She smiled widely. “I’d like to think I have a good eye for that sort of thing.”
There was no doubt, she obviously did. He’d seen many of the beautiful arrangements she had delivered to the ranch. Trinity had a true talent for creating beauty.
“If you’re offering…”
“I’m offering,” she confirmed, that smile deepening. “I’d like to actually see the inside of the place first, though. If that’s not too much trouble.”
“It’s no trouble at all. I’m there every day.”
“I’m busy tonight, but maybe I could come by after my shift tomorrow? The shop closes at six and I’m usually out of there by 6:30. I could see if my parents are available to watch the kiddos and then be over at your?—”
“Bring them,” Spencer interrupted.
“Bring my kids? To your house that’s currently under construction?”
Was that a bad idea? It wasn’t like there were nails and screws and other dangers lying around. They were far enough ahead in the building process that the floors were swept clean and the debris removed.
“It’s safe, and?—”
“Oh, I’m not worried about the safety aspect. I’m worried about the pestering potential. As you saw this afternoon, Liam is a little…”—she searched for the word—“clingy.”
“Didn’t find him clingy at all.” He hadn’t. The child was endearing if anything. “Seriously, bring them.”
“It’ll be right during dinner, and you don’t want to be around them when their tired and hungry. They aren’t at their best.”
“We can have a picnic.” Spencer wasn’t sure why he kept on insisting, but the offers fell from his lips before he could screen them.
“Really?” Trinity looked stunned by that proposition. “A picnic in your half-built house?”
“If you don’t think they’d like it?—”
“I think they’dloveit. I’m just not sure that you would want to deal with all that mess. The crumbs and the?—”
“Trinity, like you said, it’sunder construction.”
“You really sure about this?”
He nodded, “Absolutely.”
In fact, he hadn’t been so sure of anything in a long, long while.
CHAPTER 4
“I’ve seen you make a lot of bouquets, but none that look quite like that.” Rachel Joy eyed the milk glass vase in Trinity’s grasp. “What sort of occasion calls for all white flowers?”
Trinity perched the bouquet on her hip as she held the floral shop door for her co-owner. Keys jingling until she could find the right one on her ring, she slid it into the lock to button up the space for the night. The latch clicked into place, and she took a full breath of the air around them, crisp with approaching autumn.
“I’m taking this over to Spencer’s place,” she answered with an uncharacteristic quiver in her voice.
“The one he’s building? At the ranch?” There was a chill to the atmosphere tonight, and Rachel cinched her coat tighter around her middle before looping a pretty plum colored scarf around her neck. “I hadn’t realized construction was finished already. Suppose I should look for a gift, too.”
“It’s not.” Trinity could now see that the bouquet could easily be mistaken for a housewarming gift. “I’m just helping him select paint colors. I thought all these white flowers might help convey how many different shades there are. I don’t know.Maybe it’s dumb.” Now that she thought on it, the whole gesture did feel a little silly. He didn’t need flowers when he could use actual paint samples. Still, her creativity flourished best when she had a tangible connection to her work.
“I think it’s a really fun idea.” The two women walked around to the back of the brick building toward a small lot where they’d parked their cars earlier in the day. Only their vehicles remained, all the other shops closed down and locked up for the night. “Who’s got the kids?”
“I’m bringing them with me.” She still didn’t love the idea, but was grateful Spencer seemed so willing to let them tag along. “We’re going to have a picnic.”
Rachel’s brow arched to a sharp, questioning point. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think it was a date.”
