probably took that out of our fridge,” Logan said.
“I probably grocery shop for it,” she said.
She smiled, and Logan had the decency to look a little bit shamefaced. But only a little bit.
“But she won’t be grocery shopping for us anymore,” Rose said. “Because she moved out.”
“That I did,” Iris said. “So... I guess you’re going to have to learn to be a little bit more self-sufficient.”
“Or a little self-sufficient in general,” Pansy said.
“I’m sure that Iris has explained to you our whole... Situation,” Rose said.
“Yes,” Griffin said. And he proceeded to make conversation and charm everyone, and in general be great. And by the end of it all, she had a feeling that if Ryder did ask about Griffin, he would get nothing more than a good report.
The evening wound to a close sooner than Iris expected, but she was glad, because she figured they would go back to her place and... She felt very ready for that.
But when they walked back to the bakery, they stopped in front of the door, and he kissed her.
Not a little kiss. A deep kiss.
“It was nice to meet your family.”
“Oh yes?”
“Very much. But I should probably be headed home.”
“Oh.”
“I’m going to come down tomorrow. Is there anything I can get you from the store for the bakery?”
“What kind of thing?”
“Well, I noticed you had a loose floorboard up at the front of the store. I’d like to fix it for you. And, if you need anything else...”
“I was supposed to be cleaning your house,” she said.
“I know. But I’d like to help you out.”
“I... Yeah that would be good. And some putty or something to patch holes in the wall.”
“I’m happy to do that,” he said. “More than happy.”
“Thank you.”
He kissed her again, and then he left her standing there, unsure of what had happened, but absolutely certain that she had waded into deeper water than she had intended to. And she found herself wishing that they just had sex. Because somehow that felt like less uncharted territory than whatever had happened tonight.
* * *
HE WALKED IN to Big R, which was host to many different sorts of supplies, mostly focusing on ranching, but filled with basically anything you could want for most essential repairs, plus flowers and other garden supplies. There was a woman working the front, with a couple of dogs sitting behind the counter. The place was sparse, serviceable. No unnecessary decorations or anything like that. He’d been in a couple times since moving to Gold Valley. But it had been a while.
And this was the first time he wasn’t shopping for himself.
He had a hammer and nails, and he brought that down with him from the homestead, but got some drywall patching kits and paint patching supplies, and then paused in front of a display with flats of flowers. Various blooms in many shades of pink that he thought might complement her cookie jar sign.
And he wanted to get them for her.
He wanted to make her smile.
He pulled a notepad out of his pocket and formulated a quick construction plan, picking up wood and soil, and every pink flower available.
There were great, tall windows at the front of Iris’s store, and it would be the perfect place to build and install planter boxes. He could make a few matching planter boxes to go outside those upstairs windows of hers.
Just to add a little bit of cheer and color, and to differentiate her from the other redbrick buildings around her.
He loaded it all up in his truck and headed down toward The Cookie Jar, where he found Iris already hard at work scrubbing down counters.
“Good morning,” he said.
She looked up at him, a strange expression on her face. “Good morning.”
“I told you that I would come bearing supplies, and I have.”
“Good.”
He would surprise her with the flowers.
The first thing he did was set to work on that loose board, repairing it quickly, before moving on to any gouges or holes in any of the walls.
“I really appreciate you doing this.”
“It’s not a problem.”
Really, it was a damn sight more than not a problem. A smile curved his lips. “You know, it’s a weird thing, but I haven’t done much to help other people in a long time. I mean, I give money. I told you, there is that equestrian center. I give money because she loved horses. And I love horses. I know I would’ve taught our daughter to love them too. So it feels like something. Something