“Do I really need to be here for this?” Patrick groans as he parks in front of Whoopsie Daisy.
“Probably not. But you’re going to because you love me.” I grin at him as I push open the truck door.
“Yeah, you’re right.”
Picking out flowers is definitely not his thing. If my friends didn’t live hours away, I’d make them do it with me. But here we are. They really need to move closer.
At least he doesn’t put up too much of a fuss. He’s been a champ through most of the wedding planning. The only thing he’s completely taken over is the menu, and I can’t really blame him considering his line of work.
He rushes ahead of me to get to the front door first. “After you.”
“Welcome to Whoopsie Daisy, what can I do fo—” Kate’s words die on her lips as soon as she sees us. “Well, it’s about time y’all came in.”
“I know,” I laugh. “It’s not easy finding a good time when y’all are open and we’re both free.”
“You know I’d keep the shop open later for you, right?”
“And that’s why Stella always partners with you for events at the bar.” Patrick smiles.
“I’m pretty sure it’s because we’re the best,” Kate winks. “But sure we’ll go with that.”
“What do you have for us?”
“Well, I know the wedding will be at night for..” I shush her before she spills any sort of hints about my dress. Let’s just say it’s an elegant version of my angel costume, lights and all. “Reasons.” She finishes.
“Mhmm.” Patrick glances between the two of us wondering what we’re not telling him.
“I think we should definitely have some white flowers. I was going to say roses, but I don’t know if that’s too cliche.”
“I love that idea.”
Patrick glances at me, shocked that this is going so easily.
“Do you know what you want to do for the boutonnieres and bouquets?”
“Not really, but I do think they should be illuminated.”
“Wait,” Patrick holds up his hand as if he’s one of my students. “Why do I need something with lights?”
“You’ll see.” I nudge his side.
He mutters something under his breath, but I’m not really listening. My attention is on Kate.
“I think we can come up with something. Are there any other particular flowers you want incorporated?”
“Can I see what you have?”
“Sure. Come on to the back, we have a bigger selection back there and if you want something else, just let us know. We can get pretty much anything depending on the season.”
“Perfect.”
Patrick and I follow her to the back of the building into a room with work tables and shelves. Some of them hold supplies and others hold flowers. It’s colder in here than it is up front. It has to be to keep the flowers fresh.
He notices my shiver and takes off the flannel shirt he’s wearing to wrap around my shoulders before pulling me closer to him to lend me some of his warmth. He may not really want to be here but he’s doing everything he can to be present.
We pass a row of flowers and he stops us. “What are these?”
Kate turns around to see what he’s looking at. “Oh, those are dahlias.”
“Do they come in colors other than white?”
“Actually yeah.”
“How about yellow?”
“Why yellow? That will clash with everything.”
“Those need to be incorporated somehow.”
“Absolutely not.” I turn and glare at him.
“Please, this is the one thing I’m asking for when it comes to the flowers.”
“But why that color?”
“Because we started out our relationship as friends throughout school. At the basis of everything, we will always be friends first.”
And this is why I fell for this man. Even back then I think I knew we were endgame. But this right here, proves it even more.
“Yes we will. I love you.”
“I love you, too.” He bends down and brushes his lips across mine.
“I swear if you two start making out in my shop I’m going to record it.”
Patrick pulls away from me. “Is that necessary?”
“Only if you make it that way.”
I lace my fingers through Patrick’s and grin. “We’ll be on our best behavior. For now, at least.”