Page 4 of Grumpy Girl and Amaryllis

I grab the closest container because I don’t want to move an inch from her and notice that it has a long stalk and two oblong leaves, but that’s it.

“What’s this one?”

I watch her swallow deeply, then drop her eyes to my hands.

“Amaryllis, or amaryllidoideae, are gorgeous and extremely eye-catching.Usually.Cali, my sister and co-owner, ordered these, and this one just hasn’t sent up a bloom. And that’s why it’s on the sale table. I don’t think it’s going to be beautiful.”

Her voice calms, and a hint of sadness tints her explanation. She really cares for these plants and it’s like the plant’s not meeting its destiny.

Baby, I’m giving you your destiny.

Gazing at her face and then at the plant, I can’t help but think it’s already beautiful. It’s perky, it’s towering, and it’s graceful.

And it’s not the only thing in the room.

“They’re kind of a pain in the butt. Actually, I’m going to say it like it is…they’re the high maintenance plant of the plant world. You have to dig them up and store the bulb in cold air for eight to twelve weeks, and then replant them, so they’ll bloom. It’s called ‘forcing’.”

Shit. I’m not up for a needy plant.

“Thankfully, these have already had their cool season, and this oneshouldbloom, but like people, they can be stubborn…high maintenance.” She smirks at me, then motions over her shoulder when a bell rings at the register. “Excuse me.”

She walks to the counter to check somebody out.

Holding the plant in my hand, I study the other clearance plants. They all look like they’re doing well. Footsteps head towards me, and when I glance up, a woman who looks similar to Mari introduces herself.

“Hi, I’m Cali. How can I help you?”

Her sister. This is where shit can go south. Family can really influence a person.

Not knowing what Mari has said about me or our date, I act like a regular customer.

“I think I’d like this plant.”

Her smile drops and she cringes. “Oh, I don’t think this amaryllis is going to bloom. Are you sure you wouldn’t want something else? Something already pretty and blooming.”

I shake my head and examine the plant again. “Nope, I’m going to treat this one really nice, and it’s going to bloom. It’ll blow any other plant here out of the water.”

Mari

Nerves tickleat my stomach as I sit across from Croix. It’s not only that he’s a good-looking man, but that he’s polite and gentlemanly. But with how much I’m staring at him, I can’t recall the twenty questions I rehearsed to start conversations. There’s nothing I hate more than silence. But I do recall the load of crap Cali gave me in theDirty Hoesbreakroom when I went to collect my stuff before heading out on a date.

First Cali was stoked that I was going on a date but then was pissed I didn’t tell her. But to be frank, it’s none of her business. It’s only going to be a quick dinner anyways.

It’s not like I’m going to be falling for my kids’ teacher. This is just me dipping my toes in the dating pool. Since I haven’t been on a single date since my divorce, this is a significant baby step.

So why would I tell Cali about it when in her love-soaked brain, she’d take it to a level I’m not at?

Taking a sip of my drink, I water down my parched mouth. “How did you get into elementary school teaching?”

There you go, Mari, a soft, easy question. Dating isn’t so hard.

I’m only a bit rusty. And that’s probably why I won’t take this to the bedroom. I’m pretty sure parts of me might actually need oiled they’re so rusty—like the soft part between my legs. It’s been…more than a while. Sure I take the tension off occasionally myself, but that’s different.

Just stop, you’re making yourself nervous.

Croix leans forward on the table in a relaxed motion as he gives me his undivided attention.

“I was in the military, but a roadside bomb caused major hearing loss.” His hand reaches to his ear and pulls out a hearing aid so small I didn’t even notice he had them. “I’m ninety percent deaf in one ear and about fifty in the other. I had to be discharged. No way I could serve appropriately. What if I lost an aid? It’s just not safe.”

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