He Loves Me Not (Bunch-A-Blooms 1)

“If we hesitate on those simple questions it’s going to look fishy. So get ready to plot. I mean, you’re the one who brought this to me on Friday when you want us to pull this off on Sunday.”

“I work best under pressure.”

“Ha! You couldn’t possibly know if that were true or not, seeing as how you always leave everything to the last minute.”

“Not always.”

“Okay, ninety-five percent of the time then,” she remarked drolly as she cut her eyes.

“And it makes life adventurous.”

“Yeah, more than I bargained for, yet here I am caught up with you again.”

“With me around, your life will never be boring.” He nudged her shoulder with his.

“I’m not sure that’s always a good thing.”

A knock came at the door, and he frowned.

“Are you expecting someone?” she asked.

“No.” He stood. “I’ll be right back.”

He peered out the peephole and blinked, shocked. “That’s weird. It’s my dad.”

Opening the door, he said, “Hey, Dad, what’s going on? It’s not like you to show up unannounced.”

“I’ve been thinking about the new store, and I wanted to talk to you about a few things.”

“Actually, Dad, I have company,” he replied, stalling when he saw the look in his father’s blue eyes. He was about to let him down easy.

“Oh. I’m sorry about that.” His dad cleared his throat.

“It’s actually someone I want you to meet.”

“I’m not really prepared to meet anyone.”

“It’ll be fine, trust me.” Mason gestured toward the living room with his head.

His dad grumbled but stepped inside.

“Hey, Mr. Patten, everything okay?”

His dad turned to him, shocked. “What is this, Mason?”

“Petal, I think it’s time for us to come clean,” Mason said. Her eyes widened, and he nodded his head. Yeah, it’s now or never. Dad was trying to deliver the ‘Dear Son, I’m sorry speech’.

She cleared her throat. “I was bracing myself for Sunday. But what’s a couple of days early?”

“You? You’re seeing Petunia?” his dad asked. It was comical seeing his old man’s eyes damn near bulge out of the socket. As the father of three sons, Petunia had become a sort of surrogate daughter.

“Our families are so close. We knew we were taking a risk at throwing off the dynamics even dating.”

“I’m glad you did,” his father said, holding out his arms for a hug as Petunia came over. He kissed her temple.

“I’m not sure how this one managed to grab you my girl, but I’m glad he is. Who better than a Patten to make sure our little flower is treated right? Your mother is going to be ecstatic. Both of them.”

“My mother,” Petunia exclaimed. “Oh, please give me a chance to break the news to her myself.”