by Gina Kincade
“Maybe for lunch. It’s still a bit early.”
“Jenna has some.” Mariana crossed her arms in front of her chest, a mutinous expression on her face. Her hair was still mussed from sleep and he was glad he made it in time, or more likely than not, there would have been tears and a whole lot of mess.
Jenna had been a handful these last couple of weeks. But then again, so had Mariana. Their parents were due to come in for a visit this afternoon and for that he was grateful. They made it most days and that was good for the children. It was never good to be sick and alone in a hospital, especially if you were a child.
The flowers he’d brought them from the florist were beginning to wilt. Time to make another trip. Last week he’d grabbed four bunches. This week he had gotten four more children added to his care while their doctor was visiting another hospital.
It always brought him joy to visit the florist, and the sexy dark-haired woman who was the co-owner of the shop. He’d only happened on it by chance a year or so ago when his online order failed and he’d had to find something to cheer up some kids and fast.
Enter Bluebonnets and a jolt to his system when he realized the woman standing behind the counter was none other than the female who’d been haunting his dreams ever since he’d run into her at the hospital two years ago.
Her daughter had been injured in a hit and run with a drunk driver. She had been there with a man he assumed was her husband, but the tension between them was palpable. There were bruises on her face and not, he discovered, from her being in the vehicle at the time of the crash.
The cowardly fucker had been manhandling his wife.
His wolf had taken notice and more than a little.
Mate.
“She’s taken, buddy.”
Protect. Defend.
But even if his wolf didn’t care, he did. It wasn’t right to encroach on a time of grief, especially when she was, in all ways that mattered, taken. Instead, he put all of his energies into his work. He couldn’t prove what he suspected, but he did everything he could to save her child. In the end, there wasn’t much he could do. The damage was too great.
Even in her grief, her tear-filled blue eyes held his when he told her the news. She’d simply nodded and woodenly walked outside to the garden where he watched helplessly as she dissolved into tears, sobbing loudly behind her hands.
He would be surprised if there had been another vehicle involved in the crash at all. There were so many drugs in the man’s system, he had to have been a total wreck when he was behind the wheel. What didn’t make sense was the fact that he was never charged.
While she sat in the garden, he watched them both from the nurse’s station. A blonde-haired woman hurried to the husband’s side, enveloping him in an embrace that made his hackles raise.
Faithless bastard.
His lips curled in disgust as he realized the scent on the male was this other woman and not his wife.
He wondered just how long it was before the woman realized what had happened. Because he hadn’t smelled him on her since he’d been coming to the shop. And she wasn’t wearing her ring.
She’d gotten into his blood. Even if all he could do was give her a nod each time he came into the shop, at least he could have her in his life.
Such as it was.
The only problem was, she still hadn’t spoken to him. She rang him up, gave the masses of flowers he bought, flashed him a filthy look, and then turned her back. It boggled his mind.
He needed to see her. Besides, the kids could use some more flowers or balloons.
His wolf perked up, his fur bristling under his skin.
Settle down.
But his wolf only snorted at him and turned his back.
I can’t approach her yet. She isn’t ready.
His wolf ignored him and started licking himself.
God.
“Doctor…” Mariana tugged on his coat, bringing him out of his internal thoughts.
He checked his watch. It wasn’t even eleven yet.
“I’ll ask them to bring you some with lunch, okay kiddo?”
Mariana huffed and settled back against the pillows. “I guess.”
Thomas grinned. The kid was full of spirit. It would serve her well in the days ahead.
But as he turned back to his rounds, he had one thing on his mind. The chocolate-haired woman with the bottomless blue eyes.
Chapter Three
Liv sighed and strummed her fingers on the laminated counter top. Business at the shop had been slow the first hour and that was never good. It meant she had time to grow maudlin in her thoughts. Snow drifted in the wind outside and with each gust of winter chill, Liv felt her heart sink just a little more into despair.
She hated this time of year with a passion.
Her daughter, Penny, had loved flowers. Screw Jack Frost or whatever fairy tales they made up to dispel the myth of winter magic. There were no cute little fairies that gave little snowdrop kisses. No enchanted princesses with icicles hanging from their fingertips. Nope. Just a dark heart filled with the pain of losing her daughter to the negligence of a drunk driver and then her husband to his own grief.
But he hadn’t stayed down for long.
She’d seen him on the street a few days after Christmas, his arm around a very pregnant blonde woman who had to be his new fiancée. Life went on. For everyone except for her. Absently, she rubbed her eye where he’d hit her that night and shook her head.
Two years.
Two years since Penny been gone and the happy life she thought she had went up in a puff of powdery snow. If it weren’t for her best friend, Caroline, and Bluebonnet’s, Liv would have moved so she wouldn’t have to chance meeting the faithless bastard of an ex on the street. His new, soon to be wife, Stephanie, had been his secretary. And from what her friends that still worked in the office told her, the hussy moved in to his apartment before the ink on the divorce papers he’d served her was even dry.
New wife. New baby. New life.
She hoped this time he learned not to handle disappointments with his fists.
Liv couldn’t understand how easy it seemed for some people to just move a peg and replace someone just like that. And more to the point, she didn’t want to.
With Valentine's Day a couple of days away, the shop had been humming with activity. It was only this morning they'd had a temporary reprieve. Bluebonnets was the most profitable florist in Olympia, Texas. Her family had always been good at growing things and she meant to keep it that way.
But lately, she’d had to wear gloves when she handled the blooms. Whatever turmoil was going on inside of her was starting to manifest in a crap ton of dead roses. And that wasn’t good for the bottom line.
“All right out there. I can hear you thinking. Cut it out.”
Liv snorted and rolled her eyes as her best friend strolled out of the back room, her arms laden with a bouquet of lavender roses. A flamingo shifter transplanted from the Florida Keys, Liv would have thought Caroline would have a hard time with the cold. On the contrary. She loved it. In fact, she’d never met anyone who loved snow globes as much as Caroline did.
It was just plain weird.
Caroline's hair, not a strand out of place, fell in bright pink ringlets from the clip that held it back from her face. Her color was high and she had never looked lovelier. The purple top that hugged her curves was painted on like a second skin, and her skinny jeans sported rhinestones in a decorative pattern on the back pockets—a veritable flame to the men who flocked around her like hopeful moths.
She’d been dating a shifter from the next town over and her family hadn’t approved. So, she relocated here, the guy had moved on, and here they were trying to make an empire out of hearts and flowers. And right now, they were trying to do it in the middle of an ass chapping cold spell.
Most of the time, Texas was Texas. If you didn’t like the weather, wait ten minutes and it would change. And boy was Liv ready for a little chan
ge before she lost her ever loving mind. The cold wore her down and she longed for spring, just like most of the green witches in her line.
She’d never really been fond of the winter months, even before she had a better reason than most.
Just then, the computer on the back counter gave a little ding to signal a new email. Guilt settled through her.
Valentine’s Day orders had been streaming in from the website non-stop. She should have been checking them instead of letting herself reminisce over how her life used to be. Pity parties were no good for anyone. She knew that but she still had her moments, and something about today was making it a tough one.
Snap out of it, girl.
“Sorry. I know.” Liv pushed off the counter and smoothed her hands down her jeans. The white tee shirt with the shop logo gave her a ton of pride. She and Caroline had built this place from the bottom up. Both of them had to start over. And they were doing it, despite the odds.
A shifter and a green witch working together in a world with Hexen terrorists attacking shifter businesses was no mean trick. Just a few towns over they’d had some violent outbursts. It was one of the reasons she’d moved out this way.
Her family were witches. When they chose to take sides with people who would bring harm instead of creating good, she had no choice but to break it off. When she moved here, she met Brody and thought all of her prayers had been answered.
It had been great for a while, but then Penny was fatally injured in the accident and everything that had been good in her life turned into a nightmare. She wanted, more than anything, to feel like her family had her back but just like with everything else, it all went to shit.
Instead of supporting her, all her family could do was judge her and rub salt in a still open wound. Had Brody been drinking when they ran off the road? Was it really the other driver’s fault?
“You should come home. Why are you even staying there playing with your flowers when you could be a part of the family business? And did you see on Facebook? Brody is engaged.” Her sister sniped at her last week when she’d called her to wish her a happy birthday.
How long had she waited to tell her that? And why was her sister stalking her ex on social media?
It was too much. She was trying to put it behind her and this time of year, with the anniversary of Penny’s death fast approaching, was always the hardest. Just hearing the hostility on the other end of the phone zapped her strength like nothing else.
Didn’t they understand she needed to have a life on her own terms? She tried to keep in touch on holidays, but sometimes she wondered if just texting would be acceptable.
And as always, she decided against it.
Her mother had answered the phone but promptly handed it over to her sister not twenty seconds later. She lived with her sister and helped take care of the kids. So, much like everything else, it was Liv against the status quo.
Why did she even bother?
Her choices would never be good enough. They had it in their mind what she should be doing. It didn’t matter that she had her own vision of her life, and it didn’t include the malicious shit storm that waited for her at home.
Liv sighed and tried to shut off her head.
A roll of mental duct tape would have useful…but inner demons knew just where to stick the knives.
Her life was an ocean of bullshit and she had to swim across to the other side. She sure wasn’t going to give any of them the satisfaction of seeing her drown.
Oh yeah. She really needed to snap out of it.
Today it may have been more appropriate to wear black with the mood she was in. It was hard to give up a habit. And it was cold and she hated it. At least here in Texas the winters weren't long, but what they’d had was a butt chapping freeze compared to the usual sauna that reigned most of the year.
“You can’t change what kind of a dick he is, babe.” Caroline set the roses on the counter with a loud thunk. She sent a resigned look toward Liv, shoving the vase back from the edge. “For your own good, you have to move on. And stop calling your sister.”
God, the woman knew her so well.
Liv nodded. “I know.” Tears stung the corners of her eyelids. “I’m a glutton for punishment, I guess.”
“I know. We all have our moments.” Caroline grimaced. “You don’t even want to hear the drama from my side of the house.”
“Try me. It might help.” Liv gave her a little smile.
“Well, you know that annual Flockapolooza thing our kind does every Christmas?”
Liv nibbled her lip and leaned against the counter. “Is that where flamingo shifters get together?”
“Oh God.” Caroline rolled her eyes and let loose a radiant smile. “I can’t believe I haven’t regaled you with this annual glam fest.”
Did she? Liv thought it sounded a little familiar but last year she’d been so down she couldn’t come up for air if she’d tried. If it weren’t for Caroline kicking her in the ass, she’d still be in bed staring at the four walls, wishing they would all fall in on her.
Penny would hate that she was like this.
Struggling to summon a smile, she pushed her dark thoughts to the back of her mind and slammed the door.
“I think you might have mentioned something when you went home last year but you didn’t elaborate.”
And frankly, Liv had been hip deep in orders and hadn’t been able to come up for air. When Caroline had come back, it was dive in feet first and ask about her vacation later. Only later just slipped by and well…here they were.
Caroline rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah. You would have remembered this.”
Liv shook her head. “Okay…cheer me up with some flamingo antics.”
“So, there’s this get together we all live for year-round. It’s like a fashion show crossed with a Christmas pageant. But with a shit ton of palm trees, sandy beaches, and a bunch of tourists who don’t know how to behave.”
Liv snorted. “That’s the same everywhere.”
“True enough. Well, anyway…my cousin gets involved with none other than the husband of one of the town’s most gilded, spoiled divas in the flock. And she didn’t keep it quiet either. Posting pictures on social media. Bragging to her buddies at the salon about their cruises and her new hobby of pole dancing. Hell, the video is still online if you search hard enough.”
“No way.”
“Way.”
Caroline held up her hand. “Let’s be clear. I have nothing against pole dancing. But do it with your own man and don’t film that shit. Especially if you have cottage cheese butt.”
Liv started to giggle despite herself.
“She did not.”
“Okay…” Caroline rolled her eyes. “She didn’t. But it made me feel better saying it. The girl has a body built for sin and she knows how to use it…damn.”
“What happened?”
“Well, his wife got tagged on social media and saw the video, complete with her husband getting a really intricate lap dance, and then feathers were totally flying.”
Liv could identify with that one.
“What did she do?”
“Oh, lord. So, the wife goes to my cousin’s job at the mall and stages the mother of all shit fits. She storms into the hamburger and shrimp joint and dowses her with a mega size drink and then goes at her with the condiments.”
“What?”
“It was modern art, honey mustard and ketchup style.”
“Oh, God.”
She wished she had it in her to do something like that. It might have made things just a little more bearable.
Caroline was laughing so hard there were tears in her eyes. “The woman’s son followed her and dragged her out of the food court before mall security could kick her out, but you’ve never seen a crazier heifer than that bird.”
Liv held up her hand to stifle the laugh threatening to explode from her lips. “No. Seriously.”
“Really. It’s like that Jerry Springer show. With f
lamingos. Have you ever seen a feather pulling contest? It ain’t pretty. That I can tell you.”
“Oh, my God.” This time Liv couldn’t hold it in and the laughter erupted into inelegant snorts.
“You made that up.”
“I did not.” Caroline held up her hot pink manicured nails. “Scout’s honor.”
The computer dinged again and both women grimaced.
“Well, apparently we’re up to our backside in online orders. Are you going to be okay?”
Goddess. She’d been so into her own bad mood she hadn’t even thought to check the orders. She had to shake it off.
Time to get to work.
“Here. Let me at least help you with this order. Then I’ll check the emails and get that started. Okay?”
“Great. I have to get started planning this party I’ve volunteered us for next week. It will be good for the shop. I’m going to grab some shrimp for lunch later. You want some?”
“Sure. Sounds good.”
Lord but that girl could eat shrimp. Her pink hair was a testament to her flamingo heritage. When she first met her at the seafood restaurant where she’d been waiting tables right after the divorce, Liv joked that she wasn’t sure if she was flamingo or part cupid.
Pink hair…and well, pink hair. It was a thing.
Caroline had narrowed her eyes at her and popped a couple of pink feathers. “Flamingo. And I sure as hell don’t run around shooting lovey dovey arrows at people either.”
Ouch.
But it had been friendship at first sight. They celebrated their respective dick head ex’s and became fast friends. Then, a few months later, business partners.
Now she just had to keep her end of the arrangement up. But Caroline understood it wasn’t just a breakup she was getting over. It was the hardest form of grief a person could ever live through. But she was doing it, one day at a time.
Even when she wished the sun would just stay frozen in the sky and the world would just stop…it kept going and that was how she knew Penny was still out there. Because no one that amazing could ever be gone forever. Not her little girl. She was flying with the angels and more than likely willing her to stop killing every plant in sight.