…
Sitting at my desk at work, Miriam, the school receptionist, knocks on my office door.
“Hi,” I smile up at her.
“Hi, Faith.” She walks in, carrying a vase full of daisies. “These were just delivered for you.” She smiles shyly.
“Oh, wow.” I stand and walk around my desk, taking the flowers from her. “Thank you for bringing them in.” I place the glass vase on the top of my desk.
“Are they from Easton?” she asks in a whisper. Goodness, even my colleagues are curious about my love life.
“I don’t know,” I shake my head. I have no idea, but I certainly hope they’re not from Paxton, trying for a second date. I cringe inwardly and cross my fingers.
“Well, I’ll let you to it.” She nods toward the card. “They are beautiful.”
“They are,” I agree. “Daisies are my favorite,” I smile, and Miriam leaves my office.
I pluck out the card. Leaning against my desk again, I open the small envelope and begin reading. As soon as I see the handwriting, I shiver.
I hope these are still your favorite flowers. I got my truck. You know what that means.
Yours,
Easton
PS: See you at Clarke’s tonight
I hold the piece of paper to my chest and sigh. Yours. Is he still mine? A full, wide smile takes over my face. How can a girl say no to daisies? I’m suddenly nervous about tonight. My heart races, and my hands tremble as I place the card in the envelope and put it in my purse. These are definitely going home with me today.
Staring at the clock, I count down to the end of the day. No extra work today. I plan to go home, shower, and get ready for drinks with friends…and my ex-boyfriend, who is hell-bent on removing ex from the title.
“Knock, knock,” Poppy sneaks her head into my office.
“Hey.” I stand. “What’s up?”
“I heard someone got flowers delivered,” her voice raises with excitement, and her eyes widen. “They’re gorgeous! Your favorite, too. He remembered.” Poppy turns to look at me.
“He did,” I nod, unable to hide my smile. “He freaking remembered my favorite flower,” I squeal, letting my guard down with my best friend.
“He’ll be at Clarke’s tonight,” I tell Poppy.
“As if we doubted he would go. Easton is starting over, and that means making new friends and getting reacquainted with old ones. I’m sure he’ll take any invitation to go out, especially if it means you’ll be there.”
“It must be hard starting new, huh?” I sit on the edge of my desk.
“Yeah,” Poppy nods. “But he’s not alone.”
I look up at her as I chew my bottom lip. “What do I wear tonight?” It’s way too cold for a dress or skirt, so I’ll have to make jeans look appealing.
“Those dark, skinny jeans that lift your butt, and that deep V-neck wrap sweater you have. The ivory one.”
I raise my eyebrows and stare at her. “I’m impressed. You remember what I have in my closet more than I do.”
Poppy laughs. “I love that sweater and never could find one like it. Plus, skinny jeans are always a good choice since they show off our curves. And wear booties, the ones that have that short, wide heal and the fringe on the side. They’re brown, I think.”
“Have you been sneaking into my closet?” I tease.
“You’ll never know,” she shakes her head and smiles. “I’m happy for you, Faith.” Poppy hugs me before seeing the time and running off to pick up her students from music class.
I sit back at my desk and stare at the flowers. I have a feeling my productivity was thrown away when they were delivered.
Easton
I finally feel like I’m settling into my new home—or old home, I should say. It’s an odd combination of feelings. This is the place I was born in, grew up in, and yet some parts of it feels foreign. After I bought my new truck, motivated by Faith’s challenge, I went shopping for furniture and a television. I’ve been missing basketball games in the last two weeks, and that’s not exactly something you find at a bar around here. Rodeo tournaments, yes. Sports, not really.
Everton is a completely different world than the one I’ve been living in this second half of my life, but the idea of not being here right now seems impossible. And it’s not just because of Faith. This is about me, my life, my dreams. No matter what college I went to, the job I had, or the friends I made, I always missed Everton and the lifestyle. I missed waking up before dawn and working on the ranch before going to school. I missed riding.
A horse is my next purchase, but I start work on Monday, so I’ll need to schedule when I can go look at my options again. Thankfully, Finn and Gavin offered help, and I took them up on it. I liked the horses we saw earlier this week, but this isn’t an impulse buy. This cowboy’s been wearing a suit for too long and is a little rusty.
My phone rings, interrupting my assessment of my living room. Grabbing it, I lift my eyebrows and smile. I swipe my phone to answer the video call from my sister.
“Hey, little sis.”
“Show me the house!” She jumps right in, not asking how I’m doing. I had shown her pictures of the different pieces of furniture I was looking to buy and asked for her help. Not that the woman working in the store wasn’t willing to help, a little more than I would’ve liked. I bet if I would’ve asked her to come over and decorate for me, she would’ve in a heartbeat. I much prefer women who are less obvious.
“Okay, okay. Let me start from the beginning.” I open the front door and walk out, ready to give her the tour as if she were walking into my house.
“Oh, my goodness. Is that all snow?” She calls out as I get ready.
“Yup, insane, right?” I look at her on the screen.
“Wow. How cold is it?”
“It’s about fourteen degrees today, but the wind is what’s killer,” I reply.
“Crazy. It’s like thirty here in Madrid. I do miss snow, though,” Allyson sighs. “Anyway, show me the house before you freeze out there, and I’m left talking to myself.”
I chuckle and open the door, going through the entire house with her. She approves of my decor, giving me a thumb’s up when she sees the dining room table she picked out.
“It looks great, Easton. I’m so happy for you. I know you’ve been wanting to return since we left.”
I sit on the couch and nod. “Yeah, I guess it has been a long time coming. I’ll show you the barn another day when the wind isn’t trying to push me in all directions.”
Allyson smiles and studies me, making me uncomfortable even through a phone. I shift on the couch and lift my eyebrows, waiting for her to say something.
“How’s Faith?” A hint of a smile lifts one side of her lips.
“Good…” I narrow my eyes.
“Just good? Have you seen her? What’s she like now?” She fires off questions.
“I have seen her. She’s…the same, I guess? I don’t know how to explain it. She’s obviously not the same as when she was seventeen, but at the same time, she looks the same.”