Page 92 of Accidentally in Bloom

“I just need time to think,” a sadness echoed in her voice.

He nodded back at her, not meeting her eyes. “Let me know what you guys decide.” He placed a quick kiss on the side of her cheek. “I’ll always be here,” he whispered in a ragged voice and slowly walked back to his car.

Did she want to leave Fairwick Falls? Could she abandon everything they’d made? She peered through the store window into the little piece of heaven they’d created together. The shop had been in Fairwick Falls for over a century, and generations of her family, now gone, built and cared for it. Was she the single link that would break that chain?

“Just give me a day, and we’ll talk about it, okay? I just need to think.”

“We could do it, Rose. If you wanted to.” Lily offered, seeing the conflict brewing inside her.

But did she want to?

“You guys drive home. I’m going for a walk.”

Rose’s walk turned into a two-mile meander, which left her even more confused than when she woke up that morning from the best sleep she’d ever gotten.

Thirty minutes later, Rose threw her purse down on the bed in her room and changed into her workout gear as fast as possible. She craved a run to escape all the thoughts in her head.

This is how my parents screwed me up. Any time something potentially good happens, I think about how it could go wrong. Protect myself.

Rose remembered the letter from her dad still buried in her purse and stopped dead in her tracks. She hadn’t had the mental energy to read it yet. She wasn’t sure if she even wanted to hear from the man who’d turned her life upside down.

All the runs, all the venting, all the late-night pie with Vi had only scratched the surface of her anger at her father. She’d been denied a childhood she could never get back, and the unfairness raged through her veins.

She pulled out the letter from her purse and fought the urge to rip it to shreds. I could control this one last thing. I could get the last word.

But no matter how much she wanted to rip it into confetti, she couldn’t.

She tore into the letter with fury. I can always shred it later. Her cheeks blazing with anger and an unsteady hand, Rose sat on the bed to read her father’s chicken scratch handwriting.

Rosie - Someday, you’ll read this, and I guess I’ll be in the great beyond. I know you carry a lot of hurt about how your mom died. Your childhood wasn’t perfect, yet you were always my little rock. No adult man should depend on a child, but you were there when I needed you most. I’ve spent the rest of my life trying to be someone else’s Rose, their rock, to make up for it.

You always wanted to know why I never kicked your mom out. It’s the same reason I never stopped loving you, even when we didn’t talk. I never stopped loving your mother for her problems because true love never quits. I believed in her goodness every day of my life. I couldn’t leave the other half of my heart to fend for itself when it needed help the most. When you lost your mother, I lost the love of my life. My bright spark. That day at Canon’s Diner, you said you wished I had died with her. I want you to know I forgive you because I failed you when part of me did die that day.

But remember, Rose: words have power. Use your power wisely.

One day when you were a tiny thing, we were at the Donnelly’s when he ran for town council. Bob Donnelly asked you who you thought would win. You said, “You, Mister D. Cause I bet on smart people with good hearts.” That pure-hearted logic stuck with me for the rest of my life.

I’m sorry for all the dark days but know you carried me through on your strong little shoulders, and I’ve been forever grateful. Even as you’re reading this letter, I still love you to pieces. I love you and never will quit.

I’m so proud of my little Rosie, the strongest little girl who made me a better man.

Love, Dad

Rose heaved sobs as she read, each tear falling onto the page. She paced around her room, trying to process. She’d run until she had a decision.

She was strong, right? She could handle this. She just had to think.

GRAY

Gray’s pulse thundered in his ears as he drove the back roads to his house. This morning he’d had a dream in the palm of his hand: Rose in his bed, a future with her as his business partner. And it was all about to crumble between his fingers.

His fingers rubbed his lips in frustration. She needed to choose what she wanted. He couldn’t and wouldn’t guilt her into staying with him. Pain reverberated in his chest as he thought of her getting back in that old fucking rental car, on a plane to LA, and never seeing her again. Moving to LA was out of the question after his past, and he was tied to his land, his business.

Gray glanced at the clock. He had to make that delivery today, but it couldn’t have come at a worse time. It was a massive order to one of the first mom-and-pop stores that had taken a chance on him. He was building a legacy he wanted to pass on to Alex one day, and he couldn’t risk the relationship he had made with his customers.

It would be a ten-hour round trip if he didn't run into rush-hour traffic through Philadelphia. He felt a clawing urgency to be with Rose, to protect her from Lenny, but he couldn’t be in two places at once. He wished Frank was here. He’d throw the keys at him, say he’d buy him a piece of pie later, and hit the road back to Rose.

Gray pulled into the driveway of his greenhouse and saw Marco, his new full-time employee, loading one of the box trucks for delivery. Marco would drive the first truck, and Gray planned to drive the other. Josh, his part-timer, wheeled another pallet toward the truck.

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