by Pepper North
Tearing her eyes away, Poppy turned to watch the beautiful bride walk down the aisle. Priscilla looked radiant. Her dress was perfect for a Little. With each step, the full skirt bounced, revealing Priscilla’s nervous excitement. Her eyes were locked on her handsome daddy standing at the altar, waiting for her.
They’re a perfect couple, Poppy thought as the audience sat down and the judge began to speak. The ceremony was simple. A hush fell over the audience as the two recited their vows to each other. Somehow for the Little, the oath of honoring and obeying took on additional meaning. And Mitch had no difficulty promising to care for and protect Priscilla for as long as they would live.
When Mitch leaned in to kiss his wife, Little, and love of his life, Tyler’s hand tightened on Poppy’s. Her lips tingled as if she were receiving the caress. She knew inside that he was imagining kissing her as well. Poppy’s free hand flew up to press against her mouth.
Before she knew it, the radiant bride and groom glided down the aisle. As Priscilla drew close to Poppy, she lifted the fragrant bouquet to her nose with a smile. The talented florist nodded happily. Her goal had been achieved. The carefully designed flowers had helped make the joyous day a bit more special and memorable.
She knew that Priscilla wasn’t versed in the symbolism of flowers. Poppy had included the gardenias simply because she loved them, and weddings should be all about love. Now, that she had discovered Priscilla was a Little, she knew her choice had been ideal. Gardenias represent sweet and secret love promising joy and good luck. Surreptitiously, she crossed her fingers on each hand. Already, she wanted the love to last between these two.
As the wedding couple greeted all the guests after they followed Priscilla and Mitch down the aisle, the strong men of SANCTUM moved the rows of chairs to encircle the decorated tables. This was quickly accomplished to accommodate the small gathering of only SANCTUM members, Littles, and close friends. Plus, one slight floral designer who had stayed for the wedding instead of leaving after the delivery and set-up of her exquisite creations.
When Poppy and Tyler reached the newly married couple to give their congratulations, Poppy tried to fall back to allow Tyler to talk to them individually. His stern look down at her and the pull of his hand to bring her into the conversation squashed her inclination to doubt his intention to pursue her.
Priscilla’s eyes widened at the sight of their linked hands. She leaned forward to whisper confidentially into Poppy’s ear, “I’m so glad you met Tyler. We were hoping that the two of you might be a perfect match.” She nodded to Shelby, Samantha, and Lindy standing clustered to the side. All were grinning widely.
“Really?” squeaked Poppy as her cheeks blushed pink.
“Really,” Mitch definitively stated with a wink. “It’s all we’ve heard since we started making wedding arrangements. All the Littles have been waiting for the two of you to meet.”
While Poppy was trying to wrap her mind around the fact that everyone had been matchmaking, it dawned on her that they also knew that she was Little. Embarrassed, she tried to tug her hand from Tyler’s. Her first thought was to run. When Tyler didn’t release her hand, Poppy’s confused eyes rose to his face.
“I won’t let you run away, Poppy. Not for good. Will you promise to talk to me tomorrow?” he asked.
Poppy scanned his expression. His face reflected how serious he was. He wasn’t embarrassed. His only concern appeared to be that she was running away and would try to hide from him. Her blues eyes trapped by his dark ones, the petite blonde nodded. She just needed some time to think.
“Tomorrow!” she promised in a quiet whisper, freezing as his head dipped to kiss her lightly. Fingertips to her mouth, she whirled and fled to the floral van that was parked down the entry drive. Her other hand quickly located the keys in her pocket. As she approached the gate to leave, Poppy looked one last time in her rearview mirror to see a lone figure standing in the road watching her leave. “Daddy?” she whispered aloud before turning onto the highway that ran next to SANCTUM.
Chapter 5
Poppy rushed back to her floral shop. She wanted to run inside and think about what had just happened, but she forced herself to be an adult and carry the extra flowers back into the coolers. When the van was finally empty, she beeped the vehicle locked and rushed inside. Slamming the door closed behind her, Poppy leaned her back against the painted wood.
“Did that really happen?” she asked herself. Her voice sounded loud in the open floral shop. Poppy forced herself to walk over to the small kitchenette. By sheer force of habit, the florist grabbed one of her bright flower-decorated cups, filled it with water, and stuck it in the microwave for ninety seconds. Opening a drawer, she found a tea bag of some flavor without looking. When the beep sounded, she dropped it into the hot water after removing the mug.
Setting it on the minuscule counter to steep, she automatically unhooked her sweater from the rack and put it on. Flowers loved the coolers, but her skin did not. Poppy slid to the floor to sit cross-legged on the easily cleaned linoleum. There was not enough room for a chair, so this was her usual spot to take a break. Raising her hand above her head, she lifted the mug from the counter and pulled it down to her mouth.
Her mind raced in several directions at once. Picturing Tyler Cooper, Poppy had instantly wanted to run her fingers through his thick beard and tug on it—gently, of course. The random fact that a man needed lots of testosterone to grow a healthy beard popped into her brain. A shiver of arousal ran through her at the thought of the obviously virile man.
She sipped her hot tea. Grimacing, she looked at the mug in disgust. Green tea. It was supposed to be good for you, but it tasted bitter to Poppy. She forced herself to take another sip. If anyone could use antioxidants to stay strong, it was she.
“My gosh! I almost sat in his lap at the wedding,” she rebuked herself. Someday, she was going to need to stop talking to herself. “Yeah, like that’s going to happen.”
Poppy sat on the floor, choking down the bitter tea while lost in her thoughts of the man who had felt so right. “How does that work? How did I feel like we were supposed to be together?” she wondered aloud. One question chased the next until she was bewildered.
“Tomorrow. He made me promise to talk to him tomorrow,” she reminded herself as she pushed her feet against the floor, sliding her back up the cabinet until she was standing. Rinsing the mug in the sink, she turned it upside down to drain before forcing herself to move into the cooler to work.
Busying herself with creating a few bouquets of flowers from the extra blossoms that she had taken as backups to the wedding, Poppy added them to the coolers in the store. Hopefully, a few customers would come in tomorrow to buy the beautiful creations. With all her tasks completed following the wedding, she made sure all the doors were locked on the main floor of the shop and at the back entrance.
As she drove back to her lonely house, Poppy wished she had been the one leaving for a honeymoon after the wedding. “Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone to take care of you,” she asked herself out loud as she walked into the colorful home. Pulling a small grocery store plastic container from her refrigerator, Poppy opened the lid with a smile.
She loved wedding cake. More than almost anything, the slender woman loved the thick frosting and all the decorations. Poppy had known that she’d miss having a piece of cake at the wedding. She had been there to work and would be long gone by the time the cake was eaten. Planning ahead, she’d bought an individual piece of sheet cake at the grocery store. She opened the lid and eagerly inhaled the rich aroma of buttercream. She scooped her finger through the icing before licking it clean.
“Yum!” she moaned. It wasn’t the most nutritious dinner, but no one was here to watch her eat the slightly stale not quite wedding cake. Tyler’s face flashed into her mind, but she forced the image away as she grabbed a fork. She wasn’t that uncivilized. She wouldn’t eat with her fingers.
Chapter 6
As usua
l, Poppy parked behind the shop and entered through the back door. Once inside the retail area, she flipped the sign to read open in the front window and unlocked the door. She was early this morning. Unable to sleep well, she had tossed and turned in her lonely bed. Finally, she had just forced herself out of the covers and into her usual thick jeans, sweater and two pairs of socks. It was cold in that cooler.
When she had everything ready to start the day in the front of the store, the talented florist ducked back into the rear workroom to consult her order sheet. Poppy was pleased to see that she had three orders for today. Some days, she didn’t have any, and the time dragged as she weeded out the unused flowers that were wilting. It was always depressing that the beautiful blooms were going to waste.
She’d thrown away a lot of flowers when she’d opened the floral shop. Poppy shook her head, thinking of the buckets of flowers that she had virtually given away because she didn’t want to put them all in the dumpster. After taking home the leftovers for the first couple of weeks, her small home had smelled—well, like a floral shop.
That’s when she’d started making small arrangements for kids in the local hospital. Whether they were there for something routine like having their tonsils out or something life-threatening, Poppy hoped the small mugs of flowers showed them that someone cared.
She’d had to stay in the hospital overnight once when she’d gotten a severe concussion from a car accident. Poppy had been nineteen and had still been scared. Unable to wear her contacts all night, she’d slept in her thick glasses. The thought that some homicidal maniac from one of those scary movies could sneak up on her in the darkness had also made her sleep with the hospital room lights on all night.
Shaking scary thoughts from her mind, she started working on the first order. It was for a woman’s eightieth birthday and had been ordered by her husband, who had come in on Friday. He had walked unsteadily with a cane and had been steadfast about the colors and delivery date for the flowers. Poppy loved that Mr. Palermo still wanted this birthday present to be perfect. When he’d given her the address at the local cemetery, the kind-hearted florist had promised that she would find his wife’s headstone and let her know that he couldn’t make it over this uneven ground this year but that he loved her just as much as the day they’d met.
She’d had him sketch out the location of her grave on a piece of paper, and she’d tucked that into the order. Now, thinking about visiting the graveyard made her shiver. Resolute that she would follow through on the delivery, she set a goal to go at lunch so she wouldn’t be there at night.
Chapter 7
Pushing the wisps of hair back from her damp forehead, Poppy looked at the floral arrangements that were scattered all over the store. She picked up the faxed list and meticulously double and triple checked that she had completed all the orders. She’d never created arrangements so quickly in her life, but they were done.
The delivery driver of the floral shop fifty miles away would arrive in twenty minutes. She had been glad to help when that florist had lost all the flowers in his main cooler. The thermostat had switched to heat rather than cooling, and the flowers had all been destroyed. He had a bunch of flowers coming in tomorrow to restock his store, and the repairmen had worked all day. The other florist’s shop would be back in working order tomorrow, but today it had been impossible to complete his orders.
Poppy had learned to keep a bare stock of flowers for the sparse demand for arrangements in her store. Today, she had used virtually every stem in her store. She’d help load the delivery van for the trip back home and then make her own deliveries. She had completed those first. Her customers were her priority.
While she waited for the van to arrive, she quickly contacted her suppliers and ordered more flowers so she could stay open tomorrow. The delivery driver was coming with cash from the florist to pay her. Poppy was very proud of herself for adding a bonus on top of the base price of the arrangements. She deserved a bit more for working like a wild, flower-arranging dynamo all day. The money couldn’t come at a better time.
The front door chimed. Poppy looked up as she greeted the delivery driver, “Wow, you all kept me busy today.” Her eyes instead met the bearded face of Tyler Cooper.
“Been searching for me on the internet?” he asked with an easy smile that made her heart flutter in response.
“What?” she asked rattled before words tumbled from her mouth. “I thought you were the delivery driver.”
“No, that’s me,” the cheerful voice behind Tyler made him step to the side. “The boss wanted me to thank you from the bottom of his pocketbook for preparing the arrangements for him. These look incredible. I’ll get them to the van, and then I’ll speed off to get them all delivered before midnight.” He stepped forward to hand Poppy a thick envelope.
Accepting the packet, she thanked the man. “Why don’t you back the van up to the entrance? I won’t have any more customers coming in tonight.”
The man left, smiling at her thoughtfulness in reducing the distance he’d have to walk for each load. “I’m sorry, Tyler. I need to take care of this now. Could I call you later?” she asked nervously.
“I’m not in any hurry. I know you all have your system of transporting these beauties. I don’t want to get in the way. Maybe, it would help if I opened the door?” he asked, setting down his backpack in the corner of the shop where it wouldn’t be in the line of traffic. He walked toward her to stand in front of her.
Her breath caught in her chest as Tyler cupped her chin before leaning forward to kiss her lips so whisper light that she could have imagined it. One hand flew to her lips to trace them when he stepped away. Her eyes rose to link with his. Frozen in place until the driver’s entrance broke the trance, Poppy shook her head to clear her thoughts.
Quickly grabbing her list, she helped store the arrangements in the carefully prepared containers lined with foam to prevent damage and movement during the trip. She checked the arrangements off from the list as the driver carried them outside. While he was arranging them in the van, she checked the contents of the envelope before placing it in the cash register.
The bearded visitor greatly assisted the process by handling the door. It seemed like a small thing to do, but it helped so much when moving the delicate flowers. Soon only her three orders remained in the store coolers. She signed the delivery paperwork and waved goodbye to the driver as he sped off to complete his deliveries.
She slumped in exhaustion after working non-stop for hours. When a crinkle of paper attracted her attention, Poppy smiled to see a candy bar held in front of her. Its wrapper had been folded back to allow her to take a bite immediately. Reaching out automatically, she lifted it to her lips.
Groaning with delight as the rich chocolate melted over her tongue, Poppy covered her mouth in embarrassment. “Sorry, it’s that good,” she grinned. “Thank you!” Taking another bite, she chewed in delight.
“You have not had anything to eat all day, have you?” he asked.
His eyes were filled with concern and something else. Reprimand, she realized after a few seconds. Stammering, she tried to explain. “It’s been crazy here today.”
She looked around the store and ran her fingers through her hair. What a mess! Now that all the flowers had been taken away, she could see all the leaves and a bit of sponge that had fallen to the floor in her flurry of activity. Her store never looked like this.
“I’m sorry. I don’t usually work in a pigpen like this,” she tried to explain. Rushing to the tall thin cabinet, she found the broom and began sweeping the debris into a pile. She was stopped as she backed into a warm, hard body. His arms wrapped around her and pulled her back against him. Exhausted, she leaned against him, telling herself she’d move in just a few seconds.
“Little girl, you are too tired. This can wait until the morning or let me do it. Do you need to make your deliveries tonight or can they be delayed?” His lips moved, brushing by her ear.
She s
hivered for a second before remembering her promise to Mr. Palermo. “I need to deliver them tonight. I can do it on my way home.”
Her eyes darted to the window—pitch black. Her heart started to race in her chest. She’d have to go to the graveyard in the dark. Before she could stop herself, she asked, “Would you go with me to deliver one of the arrangements? An elderly man wanted them to go to his wife today. It’s her birthday.” Her hands twisted against the wooden broomstick. She didn’t know if she could go alone.
“I’m not going to let you make any deliveries tonight without me. Give me this,” he took the broom from her hands before turning her to face him. “Go put the flowers in the carrying container and I’ll sweep. When you’re ready, I’ll carry it to the van and drive while you navigate for me. Okay?” he asked, lifting her chin so that their eyes met again.
“That would be wonderful… One’s at the cemetery.” She held up her hand as he began to talk. She knew what any rational person would say. “I meant to go during the day, but I was so busy. Thank you for going with me. Just the thought of delivering there at night was… well, freaking me out. I get scared easily.”
“We will talk further when you are more rested. Go find a flashlight or two and pack up the flowers,” he instructed.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh, the sound of the broom brushing against the floor rasped in her mind. She could feel his eyes caressing her body as she walked to the back. She’d never known anyone who could touch you so seductively with his eyes. Shivering slightly at the thought of his hands following the path of his gaze, Poppy hurried to complete the tasks he had given her.
Walking through the swinging door into the backroom, the young woman didn’t quite understand why she followed his instructions without hesitation. Somehow, she felt like she was supposed to do as he said. It was comforting to have him in control. Goodness knows, she didn’t want to go to the cemetery by herself.