Her instinct was to say no. She always handled her family problems alone. But another part of her wanted Rosie by her side.
“You should let her,” Gabe said. “Your pops will think she’s just a friend.”
There was no reason to change the way she’d been doing things for six years. It’d been working up to now, and it’d continue to work. And if her daddy did realize what Rosie was to her, she wouldn’t hear the end of it.Why aren’t you seeing a pretty Black woman? Your momma wouldn’t be happy.Shay shook her head,her mind made up. “No, I’ll go alone. You should stay here and make sure Blake gets all the shots they need. I don’t think anyone except RB’s enjoyed this, so we shouldn’t elongate the process.”
Gabe huffed. “Speak for yourself. Blake says I’m a natural.” She flicked imaginary long hair over her shoulder. “Seriously though, don’t worry about this. Just get going.”
She nodded and looked at them both. “I’ll let you know what’s happening.” Shay quashed the desire to lean into Rosie and kiss her goodbye. Instead, she pulled Gabe and Rosie into an awkward three-way hug before jogging away to grab her keys from upstairs. Her heart pounded against her ribs like it was trying to escape, and she tried to quell the worst-case scenarios battling for her attention. Broken hip. Coma. Brain damage. All the things left unsaid between them. All the misunderstanding and unresolved issues. Rosie seemed almost relieved that her mom had died, and Shay couldn’t blame her for that, but she was nowhere near that state of mind. Maybe this could be the wake-up call they both needed, and they’d be able to fix whatever had broken between them…if it wasn’t already too late.
CHAPTER 21
“Areyou sure this is the place?” Lori asked as Rosie parked outside The Flower Loft. “It looks kind of small.”
“I’m sure. Franklin gave me the details, and he wouldn’t use anywhere half-assed. Maybe it goes way back.” Rosie got out of the car and looked up at the façade of the three-story building. “Or maybe it uses all these floors.”
“I guess it doesn’t have to be big as long as they can do what you need.”
“Exactly.” Rosie stooped to smell the snow-white gardenias at the front of the store. “Though I’m not sure anyone will be able to do what Mom wanted.” She pushed open the door, and a quaint little bell tinkled above her head.
A bundle of vibrant red soft-looking curls was the first thing Rosie saw as she ventured farther into the store. The woman to whom they belonged was hunched over the desk carefully writing a notecard Rosie presumed would accompany the stunning bouquet also on the desk. She waited until the woman had finished a sentence before she said hi.
The florist peered at her then clamped her hand over her mouth. “Rosie Morgan!” she said at the same time as Rosie said “Alyssa Wilson?”
“Oh my, what a treat.” Alyssa hurried around the counter and threw her arms around Rosie. “It’s been too long. What are you doing here? I didn’t know you lived in Chicago.”
“I don’t. I’m in Burnham.” Rosie eased out of the unexpectedly buoyant embrace. “This is my friend Lori,” she said, strangely and ridiculously ultra-conscious of her history with Alyssa.She should know better than to fall into old patterns so easily.
Lori gave her an awkward wave and hung back, clearly trying to avoid the same effusive greeting.
Alyssa’s eyes sparkled. “Hi, Lori,” she said and then focused back on Rosie. “So what have you been up to? I bet you’ve got your own therapy practice, haven’t you? You were always so single-minded and driven.”
Heat swept over Rosie’s face, and she took a breath to control the youthful stutter that hovered in the background. Christ, she hadn’t had speech issues for over a decade. “Actually, I work in marketing now. I gave up my private practice a little while ago.”
Alyssa frowned. “Really? That’s quite a shift in careers.”
There was no edge or judgment to Alyssa’s words, but Rosie couldn’t help but feel that she’d let Alyssa down, like she had high expectations of Rosie that she no longer met. All of it was her own baggage and nothing to do with sweet, cute Alyssa Wilson. Her curious reaction gave Rosie more to consider as she continued to process her current career path and yet another possible change. “I don’t know that it’s working out,” she said by way of compensation.
“Oh, I don’t believe that. You can do anything you put your mind to, Rosie.”
Rosie gestured at the shop to shift Alyssa’s focus. “I think you’re describing yourself. You always said owning a flower shop was your dream. This place is amazing.”
Alyssa smiled widely. “Thank you. It’s taken a while to get here, but I’m really happy with it. I love what I do.”
She motioned to the notecard she’d just written, and Rosie recognized the beautiful handwriting that she used to admire in college. “I see you’re still using fountain pens. Do you remember the mess you made of our dorm carpet?”
Alyssa held up her hands, both of which were stained with oxblood red ink. “You caught me on refill day.”
Her unrestrained laughter transported Rosie back to that dorm and the wonderful times they’d shared, and she smiled. Beyondthe vague awkwardness that had crept up on her, it was genuinely nice to see Alyssa and better still, it appeared she hadn’t changed. Her free spirit and refusal to be bound by societal norms had been the main things which had attracted Rosie to her…way back.
And now there was Shay, another woman who refused to be traditionally coupled or tied down in a monogamous relationship. Rosie was in love with someone who wouldn’t love her back. Was she destined to keep repeating that pattern?
“So I’m taking from your surprise that you’re not here just to see me,” Alyssa said. “What do you need?”
“Memorial arrangements.” The ease with which that tripped off her tongue would probably sound callous to most people, but Alyssa was one of the few people in the world Rosie had confided in about her fucked-up family.
“Your mom?” Alyssa seemed to struggle with a half-grimace, half-smile as if she wasn’t sure which would be most appropriate.
Rosie nodded. “She died in Mexico, and I’ve just gotten back with her ashes.” She swallowed, and her pulse thudded against her temples. She hadn’t been in the room to see the cremation, but right now, it felt like the heat of that furnace was licking at her spine… And the darkness invaded the edges of her vision.
