I’m stunned. Both at the ingenuity and his change of heart. A small laugh escapes me, despite myself.
Buoyed, Griffin continues, “Nick agreed to a weekly standing order for the Inn. Six months straight.” His voice warms. “He said the guests loved your arrangements at the cotillion.”
My throat tightens. “I’m?—”
He holds up a hand. “There’s more. Ivy and Rue, the sisters from the Silver Quill? They came up with a whole plan to sponsor corporate gift bouquets, as long as we use their logo on the wrapping paper. Literature meets lilies. That’s the tag line.”
I’m amazed. “That actually… sounds adorable.”
“And it works. Ruby, the shop isn’t closing. We’re finally turning a corner toward solvency.”
I stare at him, dizzy. All those people stepping in. All those hands reviving the thing I thought I had lost.
“But whose been running the shop all this time?”
“You’re looking at him.”
“You?”
Griffin laughs at my reaction. The precious sound pierces me. “Yep, badly, but running it.”
I blink hard. “Why?”
Griffin meets my eyes, and it’s all there. Concern, apology, vulnerability. “Because it matters to you. And somewhere along the way, it started mattering to me too.”
A beat.
“And because I was scared I’d ruined everything with you.”
“You hurt me,” I whisper.
His face falls. “I’m so sorry, Ruby. I want to fix what I broke. Not just the shop. But us, too. I’d like a chance. If you’ll give me one.”
I pause, even while I know myself. I’m a romantic who believes in second chances.
I step closer. Close enough to see the sincerity in his eyes. I feel the warmth rolling off him in waves.
A long silence stretches between us. Not empty—full. Full of all the things we survived, all the things we yearn for.
Finally, I let out a breath I’ve been holding since the day I saw the lock on the door.
“Show me the shop,” I say quietly.
His shoulders lift, hope sparking in his eyes.
“Yeah,” he says with a smile I feel in my bones. “I can do that.”
Leaving his car behind, we start walking together down the snowy trail toward town, toward Oopsie Daisies. Toward whatever this is becoming.
As we hike through the trees, I sense for the first time in a very long time, something inside me unfurling like a blossom warmed by spring. It feels like something I once knew. Something called true love.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Griffin
We stepinto the shop together, the bell chiming overhead like it is welcoming her home. Ruby pauses just inside the doorway, taking it all in. I watch the way her shoulders relax, the way she seems to breathe deeper here. This is her world. She looks radiant standing in it again. She belongs here, among the petals and color.
I explain where we’ll wall off the space for the drama club. She asks a few questions, nodding along with my answers. The light is back in her eyes, absorbing everything like she’s afraid it might disappear. I never again want to be the reason she dims.
