Spring Warrior

Chapter 2

2

Hayley

“Here you go, Mrs. Smith,” I said, handing out the bouquet of pink, orange, and red roses to the old woman.

Mrs. Smith took the bouquet and smiled at me. “Gorgeous as always, my dear. Thank you.” She started for the door.

“Tell Grace congratulations for me!” I waved at her.

She glanced over her shoulder at me. “I will. Thank you again.”

The old woman exited the shop, and I continued smiling, amazed at how time flew by. I remembered when her granddaughter Grace was a shy girl first starting high school. I was a senior back then, but since Mrs. Smith was a regular client of my mother’s flower shop and I knew about her, I approached her and introduced her to some girls from her grade who lived in my neighborhood.

Now, four years later, she was a gorgeous ballerina in a big dance competition. Odds were she would win it, and Mrs. Smith would be there to see it and congratulate her with the rose bouquet.

Though I had a green thumb, I didn’t have any special talents like that. Sometimes I envied people like Grace. But then I glanced around the shop and smiled again.

It was fine if I didn’t have any special talents, because the shop was going so well.

Before I was born, my mother was a singer. She taught music for a couple of years, but when we moved to Greendale when I was five, she opened the flower shop.

Though the first year was hard because we were a new store in a small town, people soon fell in love with our flowers and plants, which for some reason always lasted longer than normal—my mother always said it was because of my green thumb—and business grew.

And because flowers and plants brought me joy, I didn’t want to do anything else with my life.

The bell over the door chimed.

“Welcome to—” I glanced to the door and the words died on my tongue. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Peter strolled to the counter and smiled at me. “Hi, Hayley, how is it going?”

I frowned, taking a step back. Even though there was a tall, wooden counter between us, I didn’t want to be anywhere near him. “It was great, until you came in.”

“Aw, don’t say that, babe.”

“Don’t 'babe' me,” I said through gritted teeth. “I’m not your babe anymore.” Not since he decided to cheat on me with some bimbo a few months ago. He had probably always cheated on me, but I only found out recently, when I went to his college to spend the weekend with him. I wanted to surprise him since it had been a few weeks since we had last seen each other. But when I arrived there, he was half naked with a girl in his dorm. “If you’re not here to buy some flowers, please leave.”

He leaned over the counter, giving me his sly smile, the same one I thought was charming for over three years. “Hear me out, babe—”

“Don’t 'babe' me.”

“—I’m going to the beach for spring break tomorrow, and I decided to stop in town and see if you want to go with me,” he said, his voice so cool, so gentle. If I didn’t know better, I would have fallen for it. “I thought that, with this trip, we can rekindle things, you know?” He reached over the counter for me. “I’ve missed you, babe.”

“I said don’t 'babe' me!” I slapped his hand away. “Seriously, Peter, I don’t know what you’re going for here. You really think I would accept this invitation? Do you think I’m that naive?”

“But, babe—”

“Holy s**t, Peter, stop with this freaking 'babe' thing!” I grabbed my phone from the shelf behind me. “I want you to leave right now. If you don’t, I’ll call the police.”

He snorted. “You’re joking.”

I unlocked my phone and opened the phone app. “Am I?”

“What are you going to tell them? That your boyfriend is asking you to go on a trip with him and you don’t want to?”

“No, I’ll say you’re harassing me.”

“Babe, that’s going too far. Why don’t we—”

“Leave, Peter.” My mother appeared from the back room and faced my ex as if she were a freaking general. She had been out on deliveries, but thank goodness she arrived right on time. “Or I will call the police.”

Peter hesitated but took a step back. He had always been afraid of my mother, even though she was at least a head shorter than him. “Just… I’m leaving tomorrow morning, Hayley. If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

He ducked out of the store, and I turned to my mother. “Thank you.”

“Anytime,” she said with a forced shiver. “Anything to keep that creep away.”

I smiled. She had never been a fan of Peter. I knew she had wanted to say “I told you so” when I found out he was cheating on me.

“I confess, I’m really surprised to see him here,” I said, looking at the door again. I had given him such a hard time after our breakup, that when he finally stopped coming after me and apologizing, I had thought it was for good. “I don’t know why he’s wasting his time. He should have gone to the beach already.”

My mother picked up a notepad from the shelf. “Speaking of b***h, where’s Sarah?”

“Mom!” I laughed.

She shrugged. “What? She always says she’s a cool bitch.”

I shook my head. Sarah had been my best friend since our first year of elementary school, and she loved my mother probably more than she loved her family. To be honest, when she left town to attend a big college, I thought she was sadder about leaving my mother behind than me.

“That b***h went to the beach too.”

My mother put down the notepad and stared at me. “You should go too.”

I almost choked on air. “What? With Peter?”

“No, not with that jerk, but with Sarah,” she said. “I mean, you’re young, you’re in college too. That’s what kids your age do at this time of the year. You should go.”

I stared at her, a little confused. I was taking a low residency business degree online because I didn’t want to move out of Greendale, where our family business was located, and leave her alone to take care of it. I wouldn’t leave it all behind now.

“No, I can’t,” I said. “It’s spring. The shop is booming. I can’t leave you alone during the busiest time of the year.”

“Nonsense. I can handle the store by myself for one week.” She stretched her arms wide. “I promise you that everything will be intact when you get back.”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

Right now, I felt a hundred years old. Where was the Hayley who spent late nights with her friends? Who went to parties with Sarah or Peter? Who wasn’t the most popular girl in school but had been invited to all parties and went to most of them?

For a moment, I missed that Hayley.

But things changed. I started college and saw an opportunity with our store, and I embraced it. If things continued to grow, we would soon need a bigger place or a second store.

I was happy this way.

But seeing as my mother watched me with her hawk eyes, I just said, “I’ll think about it.”