“Peonies,” Vivian said right away. Andrew had always given her roses. He’d never thought to ask her what she really liked.
The stooped man made his way around the center display to a back corner cloaked by ferns and sprays of baby’s breath. In a pot painted a baby blue, Vivian spotted bunches of pale lavender, salmon, cream, and yellow peonies all gathered together in a perfect arrangement.
“We don’t have any pink in yet,” he said, almost as if apologizing, but Vivian was so taken with the vision before her, her only response was, “I’ll take them.”
The man paused and looked back at her. “How many?”
“All of them,” she clarified before she caved to reason. This was a splurge of epic proportions, a treat she’d never allowed herself. At least, not in this manner.
“Allof them?”
Vivian grinned. “Yes. All of them.”
“I—uh—sure, of course.” As if he was afraid she would change her mind any second, he grabbed the two large pots the flowers were contained in, denying her assistance, and hauled the load up to the counter to prepare her order. “Do you need delivery?”
Vivian glanced out the slivers of the storefront window that were as yet uncovered and considered it. “I think I can handle it.” Maybe. Well, she’d have to now, wouldn’t she?
It took a good twenty minutes before he had her all squared away and helped her load everything into the back seat, careful not to crush any of the petals.
“You make sure to get those into water as soon as possible now, so they don’t wilt,” he instructed. “Hate to see all that money go to waste.”
“Thank you. I will.”
In fact, Vivian no longer felt the need to be out, too excited to return to the house and get all of her pretties into vases and sprinkled in every room of the house.
Too late, she realized she’d never asked Gretta if she even liked peonies, let alone if she wanted to be inundated with a bunch of them. But then she recalled seeing flowers, all carefully selected and placed with love throughout the house, as well as upstairs as if meant for her late-husband, and thought she’d probably enjoy them. After all, Vivian would be more than happy to let her put as many as she wanted in her special room reserved for her memories.
Feeling light and as close to carefree as a person could get, Vivian’s entire mood was quickly tanked by the vision in pastel strolling leisurely her way.
Andrew.
Narrowing her eyes, she waited for him to get closer, his intent to talk to her clear in the set of his eyes.
“Buying yourself flowers? I would have thought your male friend would be doing that,” he remarked snidely.
“There’s nothing wrong with buying myself something nice. I thought you’d left,” she added.
Andrew cast a look around the street and the storefronts lining it. “I was going to, but…I think it’s growing on me. At first, I thought maybe you’d had a mental breakdown, staying in this hole-in-the-wall town, but now I think I’m starting to see the appeal.”
Vivian was beginning to wonder if she could claim insanity if she ran him over right there and then. It would be the swiftest way to end the bulk of her troubles.
“Just go home, Andrew,” she pleaded, exhaustion in her voice.
“Like I said before, not without you.” The look in his eyes was cold, calculating—the same look he used in the courtroom when he was trying to win a case.
“We’re over. The divorce is final. Done. You’re a lawyer, for crying out loud. What part of that aren’t you understanding?”
“Actually, we’re not,” he insisted, puzzling her. “As I mentioned before, you took off before you could sign the final papers. Nothing has been filed yet.”
So he was serious? Vivian’s forehead wrinkled as she thought back, trying to determine if he was telling the truth or attempting to trick her. Everything had been so chaotic, her thoughts a jumbled mess the day she’d said enough was enough and jumped in her car, headed nowhere.
Vaguely, she recalled her lawyer telling her something about paperwork. He might have said she needed to sign something, but she couldn’t say for certain. “Fine,” she relented. “I’ll call my lawyer first thing Monday morning and get it straightened out.” This time, she wouldn’t forget.
Now, she was done here. If Andrew didn’t want to leave, she would.
Without another word, Vivian opened the car door and stuck her foot inside, but before she could make a full escape, Andrew called out to her. “Are you going to the tractor pull tonight? I’ve never been to one before, but I think I’ll check it out.”
His causal demeanor and overly confident attitude really ticked her off. She didn’t deign to give him an answer.