Her cheeks flushed with happiness as she took the flowers from him. “They’re absolutely beautiful,” she said, inhaling the scent of the roses as if she was drinking it in. “You shouldn’t have.”
“Oh, I definitely should have. You have been so patient with me during all the times I barely had any energy for our relationship. The least I can do is pamper you now that I do have the energy.”
She smiled up at him, her eyes warm and soft. Dean knew that if she could have moved mountains for him, she would have. She had been instrumental in encouraging him to commit to his physical therapy when he first began it. It was her determination and kind spirit that had made him feel as though the hard work of physical therapy would be worth it. He’d seen right away what an incredible person she was, and they had quickly become friends. It didn’t take long for that friendship to blossom into love, and Dean thanked his lucky stars every day that she had fallen for him just as intensely as he’d fallen for her.
“What do you want to do on your break?” he asked her. “We could go for a walk or just sit and talk for a while. Or play checkers.” Dean had a checkers app on his phone, and he liked to play on it with Noelle.
“That all sounds wonderful,” she said. “I’d love to get some sunshine. Let me put these gorgeous roses into a vase and then I’ll throw a jacket on. We can walk down to the town square and play checkers for a while.”
“Perfect.” He grinned. “And while we’re out, you can drink this lavender elderberry kombucha I bought you.”
She gasped and took it into her hands as if it was made of precious metal. “This is my favorite flavor! How did you know?”
He shrugged, feeling thrilled he’d been so spot-on. “Lucky guess.”
“Aren’t you a clever man. We can split it.”
Dean shook his head. “No, I’m good, thanks. I’ll grab a bottled coffee out of the vending machine while you’re putting those flowers in a vase.”
A few minutes later, they were out in the sunshine together. Noelle had her arm linked through Dean’s, and she took deep breaths of the fresh air eagerly.
“Oh, it’s such a beautiful day,” she said. “I love my patients, but this is so much better than being cooped up inside. I can’twait until it’s fully autumn. Autumn in Rosewood Beach is so beautiful.”
“So beautiful,” he echoed, looking down at her adoringly, and she bit her lip as she blushed.
They spent a wonderful time together sitting in the gazebo playing checkers. Noelle drank her entire kombucha in about ten minutes, while Dean sipped his coffee more slowly. Too soon, it was time for Noelle to start walking back to work. Dean walked with her and dropped her off on the doorstep of the physical therapy clinic with a kiss.
“See you later?” she said, squeezing his hand.
“See you later.” He kissed her a second time.
“Thank you again for the roses. They’re going to keep me company all day, looking gorgeous and smelling gorgeous and reminding me of you.”
They waved to each other as she slipped back inside. Dean slowly turned away from the clinic, sighing like a schoolboy. He still couldn’t believe he was as lucky as he was to have found Noelle.
He strolled slowly back toward his place, taking in the charming sights of Rosewood Beach as he went. He was pausing in front of a public herb garden when he heard someone call his name.
“Dean!”
He turned and saw Jacob Dorsey heading in his direction. Dean grinned as soon as he recognized him. He’d always been fond of Jacob, but now that the other man was dating his twin sister Hazel, Dean thought of him as more of a brother than a friend.
“How’s it going?” Dean asked, clapping Jacob on the back as he gave him a hug. “What brings you out here to the sidewalks?”
“I was just taking a look at Mrs. Dilber’s sink,” Jacob said, tapping the side of his backpack, which was clearly heavy with tools. “My truck is parked over there.”
Dean turned and saw Jacob’s handyman truck parked across the street. Although it was an older vehicle and a little on the dirty side, he knew that Jacob took great care of it. His friend had only taken it into Main Street Auto once, and that had been to replace the transmission.
“Ah. How’s her sink?”
“Dead. I need to bury it and replace it with a living one.” Jacob grinned at his joke, and Dean groaned appreciatively. “What about you? You look like you’re on cloud nine.”
“I am.” Dean laughed. “I was just stopping by the P.T. clinic to spend time with Noelle on her break. My day always gets a hundred and ten percent better whenever I see her.”
“You’ve got it bad, huh?”
“You’re a fine one to talk. I’ve seen the way you look at my sister.”
Jacob shrugged, although Dean could see a small flush rising to his cheeks. “Guilty.”