Lincoln brightened at that. "Cookies?"
Aylin rolled her eyes. "You're ditching us for cookies?"
The answer popped up in his head before he could stop it.
Yes.
Yes, he was ditching them but it was because of who left the cookies.
He was going to keep that to himself for the foreseeable future.
How could he say something to his friends and coworkers when he was struggling with it himself?
Putting it out there meant that his well meaning firehouse family would ask him about it.
They'd want to know. They'd want to help.
And he couldn't handle that.
Not yet.
First, he needed to go and get flowers and get home.
He waved at the group and started around to the driver's side of his truck.
"Caddo! Wait..."
He heard Viviana calling to him and he stopped.
No one brushed off their house 'mom.'
Viviana came to a stop with a sweet smile. "Do these cookies have something to do with the message you sent me about flowers?"
His smile tightened a little, but not because he wasn't happy.
He just didn't want everyone to ask why he was suddenly smiling so much.
Sam tipped his chin down and nodded. "I have a new neighbor and yesterday she brought cookies to my house to meet me."
"Ah..." She nodded. She clearly understood. "You were at work."
"I talked to her through the Ring camera I installed at my door, but now that I'm off of my shift, I'd like to go over and thank her in person. My mom would kick me if I didn't bring her a return gift."
Viviana's smile was wide and brilliant. "And her plate? If it's not a throw away, or a paper plate-"
"A holiday plastic container."
Viviana nodded. "So you want to know what kinds of flowers you should bring?"
"I'm pretty clueless about flowers."
Viviana touched his shoulder with her hand. "Everyone starts somewhere... And I take it that you don't want to jump straight to roses?"
"That's a lot of expectations with roses, right?"
She tapped his arm. "You are perceptive, Caddo. Remember that."
He saw a sweetness in her eyes that reminded him of his own mother and his heart welled up with gratitude.
