is the face of the person whose voice keeps me up at night fantasizing about things no virgin should fantasize about.

I tumble to the ground, the soft blanket of snow cushioning my fall as my legs with white leggings covered in tiny red hearts that I thought were perfect for the holiday and the cute red tulle tutu skirt, which I also thought would be fun for the holiday, part in an invitation I've never given anyone before.

I prop myself up on my elbows to get a better look at my savior. "Chance," I say in a husky voice I barely recognize. "Can you help me get off…I mean, out? Can you help me get my van out of the ditch?" I scramble to my feet, my cheeks hot with embarrassment over my slip of the tongue.

Chance reaches his large hands out to help steady me. "I can help you do both."

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