For the Love of Flowers

by Kelsey Hodge

  From the moment I sent the text to Wyatt confirming I was coming home, everything seems to have been on fast forward. I can’t believe six months have gone by. I’ve never once regretted my actions. Wyatt confirmed that they had been granted the arrest warrant after the ship had been searched. My plan beat him to it. It freed me from the cage that was my life. I finally stretched my wings and flew. Dad’s death was never reported as a murder, thanks to the phone call to the coroner. They reported it as a heart attack caused by stress. Even though Dad’s business had to be investigated, everything was in his name, and he never mentioned his sons. Marco and I have legal jobs, so we were never suspected as being involved. It’s such a relief. We no longer must hide our true selves.

  I always smile as I remember the night I returned home. I had almost kissed Wyatt’s face off, but I needed that contact after being without it. I explained that I had left my gun at my parents’ house in a safe that my mother could never get into. I had considered bringing it home to give it back to him, but that gun signified a part of my life that was over, one that I never wanted to revisit. The gun should stay in that house. My mother never forgave me for what happened that night and never wanted to see me again. I wish I could say I was hurt by this, but I wasn’t. I have Wyatt, his family, and my brother. They are all the family I need. With Mom out of my life, there’s no longer any fear of being discovered. I can hold Wyatt’s hand when we walk down the street and kiss him at any opportunity, regardless of who’s watching. It’s such a wonderful feeling.

  In Dad’s will, he has left the business to me, with a nice lump sum for Mom and Marco. Of course, Mom wanted to contest the will, but she soon discovered she couldn’t do that without giving the game away. I made sure she received extra to keep her comfortable. I’m determined not to be the monster Dad was. I closed the drug factory and have taken over control of the legal import business and run it with Joe’s help, who I discovered never knew what Dad was up to. He knew enough not to look in the crates, realizing that it most likely wasn’t legal. The less he knew, the safer he would be. After learning all this, I gifted my share of the wholesalers to Joe, so it was all his. Don’t think I’ll ever forget the joy and surprise on his face when I told him.

  Knowing that I cannot stay in bed all day, I one more stretch and double-check that Wyatt’s side of the bed is still empty… which it is. I decide to get up and head to the shop. Twenty minutes later, I’ve showered, dressed, and am now munching on some toast as I make my way out of the apartment. It’s a beautiful day. The sun is shining, and the cloudless sky is a bright ceylon blue. If I stare long enough, the sky would sparkle. When I look up, I see Frank waiting for me, like he does every morning. Yet now, I’m greeted with a smile. He’s still my driver, but he has also become a very dear friend. He’s the only person linked to Dad I keep around.

  “Think I’m going to walk today. It’s a beautiful day. Take the day off and enjoy yourself,” I say to him. I swear his smile gets bigger, if that’s even possible. He still watches out for me, makes sure I stay on the straight and narrow. He doesn’t have to worry…but I like that he does. Giving him a wave, I turn and head towards the shop.

  Pausing outside, I gaze at the letters ‘More Than Roses’ that form an arch over a picture of a rose that has become the logo of the shop. I know I needed to change the name of the shop if I’m going to have a clean slate. To me, it symbolizes a retirement from the drug trade, even though none of my customers realized it. Thankfully, business has been doing well. Customers like the new name, and without the shadow of Dad, I can be myself. Yes, it’s hard running two business, and I’ll have to employ a manager for the import business, but I don’t think I can remember a time when I’ve ever been this happy.

  As I step up to the door, with key in hand, a flickering light from inside catches my attention. What the fuck? I think as I quickly unlock the door and rush inside. I skid to a halt and gasp at the sight in front of me. On every flat surface, there’s a large white pillar candle, the type you usually see in churches. Their flames flicker and dance, casting shadows across the room and on the man standing in the middle of the shop. He stands in a sea of red, white, and yellow rose petals. I take a step closer to Wyatt, so I can get a better look at him in the candlelight. I feel my mouth drop open. He’s dressed in my favorite black suit, with a crisp white shirt and my favorite red tie. He’s added a matching black waistcoat which is buttoned up, but he’s left the jacket open. It’s a feast for the eyes. As I look up and down his body, admiring the look, I notice he has a large bouquet of flowers in his hand that looks awfully familiar. In fact, it’s a bouquet I made yesterday, that was collected before closing. I’m sure it involves Frank in some way. I smile at the sneakiness of him as he hands me the flowers before speaking.

  “A few months ago, I remember a conversation where you were on your knees, saying that one day when an important question needed to be asked, it would be I doing the asking.”

  My heart suddenly feels like it’s going to burst. I feel my cheeks getting red with the blush rising up my face. I also have the biggest smile on my face. I never imagined that when I gave Wyatt the spare keys to the shop, for emergency purposes, I would one day walk into this.

  “If I remember,” he continues, “I laughed it off. We’ve been through so much together, and yet I’ll never regret that day when I walked in here desperate for flowers and ending up meeting the love of my life. I knew you were special from the moment we met. You made me dream of a future I never knew I wanted,” At this point, he takes my hand, goes down onto one knee, and pulls out a black velvet ring box. He opens the lid to reveal the most gorgeous ring. It’s a simple silver band with a ring of red rubies in the middle. This ring screams me, and I feel the tears of happiness run down my cheeks even before he asks the question.

  “Nothing would give me more pleasure in this world than getting the chance to call you my husband. Lorenzo, will you marry me?”

  I nod my head, but no words come out of my mouth. He asks, “Is that a yes?”

  I recover enough to find my voice and say, “Yes.” I throw my arms around his neck. Laughing, I repeat, “Yes, a thousand times yes!” I shout. My lips find his, and I kiss him passionately. “Nothing in this world would make me happier than being your husband,” I tell him before kissing him again, realizing that sometimes when you least expect it, all your dreams do come true.

  The End

  Afterword

  If you want to know what happens with Liam and Marco, their story is the second book in the series, so stay tuned.

  For The Love of Teaching - coming soon.

  About The Author

  Kelsey Hodge

  Kelsey Hodge lives in the UK with her partner and cats and loves reading and traveling. Kelsey has always wanted to write and so one day decided to sit down and have a go, and here we are.

  Kelsey discovered MM books a few years ago and never looked back. She enjoys reading a mixture of genres but as long as the story has a happy ever after, so is she.

  Come join the fun.

  Email: Kelsey@kelseyhodgeauthor.com

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