Friends to Lovers (Heart of Hope 6)

I laughed as I recalled the conversation with Lyle at the Halloween party about flower parts.

“Everything seems fine. The cramping and bleeding haven’t happened again.”

“

Good. You know, you should make plans to see Cy again. Pretty soon, you’re going to feel horny.” She waggled her eyebrows.

I snorted. “I don’t need a man for that.”

“Yes, well, it’s better with a man, don’t you think?”

“What’s better with a man?” Jude asked coming back into the kitchen carrying Bertie.

“Sex,” April said.

He grinned. “Are you sure? Should we test it?”

“Gag. You two are disgusting. Now give me that baby,” I took Bertie from Jude. “We’re going to where there’s more enlightened conversation.” I carried Bertie to the living room.

I sat in the rocking chair and joined in August and Beth’s conversation about growing up in the house. They sat on the couch; Beth nestled against him. I had another wave of envy. With a baby of my own, I wondered how hard it would be to find a man that would accept my child. Then again, I wasn’t sure I’d ever find anyone I loved like I loved Cy, baby or not, so it probably didn’t matter.

I held Bertie in my arms, cooing at him as he gripped my finger and brought it to his mouth. There was a knock on the door.

“Who else is coming?” August asked.

“I don’t know,” I said, smiling down at Bertie. “Do you know who it is, Bertie?” I cooed at him.

“It’s Cyrus.”

My head jerked up and my heart stopped as Cyrus stood in the living room, looking so handsome, his dark eyes staring intently at me.

37

Cyrus

Under normal circumstances, I’d have never left my mother on Christmas Eve to fly to Bismarck. But the one thing she wanted for Christmas was for me to have it all, and for that to happen, I had to have Petal. When it was finally crystal clear to me that I needed Petal in my life, I didn’t want to wait to go to her, and yet, I couldn’t leave my mother so close to the holiday.

My mother was insistent though that I go now. “All I want for Christmas, Cy, is knowing you’re happy. My illness is a reminder that we can’t wait. So, you go now.”

Although she wasn’t at full capacity, she was stronger now that she was done with her first phase of treatment. We would find out next week if it worked. That was the second thing I wanted for Christmas; to know my mom would get better. Was it too much to ask for Petal’s love and my mother’s good health? I didn’t know. I didn’t care. I was going to do everything I had to do to have it all.

The plane was already flying west to North Dakota before I stopped to consider whether Petal was at home for the holidays. Maybe she’d gone to Florida to be with her parents. Maybe her parents had come to North Dakota and I was going to be crashing their visit. Oh well.

I nearly ran through the airport and got a car that took me to Petal’s shop. Looking up at her windows from the street, her apartment was dark, which didn’t bode well for my plans to rush and sweep her off her feet. But I rang the buzzer. After about five minutes I realized she wasn’t there, so I called Jude, who told me she was at his place for a party. I didn’t wait for him to invite me, I told him I was coming over.

When I first stepped into the living room, I had a flash of my future and it made my heart swell in my chest. Petal sat in a rocking chair smiling that beautiful smile at baby Bertie. In a few months she’d be doing that with our baby. The thought of it was like heaven. I had to make her see that she and I could be happy. God, I hoped my mom and Lora were right and that Petal loved me.

“Do you know who it is, Bertie?” she cooed at the baby.

“It’s Cyrus,” I said.

Her gaze shot up to mine. Her eyes widened but I couldn’t tell if it was a good surprise or not. Taking a breath, I readied to launch into the speech I’d planned on the plane. The only problem was, I couldn’t remember it. All I could do was look at her with longing in my heart.

“Cyrus,” she said softly.

I nodded and found my voice. “I like cupcakes and coffee,” I started.

Her head cocked to the side and it occurred to me that was an odd way to start a pitch for her to spend her life with me.