Bring Me Flowers (Garden of Love 5)

by Melanie Wilber

  Tracy had laid some sheets and blankets on the pile of things she wanted to wash before the baby’s arrival when she felt her water break. Lily went into super-giddy mode, getting her into the living room where she could lay down, and then called Devin and the doctor for her.

  Devin was home in ten minutes, and they left for the hospital. By the time she arrived, her contractions were coming pretty hard and were less than three minutes apart. Her other labors had gone more slowly, but this baby didn’t seem to be wasting any time.

  “I’m scared, Devin,” she said, beginning to push like the doctor instructed her. She had been here less than two hours and had no time to mentally prepare herself for this. It had been one contraction after another.

  Devin talked her through the contraction and let her squeeze his hand as hard as she needed to. “You’re doing great, sweetheart,” he said. “I’m right here. Just a few more times and it should be over.”

  He was right. Compared to Luke’s gargantuan head that had taken forever to push out and left her with some painful tearing to recover from, this one came through so fast she could barely believe it when she heard its piercing cry.

  “Oh, Devin,” she said, bursting into tears and laying back against the semi-upright bed.

  Devin kissed her forehead. “I love you, sweetheart,” he said. “You’re getting to be a real pro at this. Maybe this won’t be our last after all.”

  She would have slugged him if the doctor hadn’t placed the baby on her chest at the same moment. Holding the baby gently with her hands, she realized she didn’t know if it was a boy or girl. Either the doctor hadn’t said, or she’d missed it.

  “Congratulations, Tracy. It’s another boy,” he finally announced.

  She thanked the doctor and lifted her eyes back to Devin. “Another boy,” she said, feeling incredible joy at giving her wonderful husband another son.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I know you were hoping for a girl.”

  “No, I wasn’t,” she said, pulling his head toward her and kissing him sweetly. “I could never go wrong having sons with you.”

  Devin hugged her fully and cried with his cheek pressed against her hair. “I love you, Tracy,” he said. “With all my heart, I love you.”

  ***

  Devin woke to an empty bed the following morning. He couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. Besides Tracy, he had also been sharing a bed with his five-year-old son for half the night for the last two years.

  Sitting up to shut off his alarm, he went to check on the boys and found them both sleeping: Seth in his big-boy bed and Luke in his crib. Making himself some coffee and toast, he had sat down to eat and do his daily Bible-reading when Seth came down the hall and sleepily climbed into his lap. He read over his son’s shoulder and then got him some toast and cold cereal when he had finished.

  “Are we going to see Mama and the baby today?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Devin replied. “After Lukey wakes up and we all get ready.”

  “Is Mama coming home today?”

  “Probably not until tomorrow,” he said.

  “What’s the baby’s name, Daddy? I can’t remember.”

  “Jonah.”

  “Like Jonah and the whale? That Jonah?”

  Devin smiled and tousled his son’s bed-head hair. “That’s where we got the name from, but your baby brother is not the same Jonah that got swallowed by a whale.”

  “Like I’m not the Seth that’s in the Bible, right?”

  “Right. Just like that.”

  “Are we ever going to have a sister? Kyle’s mom had a baby girl and now he’s gots a little sister, but he says she’s a pet. What’s that mean?”

  Devin heard Luke crying but took the time to answer the question. “A pet is an animal you have like a dog or cat. Kyle probably said his sister is a pest, which means she does things he doesn’t like sometimes.”

  “You mean like when Lukey does things I don’t like--like leavin’ my trains on the floor?”

  “Yes, something like that.”

  “So brothers can be pets too, not just sisters?”

  “Pests,” he corrected. “And yes, brothers can be that too.”

  He left the kitchen to get Luke out of his crib, changed his diaper, and dressed him in some clothes for the day before bringing him out to eat with his brother.

  “I’m going to take a quick shower,” he told Seth after they were both finished. “Be a big boy and watch Lukey for me. Come get me if he gets hurt or anything, okay? Can you do that for me, little man?”

  “What’s a little man?”

  “It’s like you get to be Daddy for a few minutes while I’m busy, but you’re not big like me. You’re little like you.”

  “I’m not little, Dad. I’m getting big!” He demonstrated this by standing up in his chair and reaching for the ceiling.

  Devin laughed. “Yes, you are getting big. But you’re still littler than Daddy.”

  He made his shower quick, feeling excited about seeing Tracy soon. He had stayed at the hospital until late last night. His mom had brought the boys home and put them to bed, staying until he got home around ten. Having some quiet time with Tracy had been nice. She and the baby had slept off and on, but he didn’t mind. He simply wanted to be near her on such a special day--on any day.

  He missed her already.

  Arriving at the hospital and taking the elevator up to the second floor, he led the boys down the hall to her room with a simple bouquet of fresh flowers in his hand. He had picked them up at the supermarket on the way here. He would have something more special waiting for her when she came home.

  They found her awake, sitting up and feeding the baby. She welcomed her little boys with a smile and kisses when he lifted them up to her. Then he took his own turn. “Good morning,” he said, kissing her with a sense of longing. “I missed you last night.”

  She smiled at him, making his heart do back flips like always. “I missed you too,” she said.

  When she finished feeding Jonah, Devin took his newest son into his arms and sat down in the rocking chair with him, allowing his other boys to see him better. After they had gotten their fill of the new baby, Tracy invited them to come sit with her on the bed. She hugged them both and allowed them to lay beside her.

  “Daddy said the baby is not the Jonah that got swallowed by a whale,” Seth informed his mother.

  “Oh, really?” Tracy replied. “Well, that’s good to know.”

  “But he might be a pest like Lukey sometimes.”

  Tracy glanced at him. He smiled. Their firstborn never seemed to be at a loss for words. Tracy always said he reminded her of someone.

  “I guess we didn’t get a baby sister this time, huh, Mom? Do you think we might next time? I don’t think I’d mind so much now that I know brothers and sisters can be pets, not just sisters.”

  Tracy smiled at her little man and rubbed noses with him. “I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see about that. Maybe God only wants you to have brothers.”

  “Are Lukey and Jonah my brothers?”

  “Yes. You have two now.”

  “So I might get three brothers next time?”

  Tracy simply smiled. “We’ll see,” she said, glancing over at him once again.

  Devin winked at her.

  “No way!” she mouthed silently.

  He just smiled.

  Flowers For Miss Swan

  “For I know the plans I have for you,”

  declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you

  and not to harm you, plans to give you

  hope and a future.”

  Jeremiah 29:11

  CHAPTER ONE

  Kristin hated Valentine’s Day. Ever since fourth grade when Andrew Smith had failed to place a card into her red, heart-shaped mailbox, the holiday had provided nothing but disappointment for her. During her teen years she always hoped to receive an invitation to a school dance, flowers from a secret admirer, or a �
��Be My Valentine’ card pushed inside the slats of her locker, but none of those dreams ever came true. Now nearing her twenty-sixth birthday, with last year’s heartbreak fresh in her memory, she knew the time had come to put her fairy-tale fantasies to rest once and for all. The real world did not work that way. Today she had no expectations whatsoever; This was just another day.

  “Hello,” she said to the gentleman approaching the counter. Despite her personal disappointments, she put on a happy face for those who were trying to celebrate. “How may I help you today?”

  “I need a dozen long-stemmed roses, please,” the middle-aged man replied, pulling out his wallet. “Do you have a special on those?”

  “Yes. All roses are marked down twenty-percent. You can choose from the arrangements we put together this morning; They are in the display cooler, or I can make you up a fresh one if you don’t see something you like.”

  “I’ll take a look,” he said, turning to the glass enclosure to select from the ones she had helped her aunt put together earlier.

  Kristin enjoyed helping Aunt Pauline in her small flower and gift shop whenever she knew the extra hands would be appreciated. She had spent two years under her aunt’s tutelage during high school, working in the shop on weekends and some afternoons to earn extra money. Aunt Pauline had taught her about floral design and running the small business. But with teaching full-time at Green Valley Middle School now, it didn’t leave Kristin much time to spend here except during the summer months when weddings were at their peak and occasionally on a busy weekend such as this.

  Aunt Pauline and her employees were out making Valentine’s Day deliveries, leaving Kristin to hold down the fort here. Her aunt had told her she would understand if she wanted to do something else, considering the emotional pain this particular holiday now held for her. She could have stayed home curled up with a good book, graded homework papers, and prepared her lessons for next week--denying the existence of the day, but she enjoyed helping her aunt, so she had agreed. At the very least it would show her family she was moving on with life.

  So far the day had gone well--all things considered. Keeping busy helped to melt away her loneliness and kept her thoughts from recalling the man she still longed for but had lost. She hadn’t been on a single date in the last ten months, and she didn’t have any interest in going out with anyone anytime soon. Every guy she knew, she compared to Brandon Mitchell: her ex-fiancé. She couldn’t help it, and no one came close. He may have broken her heart, but she still loved him. She had forgiven him and knew he would never be hers, but she could not imagine herself with anyone else.

  “Did you decide?” she asked the man stepping back to the counter once again.

  “Yes, I’ll take that one on the far left,” he said. “Yellow roses are my wife’s favorite. She says she never gets tired of them.”

  Kristin walked to the cooler and grasped the large, fragrant arrangement he had selected. “I like red, but yellow takes a close second,” she said, hearing the bell on the front door ring. She hoped it was her sister Kendra returning with their lunch. “How long have you been married?”

  “Now you’re putting me on the spot,” he said, chuckling and scratching his thinning, dark hair. “I guess it will be thirty years this May. Although, that seems hard to believe. I suppose I’d better do something extra special for her this year.”

  “You’re a smart man,” she said.

  “I’d have to be to hold on to such a special woman for all these years,” he said with sincerity and affection.

  Pushing aside her thoughts of whether or not any man would ever say the same about her, she swiped the man’s credit card through the machine and waited for it to be approved. By now she knew Kendra had not been the one to enter the shop as she hoped, just another customer.

  “I’ll be right with you,” she called to whoever had come in but had disappeared from view. She wondered what could be taking Kendra so long to get back with their take-out lunch from the deli across the street. Kendra had stopped by to help out an hour ago and then agreed to grab them some lunch.

  Kristin sneezed from the close proximity of the roses sitting on the counter. Her allergies had tapered off since her childhood days, but roses got her every time she breathed their sweet scent. It did not keep her from loving them, however. She would pay the price of a dozen sneezes for one sniff of the heavenly aroma.

  After wishing her customer a good day, Kristin watched him turn away and disappear out of the small shop. She remembered the other customer’s arrival and stepped around the counter to see if she could be of assistance.

  “May I help you find something?” she asked, approaching the person standing behind the card rack. A familiar face peered around the barrier and looked as surprised to see her as she was to see him. She couldn’t help but smile.

  “Well, hello,” she said, stopping in her tracks. “I didn’t expect to be seeing you today.”

  “Nor I you,” he said, appearing perplexed. “You work here?”

  Laughing mildly, she explained. “My aunt owns this shop. I’m helping her out today.”

  “You had me worried for a minute there,” he said, stroking his jaw with the white envelope of a greeting card. “I know teachers aren’t paid as much as they deserve, but I would hope it’s enough that a single woman could make it without having to take a weekend job.”

  “What brings you in today?” she asked, remembering that for today she was not Miss Swan, teacher of eighth-grade social studies at Green Valley Middle School, but Kristin, the flower-shop girl; And a customer stood before her, not her boss.

  She wondered who Mr. Young might be buying something for on this romantic holiday. Her coworkers had been speculating for several months as to whether or not their young, attractive principal had a girlfriend. None of them had ever seen or heard of one, but Mr. Young did not divulge much about his private life. Dedicated to his work and the students of Green Valley, Jacob Young had a no-nonsense, business-like agenda that didn’t leave much room for idle gossip. Kristin respected and admired him for his dedication and leadership.

  Her colleagues had been skeptical when they heard that the district had hired a rookie to replace their beloved Principal VanDeiter, a twenty-five-year veteran who had retired last June. But now, six months after Mr. Young had first stood before them to share his vision and the direction he wanted to take the school in the coming months and years, he had turned as many heads as converts, including herself. She admired his courage to try new ideas and his heart for the youth of their city. He was exactly what they needed.

  “I’m looking for something simple, I suppose,” he replied, scanning the large cooler filled with expensive arrangements of roses, tulips, and exotic flowers. “It’s for my mother.”

  Kristin couldn’t tell for sure, but it almost looked like Mr. Young was blushing, quite the opposite of the self-assured principal she saw every day. Was he lying about whom the flowers were for to avoid letting one of his faculty members peek into his private life? She had a difficult time picturing him as a dishonest man.

  Stepping past him, she walked to a smaller display in the corner of the shop that held some of their simpler arrangements. “What does your mother like?” she asked, her heart warming at the thought of him buying flowers for his mom--if that’s who they were really for. She remembered someone telling her many years ago that how a man treated his own mother could be a good indicator of how he would treat his future wife. She gave him the benefit of the doubt. “Roses, carnations, daisies?”

  “She’s partial to wildflowers more than cultured varieties,” he replied, following her to the front window. “Says they always remind her of summer.”

  “My aunt made up these iris, bachelor button, and daisy arrangements a few hours ago. Do you see anything you like? If not, I could do a custom order, although to be honest, I can’t do any better.”

  “She does a wonderful job. I called in an order a couple of months ago when my sister
had her baby, and she loved them, so I thought I’d come in and see for myself this time.” he said. “I’m glad I did.”

  Kristin forced herself to look away from his steady gaze. She had always seen the new principal as a handsome man, and the fact that he had to be close to her age had caused her to have romantic tendencies toward him, but she had never allowed herself to see her attraction to him as anything more than a crush. Seeing him in a different light away from the workplace made that more difficult. His smile and easy manner made her feel comfortable and nervous at the same time.

  “Well, if you need any help deciding, let me know,” she said, turning away like she had something that needed her attention, although the two of them were the only ones in the store. The place had been buzzing all morning. Why does the nonstop stream of customers have to come to a standstill now? And where is Kendra?

  Stepping to the back table, she began to make up a bouquet to replace the one her previous customer had taken. Nowhere near as good as her aunt, she opted for a simple arrangement of a half-dozen yellow and white roses surrounded by her favorite greenery and the ever-versatile baby’s breath. Feeling her heart beating more rapidly than usual, she kept glancing to the corner where he stood. Mr. Young’s casual attire of dark blue-jeans, a royal purple Henley, and hiking boots made him look closer to his actual age than the more formal attire he wore at work. Being alone with him like this stirred up strange feelings within her.

  She watched him select a flower-filled vase from one of the racks and stop to look at a display of assorted gifts on his way to the cash register. Finishing up the fresh bouquet and sneezing for the third time, Kristin heard the doorbell jingle once again. Kendra walked in, carrying a large paper sack in one hand, a drink tray in the other, and an adorable gray kitten in the crook of her arm.