Page 30 of Love in Bloom

She patted his arm. “Well, let’s just say a little birdy told me you needed help.”

February

MillerkickedWallflower’sbackdoor three times, again.Damn, it was cold! It was one thing to get up this early on a Saturday to run, but another thing altogether to stand around freezing your butt off.Miller wished he’d zipped his jacket up higher. Both hands were full, so he was stuck. He heard noises on the other side of the door and what sounded like an alarm system being deactivated.

“Miller? What are you doing here?” He saw the happy surprise in Wren’s face before she schooled it back into annoyance.

“Let me in, and I’ll tell you.”

“Why?”

“Your coffee’s getting colder by the second,” he said, nodding toward his full hands. Wren took the coffee carrier, and Miller followed behind her carrying a large white box with a smaller white bag on top of it. He set them both on the back counter and reached for the coffee Wren wasn’t drinking.

“Good morning,” he greeted.

“It is now,” she agreed and smiled. “Thank you. I needed this.”

“Well, you’ll need this, too.” He opened the bag and held a dark chocolate cherry pastry from Sweet Tooth’s Bakery. “Unless you’d rather have a donut from the box.”

Wren grabbed the pastry and took a greedy bite. Miller watched her lick some of the cherry filling from the corner of her mouth.

“You’re feeding me again,” she accused, before taking another hungry bite.

“It’s become a habit.” They finished their pastries in comfortable silence. Wren licked her fingers before opening the packet of Handi Wipes tucked in the bag.

“Thank you for breakfast, but, why are you here, Miller?”

“To help.”

“And you thought feeding me would put me in a better mood so I’d agree to your plan,” she teased.

“Busted. You said Valentine’s is your busiest day of the year. I thought since I know all the streets in Haven, I could help with deliveries.”

“I don’t need you to rescue me, Counselor.” Wren crossed her arms in front of her.

“Just like I didn’t need you to rescue me at the auction.”

“I don’t know what you mean.” Wren busied herself rearranging the pens on the countertop. Miller lifted her chin.

“Mrs. Hart said a little birdy told her I needed help.”

“Oh, that,” Wren said and looked away.

“Yes, that.” Miller dropped his hand.

“Well, that was just one friend helping another. This is different.”

“No, it’s not, Wren. This is the same thing.” He knew she’d put up a fight, but he didn’t think she’d be this stubborn. Miller watched as she chewed on the end of a pen. He didn’t know what was going on in that pretty little head of hers, but he had a hunch he wouldn’t like it.

“Don’t you have lawyer work you should be doing next door? I don’t want you to get in trouble over me.”

“Wren, I appreciate your concern, but it’s Saturday and I can do whatever the hell I want. And I want to help you.”

“Maybe one person’s rescuing is another person’s helping,” she mused and resumed chewing on the pen.

“Call it what you want, but I’d like to help you today. I owe you,” Miller urged.

She sighed, but then she smiled. “OK, you can help.”

---