But she found herself wondering when she would be the one who was fine.
ChapterEleven
Roy couldn't help being disappointed with himself. He had made a blunder by accidentally repeating one of her father's phrases to her. Then, he had made things right, and he had made things better. She had been smiling, talking, laughing even.
And then he had to make her sorrowful all over again.
In short, despite all of the progress they had made that day, he felt like a failure. He felt absolutely terrible for having hurt her. Unintentionally, of course, but what did that matter? He had hurt her.
He decided to head over to Roses Are Red. It was the flower shop owned by Susan Green, Colton's girlfriend.
"Going to eat dinner with your mom again?" he assumed as they headed toward their vehicles at the end of the workday.
"I plan on it, yes," she murmured.
"Bright and early again tomorrow?"
"Yes, of course."
She climbed into her car and drove off. She hadn't needed her hard hat today, and he almost wished she had a cowgirl hat to wear. She would look amazing in it. Since she tended to wear a lot of flannel and T-shirts and jeans with boots, she already looked the part of a cowgirl. Not that he wanted to recruit her. Being a construction worker was in her blood.
But if he could get through to her and convert her heart... not to loving him but to loving Jesus...
Well, and maybe then, after all that... to long him...
But he was getting ahead of himself.
Or was he?
Yes, of course. First, they had a job to do.
But he also wanted to make things right by her. The pain he had used her today was inexcusable, and he didn't want the workplace environment to suffer because he had been hurtful, however unintentional.
He quickly ran to the office, just for a moment, and then he drove off and headed straight for Roses are Red and managed to snag a spot right in front of the store.
The scents of flowers greeted him as a bell chimed to herald his entrance. To his shock, the display within the store had been changed so very much from what it had been whenever he had previously come in. Then again, the store had been a different name then, still with Susan as the owner.
Susan called out, "Welcome to Roses are Red," she said cheerfully, "where all of your wedding... Oh, hi, Roy. How are you?"
He sheepishly met her gaze. Her smile reached up to her eyes as if she knew what he was doing there, which wouldn't be the case. Did she often think that single guys came in here because they messed up with the woman in their lives?
Well, that was somewhat true. Beverly, after all, was a woman in his life, even if she wasn't his girlfriend. Oh, and he had messed up.
"Hi there," he said, returning the smile and nodding politely in greeting, trying desperately to feel less sheepish. "I'm looking for some flowers."
Susan smiled wider and gestured with a grand sweep of her arm toward all of the colorful bouquets that lined the shelves. "Well, you've come to the right place! I have every kind of flower imaginable! Is there a specific occasion?"
"I, ah, I just need to buy some flowers," he said, "but I really don't know what kind."
"That's fine. I don't have quite the same arrangements that I used to have before. Catering toward weddings is a bit different from having flowers for any and all occasions, but I'm sure I can make you something you'll love. What do you have in mind? Daises? Wildflowers? Something else?"
Roy shook his head, feeling absolutely lost and a bit embarrassed for not knowing anything about flowers. Thankfully, Susan didn't seem bothered by it. She just seemed happy to help him out.
"I don't know," he admitted, embarrassed, feeling a bit overwhelmed by all of the choices in front of him.
Susan chuckled softly. "It's all right."
"It's... I made someone sad. I want to apologize with the flowers. I... It needs to be something special. A bouquet... Nothing too her theta. She, ah, she works for me. And she... I just..."