Marriage For One

An hour or so had passed and we had a few more customers. Sally was preparing a second cup of cappuccino for the customer who’d come in earlier as she was looking through the food selection on the counter. She’d already had her free blueberry muffin, so she decided on a sandwich this time.

I grabbed a plate, lifted the glass dome, and picked up a turkey & swiss that was wrapped with parchment paper and secured with red twine. The bell on the top of the door rang, but I was busy taking payment so I couldn’t look away. After giving her the change and thanking her, I finally looked to my left, excited to greet a new customer.

And right there…right there standing with the most uncomfortable look on his face was Jack Hawthorne. I didn’t think I’d ever been that happy to see him before, but him being there so early, him just being there… The smile that broke out on my face was embarrassing.

“Jack, you came,” I managed to say softly, and even though he couldn’t hear me, his gaze dropped to my lips.

Before he could walk in farther, Raymond came in with an armful of roses and handed them to an unhappy Jack. My breath hitched and my smile brightened up a bit, taking it from embarrassing to a touch closer to manic. Jack’s expression, however, didn’t change.

Were they for me?

I begged my heart to stay calm as he walked toward me.

“There was a mix-up at the flower shop, and they couldn’t bring these themselves,” he said, and my smile faltered.

“I don’t understand. They’re from a flower shop?” I asked, my eyes going from the roses to Jack’s face in confusion.

His lips tightened and his brows drew together. “No.”

I waited. I could feel Sally standing just behind me, on my right, too.

Jack released a frustrated sigh. “They’re from me. You don’t have to use the fake stuff on the tables. It’s so the property looks good. That’s all.” He leaned forward and thrust the bouquet into my hands.

Feeling something weird and very much unexpected in my chest, I took them. There were maybe fifty or sixty long stemmed roses in every color—pink, white, yellow, peach—and they were all wrapped up in slightly shimmery brown paper. They were gorgeous, way more than what I would need for the tables, way more than anyone had ever bought me. Flowers would add no value to the property; that was plain and simple bullshit. These were for me.

I was still looking at the roses, taking them all in one by one, not sure what to say or how to say it, when I saw Owen put another plate of freshly baked blueberry muffins to my left. He whistled next to me, his shoulder barely touching mine.

“These are just for me,” I mumbled, almost to myself. “And they’re so beautiful, Jack. Thank you.” For some reason, I felt myself choke up, and my chest constricted. Hugging the bouquet with one arm, I pressed my palm against my chest where my heart was truly losing it. Sally cleared her throat, and I briefly glanced at her to see her raised brows and the expectant look on her face. “Oh, I’m sorry. I should introduce you guys. Sally, Owen, this is Jack. Jack, Sally and Owen.” My attention was still on the roses when I heard Jack’s gravelly voice as he introduced himself.

“Rose’s husband,” he said, extending his hand first to Sally and then to Owen. Goose bumps covered my arms, both because of the tone of his voice and the word itself. Husband. My husband.

“Yes, sorry. Jack is my husband.”

“Husband?” Sally blurted out in a slightly raised voice. “You’re married? You never said anything!” She grabbed my hand and inspected my naked ring finger. “No ring?”

I inwardly winced and sent an apologetic look Jack’s way, but he had his hands in his pockets and his eyes were on the food, his expression completely unreadable as always.

Sally was looking between Jack and me in bafflement.

“I took it off before I started baking. It’s in my bag. With everything going on, I forgot to put it back on.”

I was explaining it to Sally, but my eyes stayed on Jack the entire time. He looked up, and I offered him a small smile.

“It’s so beautiful,” I said, turning my gaze to Sally. “I keep taking it off when I’m working here because I don’t want to lose it. That’s why you didn’t see it before.”

“I need to get back. Congratulations on the marriage, Rose. Nice to meet you, Jack,” Owen said before giving my shoulder a quick soft squeeze and disappearing into the kitchen. Sally just stood there.

I looked up at Jack, he was staring at Owen’s back with a clenched jaw, but he averted his eyes before I could try to tell what he was thinking. Forcing myself out of this weird guilty feeling, I asked, “Would you like something to drink? Or eat?”