Page 5 of April Flowers

“Nope.”

Pete sat on the bed—in his “spot” whenever he slept over—and stretched out his legs. Margot was suddenly grateful he was here. Every person she’d served at the flower shop today had somebody to go home to. They had somebody to love. She didn’t love Pete. She guessed she never would. But now that Samanthahad reached out to her from Margot’s wretched past, Margot felt as though she stood on unstable ground. She wanted to cry, and she never cried. She viewed it as a waste of time, a thing she’d done too much as a teenager that she’d left behind.

“That’s pretty wild,” Pete said finally, mystified. “I guess you have your reasons.”

“I do.”

Pete sipped his wine and bent his head. Margot tried to read his mind and guessed he was realizing Valentine’s Day wasn’t going to go the way he planned.

Maybe he thinks this will bring us closer together, she thought.

“Why do you think your sister-in-law and your brother got divorced?”

“My brother was never the nicest guy,” Margot remembered. “But he was a lot older than me. He’d be fifty-one now.”

“Wow. Twelve years?”

“Yep. I was an accident. At least, I think I was. My parents never said one way or the other.”

“Do you have other siblings?”

“There are four of us,” Margot said, surprising herself. She couldn’t remember the last boyfriend she’d told that to. “Daniel, Henry, Melissa, and me.”

Pete cocked his head. There was a strange glimmer in his eyes. “Do you know how many siblings I have?”

“Of course. You have three,” she said.

She knew he was best friends with his older brother, and both of his sisters lived in Beacon Hill and frequently came by the flower shop. He talked of them often.

“Do you know my parents’ names?” he asked.

“Brenda and Scott.”

Pete laughed nervously. For a long time, he remained quiet, staring ahead. Margot was too lost in thought to notice. Shekept picturing little Darcy and Rachelle racing up and down the beach in front of her parents’ place. She remembered wiping the sand from their fingers and toes. She remembered Darcy crying because she didn’t want to leave Margot when it was time to go home. She remembered Samantha whispering, “It’s all right, honey. We’ll see Aunt Margot later this week.”

Aunt Margot! Once upon a time, I was Aunt Margot!

Margot’s eyes stung with tears. She quickly blinked them away.

But suddenly, Pete was on his feet. The mattress bounced from his quick exit. From the foot of the bed, he looked at her like he was an injured deer. Margot was too mystified with her own life to understand what was going on in his head.

Finally, when the intensity felt too great, she asked, “What’s up?”

Pete clapped his thighs. “I realized something.”

“Yeah?”

“I realized you’ve never told me, like, anything about yourself. Until tonight.”

Margot raised both eyebrows. Was he really bringing this up now? Worse, had he only just now realized she’d been so tight-lipped?

Maybe he’d been too self-obsessed to notice. Too eager to share his own stories. Finally, he’d found the perfect woman who’d let him talk and talk and talk.

“I mean, I know you’re a business owner and obsessed with your career,” he said, putting up a single finger. “I know you don’t like brussels sprouts. I know you barely make time for yourself and barely have time for me. I know you didn’t want me to come over tonight and that you wouldn’t have let me unless I came to the flower shop and forced you.”

Margot felt this was tremendously unfair. “I told you. Today was—”

“The Super Bowl. I know.” Pete pulled his hair. “But it’s also Valentine’s Day. Which is a day people who like or even love each other usually spend together.”

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