When Lily meets Max again at his sisters wedding, she still feels the crush she had on him when she was fifteen. However, even when things seem to be looking up for Lily when Max reciprocates his feelings for her, his ex fiance Sarah does not like t...
I nail down the last of the hardwood to the ruined door and wipe the sheen of sweat away from my forehead. Thanks to whoever did this, I've had to keep my shop closed all day. Luckily, Suzanne could get an emergency batch of flowers from the supplier, and they'll be arriving tomorrow morning, so I can open up again. Unfortunately, he ran out of lilies, which is what I desperately need for a wedding. Though, when I call the bride to let her know, she is understanding of the situation, and after some discussion, she picks to have peonies instead for the aisle. I pick up the remaining nails from the ground and carry them inside with the hammer, and place them in my new toolbox.
"It looks much better," Suzanne says as she admires my work.
"It'll do for tonight, I guess. I'm just grateful to have a new door tomorrow."
"True, it'll give the shop an upgrade. And I doubt anyone will want to mess with us again after Max got that camera installed for you."
My lips lift at the mention of his name. "Yes, it was very kind of him to do this."
Suzanne quirks her eyebrows. "So, was I mistaking Max's closeness to you earlier as something more?"
I roll my eyes. "You're unbelievable."
"That wasn't a no," she laughs.
"You can speculate all you like, but I'm not breathing a word," I respond, brushing past her to pick up two full trash bags. Suzanne follows my lead and grabs the last two bags and carries them out of the shop behind me.
"So... What happened between you and Max's ex, then? It must have been pretty serious for him to give her name to the police."
I sigh and round the corner of the shop to the alley. "She thought I was on a date with Max and wasn't exactly nice about it. Since he ended things with her, she has been awful to him. I guess you could say she's taken holding a grudge to the extremes."
"Poor boy," she mumbles before looking at me with worry etched on her face. "Please be careful, though. Women can do crazy things when it comes to a man."
"I will. I haven't even seen her since that day, so it probably wasn't even her who did this to the shop."
"Let's hope so." As she throws the first bag into the tip, she huffs. "It was so considerate of Callie to take a personal day after seeing the mess the shop was in."
I throw in mine. "I know I shouldn't have let her get away with it, but I knew if she stayed, I'd have only taken it out on her. Plus, I doubt she would have made any real contribution to cleaning up."
"True. She certainly has a knack for getting out of things."
We go back to the shop to pick up our belongings before I shut the door and put the shutter down. "I hope it'll be safe tonight," I mumble as I attach the new metal lock.
"I'm sure it will. What's the point of breaking into a place when they already found out there's no money inside?"
"Maybe." I click the lock into place and stand up. Suzanne immediately embraces me in a hug. "Everything is going to be all right."
I hug her back and breathe in her jasmine perfume. "Thanks, Suzanne. For everything."
She pats my back. "It's no problem, dear." She releases me from her hold. "Now get home and relax. Heaven knows you need it."
"I think I may take your advice."
I give her another quick hug before going to my car and driving home for the day.
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