Page 132 of Crazy In Love
“Good morning, ladies. I know you made all the arrangements for the restaurant yesterday, but I forgot to order a bouquet for Edith. Can you put something pretty together for me?” he asked.
He always came in on Valentine’s Day to get her a large bouquet of flowers, since it was Edith’s birthday as well as their anniversary. They acted like they were annoyed with one another most of the time, but they were obviously madly in love.
“Of course,” I said as I moved to the refrigerator and pulled out her favorite blooms. Pink peonies and pink roses.
“You look tired, girlie,” he said.
That was one thing about Oscar—he didn’t stand on ceremony.
“Yeah, we’ve been busy. Things’ll settle down after today.”
“And how’s that big grump of yours? You two seem to be going strong.” He raised a brow.
I chuckled. “He’s good. He comes home today.”
“You think he’s the settling down type?” he pressed.
If I had a nickel for every time someone had made a comment about that, well, I’d probably have a dollar.
“I think he’s perfect exactly how he is.” And that was the truth. I knew who Bridger was. I knew that he’d probably been freaked out since the day I told him that I loved him. He’d been a little distant since then and hadn’t brought it up, and I knew he was probably overthinking things. But I also knew that he felt it, too. And sometimes that was more important than hearing those words. Feeling them.
And I felt them.
“I’m going to tell you a little secret that nobody knows.” He leaned forward, keeping his voice low.
“Tell me,” I said.
“I had a rough childhood. Ended up in the system. No stability. No role models to look up to. I even ended up injuvenile hall for a stint when I got involved with the wrong people. Long story short, I was really lost when I met Edith. But a good woman is a powerful thing, Emilia. My lady made me want things I never knew possible. And she had faith in me when no one else did. And look at me now,” he said with a wink.
“I love that. You got your happily ever after, Oscar.” I handed him the giant arrangement, and he gave me his credit card to ring him up.
“I sure did. And if my troubled past ends up in ‘The Taylor Tea,’ I’m going to serve you cold mac ’n’ cheese for the rest of your life,” he said.
“Well, if it ends up in there, it wasn’t from me.”
He nodded. “Happy Valentine’s Day, girlie.”
The rest of the day was so busy that I didn’t even stop to eat.
When I got to my house, I saw Bridger’s truck in my driveway, and I jogged toward the front door because I couldn’t wait to see him. He’d wanted to meet here tonight, so I’d left the hide-a-key under the doormat for him.
I pushed the door open and gasped when I saw vases full of flowers on every surface in my home. They were my favorite garden roses. Small pink blooms in every shade. I’d told him this just one time, and I couldn’t believe he’d remembered.
“Hello?” I called out as I made my way to the kitchen. I spotted him through the French doors leading to the backyard. He had his back to me as he stared out at the mountains.
I walked outside. “Hey. What are you doing out here?”
He turned around to face me and then closed the distance between us. I saw a look on his face that I couldn’t read. Almost like a sadness or a heaviness that he was sitting with.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, angel.” He wrapped his arms around me and tucked my head beneath his chin.
I led him back inside, because even if it had finally stopped snowing, it was still freezing outside.
“I can’t get over these flowers. I’m guessing that’s why you wanted to meet here tonight?”
“Yeah, I wanted you to come home to a house filled with flowers.”
“I can’t believe you did that. They’re gorgeous. Those did not come from my shop,” I said teasingly.
