Page 14 of Wildflowers and Wide Receivers

Standing, I smooth down the skirt of my dress, take several deep breaths to clear my head, and move through the house to open the door. There on my doorstep in a dark gray suit with no tie is a smiling Isaac.

“Wow, you look beautiful,” he says, his eyes wandering over me from head to toe.

“You look pretty handsome yourself.” I smile back at him. And he does.

Leaning forward, he gives me a kiss on the cheek, then holds out a box of chocolate.

“I figured since you already got flowers, chocolate was the next best thing,” he says sheepishly. I hate that he’s been thinking about these flowers and what they might mean. I should tell him that they were a thank-you from a parent of a patient, because they were, but somehow that doesn’t feel right, so I choose not to say anything at all.

“Thank you. You know how much I love sweets.” And he does. Sales reps are constantly coming into our office and bringing goodies. More times than I care to count, he’s found me stuffing my face with cookies or donuts in the office break room.

“I do.” He smiles at me again.

“Let me grab my purse, and we’ll be on our way,” I tell him.

Leaving him at the door, I head to the kitchen and place the chocolates on the table next to the flowers. Glancing at them one last time, I let out a sigh. Even though I learned a whole lot about Jonah tonight, it doesn’t change the past or how things went down. I tell myself that everything happens for a reason and decide to forget about Jonah Dallmann.

Chapter 6

Jonah

Iwould be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous about walking into Sophie’s office today.

I’ve spent so much time thinking about her over the past couple of years, and now that she’s here and about to be in front of me, I’m not sure what to do or say.

Well, that’s not true. I know I need to start with an apology.

For six weeks, I’ve been scripting conversations in my head. They’ve covered a full spectrum from completely avoiding what happened two years ago and hoping the chemistry we shared is enough to move us forward to some semblance of something to full-on begging for forgiveness.

After our night together, she went out on a limb the following morning and invited me back over later that day for dinner. We planned to watch the college bowl games and eat black-eyed peas and collard greens for good luck and prosperity. I was so excited too. Just the thought of her cleaning up her place, making food, and then having me stand her up still makes me want to wither inside myself.

Then again, I just don’t know. There’s also the real possibility that she really didn’t care all that much that I missed our date. I may have been way more into her than she was me. But regardless, I still think some things need to be said.

Except . . . when she walks into our room, I can’t find the words.

I heard her come down the hall before I even saw her. The click of her heels got louder the closer she came to the door, and with her stride, my heart pounded in my chest. When she opened the door, walked into the room, and her eyes found mine, I felt my heart fall to my feet.

Damn, she is so beautiful.

For ten solid minutes, she talked to Vivi, examining her ankle, reviewing the new films the radiologist person took before she came to see us, and watching her walk on it. With my short answers and grunting in agreement as she spoke, one would think that I was illiterate, but I just couldn’t get my tongue to work with my brain.

Six weeks.

I’ve been counting down to this day again for six weeks, and as the seconds tick by, I know I’m about to lose the opportunity, but I can’t stop staring at her.

Her hair is longer than when we met two years ago. That night it was shoulder length and now it’s a little past her shoulders. It’s still the same gorgeous blond color, and her eyes are just as blue as I remember them. She’s wearing a dark purple dress under her white coat and nude-colored heels. Her hands, which have been all over Vivi’s ankle, are not adorned with jewelry, but her nails are painted a light pink, and my mind drifts back to what those fingers felt like buried in my hair as she kissed me.

I haven’t been with anyone since her.

It’s not like I haven’t had opportunities. Quite a few of the women at Vivi’s school have made it known there are options, but that’s just not my thing. Plus, I haven’t really had time. My life revolves around Vivi and football. I’m not complaining, it is what it is.

“Okay! I think you’re good to go. It may be a little stiff for the first couple of days, but I’m confident with some stretching and the routine exercising I know ballet is known for, you’ll be as good as new in no time.” She smiles at Vivi, and Vivi smiles back.

It’s so rare to see her smile that I instantly whip my phone out.

“We need a celebratory photo. Vivi, hold up the boot, and you two smile,” I say to them, sounding like a lunatic.

Sophie looks at me strangely, but she steps next to Vivi, and they both smile as I take the photo.