ME: I was on the phone to Polly while I was waiting for us to be rescued and I kind of promised myself something.

NOAH: I have questions.

ME: …

NOAH: Who is Polly? And what did you promise yourself?

Of course.

ME: Polly is the 911 girl who answered when I called.

ME: And, um, I kinda promised myself that if I survived the fire, I’d find out where you lived, and if it was close by, I’d ask you out.

I hit send.

Oh, my God. I hit send. I did it.

I blew out a long breath and sat back, staring at the screen as I waited for his reply.

And it didn’t come.

The clock in the top corner ticked over. Minutes passed until it’d been fifteen minutes and he hadn’t replied.

I felt like I’d been kicked in the gut and punched in the throat. Sure, there was probably a totally reasonable explanation for why it was taking him fifteen minutes to reply to me, but who wanted a reasonable explanation when they’d just asked a guy out?

I didn’t.

I wanted a response.

It didn’t look like I was getting one.

Shit.

CHAPTER ELEVEN – REAGAN

Fifteen Pounds Is More Than You Think

The store was fucking freezing.

Usually, the cold temperatures didn’t bother me. I was used to it, after all. After nearly a week away, apparently my body had reset itself to factory settings.

I tugged my hoodie down over my head and pulled my stool back under me. There was an order list as long as my arm that my mom didn’t trust Aunt Bethel to put together. I didn’t trust her to run the register, either, but she was.

It was a miracle nothing here had gone wrong with her in charge—or that she hadn’t scared away any of the customers.

I checked the first order. It was a bright birthday bouquet due for collection later today, and it was one of my favorite pre-set styles from the website. I got straight to work on collecting the flowers from the fridge, then set about assembling the bouquet.

It was a good way to pass some time.

I couldn’t believe I’d convinced my mom to let me come back to work today for a few hours. It sure beat sitting at home while my phone didn’t buzz with a message from Noah.

I was more pissed off than I thought I would be. I mean, he knew I was going to ask him something. If he didn’t want to go out with me, all he had to do was say no. I wouldn’t be offended. A little butthurt, maybe, but not offended.

I huffed a breath as I cut the bottom of a stem from a rose.

Whatever. It was whatever.

I wasn’t going to think about Noah anymore. I was going to relish being back at work, doing something I loved, and hopefully stopping Aunt Bethel from causing any trouble.