Oddly enough, I don’t hear his footsteps pounding behind me, but that doesn’t mean he’s not on the prowl. Made that mistake once and almost ended up digging sap out of my nails.
“Daisy girl.” Luke’s voice halts my escape plans.
His tone is soft but unsure.
My head snaps up to see him leaning against the front porch beam, hands wringing the dish towel I held only moments ago.
The wind picks up, lifting my curls around my face.
A tiny speck of pink flies within my line of vision before it’s gone.
It happens again, only this time it’s yellow.
Then purple.
I tuck my hair behind my ears so I can see properly and take in the sight of Luke’s meticulously landscaped circular driveway.
My body moves in slow motion as my mind registers what it’s actually seeing.
Daisies. As far as the eye can see.
Beautiful little white daisies everywhere, perfectly intertwined with colorful, unruly wildflowers.
I forget to breathe as the wind tips them from side to side as though they’re dancing just for me.
I walk over to the nearest bunch and run my hands over the delicate flowers.
Luke’s shadow stands over me, and I look up in time to see him gently pluck a daisy out from in front of me and hold it between us.
I turn to him. “Luke, are these—”
“Daisies? Yeah. I planted them myself. One for every time you’ve crossed my mind.”
My eyes widen. “B-but there’s, like, hundreds—”
“Thousands,” he corrects. My jaw drops slightly as he simply shrugs. “If I didn’t have a day job keeping me away most of the year, there’d be more.”
He’s watching me intently now, trying his hardest to read the thoughts flying through my mind a mile a minute.
He reaches up and tucks the daisy in his hand behind my ear, tangling it within my curls. “Can’t you see? It’s always been you for me, Daisy.” His hands cradle my face. “Every time I fell alittle harder for you, this is where I would run to. And each time I left, my driveway held evidence of your existence in the world. In the only way I could have you.”
He nods toward the blooms as he keeps his gaze on me. “Those daisies represent you. Innocence and joy. Elegance and beauty. But those wildflowers? Those are the parts of you that I was lucky enough to get a peek of when we were just friends. And I knew for a fact that you were a true wildflower. Not someone who was meant to be tamed and kept in a gilded cage, but rather free to run in any direction your heart desired. And on the days when I was barely holding on to any thread of decency, I would daydream that maybe this place might someday be the one spot in the world where you would want to run home to.”
A tear runs down my cheek, but neither of us so much as breathes as the next words tumble out of his mouth. “I love you, Daisy. Long before I had any right to, more now that I have you in my arms, and for many lifetimes after we’re long gone from this earth where these flowers are planted.”
His lips capture my surprised gasp.
Did he say—
Yes. Yes, he did. Luke loves me.
And an overwhelming feeling of peace settles over me, knowing that come what may, I have this man’s love to help guide me through the mess that awaits us.
I return his kiss with equal measure as his hands cradle my face with a level of gentleness that seems impossible for a man of his size.
“My Daisy girl,” he says between kisses, and I feel the steady flow of happy tears run down my face as he slowly starts to wipe them away.
He eventually pulls back, placing his forehead against mine as we both take much needed deep breaths.
