“That’s me,” Sierra replies.
“Then I suggest you move aside because there’s more where these came from.” The man laughs.
Sierra frowns in confusion, but she does as he says and the men troop into the house. They come back to the truck and load up again. Sierra’s eyes are rounding as they move in and out of the truck, filling her whole house with flowers.
After a few minutes, Sierra snaps out of the shock and stops one of the men. “Wait,” she says. “What’s this all about? Who are these from?”
This is my moment. I move back into the cab of the truck and grab the big bunch of roses from the passenger seat and then I smile to myself as I hit play on the CD player. Marvin Gaye’s Let’s Get It On blasts from the cab.
This attracts Sierra’s attention.
It’s not a song I would like to think of as our song, but I can’t hear it without thinking of our cab ride in Vegas and I hope it has the same effect on her. I think maybe it does, because as I step from behind the truck and move into her line of sight, I see her smile wistfully for a moment before she sets her face.
That momentary smile tells me I still have a chance here.
I approach her, holding out the bunch of flowers.
She smiles again, as she takes them and then she looks at me questioningly. “I didn’t pick you as a romantic gesture kind of guy,” she says softly.
“That’s because I’m not. But I’m willing to try to change that if you’ll just hear me out.”
She sighs.
For a moment, I think she’s going to tell me no, but then she gives me a barely perceptible nod. I might have imagined it, but I’m not waiting to find out.
“Sierra, I’ve handled this whole thing horribly. Since the moment you arrived in Vegas, I’ve messed up time and time again, each time a little bit more spectacular than the last. It’s taken me this long to work out why. It’s because… it’s because I’m in love with you, and honestly, I don’t quite know what to do with that or how to act. But I want to learn. I want to learn with you. Will you give me a chance to do that? Will you go on a date with me tonight?”
Sierra opens her mouth to reply when a soft voice comes from behind her and she stops.
“Aunt Sierra? What’s going on?” the voice asks.
I look down and see a little girl dressed in jeans and a pink unicorn t-shirt. She has Sierra’s sparkling eyes and she has long brown hair that she pushes behind her ears. She stands behind Sierra’s legs and peers out at me.
I smile at her and she smiles back, a shy smile, but a smile all the same.
Sierra turns and crouches down at the girl’s level. “Hayley, this is Chance. He sent us all of these flowers. Isn’t that nice of him?”
Hayley nods and then she looks at me again, and this time, her smile is wider, the innocent, happy smile of a child.
“I thought the two most beautiful girls I know deserved some flowers that are almost as beautiful as they are,” I say.
Hayley giggles.
Sierra straightens back up. “Go on inside honey, I’ll be in soon,” she says.
Hayley gives me a little wave and she skips off back into the house.
“You were saying?” Sierra says.
“I’m so sorry, Sierra. I’m sorry for everything. But most of all, I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you how I felt about you sooner.”
“No. That’s not what you were saying,” she says.
I can see the sparkle in her eyes, the one she gets when she’s teasing me.
“You were asking me on a date,” she prompts me.
“Yeah, indeed I was,” I reply. “I would love to have a date with you and talk to you and see if there’s any chance for us. Can I pick you up tonight at eight or is that too short notice for Hayley?”
“Tonight at eight is perfect,” she smiles. “Where will we be going?”
“It’s a surprise,” I say.
“You mean you have no idea because you weren’t convinced I’d say yes?” she says with a laugh.
“No,” I reply. “Well, yes and no. I wasn’t convinced you’d say yes, because I know myself and I was sure I’d find a way to fuck this up further. But I already know exactly what we’ll be doing tonight, don’t worry about that.”
“Okay.” Sierra laughs. “I believe you. These flowers have set the bar pretty high though.”
“Yeah, I really should have started smaller.” I laugh.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Sierra
When I saw Chance appear around the side of the truck’s cab this afternoon and worked out that all of the flowers were from him, I felt myself melting inside. I really wanted to stay angry with him after everything he had done to me, but I just couldn’t. And when he spoke to me, told me he wanted us to try to make things work, I knew if I said no, I would only be spitting on myself. I knew I owed it to both of us to at least give him a chance.
When he admitted to being in love with me, my heart almost burst with joy and I knew then I would be going on this date with him. I can forgive the mess he’s made of all of this. I mean it’s not like I don’t know him. I knew this wouldn’t be easy for him, but he’s definitely trying and the fact he’s making such a big effort to make this all up to me tells me he’s worth trying.
I’m not quite ready to swoon into his arms just yet though. He has to show me he’s for real this time. That he’s not going to run at the first sign of things not fitting into a neat little box he can file away somewhere in his head.
I smile at
