“Morning,” the woman said warmly. “What can I get for you today?”
June returned the smile automatically. “I need something bright for a friend in the hospital.”
“All right,” the woman said briskly in a compassionate way. “Yellow always helps and it reminds me of the sun on a stem.”
“What a lovely thing to say. How about some yellow roses?” June suggested. “With daisies if you have them.”
“We do,” the woman promised. “Give me a minute.”
June wandered to the small display near the register and picked up a box of caramels without even thinking about it. Lacey loved caramels. June had watched her steal them from Lucy’s pantry for years, always acting as if she were committing a crime of passion rather than sugar.
By the time June returned to the counter, the florist had arranged a bouquet of yellow roses with white daisies tucked between them. It looked like sunshine someone had managed to capture and tie with ribbon.
June paid and thanked her, then stepped outside with the flowers tucked against her arm and the chocolates in her hand.
The walk to the clinic did her stiff muscles some good and cleared her head. As she reached the clinic, the doors slid openwith a soft sound, and cool air met her face. The clinic smelled like antiseptic and oranges. The floors shone. The lighting made everything feel too sharp and exposed. June walked through the foyer, her mind focused on where she was going and what she might get her, Carmen, Willa, and the kids for dinner.
She turned a corner too quickly and bumped into a solid wall of warm muscle. The box of chocolates flew out of her hand, hit the floor, and skidded across the polished tiles.
“Oh,” June blurted, startled.
“I am so sorry,” a man’s voice said immediately.
June bent down at the same time the man did, but he moved faster. He swooped up the box, making June freeze as he straightened.
He was tall. Familiar. And when he lifted his head, a slow smile spread across his face.
June felt something in her chest shift suddenly and sharply.
“Dean,” June breathed, a huge smile spreading across her face when she saw her daughter’s late husband’s father standing in front of her.
Dean Parker’s smile widened. “June,” Dean said, and his voice held warmth that made June’s eyes sting for reasons she did not fully understand. “I wasn’t expecting to run into you in a hallway.”
June let out a small laugh, more relief than amusement. “I wasn’t expecting you at all,” June said. “Not for another two weeks.”
Dean’s smile softened, and June realized with a jolt what she had just said.
Two weeks. It was only two weeks until the memorial.
June’s throat tightened. She forced herself to swallow the feeling back down before it could show on her face.
Dean handed her the chocolates carefully.
“Ace flew me in early,” Dean explained. “I needed to get away from my hometown as I was climbing the walls with boredom.” He sighed. “This retirement is driving me crazy.”
“I’m not retired yet,” June said. “But I do understand the boredom part, having been laid off for a few months.”
“Oh, yes, Willa told me about your accident,” Dean said. “I did try calling a few times, but Carmen was very strict about limiting your talk time.”
June sighed. “Yes, she didn’t want me stressed out.” She glanced around the clinic. “Are you okay? Or are you visiting someone in the clinic?”
Dean gestured lightly toward the pharmacy counter.
“I’m picking up a new asthma inhaler and my medications,” Dean said. “I forgot to get my repeats and only remembered on the way here.”
June’s gaze flicked over him, noticing the faint heaviness in his expression, the way time had left its quiet marks. His eyes fell on the flowers and chocolates. “Who are you here to see?”
“Lacey Peltz,” June said carefully. “She had an accident yesterday.”
