Читать книгу Forget Me Not - Crystal B. Bright - Страница 9

“Ugh, turn that off.” Janelle Gold moved a large glass vase filled with bright red roses that sat by the front door of her flower shop, Flowers Galore, next to the front counter. “That’s why I got into flowers and plants, to stay away from meathead jocks who can’t tell the difference between a tulip and a rose.” To illustrate her point, Janelle held a yellow tulip in one hand and a rose in the other.

She took a deep breath, inhaling the fragrant scents swirling in the air. Besides the smells, Janelle fell in love with the vibrant colors all around her. Reds, blues, yellows, oranges, greens. Beauty in every place she looked. Every day felt like she had fallen into a Monet painting that she never wanted to escape. Too bad her bank could be the turpentine that might erase her from her dreams whether she wanted out or not.

“Come on, Janelle. It’s the Super Bowl. I mainly watch for the commercials anyway. They’re hilarious.” Penny, one of Janelle’s employees and a friend since elementary school, stayed glued to the TV as she watched the Virginia Beach Wolves celebrating. “Look at that. Our home team won! Isn’t that exciting?”

“Not really.” Janelle locked the front door. “So a local team won. It won’t get customers in the store.” She pulled a dozen roses with baby’s breath from a vase and wrapped it in green paper so that the flowers trumpeted from the large open end.

“Maybe if you’d done like I asked and made a Wolves bouquet filled with red, yellow, and black roses.” Penny shrugged.

Janelle cocked her head. “Black roses?”

“I would have added dye to their water or spray painted them.”

Janelle laughed and shook her head.

Penny continued. “The point is, I made a suggestion and as usual, you turned it down.”

“I wouldn’t have turned down your suggestion if it was a good one.”

Penny screwed up her face and stuck out her tongue before staring at the TV screen.

Janelle shouldn’t have even bothered opening up and staying late on a Sunday, Super Bowl Sunday no less. No one wanted flowers then. No, her time would be in a couple of weeks when Valentine’s Day rolled around. She’d already gotten some orders in by phone and e-mail.

Although she didn’t want her friend Elizabeth Sommerville to be sick, she’d thought with Elizabeth being out of commission for a while, perhaps sales at Flowers Galore would go up a little. They hadn’t.

Janelle needed her business to turn around if she had any chance of making it. She’d only had Flowers Galore open for less than two years. Opening it up so close to Pick ’N Clip, Elizabeth’s business, hadn’t seemed like a wise thing to do, but the cost to lease the space had been right. The location worked for her.

As soon as she’d opened her doors, Elizabeth had come over, introduced herself and bought a bouquet of roses. Janelle never forgot how supportive Elizabeth had been, then and now. Elizabeth had become an unexpected mentor.

“You know I love seeing those men in their tights.” Janelle’s sassy friend grunted a sound of approval through her nose. “High and tight.” She lifted her hands and curved her fingers as though she could grab one of the guys’ backsides through the TV screen. “You could bite one.”

“No, you can do that.” Janelle had found all through school that guys hadn’t gravitated to girls who loved learning.

The jocks had thought calling her a brainiac and nerd had hurt her feelings. She didn’t care about them. They might get million-dollar contracts, but Janelle knew in a few years they would bust up their bodies or lose the rest of their mediocre brain cells. Janelle would have her business and be doing something she loved, tending to her plants.

“You don’t find these guys hot?” Penny twirled her newly dyed red hair around her finger.

Janelle’s pale friend licked her lips. At one point, Janelle thought she’d caught Penny sliding her fingertips down the screen as though stroking a potential lover. Janelle shook her head.

“Athletes are blessed with great hand-eye coordination and halfway decent bodies.” Janelle tapped her finger against her temple. “The brain. That’s the sexiest organ.”

“You are such a nerd.” Penny shook her head.

“Thank you.” Janelle bowed her head and smiled as though her friend had given her a compliment.

“Let high school go. You’re a hot business owner.” Penny stopped and scanned Janelle from head to toe. “Strike that. You’re a business owner.”

“Hey!” Janelle picked a rose stem from her bouquet and threw it at Penny. “Not nice.”

“Look at you. Yes, it’s February, but you’re in a million layers of clothes.”

Janelle turned and stared at her reflection in the front door glass. Her long cardigan sweater went almost down to her knees. The pockets on either side looked like they drooped down out of exhaustion. She loaded her pockets with shears, rubber bands, pens, and tags.

Under her cardigan, she wore a black turtleneck sweater and jeans. She had to be comfortable in what she did, although she always wondered how Queen Elizabeth could work in a full skirt suit, high heels, and a face full of flawless makeup.

Janelle didn’t need a mirror to see she didn’t wear anything on her face. Applying tinted lip balm had been her only beautifying product. Her sneakers squeaked over the brown tiled floor.

She ran her hand over her naturally curly hair that she had styled back from her face with a hair clip on top of her head. Shortly after starting college, Janelle had stopped putting chemical relaxers in her hair to allow the natural texture to come through finally. Back then, she’d done it because of low funds. Now other African-American women adopted the look to be trendy.

“What I wear is appropriate for where we work. No one is looking at me to be some fashionista.” She held her hands up like a game-show beauty. “People come here to see these flowers and plants. They’re the stars.” She exhaled as she gazed around her business. “Come on. Let’s go home.”

Penny leaned forward to turn off the small flat-screen TV that sat behind the counter when she stopped. Local news broke to talk about a shooting not far from Janelle’s business.

“Police are on the lookout for a suspect who broke in and shot an employee at Press ’N Curl, a hair salon in Virginia Beach.” The news anchor spoke slowly, making sure to emphasize certain words in a dramatic fashion. “The victim is none other than MMA champion Gunnar Wells.”

“Holy shit.” Penny covered her mouth.

Penny could best be described as dramatic. Their differences in their races didn’t matter. Back then, their tastes in boys matched. Now Penny kept up her admiration for the jocks, but Janelle had decided to expand her horizons and go for a well-rounded man with goals and ambition.

“Isn’t that horrible?” Penny shook her head. “What’s the world coming to?”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures, I suppose.” Janelle went behind the counter to retrieve her coat and purse. “It’s a shame though. Press ’N Curl is one of Queen Elizabeth’s businesses. She owns, like, three or four of them.”

“Okay, so what in the world is a champion MMA fighter”—Penny glanced at the screen again—“a fine one at that, doing in Queen’s business? Don’t tell me he’s there getting his hair done.”

Janelle laughed. “Wouldn’t that be a hoot? He would never live that down.” She wiped under her eyes. When the idea that a man had been shot registered to her again, she sobered to the situation. “Seriously, I hope he’s okay.”

“Any tips on this crime, please contact Virginia Beach police. Now we’ll return you to the Super Bowl, already in progress.”

The screen switched back over to the game, or rather, the end of the game. The Virginia Beach Wolves celebrated. Colorful streamers filled the screen, and screams filled the inside of Janelle’s store.

Janelle didn’t care to look at the screen until she heard a woman attempting to interview the team’s quarterback.

“Gideon! Gideon! Congratulations on the win. I understand the president is on the phone for you.” The savvy African-American journalist managed to get her microphone up to Gideon’s face.

Janelle finally glanced at the screen. She froze. The football player, covered in sweat with his blond hair stuck to his face, kept her hypnotized to the screen with his incredible blue eyes. No one’s look had rendered her immobile since her days in high school.

Janelle stared at him some more, then scanned the banner across the bottom of the screen that displayed his name.

Janelle swallowed hard. She couldn’t help but drop her gaze down his body to his crotch. Penny would have called Janelle a hypocrite if she knew Janelle checked out this man.

“I can’t. I got to go home and see my mother.” The player darted off screen and attempted to make his way through the sea of people.

“That was nice, right?” Janelle put on her coat and pulled her purse strap on her shoulder.

Nice? Yes. Janelle felt a strange tickling sensation going through her body. Since Gideon Wells played for the Virginia Beach Wolves, did that mean he lived in town? Would he be coming home to Virginia Beach?

She shook her head. What was she thinking? He could come back home and she would never see him in person. No way would this multimillion-dollar athlete have some little house in the same neighborhood she lived. No, he probably lived at the Oceanfront area with one of those big, fancy houses people like her only dreamed about having.

“Dude has the opportunity to talk to the president of the United States, and he bolts to see his mama? I don’t know. Sounds like a straight-up mama’s boy to me.” Penny turned the TV off and grabbed her things.

“Hey, these are your kind of men, right?” Janelle brought her hands up and curved her fingers like Penny had done earlier. “High and tight.” Then she picked up the bouquet she’d made.

“Yeah, but they have to be a little more macho than that.” Penny shook her head. “Hey, that guy’s name was Gideon Wells.”

Janelle shook her head as she opened the front door for them to leave. “So?”

“I wonder if he’s related to that guy that got shot, Gunnar Wells.”

Janelle cocked her head. “What’s the chance that an MMA fighter and an NFL football player are related and from Virginia Beach? I don’t see that happening.”

Penny shrugged. “You never know. Now if that guy was rushing home because of his brother, that would be a different story.”

“Oh, then he would be dateable?” Janelle walked to her car.

“Maybe. It depends.”

Janelle shook her head. “See you in the morning.”

“Bright and early.” Penny blew her a kiss before ducking into her car.

As soon as Penny drove away, Janelle sat in her car and stared at her business. She cranked up the heat to not freeze to death as she stared at small storefront that sat in the middle of a shopping strip. An accountant’s office and an ice-cream parlor flanked either side of her place, which had a pink, green, and white sign at the top.

As she stared at her baby, Janelle recalled the very first day she’d opened. She and Penny had taken pictures of the place before the first customer, well, Queen Elizabeth, had arrived.

She glanced over at the stack of mail she’d left on the passenger seat. At the top sat a notice from the bank. Janelle had opened the first notice a couple of months ago that had stated she had missed her November payment. Last month’s notice had detailed how delinquent she’d become in paying her lease for the store. She had no desires to get yelled at again. To hide the bad news, she tossed her bouquet on top of them.

Janelle had kept this information from Penny, hoping to turn things around. As long as she kept her employees paid, she would be okay. Janelle needed a miracle. Something had to go her way for once.

She arrived at her small one-bedroom apartment near the Oceanfront area of Virginia Beach. With barely being able to take home a salary, she couldn’t afford one of those new, ritzy apartments being thrown up near the strip. Maybe one day…

She closed her car door, making sure to leave her mail sitting on the passenger seat. No use bringing the bad news into her home. She did grab her bouquet. As though the slamming door signaled him, her downstairs neighbor, Buddy Harrison, appeared at his door.

Janelle smiled as soon as she saw him. “Good evening, Mr. Harrison.” As soon as she arrived at his door, he reached out and held her hand.

“You are as lovely as the flowers you sell.”

The elderly man reminded Janelle so much of her grandfather. His weathered, mahogany skin made a perfect backdrop to his shocking white ring of hair around his bald head and his white teeth, his own, he proudly proclaimed.

“You are so sweet.” Janelle patted the back of Buddy’s hand.

“You and my youngest son would make pretty babies.”

Janelle slipped her hand out of Buddy’s. “Too bad all your sons are married.”

Mr. Harrison made a disapproving grunting sound deep in his throat. “His wife is not good for him. Always spending his money, and she doesn’t work.” He smiled as he looked at Janelle. “You. You would be good for him. You got your own business and you’re cute.”

Janelle laughed. “How could I not love a glowing endorsement like that? I’m fine working and tending to my plants. Romance can wait.”

“Not right now. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner.” Buddy registered his excitement by doing a slight dance.

At least romance hadn’t died for this senior citizen. Janelle hoped to be so lucky to have a man who would be that romantic from the start and for the years they would be together.

She brought up the bouquet she’d made. “For you to give to Mrs. Harrison.” She knew the duo didn’t leave their apartment much.

From what Althea Harrison told her, their children lived in other states and didn’t come home often. Buddy treated Janelle like one of his own, often asking her to join him and Althea for dinner or trying to give her money. Being too proud, Janelle never took the money. She would always accept their gracious hospitality.

“You are spoiling me and her.” Buddy waved his hand in the direction of his apartment. “That woman is trying to kill me. Always trying to get me to eat right and exercise.”

Janelle leaned forward to whisper to him, “Call me crazy, but it sounds like she wants you around for a little bit longer.”

“No. She’s killing me. I’m telling you. If she asks you for extra flowers, don’t bring them. They’ll be for my grave.” Even Buddy couldn’t hold back his laughter.

“Shut that door! It’s cold out there.” Althea’s raspy voice held enough power to be heard all the way outside.

It didn’t take long for the woman to sidle up behind her husband. As soon as she saw Janelle, her face lit up like a neon sign. Janelle always imagined that Althea’s complexion had probably looked like honey gold in her heyday. Now her ashen skin looked well-worn. Wrinkles creased her cheeks and forehead. When she smiled, more complementing lines shot out from the corners of her eyes.

“She brought these for you.” Buddy handed his wife the bouquet. “I told her that you are as mean as a snake and didn’t deserve them.”

“You know you like me mean.” She accepted the bouquet and nudged her husband’s side with her elbow.

“You are right about that.” He chortled and gave her a kiss on her cheek.

“Janelle, come on in and get you some hot cocoa and cookies.” Althea tapped her husband on his shoulder. “Stand back and let the baby in.”

“She can get by me. Are you calling me fat?” Buddy threw his shoulders back as he looked down at his wife. Although he tried looking hard with his bottom lip poked out and his potbelly protruding proudly, he couldn’t keep up the hard expression. A smile broke on his face before his wife spoke.

“I have more of you to love.” In her pink bedroom slippers with blue flowers embroidered in them, she shuffled up to her husband and gave him the sweetest kiss on his lips.

To see the duo together gave Janelle a front-row seat to her possible future. She would love to marry a man, have children, and be with him for years.

’Til death do us part.

“Thanks for the invite, but I’m beat.” Janelle took a step back. “Maybe another time.”

“Don’t be a stranger. You come down and visit whenever you’d like.” Buddy winked at her, but it came off as a fatherly wink than anything else.

“Leave the girl alone. She has a business to run.” Althea tugged on Buddy’s tattered blue robe.

“I’m not telling her to close up shop and move in. I said if she needs anything to come see us.” Buddy shook his head. “You have a good night, dear.”

“You do the same. Good night, Mrs. Harrison.” Janelle waved as she started to climb the stairs.

“Good night. See you tomorrow.”

Buddy closed and locked his door. As soon as Janelle hit the second-floor landing, she wasted no time unlocking her door and getting into her apartment. The warmth inside enveloped her.

Home sweet home.

She hung her coat in the closet and headed to her bedroom. When she flicked on the light to her bedroom, Janelle hesitated in the doorway. Her bed that she’d made that morning remained untouched. As she stared at it, she realized once again that she lived alone. She had no one. She had great neighbors and a super best friend who also worked for her, yet she lived her life alone. If something happened to her, who would help her? No, what she really wanted to know is who would love her?

Janelle padded to her bed and sat on the edge. Devoting her time to her studies, working, and her shop left her little time to date. She had dated some in college. She’d even had a boyfriend during her senior year, one she’d thought would have been her future Buddy to her Althea.

A day after graduation, and after a night of passion at the Cavalier Hotel down at the Oceanfront, he told her in no uncertain terms that he had bigger plans in life outside of Virginia, and the plans didn’t include her.

Although Janelle didn’t want to cry over a jerk like that, the tears came anyway. Having Penny by her side and hearing her detail the horrible things she wanted to do to him had allowed Janelle to get over him.

Having him dump her the way he did gave Janelle some perspective. She had to keep her eyes on the prize. Once she established her business into a successful venture, she could go out and date again.

Janelle stepped into the bathroom next door to her bedroom and started running hot water into the tub. Soaking for a bit before going to bed would help her relax. As the water ran, she took her time undressing.

Her mind wandered to thoughts about her younger, more awkward self, the gangly teenager who’d found solace in books and botany rather than boys. With Ida for a mother, Janelle had had no chance of becoming the wallflower she’d wanted to be.

“Go out. Meet boys. Hell, pretend like you’re going to do something wrong,” Ida would tell Janelle during her impressionable teen years.

Not great advice coming from a mother. Ida couldn’t be classified as a typical parent. Janelle would never admit her mother had nailed that one bit of instruction. Attending a dance had her doing a lot of firsts. First time going to a dance, first time she didn’t get teased for being a loner and hugging the wall, and her first real, sensual kiss.

As though feeling that soul-stirring sensual expression again, Janelle touched her lips. The tips of her fingers danced over them lightly before she nipped the tip of her middle finger with her teeth. He’d done that to her, teased her by grazing his teeth over her bottom lip and then taking a taste.

Even now, Janelle’s knees quivered as they had done so many years ago. At the time, it had felt as though the kiss had lasted for twenty years. She remembered everything about the surprising lip-lock…except for the identity of the mystery boy who looked more like a man. She remembered how he’d towered over her and the way he’d placed his large hand next to her face.

Afterward, he pulled away from her. In the darkened corner, she only remembered his eyes, those piercing blue eyes that had mesmerized. Could that boy have been Gideon Wells?

Janelle shook her head. No way in the world could the mystery kisser from her youth be the same Super Bowl winning quarterback. Besides, what young man would kiss a young woman like that without introduction or permission or even a follow-up question or statement? A commotion had happened on the dance floor, and as fast as he had grabbed her and let his intentions known, he’d disappeared into the crowd. Janelle had taken that moment to make her exit. Until today, she hadn’t known who had rocked her world so many years ago.

Who was she kidding? She still couldn’t be sure. She couldn’t rely on her memories about his eyes.

Curiosity killed her. Janelle opened her laptop next to her bed and did a search for Gideon Wells. She didn’t want to read the stories, especially the ones about his dating life. She wanted to see his picture.

A catalogue of pictures appeared. She scrolled through each of them until she stopped at one of his advertisements promoting eating spinach. Like the cartoon character, Popeye, Gideon held up a can of spinach and carried a menacing expression. The company’s tag line appeared underneath a shirtless Gideon. Spinach is good for everybody.

Janelle scanned his broad shoulders down to his lean, long arms to his incredible chest. When she got to his abdomen, her search ended. She now understood the term six-pack abs. She licked her lips. Like Penny had early, Janelle stroked the screen as though she could feel every bulge in his biceps.

“What the hell am I doing?” She snatched her hand back.

Gideon Wells was now a hometown hero. He looked good enough to lick from his head to his toes. He would be coming home soon. That didn’t mean she would see him in person. Even if she did, so what?

No use dwelling on the past. Janelle had bigger fish to fry. Her personal life could wait. She had a business to save.