I’d like you to answer.”
She purses her lips and raises a single brow at me. “What’s in it for me?”
I choke as I try to stifle my laughter. God, this kid is pure comedy.
“That playground you wanted? Consider it done.”
Her eyes narrow as she looks up at me, as if she’s gauging just how serious I am. “Cross your heart?”
“Hope to die.”
Her grin is calculating. “What do you need to know about my mommy?”
“Anything and everything. But let’s start with her favorite flower.”
Luna pauses her chewing. Her brows furrow. “Well, my mommy doesn’t get flowers. So, I don’t think she has a favorite. Her favorite food is Mexican, but she told my nana once that she doesn’t like to eat that too much because it makes her fart a lot.”
A laugh bursts past my lips at that one. God, I can only imagine how red Selene’s face would look right now if she heard her daughter.
“You’re a funny kid. You know that, right?”
Luna shrugs. “It’s a gift.”
“Luna Bella!”
Her eyes widen at the sound of Cece’s yell. It seems she’s been discovered.
“Bye, End!” she hollers over her shoulder, running back inside. Once she’s out of sight, I call out to Griffin and Landon.
“I’m heading downtown. I’ll be back.”
“What the hell for?” Bishop shouts back from somewhere, having heard my conversation.
“Got some flowers to buy!”
“What the fuck, man?”
“Endymion, what brings you in here? This is the last place I would’ve expected to see you.”
I laugh, dipping my head sheepishly. I’m so out of my element here, and it shows. “Yeah, I know. I’m here for some flowers.”
“Okaaaay,” Dalia, the owner of Dalia’s Flowers, says, crossing her arms over her chest, waiting for me to elaborate. “I’m gonna need a bit more to go on here, son. What are the flowers for? A special occasion?”
“Sure. Got a bouquet specifically for courting women?”
I’m only half-joking.
Her eyes widen, and her brows disappear into her hairline. It’s obviously a shock that I, of all people in town, am here buying flowers for someone.
“Who are they for? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“They’re for Gavin’s daughter, actually. Selene Drake.”
“Wow,” she breathes, a wide grin stealing over her features. “I never thought I’d see the day.”
“What?”
“Do you know how long this whole town has been dying for you to pull your head out of your ass and get with Selene? It’s about damn time, son.”
That gives me pause. “The whole town knew about her crush?”
“I think the whole county knew. Everyone except you, it seems. C’mon. We’ll need to cook up something extra special if you plan on winning her over now. You better hope those feelings are still there, or hell, you’ll need a miracle to get her to fall for you.”
“Tell me about it,” I mumble.
I follow Dalia into the back, where she has rows upon rows of flowers, ranging from color and size, in various buckets.
“So, what’s her favorite flower? Let’s start there.”
I have the decency to at least look ashamed. “I don’t know her favorite flower. I was just kind of hoping to surprise her.”
Dalia shakes her head, mumbling under her breath something about me still being foolish even all these years later.
“All right, son. Here’s what we’re going to do,” she says, turning her back on me as she moves through the aisles toward the red roses. “We’ll do a bouquet of red roses with some baby’s breath. You can’t really go wrong there.”
When I walk out of Dalia’s with the bouquet of a dozen red roses, I pause on the street, unsure of what to do now. This whole courting thing is new to me, and it’s a lot harder than I anticipated. I start heading back toward my truck, trying to figure out how I’m going to get the flowers to Selene without looking like a complete idiot. I still haven’t even talked to Gavin. Hell, I don’t even know if he’ll be okay with me trying to court his daughter. I’d bet my money on a hell no.
I guess once I get back to their house to finish work, I can ring the doorbell and give the flowers to her. If Gavin happens to answer the door, I’ll finally talk with him. About my plans. About dating his daughter.
I’m just about to round the front of my truck when I hear it. The laugh is soft and lilting. It’s the kind of laugh that you feel settle in your chest. The kind of laugh you can picture listening to for