Page 56 of Falling Back to You

“Make it quick,” she huffed.

I didn’t know why she was pissed at me; I was the one whose peace was being disturbed. On the commode, I plunged my head into my hands. Last night did not go as expected. Staying for dinner was a mistake because it reminded me of the way we used to be. That effortless ease from being with someone who knew damn near everything about you. The inside jokes and glances that didn’t require clarification.

Ozzie’s place was almost exactly as I’d left it, like a time capsule preserving the people we once were. Eating from dishes and glasses we’d purchased together back when we were planning for forever. The recliner couch that was a mainstay for our movie nights and make-out sessions. I didn’t understand why he’d held on to all those memories—when we separated, I boxed up all our pictures and special mementos, intending to trash them. My mother was the one who convinced me to keep them—for Maple, she said—so now they sat in my attic collecting dust.

What I was really kicking myself over was how the night ended. I was doing a good job of not getting lost inside my head, where I overthought my next words and spent too much time analyzing his. Some people classified me as stiff and robotic, and that was mostly on account of my not wanting to give too much away or let anyone in. When people had access to you, they tended to trample the flower beds while looking for foundational cracks.

But last night I didn’t clutch my shield quite as tight. I’d even told him about enrolling in classes, partly because I wanted him to be proud of me and know that, despite how it might appear, I wasn’t stuck in place. I mean, I was, but I was slowly crawling out and growing more confident with each step. Anyway, all of that didn’t matter because I’d fucked up the night by asking him to love me. Not the girl he’d been pining after since junior high, but the woman I was now. Flawed, scared, and unsure. I could tell by his reaction that the ask was too big.

Reese banged on the bathroom door. “Did you fall in?”

Hopping up, I flushed, washed, and swung the door open. “I’m coming, damn.”

“You move like molasses.”

“That’s because I should still be sleeping.” I braced myself, ready to find my house covered in toilet paper. There wasn’t much to do in Hume, and kids were always looking for something fun to get into.

“Let’s go!” she called from the bottom of the stairs.

I followed her to the front door and we stepped outside. I shielded my eyes from the blinding sun. As the weather warmed, I typically shut all the curtains to keep the house cool. The bright light was a stark contrast to the dimness inside.

When my vision fully adjusted, my jaw dropped. My meager property was littered with rose petals. All over the porch and in the grass—there wasn’t a square inch that didn’t have a trail of petals.

“What the fuck?”

“Do you think Shelton—”

“No, this wasn’t Shelton.” I scooped up a handful of pink and white roses, pressing them to my nostrils.

“Do you have a secret admirer you haven’t told me about?”

I was gobsmacked at the display. “I don’t think so.” It had been hours, mere hours, since I fled his place. How Ozzie had managed to pull this off, I’d never know.

“Maybe the card will provide a clue.”

“There’s a card?”

Reese pointed to a massive arrangement of all my favorite flowers, a palette of pinks and oranges. There were lilies, roses, and pincushion protea with alstroemeria, snapdragons, and gladioli. The arrangement was geometric and without a doubt crafted by my baby brother. Which meant Ozzie had reached out to Edison to help put this together. I plucked the card tucked among the blooms, reading the note in Ozzie’s scratchy handwriting.

I can do rose petals.

OJP

For a heartbeat I just stared, my breath catching in the small, fickle way I always hated. Rose petals. He’d listened. The realization hit me low and warm, loosening something I’d held tight for far too long. My hand hovered over the blooms, not quite touching, as if the slightest brush would make the moment vanish. My throat tightened with the familiar burn of tears I refused to let fall, but this time the emotion wasn’t sharp. It was soft. Dangerous, because of the hope it gave me.

“Are you gonna fill me in?”

“It’s from Ozzie.”

“Oz did this?” Reese’s brows climbed her forehead.

“With some help from Edison and Fancy, no doubt.”

“Dial, what on earth is he up to?”

Pressing my lips together, I tried to school my expression, but I could feel the smile tugging anyway, small, disbelieving, impossible to stop. Because this wasn’t an accident. This was him choosing me. Trying. And it terrified me how desperately I wanted to believe that it meant he was ready to give me everything I needed.

“I think he’s courting me.” My breath sputtered at the prospect.