“Itoldyou I was partnering with Zedd. Or did you not actually listen all the times we talked? Were you just in it for a quick lay? God.” Sherry, cute farmer girl, groaned before facing me. “And you brought someone else?”
“Oh, we’re not involved. We’re reluctant friends,” I said, unsure how to handle the situation. These type of things happened with Gabe from time to time, a girl refusing to believe he’d moved on. It was awkward and painful, but it was like a Band-Aid being ripped off. You just had to deal with it head-on. “I’ll let you two…talk. I’m here for the plants.”
My heart ached at the pain on her face because it was like looking in a mirror that told the future. Cal would break hearts. Maybe not by choice, but by the cards life had handed him. He’d never get involved more than superficially, and I knew that, accepted it, yet it still didn’t dampen the little hope that hung around thatmaybethings could be different.
Cal’s eyes pleaded with me, but he was on his own. I waved my fingers at him and beelined for the beautiful flowers. I didn’t have an opinion on what plants to use to fill my shelving, just that I wanted green. Pale greens, honestly. From the brief research I did, succulents were easier to manage. God, this place smelled so good. Outside, soil, the specific scent of water on cement. I closed my eyes, imagining running a place like this.
I’d wear adorable overalls like Sherry, maybe get a cute hat. I’d meet a sexy landscaper who’d come every week to flirt with me. We’d plant in the community garden and adopt a dog. Roarke would love the dog, obviously. I smiled and looked up, enjoying the sun on my face when a soft hand touched my elbow, dragging me from my imagination.
“Lost in your head?” Cal asked, his fingers lingering on my skin as he rubbed his thumb back and forth. He let go way too soon, his shy smile doing something dangerous to my insides. I thought about cute Sherry, and it settled the butterflies.
“I’m really sorry about that.”
“You’ll be sharing everything in the ride back.” I batted my lashes at him, earning a half-smile. “I’m not judging, but I have a feeling you’re at fault?”
“What gave it away?” He chuckled lightly before putting his hands in his pockets. “You’ve experienced firsthand how I can say the wrong thing. Sherry… is a little more complicated than that, but more of the same.”
His cheeks were a tad red, and his eyes kept moving from me to over his shoulder, like he was worried she would come back. Her appearance had definitely flustered him, and I was dying to know more. Maybe for my own sick need to learn everything about him but also to see what would happen to me in due time. But plants were our reason for being here. “I think I want a houseplant.”
“A spider plant might be a nice start. Here, they’re on your right.” He put a hand on the base of my back as he moved beyond me. Warmth from his touch spread up my spine, and I froze, waiting for the sensation to pass.
He squatted and pointed to a couple of the plants on the ground. “This one will be good. Strong.” He reached into the dirt and nodded. “Good roots. You could remove it and repot it easily.” He picked it up and moved toward the back of thegreenhouse. There were a variety of pots in shapes and colors. Cal scanned the shelf and held a copper one. “Here.”
He faced me, his expression set in determination. “This one is on me.”
“You really don’t have to—”
“I owe you from the other night, how you were there for me.” His tone got deeper and rougher. “I’m not…used to people caring for me. Not that you carefor me,but you helped me. I’m not familiar with others helping me. That’s all.”
Ugh, the flip-floppy heart of mine would destroy me. I had an upcoming date with Ty on Sunday, and here I was, all flummoxed because of Cal. It was uncomfortable to say the least because back at the bar, I’d been excited to spend time with Ty. Genuinely. But being with Cal was intense and made every other emotion weak in comparison. His cheeks turned red, and he shuffled his feet back and forth, somehow looking more at home here in the greenhouse than he did anywhere else.
I had to remedy this internal battle of mine. “I care for you…in the sense I don’t want you to die, you know?”
His lips curved up, and I was blessed with another one of Cal Holt’s smiles. It felt like a prize of sorts because they were so hard-earned. I gave out smiles like candy at a Fourth of July parade, free and easy and plentiful. But his were buried down between four layers of grump and pain, and I suddenly had the urge to dig.
“I don’t want you to die either.”
“See, look at us? Would you have thought we’d be here?”
He snorted, the smile remaining for another few seconds before something caught his attention. Cute Sherry in my dream-outfit wasn’t around, and I hadn’t forgotten that whole exchange. But I did want to know what had Cal looking hopeful. “What is it?”
He didn’t answer. He grabbed a basket with his free hand and swaggered toward another row. He didn’t just walk, that was too simple. Cal strode with purpose and excitement, and it got me excited. Had he found a rainbow? A cat? Oh! I loved when places had pets around. I glanced around for a goat or chicken or cat or dog but only found leaves and petals on the ground.
Cal though, he set my spider plant and pot on the cement and bent down toward a patch of plants that had seen better days. One leaf was brown, the soil wet, but it didn’t seem to matter. One plant was missing the other half. Cal ran his fingers over the leaves, a dazed, happy expression on his face.
“There we are,” he said to the two damaged ones. He put them in his basket before standing straight up. He slowly turned toward me, and I bit my lip to not smile.
Why did he look guilty?
He stared, and I stared right back, unwilling to break our little showdown. I arched an eyebrow and jutted my chin at his basket. He sighed, glancing off into the distance before meeting my eyes. “Okay. The truth is, you have your books. I have my…plants.”
“The ones I saw on your window ledge?”
He nodded. “I like,” he paused, swallowing hard. He held up the basket like it was show and tell. “I find joy out of buying plants no one else wants. The half-dead ones, the brown ones. I try to get them back to their full life.”
“Cal.” Emotion gripped my throat, the emotions racing through me almost overwhelming. That was, without a doubt, the cutest thing I had ever heard in my life.Get them back to their full life.I couldn’t even speak. I needed to wrap myself around him in a hug.
“It’s dumb, I know, but I enjoy it.” He ducked his head, and I lunged forward. I squeezed his hand with the basket and waited for him to look at me.
