It wasn’t going to happen.
Better to just put those feelings on lockdown, pretend like I’d never read those cards—or better yet, like they didn’t even exist—and go about my life.
It wouldn’t be fair to ask Joanne about Henry, about things she wouldn’t know and would have no way of guessing. She wasn’t any more responsible for Henry’s actions than I was, after all.
I would just put the whole thing out of my mind, or at least lock it up deep enough inside that I didn’t have to deal with it again anytime soon.
Just like I did with everything else when it came to my dad.
Chapter Sixteen - Joanne
From the moment I had walked through the door at the flower shop, my gaze had alternated between the clock and the door, just waiting on Brady to get there.
Watching.
Waiting.
Watching some more.
By noon, when Brady still hadn’t shown up, I wasn’t sure whether I felt relieved or even more anxious. Maybe even a little worried.
Hewascoming back, wasn’t he?
He had to, right?
But yeah. Of course, he would. He did own the place, after all.
I wondered if, in a hotel room down the street, Brady might be feeling just as anxious about talking to me as I felt at the thought of being face-to-face with him after the way I’d stormed out.
I frowned.MaybeBrady was feeling something similar, but he really didn’t seem to be the nervous, anxious type.
More likely, he was just busy doing… something. Something that didn’t include the flower shop or dealing with any of my feelings.
That was probably it.
WhywouldBrady worry about what I thought, anyway? He’d be done with everything soon enough when he sold the place. No need to worry or care about my feelings one way or the other.
So why, then, was I so worried about what he thought? It’s not like I’d never been around a hot guy before. But there was more to it than that. There was more toBradythan that.
I felt that, under different circumstances, I’d want to know more about him—about his life, his thoughts, where he’s been, what his plans were,allof those things. He genuinely seemed like a nice guy, and it certainly didn’t hurt that he was pretty damn easy on the eyes.
But these weren’t normal circumstances, and while Brady wasn’t theenemy, the fact that he could even think about selling Patty’s Petals was enough to keep me from following my natural instinct to open up and engage a little more.
Those conflicting emotions—curiosity versus wariness—had been tugging at my mind ever since the moment I’d met Brady. Those emotions had kept me up for several nights and could very easily consume the rest of my day, if I allowed them to.
I had already probably spent too much time thinking about the things I didn’t have any control over that morning, but even though I knew better than to let the thoughts consume me, it was easier said than done.
I sighed as I pushed the stool back from the counter and stretched my legs. There weren’t many mornings when I could afford the luxury of sitting around until lunchtime, but today?
To hell with it.
Not even the beautiful, fresh shipment of flowers we’d received that morning could motivate me.
One thing thatdidmotivate me to move, though, was the fact that it was time for lunch. Time for an excuse to get out of the shop for thirty minutes, even if it was just to walk next door to the coffee shop for a white chocolate mocha.
At least I’d be able to vent to Luca, the owner, for a few minutes. And if I sat at a table out front, I’d be able to see if Brady happened to pull up—a double win as far as I was concerned.
Without wasting another minute, I walked over to the door, flipped the sign fromOpentoClosedand stepped outside, letting the afternoon sun wash over me for a minute before walking the dozen or so feet over to the front door of Castle Coffee.