Exquisite (21 page)

Once again he crossed his arms.
“She wasn’t discussing you. I was and all she told me was that you’ve been a
wonderfully loyal customer and you liked to by sunflowers. Jesus Lena! You
would try the patience of a saint.”

Lena reached down and clutched the
strap of her purse, she was about to say something when she heard the tinkle of
bells and knew someone else had come in. Mason looked over his shoulder then
back at her. “I’ll be back to help you in a minute.”

He walked away from her with what
she could only describe as a pissed off march. Turning back to the roses she
picked up the red one she’d been looking at earlier. She didn’t understand her
need to lash out at him, but that was what she was doing. She needed to get it
under control, reign in her emotions. Try to remember the poor man’s mother was
in the hospital. However, all she could think about was the fact that he’d
known about her all along and not said anything. He’d known about her weird
little coping habit and just left it. He hadn’t bothered to ask her about it,
hell maybe he didn’t care and now she was standing here being a raging bitch
because she was also upset he hadn’t called her. She had serious issues.

Moving further down the aisle she
saw the happy sunflowers in their usual aluminum can. She stopped in front of
them and crouched down to look at the seven flowers standing tall. They were
flawless as always. Catherine always picked out the ones that had no blemishes
on the bright yellow petals. Standing back up she walked over to the counter
where Mason was finishing up with a little old lady.

“Thank you dear.”

She watched as he smiled down at
the lady. “You’re welcome. Make sure you come back soon.”

The little lady nodded then asked,
“Are you that young chef that’s been all over the television?”

Lena watched as he seemed to tense
up a little. He held the smile but it’d left his eyes.

“Yes I am.”

The little lady smiled wider. “You
are much more handsome in person young man.”

Lena watched a blush creep up over
his cheeks and she almost laughed until his eyes met hers. He looked mortified.
She tightened her lips and kept her gaze on his. Finally after what seemed like
minutes instead of seconds he broke the contact and turned back to the little
lady. This time his smile was a little sheepish but completely genuine. “I
don’t know about that, but thank you very much.”

She nodded and made her way out.
The chimes tinkled and Lena watched as Mason came around the desk and walked to
the door. She felt her heart kick up when he flipped over the closed sign and
she heard the door lock.

Mason didn’t want anymore
interruptions. He wanted to talk to Lena and he planned to do it now. He turned
back and made his way over to the counter and walked behind it, so he was on
the opposite side. He figured they needed a barrier just incase he felt the
need to either kiss the day lights out of her or strangle her.

“So let’s clear the air here.”

“There’s nothing to clear.” she
snapped back.

Mason leaned against the counter
with his hip. “Yeah, that’s obvious by the warm way your
glaring
at me.”
he paused, “Spit it out Lena.”

She narrowed her eyes at him in a
move that was so much a part of her he found he’d actually missed it.
Wow,
that was demented.

“I don’t have a problem. If you
have one maybe you should tell me so whatever
this is
can be over.”

He pushed up to stand facing her
and placed his hands on the counter. “Okay let’s start with a little magazine
called
Delicious
. Did you read it?” he watched as her eyes widened just
the smallest fraction. He figured she hadn’t actually thought he would call her
out on it.

“I called and apologized for that!”
she shouted at him.

He nodded slowly. “So you did.”

“It’s not my fault if you don’t
know how to accept an apology.” she grumbled.

“Oh I know how to accept one.” he
crossed his arms over his chest, “I just needed some time to cool off before I
spoke to you.”

He was a big believer in honesty
and that was the truth. He’d been going to call her that Friday but things had
been crazy at the restaurant over the weekend. Between booked out nights and
interviews surrounding the fall out from that blasted article then his mother,
he just hadn’t had the opportunity to get back to her.

“Wow. That’s honest.”

“I told you I’d always be honest
with you.” he paused for a moment as he watched her clasp her hands in front of
herself as though she was nervous. That seemed a little preposterous though,
the Lena he knew was never nervous. “I needed to stop being annoyed at myself
as well as you. Lena that article was a disaster. Did you read it?”

He watched her nod slowly. “After I
saw the report on that morning show I looked it up online and read it.” she
paused, “I can’t say how sorry I am.” Then her eyes flicked up to his. “But I
can’t do anything other than say it Langley.”

“I know. Like I said. I just needed
to cool off. I knew you were sorry just like I knew that it was partly my
fault.”

She seemed to be wanting to say
something but in the end she just stood silently waiting.

“I
was
planning to call you
back Lena.”

Her eyes came up to meet his with a
look of disbelief in them. He moved and made his way around the counter stopping
right beside her. She tilted her head back up to look at him.

“I was planning to do it that
Friday but things got crazy at the restaurant then mom had her spell.”

She bit her bottom lip and nodded
in silent understanding. This was the quietest and most un nerved he’d ever
seen her and he knew why. She’d put herself out there and he hadn’t answered.
She was feeling vulnerable, hurt and naked. However, he was going to make her
go one step deeper if she wanted this to work. He needed her to prove that she
wanted this. That she was in this for the same reasons he was. Placing a finger
under her chin he tilted her face up and demanded softly. “Tell me again, to my
face.”

Lena wasn’t stupid, she knew what
he was asking. She knew he was asking her to put her heart on the line. He
wanted her to open up and declare that there was more between them than arguing
and explosive chemistry. Blinking once she licked her lip then took all the
courage she could find and for the first time in her life placed all her trust
in someone else. Feeling completely idiotic she whispered, “I want to be number
34 Mason.” she watched his eyes crinkle at the sides and his lips tug up in a
smug little grin. “Let me? Please.”

He leaned down and placed the most
gentle kiss on her lips it almost felt like a feather sweeping across them. Too
quickly he lifted his head so their noses were touching. He nodded once then
answered softly. “Don’t you know by now Lena, you can never be number 34
because you’re the only 1 there has ever been?”

She grinned at him. “That was
really corny Langley.”

He kissed her quick then moved back
from her. “So? It doesn’t make it any less true.” he walked over to the
sunflowers lifted one and brought it over to her.

“Now tell me, what do these mean to
you?”

L
ena reached over and took the flower. She lifted
it to her face and looked at him over the top of the large petals trying to
decide if it was time to take the plunge. He walked around the counter and sat
down on a stool that must’ve been back there.

“Do you want a chair?”

Shaking her head she turned her
back to him trying to decide where to start. She thought back nine years to all
the memories she’d squashed down and couldn’t work out where to begin. She
heard him shift on the chair behind her. Then silence.

“Around nine years ago my sister
Carly died.” she paused, finally letting those words free. There was no sound
or movement behind her just a new kind of silence that finally held all the
pain she’d kept hidden for so long. A comforting silence. She knew he was there
but he didn’t need to make sound,
he just was.

“We’d gone to my parents house for
dinner. I remember her calling me that night and complaining for at least
thirty minutes that she needed to buy herself a car. I’d laughed at her and
asked, why when she had me to taxi her around.” she heard him laugh a little at
that.

“That sounds like you.”

Lena sighed, “It was like any other
Sunday night dinner. Mom made lamb, a God’s honest Irish dish, as my dad calls
it and we all sat down and talked about our week. At that stage I was pre med
and was obsessed with studying and passing all my tests at the top of my class.
Carly on the other hand had just graduated high school and was all about a good
time.”

Walking over the one of the displays
in the windows Lena reached out and spun the rainbow pinwheel that was stuck in
one of the pots of colorful tulips.

“My mother had been driving me
crazy all night. She’d gone on and on about how I needed to have more fun, get
out from the library and date more, she’d told me.”

Lena turned and locked eyes with
Mason’s. He was still sitting behind the counter and had his arms resting on
top of it. “Can you imagine that?” she asked with a small smirk.

He grinned at her then shook his
head, “Not at all.”

She nodded then lowered her eyes as
she twirled the sunflower in her hand. “We finished up dinner around nine
thirty. There were hardly any cars around. I guess because it was a Sunday, I’m
not sure. But we kissed mom and dad goodbye and buckled up. I remember thinking
as we drove home that maybe one day when I was finally a doctor if Carly still
didn’t have a car, I’d by her one, because God knew she wasn’t going to save
the money to get her own.”

She gave a little laugh then looked
at him with tears gathering in her eyes. She gripped the stem of the flower
tight and took a deep breath. “We’d stopped at a red light. I remember sitting
there listening to Carly as she imitated mom harassing me. She really nailed it
too. I remember resting my head back against the headrest and laughing at her
as she smiled and stuck her tongue out at me.”

Tears were streaming down her
cheeks now as she held his gaze, biting her bottom lip, trying to push through
the most difficult part. The part that ripped her heart out and tore it to
pieces. He hadn’t moved. He just sat watching her. “She was wearing her
favorite red beanie, it was cold you see and she had a braid over her
shoulder.” Taking a deep shuddering breath she licked her lips. “She smiled at
me and called me a loser and I remember laughing at her then turning to see the
light flick to green. I pulled out and then just like that,” she paused her
cheeks wet with tears and her eyes filled with pain, “She was gone.”

Mason’s heart broke at the sorrow that
was pouring out of her. She was rooted to the spot clutching a happy, bright
yellow, flower that right now looked horribly out of place in her hands as
tears ran down her face. Slowly he stood and walked very carefully around the
counter. She hadn’t moved and her eyes followed him as he made his way over to
her. He reached out and took the flower tossing it on the floor. She swallowed
then looked up at him her eyes brimming with tears as he watched her finally
let go and burst into tears. He reached out and wrapped his arms around her
pulling her in tight against him. He felt her chest heave as a shuddering sob
left her body. He gripped her tighter and felt her hands grip his chest as she
sobbed uncontrollably against him.

“That’s it baby, let it go.” he
murmured as he stroked his hand down her hair. “I’ve got you.”

He felt her take a deep breath and
struggle to stop the uncontrollable gut wrenching sobs that were pummeling her.
He kept her tight against himself and rocked her slowly with him as he felt her
taking deep breaths. Her anguish ripped into him and he couldn’t even begin to
imagine how long she’d kept all of this to herself. He felt her try to move
back but he wasn’t ready to let her go. He took both hands and cupped her wet
cheeks as he tilted her face up so her red eyes could lock with his. Bending
down he gently kissed her lips. She tried to pull away from him but he held
tight and kissed her again, first on her left cheek then her right. Finally
when he pulled back he lowered his hands and placed them against hers that
still had a death grip on his chest. “Thank you for telling me.”

Lena couldn’t think of a single
thing to say. She’d just come completely undone in front of him. Letting go of
his shirt she tried to take a step back, needing to put a bit of space between
them. She was so raw right now, so open she knew he could see right inside of
her. He let her move back but not far. He kept one of her hands in his but
dropped the other. She reached up and wiped her tears away.

“Why the sunflower?” he asked
softly.

She looked at the crumpled flower
on the floor then back at him. “They were her favorite. She always told me they
seemed so happy to be alive.”

“So you buy a sunflower every day
to remind yourself of her?”

Shaking her head she spoke softly,
“I buy them for her. Your mother delivers them to her for me.” Looking up at
him she took a deep breath. “I just can’t go there.”

“You’ve never been to her grave?”

“No.”

“Oh Lena. You need to go and visit
her.” he paused then stepped toward her. She felt him tip her chin up to him.
“Go and talk to her.”

Smiling through wet eyes she
laughed a little and he tilted his head. “You sound just like my mom. Actually
the flowers you delivered to me that day, they were from my mom and dad telling
me to go and see her.”

Mason nodded grinning a little.
“Parents. They always think they know best.”