by Angela Hayes
“We’ll make our own future.” Tharin declared, rising over Flora.
****
In all his years, Tharin had never been so physically close to another female before. There was no longer any telling of where he ended and she began, they fit so perfectly together. And when they both hit that perfect peak, it felt like his first time.
Tiptoeing across the room, Tharin slipped back into the clothes Flora had practically ripped off his body hours earlier. Not that he was complaining, far from it. Meeting Flora was the best thing he’d ever done.
Grabbing his cell, he read the digital clock: 3:23am. Mentally calculating the eight hour difference between Massachusetts and Greece he scrolled through his contacts, hitting send when he came to the number he needed.
“Hey, it’s me. We need to talk.” He began as soon as he heard the woman’s voice on the other end, closing the door on Flora’s sleeping form as he stepped into the living room to continue his conversation.
Chapter 11
Tucking the covers around a deeply sleeping Flora, Tharin traced the purple shadows of fatigue lining her eyes. His fairy worked entirely too hard, pushing herself to the edge of exhaustion doing what she loved. She amazed him.
Until Flora, he never understood what it was like to think of a woman above himself and he hadn’t wanted to. Since she spilled her coffee on him, she was all he thought about. Her scent, her touch, her laughter. The way her eyes lit up when she caught sight of him was enough alone to be his undoing. It moved him deep inside where he thought no one would ever be able to touch. Bringing lovers together over two centuries had made him jaded. He thought himself immune to the effects of amore. Always a matchmaker, never the matchee.
Until he moved to Peabody and met Flora, Tharin was resigned in his role. No longer content, he wanted more. He wanted the rush of loving and being loved. He wanted moonlight walks, early morning talks. He wanted arguments and making up. He wanted a life and a family. He wanted Flora. For now and forever. He wanted to spend the rest of this life with her and to Hell with their age differences. Why should they waste any of their precious moments when they could be spending the rest of their long lives together? All he wanted was to be by her side, no matter what.
They hadn’t talked about it, but he was sure Flora would be happy in his house, the house of her dreams. Together with Dori, a family of three—until they had children of their own, of course. Children. He had never given a thought to them before Flora.
Allowing his imagination to drift as never before, Tharin wondered what they’d be like. Boy or girl, would they have their mama’s brilliant hazel eyes or his dark hair? Flora’s green thumb or his gift of love.
Watching Flora sleep, Tharin finally understood the soul deep need humans had to achieve this feeling no matter what the consequences may be. Finally understood why wars were waged over love, nations conquered in the name of it, and empires were built on it. Finally understood what it felt like to have your every thought consumed by the one person whose heart you hold, selfishly hoping they held your own in return.
****
Flora woke as the first rays of sunlight lit behind her eyelids.
Breathing deeply, she sniffed Tharin’s neck where her head rested, her arm thrown carelessly across his chest as she lay on her stomach. Flora was sure she had never smelled anything more lovely. The man was perfection. Even his scent was arousing. Moving her arm from his chest to his shoulder, she idly twirled a piece of his hair between her fingers.
“Morning,” Tharin greeted, rolling Flora over, pressing her body in to the mattress, a kiss to her forehead.
“Morning.” Flora smiled, pressing a kiss of her own to Tharin’s nose, her arms wandering along his taut backside. “You’re dressed.”
“Dori needed to go out. I didn’t want to wake you.”
“What time is it?”
“Just shy of seven.”
“Crap. I’m going to be late.” Flora felt no urgency as she informed him. There was no better reason for being late than lying in bed with her cupid.
“Busy day today?”
“No question. Valentine’s is tomorrow. We’ll all be running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get all the last minute details together. What about you?”
“A little of this, a little of that.”
“Well, have fun with that.”
“Fun is exactly what I had in mind.” With a wicked grin, Tharin ducked under the covers.
****
“That’s some smile you have there.” Runa walked into the floral shop a few minutes after eight, Fia by her side. “We missed you at home last night.”
“I had a date with Tharin.”
“From that dreamy look in your eyes, I’m going to assume it was an all-nighter. How was he?” Runa asked, wiggling her eyebrows.
“You sound like Fia.” Flora snorted. “Let’s just say he was impressive. Very, very impressive.”
“I’m jealous. It’s been a while since I’ve been impressed,” the banshee confessed, hanging her coat before joining Flora at the counter where she was busy piecing together a dozen red roses in delivery boxes.
“What?” Flora was confused, “I thought you and Death were…?”
“You have to be on speaking terms to be impressed. Caer and I are not speaking at the moment.”
“Oh.” Flora nodded, her good mood taking an unintended hit. Caer and Fia had history. Much like her and Tharin, Caer was an older fae-kin who wouldn’t allow himself to fall for the younger banshee due to some messed up personal prerogative, even though everyone who came within two feet of the couple knew they were perfect for each other. “You want to talk about it?”
“Nah. He’ll come around soon enough. I want to talk about you and the cupid. On a scale of one to ten how hot is the cupid?”
“Off the scale explosive. No words can adequately describe his level of hotness.”
“Geez. I would hate you if I didn’t love you.”
“Do you want me to call Caer, give him an ear full?”
“If Death is too stubborn to apologize, then I’m just wasting my time. This is something he’s going to have to figure out for himself. And I won’t be holding my breath while I wait. What about you Runa? When was the last time you were impressed?”
“It’s been so long I’ve forgotten what being impressed feels like!” the elf commiserated. “Please, Flora,” she begged, “tell me what being impressed feels like so that I may live vicariously through you!”
An impish smile on her face, Flora did just that.
****
It was a good thing Flora didn’t hold her own breath for Tharin’s call. She had gotten so busy with last minute orders that she wasn’t able to check her phone until nearly three o’clock.
“Missed call.” She glanced at her phone, recognizing Tharin’s number. Calling up her voicemail, she listened to the message.
“Hi Flora. Listen, I’m sorry to do this over the phone, but something’s come up. I have to go out of town for a bit on business, and there was no time to come by and tell you in person. I’ll be out of cell range for a while, but I hope to see you in a few days. And if I don’t get to tell you, Happy Valentine’s my sweet Flora. See you soon.”
“Snapdragons!” Flora cursed, snapping her phone shut. Wasn’t that just great. After what they shared, she never figured Tharin for the love ’em and leave ’em type. Opening the phone, she dialed Tharin’s number, not surprised when it went straight to voice mail.
“Tharin, it’s Flora. I just wanted to let you know I got your message. Have a safe trip. I’ll um, I’ll see you when you get back. Bye.” Well, that was poetic. Flora closed her phone for a second time. No time to dwell on her issues, she glanced up at the bell’s tinkle to see another customer walk in. Duty called.
“Welcome to A Touch of Wild Flora. I’m Flora. How can I help you?”
Chapter 12
Ever since the voice mail, Flora tried to pinpoint
the reason for her restlessness, but failed. Sure, Tharin could really be away on business, but she didn’t think so. Something in his voice set her intuition off. Recognizing the writing on the wall for what it was, Flora’s usually high hopes were dashed. Her uncanny ability to look on the bright side resolved to a gnawing feeling of panic and gloom deep in the pit of her stomach. She felt desperation looming, and by the looks of things, it wouldn’t be long until she did something stupid and rash.
Climbing out of bed, she hoped a shower would help wash away the negativity. All it did was feed it, as her gaze once again latched onto Tharin’s mark under her breast, bright and glowing.
Aware more than ever of the day’s date, yeah—Valentine’s—Whoop, Whoop! Not! Flora pulled on a pair of her favorite jeans, choosing a long-sleeve, pink-hearted shirt over the black turtleneck she really wanted to wear. Wrapping a yellow scarf around her neck, she stepped into her Wellies. She was not feeling very Valentinesy.
“Morning,” she greeted Fia, walking into the dark kitchen dressed and ready to start the long flower-filled day ahead of her. “Long night?” Flora asked, surprised to see Fia in the same clothes from the day before, nursing a cup of coffee.
Pouring herself a cup and grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl, Flora went to sit beside her friend, her own problems pushed to the back burner. “Hey, you okay? Tell me about it.”
Wiping angrily at an errant tear, the banshee shook her head. “Just the usual.”
“How old?” Flora asked, understanding the sorrow she saw in the banshee’s red-streaked eyes. She usually only got this way when children were involved.
“Six, ten, and their parents. A whole family. Gone. Drunk driver walked away without a physical scratch. Like that.” Fia snapped her fingers together.
“I’m so sorry, Fi.”
“Circle of life and all that.” Fia took a shaky breath.
“That doesn’t make the grief any less bearable.”
Fia changed the subject, wiping away another tear. “No. You’re right. Anyway, you’re up early.”
“I didn’t sleep well.”
“Worried about today? You’re so organized, Runa would be jealous.”
“No, not that. I haven’t heard from Tharin since he left the voicemail yesterday.”
“I’m sure he’s just busy.” Fia consoled her friend. “I can see where a ton of matches might need to be made. I’m sure February fourteenth is a critical time. Give him a day or two. I’m sure he’ll be back in no time.”
“You’re right. I’m just being insecure.”
“Just stay busy and I’m sure time will fly by.” The banshee reached over and patted her arm.
“All right then.” Flora rose from her seat, pressing a kiss to the top of Fia’s hair. “Time to get this show on the road. Love ya. Get some rest.”
“Love you, too. I’ll be there at ten if nothing else comes up. Have a blessed day.”
****
Walking to the counter to dump her coffee dregs in the sink, Fia watched out the window until Flora’s taillights disappeared up the road. Phasing upstairs, she landed on Runa’s bed.
“Sleeping here. I’ve got another hour.”
“Wake up. We’ve got a problem with Flora.”
“What?” The elf rolled over, taking the sleeping blind from her eyes.
“There’s trouble in paradise.”
“Lovers quarrel. They’ll get past it. Everyone can see they’re crazy about each other.”
“He left her a voicemail telling her he was going out of town and hasn’t called since. Don’t you think that’s strange, especially after he’s spent the last two weeks doggin’ her every step. Plus, Flora doesn’t quarrel. You know that.”
“Love makes people do stupid stuff. She…” Runa broke off as Fia scowled. “What should we do?”
“I don’t know,” Fia answered on a sigh. “I just don’t know.”
Lost in thought, the ringing of Runa’s cell phone startled them.
“Who could that be?” The elf wondered aloud. “I don’t recognize the number.”
“Answer it.”
“Hello?” Runa greeted, listened for a second, and then covered the mouthpiece. “It’s Tharin.”
“What?” The banshee felt her eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets. “What does he want?”
Slapping a hand over her mouth, Runa’s eyes grew wide. “He wants to propose!”
Concealing a squeal, Fia bounced up and down on the bed. “Put him on speaker. I want to hear.”
“Tharin, hold on. All right. Fia’s here. You’re on speaker.”
“Morning, ladies. Sorry to call so early, but I need your help.”
Chapter 13
Will the madness never end?
Never in her life had Flora been so ready for the workday to end. Not that it wasn’t going well. Everything had been delivered for Runa’s shindig; the shop was jam-packed full, elbow to elbow with eager customers. The hot chocolate and build-your-own candy vase center was a real hit. Something she would definitely bring back next year. Had she not been in such a lousy mood, she would have loved it. As it stood, her head was pounding so loudly it was a wonder her brain didn’t run away, and her face hurt from keeping the fake smile in place. Chances were high she had whiplash from checking to see who kept coming in through her door every time the bell rang. Hoping against hope that when she looked up, Tharin would be standing in the doorway. Rubbing her neck, Flora was unable to keep from looking up as another customer walked in. Stupid cupid! Stupid Valentine’s day! Stupid love! Stupid, stupid, stupid!
Marigolds! She needed to get out of this place. Sadly, the chances of that happening were slim to none. They’d been left shorthanded when one of her delivery drivers called in with the flu, and Fia was out on banshee business.
“Flora.” One of her counter helpers tapped her on the shoulder. “Cassidy left the Wainwright order by accident, and we have no drivers who can run it over. Do you think you could take it?”
“Gladly,” Flora answered with her first genuine smile of the day. “Can you refill the cocoa and candy?” She shrugged into her coat and hat before grabbing the box and heading out the back door where she took a deep lung full of crisp cold air.
It felt so good to be outside that Flora felt guilty for a moment. She was over-worked, stressed, and suffering from a cracked heart. She needed to take her breaks when she could get them.
Sliding her phone out of her pocket, she checked for the hundredth time to make sure it was still working. To her disappointment, there were no missed calls and no new voicemails. Sliding it back into her pocket she adjusted the weight of the cardboard box filled with candy vases, and began her trek along Mill Street until it met with Main on the opposite side of the square. Far from where Tharin had kissed her. She needed no visible reminders. Her memories were enough, thank you very much.
At the light she crossed again, made a left onto Littles Lane, heading for Sanborn Street where the Wainwrights lived. Catching sight of the multitude of cars parked along the way, Flora briefly considered turning back to catch the much calmer Spring Street, then thought better of it. Too close to her destination to adjust, she continued on.
Weaving in and out of foot traffic, she trudged past ShoeMakers footwear and Dashing, Peabody’s premiere formalwear shop, letting her eyes drift over to Ruby’s Jewelry and Gems where sparkly diamonds were displayed to catch the sun’s rays and customers’ fancy.
Eyes roaming over the array of necklaces and earrings, Flora caught sight of something familiar. No, wait, back up. Someone familiar. There was only one man she knew with rich long hair on top of a Viking build, but he was supposed to be away on business.
Balancing the heavy box in one hand, she dug into her pocket for her phone. Calling up Tharin’s number, she pressed “send”, listening to it ring on the other end.
She watched in amazement as Tharin glanced at the phone he pulled from his own pocket and looking at the read out, left-
swiped the screen before putting his phone away and accepting the velvet box Ruby herself held out to him. As much as the left swipe hurt, Flora was devastated to see the long-legged blonde in a rich fur jacket and fake tan at his side.
Shattered, Flora watched as the blonde took the box in her own hands, threw her arms around Tharin’s neck, and pressed exuberant kisses all over his face.
Tears came immediately and unbidden. Stupid, she tried to tell herself. So stupid to believe someone like him could want someone like her. Lying, cheating, cupid. Good for nothing fae-kin.
Balancing the box so she could wipe the tears from her eyes, a passerby jostled the load with a misplaced shoulder. With fast reflexes she was able to save her vases, minus a few candy hearts that landed in the slushy snow. How apt…to have been thrown away so carelessly.
Unable to watch anymore, Flora hurried to finish her delivery. The quicker Valentine’s was over, the quicker she could nurse her broken heart.
****
Walking arm in arm from Ruby’s, Tharin’s grin was a mile wide. It was the same grin worn by his sister.
“I can’t believe you’re going to get married,” she exclaimed for the umpteenth time. “I can’t wait to meet her. This Flora must be someone really special to catch a hunky fae like you.”
“You’ll have to wait until the party.” Tharin opened the door of the borrowed car, closing it when Callia was settled.
Stepping back onto the sidewalk, Tharin’s gaze caught a handful of colorful objects among the dirty snow slush. Candy hearts. Tharin’s head came up. Where there were candy hearts, there were Flora’s flowers. Scanning the street, Tharin searched for his fairy. Not finding her, Tharin attributed the candy’s presence to a clumsy customer. Feeling certain his secret was safe, the cupid climbed behind the wheel and brought the car to life.
“Where to now?”
“The house. Flora’s friends Fia and Runa are bringing the rest.”
Clapping her hands with glee, the nymph bounced in her seat. “Flora’s going to be so surprised.”
