“Whoa, cowboy,” my dad said steadying me after I ran into him. I hadn’t been paying attention to anything as I raced out of the house. “Where are you going in such ahurry?”
“I think I made a huge mistake and I gottafixit.”
“At work?” he asked, blockingmyway.
I didn’t have time for this. Every minute I spent talking to my dad was one more I didn’t have to clear the air with Michelle. “Withagirl.”
“Jenny?”
“No, dad, not Jenny. Michelle. I work with her at thebookstore.”
“Have Imether?”
I was bouncing on the balls of my feet. There was something about setting your mind to a specific goal and not being able to do it right away. All of that energy came out in movements that made me feel like I was gearing up forarace.
“Dad, I’d love to tell you about her sometime, but I need to go. I was a jerk, and I need to fix it.” I pushed past him making my way to thefrontdoor.
“Flowers,” he called outafterme.
I turnedaround. “What?”
“If you messed up, you better bring herflowers.”
“Where am I going to find flowers in RiverValley?”
“Son, have you ever looked in our yard? Your mother has some beautiful Iris blooming right now. Come on,” he said with a smile. “I’ll help you get some to bring to theMichelle.”
The yard had plenty of edible plants in raised beds, but I hadn’t even considered the many flower beds near our home. There were beautiful blooms everywhere that I never noticed anymore because since I saw themeveryday.
It only took a few minutes to make a bouquet of the purple flowers. My father and I talked as he helped me gather the plants and a vase to hold them. In that time, I told him a little bit about Michelle. How we were so different, but that there was a chemistry between the two of us that couldn’t bedenied.
“Did you know your mother and I hated each other the first timewemet?”
“What?”
“It’s true. We had all these ideas about who the other person was or wasn’t. We refused to talk to each other formonths.”
“But you guys are so perfect for eachother.”
He chuckled. “We didn’t know that though. It took a late night studying for exams before we really talked. We were both in the library during finals week when she came over asking for a pen. Hers had run out of ink. She had the sourest expression on her face like she wished she could have asked anyone else. Lucky for me, we were the only ones there that night.” My dad was smiling as he looked off into the distance. “She was beautiful. I asked her to sit down and take a study break with me. Best decision of my life. We ended up talking the entire night instead of studying. We both did poorly the next day, but it was worth it.” He turned back to look at me. “I’m glad you’re giving this a chance. I’m not saying this girl is your soulmate, but don't ignore those feelingseither.”
“Thanks, dad,” I said as we finished up. “And who knows, maybe I’ll end up with some great story like youandmom.”
Fifteen minutes later,I was pulling up to Michelle’s house. Her convertible was parked in the driveway, and I didn’t see any other vehicles. It was possible she was out with someone else, but I thought the more likely explanation was she was hiding outinside.
Hidingfromme.
I sat in my car trying to formulate the words I wanted to say. I couldn't help but notice I didn’t get the same hero’s welcome I did a couple of days ago. No snarky text, no flirty wave from thewindow.
When I finally made it to her door and knocked, Michelle answered almost immediately. She had her hair piled on top of her head, and her face looked different. It took me a few seconds to realize it was the first time I’d seen her without makeup. She was beautiful. Of course, she was. It didn't matter what she did or didn't do to getready.
She looked at the flowers, and back up to my face. “What are youdoinghere?”
I lifted the bouquet. “I’m an idiot.” The corner of her mouth lifted in the smallest of smiles. “Canwetalk?”
“Rainier, I’m fine,” she said, looking directly into my eyes. “But I told you,I’mbusy.”
“Withwhat?”
