“Welcome to Buds of Joy,” the shop owner calls out from the storage room. “I’ll be out in just a minute.” Aurelia and I look around for a few minutes before she joins us. “Hi. Thanks for coming in. I’m Til—Oh, hi, Khalil.”
“Tilda, hey.”
Our familiarity doesn’t go unnoticed by Aurelia, but since Hearth is a small town and everyone knows everyone, there’s nothing more than polite interest in her gaze as she observes quietly.
“I have to say I’m surprised to see you in my shop after you boys told me you had no need for flowers.” Finally, she notices Aurelia. “Who’s this you got with you?” Her gaze bounces between Aurelia and me as I debate which answer to give her—our cover story that she’s my cousin or the truth.
“I’m his girlfriend,” Aurelia recklessly answers for us both, whether purposefully or without thinking, I can’t say, and I definitely can’t question her in front of Tilda. “Aurora.”
So half-truths then.
“Oh my word. Aren’t you just the prettiest thing? What are you doing with him? You do know he’s got the manners of a boar, don’t you?”
“Well, you know,” Aurelia says, being perfectly charming like she’s not worse than me. “They’re not all first-round picks.”
Tilda tosses back her head and laughs like it’s the funniest thing.
“You know, I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. What brings you to Hearth, Aurora?”
“Well, I kind of got lost and stumbled by accidentally. I made the mistake of asking this brute for directions, and that was all she wrote. I had no choice but to stick around.”
“Oh my gosh! That is so delightful.” While Tilda giggles like she’s just heard the beginning of the cutest Hallmark love story, I cut my gaze at Aurelia. Tilda doesn’t recognize the sarcastic curve of Aurelia’s smile, but I do.
Aurelia glances at me with a smug look in her eye once Tilda walks away and I mouth,behave.
Aurelia shrugs and makes a face like it’s not up to her.
Thirty minutes later, I’m walking out with an armful of four different bouquets while Aurelia and Tilda chat like old friends. They’re a few steps behind me while I walk to the truck, and the flowers are blocking ninety percent of my vision, which explains why I don’t notice the woman glaring daggers at me until it’s too late.
“Khalil?”
“Fuck,” I grumble as I try to duck farther behind the bouquets in vain.
“Seriously? Khalil Poverly, I know that’s you.”
I lower the flowers just enough to spot Karla, Tilda’s daughter, standing ten feet away. I can tell by the scornful look in her eyes that she isn’t going to keep walking.
Shit is about to hit the fucking fan.
My girl is territorial as fuck, and Karla never could catch the hint after throwing herself in my path every time we’d come into town. Aurelia won’t hesitate to stake her claim, and Karla will react like a jealous ex—even though she isn’t. I’ve never even touched her. Neither woman will back down, and here I am uselessly waiting for the first missile to fire with an armful of flowers.
“What’s up, Karla? How have you been?” I ask even though I don’t give a shit. Last I heard, she was fucking around with a married man in the next town over and bragging to anyone who’d listen that he was going to leave his wife and kids for her.
“I don’t know, Khalil. You tell me.”
“You want me to tell you how you’ve been?” It was obvious that Karla had a script in her head of how our conversation would go once she ran into me, but she hadn’t counted on my interest in playing my part being nil.
“You don’t have to be rude.”
“Well, being nice doesn’t seem to land with you, so…” I shrug.
“What have I done to make you hate me?”
You won’t leave me alone.“Karla, I barely know you,” I point out instead. “It’s complicated.”
“It’s really not though,” Aurelia dryly states from beside me. I didn’t even hear her reach us. Aurelia’s presence draws Karla’s stunned gaze, but before she can ask the question in her eyes, Aurelia beats her to it. “Who are you?” she demands rudely, but not entirely hostile. No, that wouldn’t be Aurelia at all, to feel threatened when she knows she owns me entirely.
“Oh.” Karla releases a nervous giggle. “I’m Karla. Khalil and I are old friends. I’m sort of his best girl friend.”
