“I’ll work on them tomorrow,” she said proudly.
“Now, why don’t you go home?” Rosie urged. “You looked exhausted, sweetie.”
Glancing up at the clock, she saw it was nearly four o’clock. Usually she was out of here by two at the latest, but she wanted to spend extra time on making those two pies perfect. “I feel exhausted. Would you and Janine mind cleaning up?”
“Not at all, sweetie. You earned it.”
After taking her apron off, washing up, she waved goodbye to Rosie and headed out the door.
Soon, she was back home, pulling up to the front of her trailer. As always, she was dead tired, but there was something satisfying about finishing a day’s work. As she trudged up to her front door, she suddenly stopped.
“Oh no. No, no.” This was a joke, right? “Gabriel, what did you do?”
Sitting in front of her door was a humungous bouquet of red roses. It was so big it nearly engulfed her tiny porch. Bending down, she picked them up, taking in a whiff of the floral perfume from the perfect buds. Each rose was the size of her fist with not a single blemish on them, so they must have cost a fortune. Taking the card attached, she opened it up.
Pretty roses for a pretty lady.
G.
It was hard not to feel the giddiness bubbling up inside her, but it didn’t take more than two seconds for it to burst and deflate.
Pretty? a voice inside her sneered. Surely that was a mistake. He can’t mean you.
That small voice was something she hadn’t heard in a while. Her self-confidence hadn’t been great even before the fire, but certainly, it had been left in tatters when her life imploded right before she came to Blackstone.
That self-doubting voice somehow seeded inside her head, one that always told her that she was nothing—a worthless waste of space who would never amount to anything. Coming here, getting away from it all quieted that voice, but now it was threatening to haunt her again.
Shutting her eyes tight, she ignored the twisting in her gut. Did Gabriel have some sort of vision impairment? Or was this all part of an elaborate joke? How far was he going to take it?
With a deep sigh, she put the flowers down on the floor, her gaze meeting Fred’s. That painted smile on his face seemed consolatory today, and she reached over to pat him on his faded cap. “Thanks, Fred.”
He seemed to be the only male she could trust right now which was pathetic considering he was made of plaster and paint. Still, he was her only friend out here. The garden gnome used to occupy a spot in the garden of her previous home, and the day she walked away from that place—and her entire life—an impulse made her pick up the statue. She strapped Fred to the front seat of her car and drove off, never looking back.
This couldn’t be.
There was no way she was going to fall for a charmer and his empty promises.
“Not again,” she whispered, swallowing the lump in her throat. Finally, she’d found peace and a quiet life in Blackstone. She wasn’t going to risk all that for just another handsome face.
The familiar alarm buzzed at three in the morning, and once again, Temperance reached over to the bedside table to turn it off. Her morning routine was so ingrained that she was still half asleep by the time she yanked the front door open.
“Why did you leave my flowers out here?”
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!” She jumped back as she nearly ran smack into a wall of roses. Taking a deep breath, she massaged her chest. “You’re here again?”
Despite the frown on his face, Gabriel still looked handsome and surprisingly fresh as a daisy, as if he got up every day at three o’clock. Or maybe he rolled out of bed looking perfect, she muttered to herself. It totally wasn’t fair.
“You don’t like roses?” He held up the bouquet. “That’s okay. What flowers do you like?”
“I—” She shook her head. “What are you doing here?”
“You’re headed to work right? I didn’t want you to go by yourself.”
“Go by my—” With an exasperated sound, she brushed past him.
“Hey, where are going?”
Whirling around, she faced him again. “I told you, I don’t need to be brought to work like some kid on the first day of kindergarten.”
Though she walked fast, he quickly caught up to her. “Hey, are you mad at me? For the flowers? Or for coming here?”
Was she mad? She wasn’t really sure how she felt, except maybe confused and tired. “I just don’t know what you want from me.”
“Nothing,” he said. “You don’t need to give me anything back.”
It felt like there was an “except” coming there, but she didn’t really have time to play games today. Or any day.
Ignoring him, she got into her car, started the engine and drove away. A few minutes later, there were headlights tailing her on the highway. Blowing out a breath, she continued driving on until she reached the parking lot behind Rosie’s. She had barely opened the door when she heard his voice.
“Temperance!”
But she ignored his call and scrambled into the restaurant, slamming the door in his face. With a deep sigh, she leaned back against the door and closed her eyes. What was his deal?
“I’ll just be out here until eight,” the muffled voice came through the door. “In case you need me.”
A thrill ran up her spine at his words, but she pushed those confusing emotions aside. If I ignore him, he’ll go away eventually, she told herself as she got ready for the day.
Of course, that was wishful thinking on her part. At lunchtime, another food delivery came, this time from the Italian place down the street. Rosie had raised a brow at her, but remained
