“What do you think we’ve been doing?” Sam points to the ones they’ve finished on the work table. “It’d go a lot faster if we had all hands on-deck.”
“I’m coming.” Maybe they’ll tell me what they’ve been scheming for weeks. It’s like they try to give Xander and I every opportunity to be alone together. He hasn’t even made a move. At least, not since he wanted to grab dinner after the delivery, I went on with him. We’re professionals.
The door opens and I glance over my shoulder to see who walked in. It’s only my brother stomping his way inside. Okay, maybe one of us is a professional because my eyes land on him anytime he’s in the room, and I get a pang of disappointment when he’s not.
The last of the customers are filing out of the shop. Most shops would stay open until nine on days like today. Not us. Everyone needs to be home in time for dinner. We’re already going to have to stay late in a couple of days to prepare for a wedding. The least I can do is make sure these folks get to spend time with their loved ones.
Kai got back from his deliveries about thirty minutes ago. Robert pulled in fifteen minutes ago. Everyone else has been sent home. But Xander still isn’t back. I can’t even count the number of times he’s come back for more orders to deliver in town. These folks seem to want to make sure we keep our lights on.
“Do you want us to wait with you?” Caroline asks as she sweeps the mess on the floor into the dust pan. “It’s no biggie.”
“Nah,” I wave her question away “y’all go ahead and go. I’ll finish cleaning up and wait for Xander to get back.”
“Are you sure?” Emily moves toward the counter to grab her bag, “I can tell my date to wait.”
“You have a date?” Samantha wriggles her eyebrows up and down. “Get it, girl.”
Rolling her eyes, she moves toward the door. “Don’t get your hopes up. It’s just the first date.”
“I mean that’s all it takes for me.” I laugh.
“I’ll see y’all tomorrow.” She waves and walks out.
Caroline heads in the same direction. “See you later.”
“Get out of here, Sam.” I shoo her toward the door, “you can go home and watch your love hating movies.”
“I was going to do that with or without your permission.” She grabs her keys out of her pocket, “have a happy love day.”
She doesn’t sound excited when she says the last bit. As much as she was a huge part of us setting Caroline up with Carlos, she’s as against relationships as I am. But I don’t go around watching anti-love movies. I like seeing people getting their happily ever after. It’s just not something I want for myself.
Scrolling through my phone, I find my music player and turn on Taylor Swift. If anything, this will make the time fly by as I wait for Xander to get back with the van. There’s still a few areas of the shop that need to be cleaned, and I might as well do them now so we come into a clean shop tomorrow.
The counter with the coffee pot is cleared off, and all that’s left is the front counter. A part of me wondered if I should have turned the lights off when we closed so people wouldn’t try to get in, but it’s kind of hard to get anything done in the dark.
Grabbing my phone, I dance my way down the hall and to the store front. The mess up here isn’t too bad since all the bouquets were already put together. I pull out the glass cleaner from behind the counter and wipe them down. Too many people have had their germy hands all over them while picking up flowers.
“Kate?” I drop the glass cleaner and jump.
“We’ll have to put a bell around you if you keep sneaking up on folks like that.” Xander is leaning against the wall where the hall ends. His arms crossed over his chest and his gaze on me.
“I didn’t mean to scare you,” he uncrosses his arms and holds them up in surrender, “but I wasn’t exactly quiet when I came in.”
“Sorry, I guess I was too caught up in cleaning and my music.”
“Nice choice by the way,” he grins, “I wouldn’t have pegged you as someone who listens to Swift.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” Crap that’s borderline flirting. Get your shit together Kate.
“I see that,” he moves toward me and bends down to pick up the cleaner. “I’m guessing everyone else went home?”
“Yep. There wasn’t any sense in having everyone stay,” I take the cleaner out of his hands and put it back where it belongs. “What took so long with the deliveries?”
“Mr. Jones,” Xander groans. “I’m glad I made his delivery last. That man likes to talk.”
“Yeah, I guess I should have warned you about him,” shaking my head, I grab my phone and move past Xander and down the hallway, “he always has to share some sort of wisdom he’s learned in all his years. It’s adorable when we aren’t trying to get deliveries out.”
“He had a lot to say about Valentine’s Day and how you should use only this day to show the person you love how much they mean to you.” His voice is directly behind me. “He does have solid advice. Kind of reminds me of my parents.”
