The Flower Shop: Episode 5

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Time for another episode of The Flower Shop! Young love is hard enough without outside interference. Let’s see how Peter reacts to Rhonda’s bombshell news from last week.

Synopsis: When Peter Ross returns to upstate New York, his plan is to sell his grandfather’s hardware store and return to life in the city. But a chance meeting with his old girlfriend Rhonda Jefferson makes him second guess his decision, and wonder about what could have been. 

Genre: Contemporary Interracial

Trope: Second chance

Heat level: Sensual


Reeling from Rhonda’s words, Peter pushed to his feet and shoved the fingers of both hands through his hair. 

Gramps had come to Miss Dee? 

For a long time he’d carried around a crater sized hole in his chest thinking Rhonda didn’t love him, wondering if he’d overreacted when she told him she wanted to break up. Thinking he should have said something different. He should have tried harder. Then there was the anger. Her tears. His tears later when the anger wore off and accepted they were done. 

All this time… and it was because of his grandfather’s interference?

Peter paced the width of the driveway. “You should have told me,” he said. 

Rhonda sat with her hands wrapped around her torso, head bent, as if trying to make herself as small as possible. In a low voice, she said, “Your grandfather wanted you to leave town and have the kind of life he never dared. He wanted better for you.”

Peter stopped moving. “That wasn’t his decision to make. I knew what was best for me.”

“My mother agreed with him. She told me that I shouldn’t hold you back, because then you’d resent me.”

There was a moment of silence between them as Peter stared at the top of her bent head. A band of crickets chirped an upbeat melody, in comically stark contrast to the gravity of the tension in the night air. 

“Why didn’t you tell me they came to you?” Peter asked in a hoarse voice.

She didn’t answer right away, and the seconds that ticked by took a lifetime. With her head bent, he couldn’t see her features because the soft curls of hair he’d longed to touch all night had fallen forward and shrouded her face on either side. 

Finally, she lifted her gaze. “Because then you’d do exactly what your grandfather didn’t want—stay. I didn’t want you to do that for me. Sacrifices had been made for you to go to college. How could I hold you back? I didn’t want that on my conscience. You deserved to explore and experience everything you wanted. I thought you might be happier in New York, instead of… here. I couldn’t risk taking that away from you.” 

Peter let out a harsh, abridged laugh. “I could have taken online classes. I could have gone to a school closer and cheaper. I could have gone to school later in life. You could have come with me, and we could have shared an apartment so you could go to school too.” 

Rhonda had received a scholarship for tuition but couldn’t afford the housing, fees, and other living expenses. 

“If we’d moved in together, that would have cut your housing in half,” Peter said. “It was an option I’d considered making to you, so we could be together. If we both got jobs, it would be tight but doable. I considered broaching the subject with you, but I worried about what you’d think about us living together. There were so many other options, Rhonda. Options that didn’t include cutting me off. We never got a chance to discuss any of them. You say you loved me, but—”

“I did!” She shot to her feet. “Don’t you dare question my feelings for you! I went along with what they said because I loved you and wanted the best for you.”

“So you and your mother and my grandfather conspired against me, to make the best decision for me?” he asked angrily.

“Conspired? You make the situation sound way worse than it was. That’s not what happened.”

“How else would you explain it? They orchestrated our breakup by coming to you, and you went along with their plans.” He jabbed a finger at her.

With a flash of anger, Rhonda said, “Oh please! You know what I think? I think they were right and you were relieved when I had that conversation with you, because our relationship ended that day. You never looked back. Hell, you barely stepped foot in Fountain Springs after that.”

“Bullshit. Don’t blame me for what happened. I was hurt because the woman I loved, the woman I’d contemplated a future with, told me she didn’t want to see me anymore. Told me we were better off apart because we were different people now with different wants and needs and futures. You told me it was better that we cut all contact. Do you remember any of that conversation? Huh? Because I remember every goddamn word you said to me like it was yesterday!”

“I was nineteen! What was I supposed to do? I thought they were right, and I wanted you to experience life away from here too.”

You were my life!” he yelled. 

Peter took a deep breath and ran trembling fingers over his head, staring down at his feet, jaw clenched tight with emotion. He needed to calm down or pretty soon the neighbors would come running. 

Finally, he looked at Rhonda again. “You. You were my life. And every moment I spent away from you was torture,” he said in a strangled tone.

She glanced away and inhaled a deep breath. “I did what I was advised to do. I did what I thought was right,” she whispered. 

Peter felt gutted by the injustice of it all. So much time wasted, and now, to find out there had been interference from family members—on both sides.

“Well, you were wrong. You were wrong to listen to them. You were wrong to end us. You should have told me. If you’d told me, I would have told you not to listen to them, that we could make our own decisions about our lives and our love.”

Her throat moved in a tight swallow, and her eyes met his. She seemed drained of emotion, her face expressionless.

“I told you we should leave the past in the past, but you wanted to talk. Now you know the truth. Your beloved Gramps interfered in your love life. Yes, breaking up was difficult, but what happened wasn’t all bad. I was here when my mother needed me, and you found a job making a nice living, which allows you to live in New York and drive a late model BMW. Our breakup hurt, but some good did come out of it.” She released a tremulous breath. “I don’t want to talk anymore. I have two weddings tomorrow, and it’s getting late. I think… I think you should go.” 

The emotions whirling through Peter forced him to remain still. Rhonda stood above him on the steps, and he didn’t know what to say as he gazed up at her—a graceful, intelligent, beautiful soul. 

“Rhonda—” 

“Good night, Peter. You have the answers you wanted. ” Her voice came out low and thick. Then she turned and walked across the porch. 

He watched in silence as she unlocked the door, entered, and shut him out.

He didn’t move for the longest time. That crater in his heart had been patched for a while, but it reopened and hollowed out his chest.  

The porch light going out snapped him out of his trance. He blinked and looked around at the dark yard. The street lights cast shadows over the road, and a few of the houses had lights on in the windows. The sounds of crickets seemed louder in the darkness. As if they mocked him for standing there like a fool.

Peter dragged his feet to the car, but before he pulled out of the driveway, he took another long look at the dark windows of Rhonda’s house and sighed his discontent. 

He took off down the street, not fully aware of where he was going until he pulled in front of his grandfather’s old store, Ross & Son Hardware. The For Sale sign in the window contained the real estate agent’s name and number. 

How could his grandfather have done such a thing to him? They’d been so close that he’d shared his deep feelings for Rhonda and expressed his desire to leave school and return to Fountain Springs to be with her. His grandfather had violated his trust by using that information against him. 

He’d always been a big personality and a strong-willed man set in his ways, but not once had Peter ever considered he’d had a hand in the trajectory of his love life. Not once when he’d bared his soul to Gramps about the breakup did his grandfather give any indication he’d been the catalyst for the wrenching pain Peter endured. 

Instead, he’d simply advised Peter to concentrate on his classes and encouraged him to do big things to make the family proud. And he had, after a few weeks of faltering, when he couldn’t sleep or study or retain information. 

When it looked like he risked flunking out of school, Peter finally took his grandfather’s advice and buckled down. His grades improved. In the end, he graduated and went to work for one of the largest banks in New York. He had staff, an apartment in an upscale building, a late model car, and every so often dated some of the most interesting women in New York. 

Yet he was never really satisfied, because his heart wouldn’t let him forget his first love. 

“Goddamnit, Gramps!” Peter slammed the heel of his hand against the steering wheel over and over again until pain shot into his shoulder.

Breathing hard, he rested his forehead against the steering wheel and closed his eyes. 

As a teen, he’d never thought he deserved Rhonda, and with the ferocious intensity of young love had lived in fear of losing her and all the joy she brought to his life. When she told him she wanted to break up, he’d felt vindicated. He’d been right all along. The fear he’d held inside had become a reality. 

Now he knew the truth. She’d loved him and didn’t want to end their relationship. She’d been coerced into having that conversation with him. 

Peter lifted his head. The dark, empty hardware store looked back at him.

What was he doing here? 

He should be with Rhonda. He should apologize and tell her that he didn’t blame her for what happened. They were both young, and their elders’ interference had robbed them of precious time together. 

He backed out of the parking lot and sped down the road, back to Rhonda’s house. 

__________

Since Peter’s life turned out so well, was his grandfather right to interfere?

Only a few more episodes left. Continue to Episode 6!

10 Comments. Leave new

  • Doi PurpleLadi
    April 4, 2022 12:59 pm

    You should learn from the past but never live there or use it to hinder future progress. Peter and Rhonda were young, in loved but not fully confident in that love or each other. Thy definitely needed some mature guidance but it was wrong for the adults to interfere in the way that they did.
    It would have been better to sit down, with the young couple, and had a frank discussion (with the understanding that not attending college was, not an option and therefore off the table). Maybe they would have been able to come up with a better, less painful solution.

    Reply
    • Yes! Sitting down and having a conversation is much better than going behind Peter’s back and playing puppet master. But communication is one area where romantic and non-romantic relationships often suffer.

      Reply
  • Alice Yanes
    April 4, 2022 2:12 pm

    We will never know if Peter’s life would have turned out well had he and Rhonda been left alone to make their own plans and decisions for their lives. As it stands, both seem to still be hurting and have been hurting for the past what ten years! That possibly could have been avoided had his grandfather and her mother offered some other kind of support for these young folk who seemingly are still in love with each other.

    Reply
  • COMMUNICATION–100%! No, grandfather should not have interfere. Everyone concern should have sat down and told Peter what they wanted and felt was best for him, but then leave the final path to be taken up to Peter; that would have taken open and honest communication from Peter and Rhonda to each other. True Love will always find a way! Just saying 🙂

    Reply
    • Amen to the need for communication! They played with Peter and Rhonda’s life, which was very unfair. The young couple should have been allowed to choose their own path and make their own decisions. The adults can be there to offer advice, but not to control the situation.

      Reply
  • No, I don’t believe Gramps should have interfered but he did. I enjoyed reading the revelation between them. I felt like my head was ping ponging between the two of them (I was in the thick of it🤣). I could feel the hurt Peter had and is continuing to endure without Rhonda being in his life. I am happy to see he came to his senses and decided enough time had been wasted and is willing to fight for his one true love, Rhonda💕 Another great episode, Delaney! Beautifully written! I am looking forward to next week😁

    Reply
  • I feel like interracial couples are still taboo in the older generation. It’s ok to be schoolmates but not date. I think Peter’s grandpa and Rhonda’s mom may have felt like they were protecting them from a cruel world. I’m a hopeless romantic and I believe love always finds its place whether it comes back or anew.

    Reply
    • He’s not available for us to ask how he felt about their interracial relationship, but I feel like there was a little bit of that coming from Gramps too. But you can’t fight true love, and these two really love each other and found their way back together.

      Reply

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