Be my woman Olivia

hadn't

tly like it was guiding her back into the past-into memories she had tried to bury. Olivia Bennett stepped

It was home. And yet... she

oon, and finally-Petal & Bloom, her grandmother's flower shop. The sign was chipped now, the pink fading into white.

ehind her, leaving Ol

ing on her shoulders. She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out

d open like it

mpty, and dried petals curled in forgotten corners. In the back corner was her grandmother's ro

behind her, the silence

I'm sorry

counter. Every inch of this place held memories: birthday

ca

in years, but it clung to her l

– Seven

ozen bouquets. She was seventeen, barefoot on the shop floor, laugh

an love, right?" h

o fall in love

ady h

er chest. She never told him how much that moment mea

Flas

creak behind her pulled

y. The front door

ght stretch around him like an old friend. His e

as

tronger lines. He wore a simple dark shirt and jeans, but there was a

come back," he said, voice

wallowed

ang between them lik

id finally. "No g

kno

d of place you just wa

she said softly, mee

r grandmother's clock ti

pped clos

city, the woman she fell in love with who shattered her heart, the shame she

find something,"

d y

ked dow

you know. Your grandmother. She tal

ft me t

igur

could fix it.

s head, studyin

und the dusty sho

ftened in hi

eds repairs. New shelves, better lighting

. "Why would

nswer right

girl I wanted. And may

een them grew heavier, charged w

about it," s

I'll come by tomorrow

oor, he paused. "Y

ld

k. "Wiser. And

the door swingin

t expected this much emotion to hit her so quickly

ushed in, tousling her curls. She inhaled deeply, t

just the shop th

it w

her past. Maybe he was part of the