He waved away her offer. “It could be worse. I know I’ve been covered in blood and guts or vomit but dog drool is a new one for me.”
“Of course. Perils of the job I suppose.” She pushed her display to one side. “What can I do for you?”
He ran his hand around the back of his neck and she saw the insecurity rising. There was something very cute about a man who seemingly had everything but could still look so unsure of himself. “Um, the flowers you sent me?”
“Hmmm?”
“Well, it seems that they got a lot of comments from patients and the girls have decided that a little bit of decoration in the office isn’t such a bad thing.” Color rose in his cheeks.
“Okay, that’s nice to hear.” She picked up an order pad and a pencil. “What did you have in mind?”
“I’m not sure I like arrangements that are too bright but since it’s going to be out in the reception room, I’ve been told I don’t have any say in it.” He looked a tad annoyed if the frown lines between his eyes had anything to do with it.
“So your staff gets to call the shots?” Interesting.
It meant he wasn’t in charge of everything in his life. That had been her first impression. Order and dominance.
“Guess I can’t have things all my own way and they’re a fabulous staff. I’d be lost without them. Flowers are a small price to pay, I guess.” He stepped closer. “That’s rather nice.”
“I made that for Mari. It’s meant to last and that’s why I used dried flowers instead of fresh.”
“Dried? Sounds interesting.” The smile he gave her transformed his face, made him look younger and carefree. Something she hadn’t seen before except when he was with baby Connie.
“It is. I can do you something like this if you like. But if you prefer fresh, they’d have to be replaced at least once a week. This will last for a month or so before it started looking a little sad. Longer if you really look after it.”
He seemed to ponder the offer.
*
“How about both? I could have one in the reception area and one on my desk. What do you think?” Where had that come from? This was so not like him to be impulsive. It’d taken all week for the girls to convince him to go and place an order and he had to go overboard? How on earth had she managed to make him drop his guard so easily? The day had started off terrible enough as it was and he felt unable to stop the roller coaster ride he was on.
As much as he tried to ignore April, it was impossible. He’d walked into the building this morning to a shock of bright orange paint in the kitchen. She’d finally done it, painted over the old green walls. He’d shuddered and tried to see past it but once he walked into the bathroom, it was all too much. Each wall was a different color: purple, blue, red, and vivid green. Nothing he could do but grin and bear it.
A smile twitched at the edges of her lips and he was lost. How to pull back and get a hold of the situation again? “If you have the time, that is. Sorry, I didn’t mean to be presumptuous.”
“No, that’s fine. I can certainly organize something. Let’s start with the dried arrangement. What are you looking for? Give me a color to start with.”
His eyes were drawn to the bright pink rosebuds in her hair, the same as the ones in the arrangement she’d made for Mari if he wasn’t mistaken. Pink became his new color. It also matched the paint at the top of the wall behind her which faded to a much more pleasant pale pink that didn’t hurt his eyeballs. “I’ll leave it all up to you since you seem to know what you’re doing. I do like that heart shaped tray the flowers are in though.”
“Sorry, that’s a one off. I found it in the hotel’s attic. But,” she held up her hand. “I do have something along those lines. Give me a minute.” She disappeared out the back of the shop and Hamish sat with his gaze on David, not flinching at all. The big dog’s tongue lolled out of its mouth, flopping with each doggy breath.
Within minutes, April came back, a paper-wrapped parcel in her hands. She put it on the table and tore the paper off, throwing it to the floor behind her, missing the trash can entirely. A squat tin bucket sat in front on the counter. The handle had blue and white beads for the grip and David had no idea what she was thinking. It was nothing like the tray she’d used.
“I can paint this any color you like and make it look old if you want, distress it. What do you think?”
“I have no idea. Can I leave it to you, please? Do what you think is best.” He leaned on the table, distracted by the jewelry under the glass top. His mother would love one of the necklaces, it was just her style. Something to put aside in his mind for later, when her birthday came around. She was usually so hard to buy for but this was something different. It was worth the risk in his mind. Time she ventured away from her usual sedate style and embraced a bit of color. Where the heck had that come from?
“Tell you what. If you don’t like what I send over, you don’t have to pay for it.”
“That’s hardly the way to run a business, April. It’s going to cost you money to produce the product so you need to charge me accordingly. You’ve done nothing I can find fault with so far. The arrangement you gave Susan as a hostess gift got rave reviews.”
“That’s very kind of
