Shit. “No, I mean, maybe for a second I thought I was but…no.”
“You know, it’s okay to fall for him. Just because he’s a man doesn’t mean he’s like?—”
“No. I don’twantto fall for him. I don’t want toneedhim. Because if I do, I just leave myself open to…” To what? Getting hurt? Being like her mother?
“Polly—”
“I have to go. Al’s here with the flower delivery.” She hung up and rushed out of the car. “Hi, Al.”
He started unloading buckets of flowers. “Hi, Polly.”
Al was a middle-aged man with kind eyes, quiet but friendly. Once the café door was unlocked, she went back and helped him with the flowers.
He frowned at her. “Oh, you don’t need to?—”
“I do,” she interrupted. “It’s been quite the morning.”
“Is everything okay?”
She glanced at the wedding ring on his finger. “How long have you been married?”
His brows shot up. “Uh, almost fifteen years.”
“Fifteen years. Wow. Are you happy? Wait, don’t answer that. If you say yes, I won’t believe you. If you say no, you’ll just confirm what I already think, that loving someone is never a good idea.”
Inside Bloom, she set the flowers onto the counter before following him out to grab more.
“I have lived this shit, Al. I have lived and breathed the dating and the engagements and marriages that last all of fifteen seconds. Granted, there’s never been anyone close to me who’s been married for fifteen years—you deserve a medal—all I’ve seen are duds. Men who masquerade as happily ever afters when really, they couldn’t give a single shit. You know what I mean, don’t you? You have to know. You have to have seen it.”
“Um…”
“It’s a slippery slope, you know.” She grabbed another bucket of flowers while Al lifted three. “You let one man in and he breaks your heart, it’ll probably be easier to let the next in. And where do you draw the line? How do you protect yourself? You can’t! It has to be all or nothing. I learned that a long time ago, and nothing, I repeatnothingis going to change my mind. Particularly not some sexy former Navy SEAL who has eyes that are green in one light and brown in another. I?—”
“All done.” Al put the last bucket of flowers onto the table before rushing toward the door. “You have a good day, Polly.”
“Oh…yeah, you too. Sorry if I rambled.”
He shook his head. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Then he was gone.
Great. Now she was scaring off her suppliers.
The bell on the door sounded. Polly turned.
“Did you forget?—”
She stopped. It wasn’t Al. It was her mother, with Jonah close behind.
“When’s your first break?” her mother rushed, cheeks red and a wide smile on her face.
“Um, not for a couple hours. The café’s not even open. Why?”
“Because we need to celebrate!”
Polly’s stomach dropped. “Celebrate what?” But she already knew.
“We couldn’t wait.” Her mother held up her ring hand. “We got married!”
Usually,Joel couldn’t get enough of Basil’s pancakes. The homemade honey-butter syrup was unmatched, and the pancakes were so fluffy they melted in his mouth. But today, sitting with his team, talking about the women found in the basement—he had no appetite. None.
