Chapter Seventeen
Blake hadn’t wanted to say anything about the flowers, but ten minutes into arranging them, his eyes were starting to water and his head was starting to hurt.
He didn’t want to complain, but it was getting to him.
Megan passed him another brightly-colored bouquet in a beautiful vase, directing him to a table over in the corner, and as he opened his mouth to sayokay, he sneezed instead.
Then he sneezed again.
And again.
Megan was staring at him as though he’d just said the most disgusting thing she could imagine. Blake set the flowers down, hiding his face in his elbow as he sneezed again, tears leaking from his eyes as he reacted to the pollen.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured, walking away without another word as a wave of dizziness hit him, sitting down as far away from the flowers as he could.
Of course he was allergic to these specific flowers. He wasn’t allergic to all of them, and since he’d moved away from Hope Springs he’d barely needed antihistamines, but it was just his luck that these particular flowers happened to set his allergies off.
As he rubbed at his eyes, Blake heard someone approach him. He looked up, squinting, to see that it was Rusty.
He hated the thought of Rusty seeing him like this.
“You okay?” Rusty asked, grabbing one of the folding chairs to sit down in front of him, straddling it backwards.
“Allergies,” Blake explained. “It’s the flowers.”
He wiped at his eyes and nose with his shirt sleeve, making a soft, miserable groan as he did so.
The next thing he knew, Rusty’s hand was on his forehead, brushing his hair back. Blake closed his eyes, letting Rusty stroke his hair to soothe him.
He didn’t understand why Rusty was being so nice, but he wasn’t about to discourage it. He needed someone to be nice to him right about now.
“Do you have something to take?” Rusty asked.
Blake shook his head. “I didn’t think I’dneedanything in February.”
Rusty made a soft, sympathetic sound.
“There’s a chemist in town, yeah?” he asked.
“Chemist?” Blake frowned.
“Pharmacy? Or, umm… fuck, a drug store? Is that what they’re called?”
“It’s a pharmacy,” Blake said. “And yeah, next to the grocery store.”
“I’ll go get you something. Is there a brand, or…?”
“Whatever’s on sale,” Blake said. “I don’t think it matters all that much, but you really don’t have to go.”
“What’s the point of having a gorgeous, charming, sexy husband if he can’t look after you when you’re sick?” Rusty asked.
Blake couldn’t argue with that. No one else was volunteering, so he wasn’t in a position to refuse his help.
Not that he would have, anyway. He was grateful that Rusty was there for him.
“Thank you,” Blake said, wiping his nose again.
“Go take a hot shower to clear your sinuses.” Rusty stood, putting the chair away. “I’ll be back soon.”
