Timid little Maxie.
The scissors hit the table with athunk.“Go out there and say hi to him.Do something wild and crazy like smile.”
What was so hard about that?
And what was so hard about climbing Mt.Everest?
She stared at the flowers, all pretty and quiet and wrapped up tight.Years might have passed, but she was still afraid of getting wet.Frustrated, she swiped up the arrangement and turned towards the refrigerator.
“Ow!”she cried, nearly dropping the vase.
She thrust it back on her workbench.Blood was already welling up in two dark red pools on her skin.Something had gotten hertwice.
Turning on the faucet, she stuck her finger under the cold stream to staunch the flow of blood and numb the pain.It didn’t look as if any thorns had broken off, thank goodness.She pulled out a first-aid kit.Being poked and snipped were hazards of being a florist.She tore a bandage open with her teeth.Two identical wounds were glowing ruby red.
Twice the luck.
Make a wish.
She nearly heard her grandma’s voice whispering in the air.It was an old superstition between them.She was sure her grandmother had used it to soothe her when she’d been a kid helping out, but it had stuck all the same.
Make a wish.
Her grandmother had so loved the idea of magic.
Maxie wrapped up her wounds, one bandage doing the trick.As she crumpled up the paper wrappings, she looked out the window at the police cruiser that sat in front of her shop.
Twice the luck.
What the heck?Closing her eyes, she whispered aloud, “I want to meet somebody special, somebody who will do crazy things with me on the spur of the moment.I want to meet someone who makes me forget to be a timid sort.”
She took a deep breath and peeked open one eye.Nothing had changed.She let out an embarrassed little laugh.
Twice as silly was more like it.
Shaking her head, she pulled the vase closer and checked the roses.She frowned when she spotted only one thorn.How had it managed to poke her twice?She snipped it off and swept it into the compost bucket.Wiping her hands, she picked up the card that went with the order.
“Lexie Underhill.”The name wasn’t familiar.Somebody from out of town, apparently, but she’d always liked the name Lexie.
She tucked the card into the prongs of a plastic devil’s fork and situated it amongst the red, yellow and orange blooms.It was her Flashpoint arrangement, one of her personal favorites.She tucked the bouquet into the refrigerator and felt her finger pulse where it curled around the vase’s neck.
Twice the luck.
She rubbed her thumb over the bandage.
Well, don’t waste it.Her grandmother’s voice was so loud in her head, Maxie jumped.She was alone, but she could almost feel a push towards the front door.Nibbling on her lower lip, she glanced its way.No, it wasn’t so much a push as a pull.She wanted to go out there.Her muscles were practically straining to hold her back.
The flowers out there needed to be watered anyway.
Don’t stop.This time, the voice inside her head was her own.Get wet for once, Maxie.
She rubbed her finger.She wanted to meet someone special, and all the signs were pointing to this as her lucky day.She’d already held herself back for two weeks.Two weeks and two days…not that she was counting.
She was moving before that invisible hand could reach out and yank her back.
Speeding across the room, she whipped off her apron.She grabbed a watering can and hit the door.The cruiser was still there, but it was empty.The sheriff wasn’t on the sidewalk either.Slowing down, she composed herself and began watering the plants she kept outside to lure shoppers into The Green Thumb.The routine was familiar and soothing.
“Twice the luck.”Running her thumb over the bandage on her finger, she glanced towards the coffee shop.“Twice the luck.”
