“You should have seen what it looked like when the delivery guy showed up with his arms full.” Julie’s reddish-brown curls bounced as she spoke. “I felt guilty sitting at the reception desk, it took him so many trips. Where should we put them?”
“I don’t know, but Mr. Right must have been trying to create an impression.” Audra gave a low whistle.
“I’ve never heard Belle express a weakness for daisies, but as an accountant, I suppose I should admire the man’s thrifty ways.”
“So, the date went well, I take it,” Regina offered. Belle had been introduced to the man through a mutual friend over the weekend and all of them had been hopeful that she might fall in love again.
“Maybe he is her Mr. Right,” Callie said. The subject of whether there was a Mr. Right for every woman had come up lately at their weekly poker games. They’d all been friends for a long time, much longer than they’d worked together, and men were often a topic of conversation. And not always a comfortable one, Regina admitted. The friends were divided on their opinions, and some of them, herself included, had engaged in disastrous relationships. Was there a Mr. Right? It was possible. It was also possible that he might live on another planet and never show up, she conceded.
The click of a door sounded just then, and Belle came down from the apartment she kept upstairs, probably drawn by the chatter. The hard-to-ignore daisies and last night’s big date in everyone’s mind, the women couldn’t help but look up. Not that that was unusual. Belle, an ample and gorgeous curvy woman with shining silver beautifully coiffed hair was a presence. She commanded attention without even trying. She was also the most generous, kind person Regina knew. She had inherited this building, she owned the shop and she cared for the Belles as if they were her daughters. They loved her, and it was only natural for them to wonder about the flowers.
“So…he’s Mr. Right?” Audra asked, her blond hair sliding across her cheek as she tilted her head.
Belle gave a big sigh. “Hon, I’m afraid I’ve had my Mr. Right, and when my Matthew died that was it for me. I’m just looking for Mr. Maybe-We-Could-Keep-Each-Other-Company, but not with this man. He seemed nice at first, but then he got too grabby. He almost pulled a button off the sleeve of my best rose silk blouse.”
“Well then, he’s history,” Regina said, giving her friend a hug. Belle loved nice things, especially clothes.
“I take it he didn’t ask first.”
Belle returned the hug, her comforting scent surrounding Regina. “I almost had to damage him for other women,” she said. “But I let him off easy by showing him the door and just giving him a quick wallop with my bag.”
Julie chuckled. Belle’s bag, a work of art, was huge.
“Looks like he’s sorry.” Natalie gestured toward the flowers. “Or maybe not. Those are some pathetic daisies.”
“Sweetie, it doesn’t matter.” Belle’s delicious Southern drawl stretched out the syllables. “That was the last straw. It wasn’t even fun and it was downright embarrassing. Imagine a woman of my years having to wrestle with a man! Despite the fact that my friend Rae Anne keeps calling me to encourage me to hop back in the marriage market, I’m through dating, and I’m just going to sit back with those of you who are married or almost married and let the rest of the world look for love.”
A chorus of objections echoed through the room. Regina and her friends might each have her own love or lost-love stories, but all of them wanted Belle to find a man who would appreciate her.
“I’ve got the shop, a good life and all of you girls for family,” Belle insisted. “That’s all I need. So, stop worrying about me. We’ve got weddings to plan and you have your own happily-ever-afters.” She cast a maternal glance around, letting her gaze rest on each woman. When she came to Regina, Regina wanted to squirm. Everyone had been so worried about her this past year, and these were her best friends in the whole world. They cared about her. But revealing the details of her personal discussions with Dell would feel too much like betrayal of a man who had bent over backward to help her when she had desperately needed help.
“Dell might be opening a store in Chicago,” she said instead. What was that surprised look on everyone’s faces? “What?” she asked.
Audra shook her head. “Nothing. It’s just that you tend not to volunteer information about your husband. Not without a lot of prodding.”
“I know. I guess I’m just…” Not myself after the way that conversation went yesterday.
“I’m just excited,” she finished, somewhat lamely.
“Dell is very good at what he does, and it’s—it’s nice that his business is going so well.”
Heavens, why was she babbling so much? Probably because she had just agreed to try to be something resembling a real wife to Dell, and she didn’t have the vaguest idea how to go about that. Trying to transform herself into a genuine wife meant seeing him a lot more than she was used to, being near him all the time and considering the possibility that they might actually touch now and then.
The mere thought of that made her feel much warmer than the day merited. The memory of Dell’s finger brushing her chin slid right into her mind. Where was a fan when a girl needed one?
“Regina, you’re trembling,” Natalie said.
“You must be really excited about Dell’s new business venture,” Callie added, one eyebrow raised.
“Yes, and Dell must be really excited, too,” Serena said.
“What do you mean?” Regina asked, but her friend was staring out the window.
Startled, Regina looked out the window to see Dell, a stern, handsome figure in his black suit, headed toward the shop. Her heart began to trip in a ridiculous fashion.
“I—maybe he has some business with the shop,” Regina offered, realizing how ridiculous that sounded. She knew why he was here. Their trial marriage was beginning in earnest.
“Hmm, powerful as he is, you don’t exactly think of business when you look at the man,” Belle offered.
Definitely not. Even wearing that serious expression, Dell was gorgeous, and several passing women stared at him as if they were about to melt right on the spot.
Regina frowned, even though she couldn’t quite figure out why. “Well, yes, Dell is attractive.”
Natalie raised an eyebrow. “You say that as if you’ve never noticed it before.”
“Of course I’ve noticed.” Even though that wasn’t strictly true. She had done her best not to notice, probably because their marriage hadn’t seemed real.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say anything like that about Dell before,” Audra said.
“Well, I should have. He’s my husband and he does have a great body. I’ve thought it.” The words came out so stilted and unnatural sounding that Regina half expected the ceiling to crash in on her.
For almost a year she had avoided even thinking of Dell as a husband. When they had wed, she’d been pregnant by his cousin who had deserted her, leaving Dell to save the day. He had, of course. After all, family honor and a baby’s future had been at stake. Given the circumstances, it had been easy to think of Dell as a savior rather than a husband. Marriage had simply made them housemates, not more. And after her miscarriage—Regina struggled to breathe—she had ceased to think at all for a long time. But now…
“He’s my husband,” she said again. At least for two more months.
“Yes, we know that, sweetie,” Belle said. “Apparently he does, too, since he’s here.”
Regina