Moving On (Rolling Thunder #7) - P.J. Fiala Page 0,56

up to Dog and Joci's office. "Your dad here?"

"Yeah. They're upstairs."

Nodding he turned and walked to the door. Taking a sharp right just outside the door he ascended the stairs that led him to the top floor. His stomach knotted a bit and his heart hammered.

Knocking on the closed office door, Dog's voice sounded, "Come in."

Stepping into the office he saw Dog sitting at his desk working on his computer. Dog looked up at him and stood extending his hand.

"Chase, good to see you up and about."

"It feels good to be up. Do you have a minute?"

"Of course. Sit down. Joci's changing Maddie's diaper in the other room." He pointed to Joci's office, which had been added up here when they married.

Chase sat on the black leather sofa across from Dog's desk and sighed.

"Dog, I wanted to talk about our last conversation. I feel bad about how that ended."

"I do as well, Chase. I overreacted when I saw LuAnn, and while you know what our feelings are about her, it wasn't my place to forbid her from being there. And, you can thank Joci for that bit of clarity. Of all of us here, Joci is the one that has been the most mature about all of this."

Stunned at how this had turned out, Chase smiled. "Thank you for that. Both of you..." The door opened and Joci walked in with Madison, who was now just two years old.

Setting Maddie on the floor so she could walk around the office, Joci closed the door so she was partially contained and smiled when she saw Chase.

"Chase, it's so good to see you. How are you feeling?"

"Much better. Thank you."

The office door burst open and Molly, Emma, Ryder and Gunnar all walked in. Molly had been crying and Emma's eyes were swollen as if she had been.

"What's going on here?" Dog asked.

Gunnar looked at the women first then back to his dad. "The florist shop that Molly and Emma bought our wedding flowers from was destroyed last night in a fire. There's nothing left."

Emma then spoke up. "We've been calling places all morning to find another florist to help us, but the other events in the area this weekend have taken up all of their resources."

Molly's tears started again. "We've put our weddings off for two years now for one thing or another. It's beginning to feel like we're cursed."

Joci came around the desk and hugged Molly, then Emma. "We'll figure something out. I'm sure there's an answer."

Chase, thinking this could be a way for LuAnn to pay them back for some of the grief she'd caused them, said, "LuAnn can do it. She has a supplier out of the area, and she can get some of the most unusual flowers." He looked at the women. "You've seen her work. You know she's good."

Emma's tears trickled down her face. "Gunnar said we couldn't call her."

Joci responded first. "Gunnar, honey, I know this is hard, but please let's not hold this grudge."

"How can you just forgive her? How can you think letting her in, even a little, is okay?"

Joci walked to her son and hugged him. After a few moments she stepped back. "Holding the grudge is harder on you than LuAnn. I'll never be her friend. I'll never trust her again. I'll never want her to be around here with us on a regular basis, but this might be a way, a small way, to help heal some of this pain we all feel when we hear her name."

"How on earth can you be so forgiving?" Gunnar's astonishment was clear.

"Because it's exhausting being mad all the time. Look what we all have here." She looked around the room at all of them. "Let's see if she can help us."

Molly said, “She’s done her time, she tried to apologize, can't you give her a chance? She'll never be welcome with open arms, but we can be cordial, if for no other reason, to make things a little easier for Chase.” She looked over at him and smiled.

Chase pulled his phone from his back pocket and pulled up LuAnn's number. Standing, he nodded and stepped from the office as the rest of them stayed inside.

"Hi, how was therapy?"

"Good. Hey, I have a favor to ask. A huge favor."

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LuAnn listened as her heart hammered in her chest.

"They want me to do the flowers for their wedding?"

"Emma and Molly loved the flowers you did at the farmers market. And they're in a bind. I won't lie,