The Flower Shop: Episode 6

Time for another episode of The Flower Shop! Find out what happens after Peter’s epiphany, when he returns to Rhonda’s house.

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

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You were my life! 

Peter’s words cut through Rhonda as she prepared for bed. She had seen pain and regret in his eyes, as well as disappointment. 

Looking back, she’d screwed up. She and Peter had missed out on years together because she hadn’t been brave enough to stand up to his grandfather and her mother. 

Truth be told, she’d been scared. Scared they were right. That Peter would come to resent her, perhaps hate her. That she hadn’t been enough to justify him making such a major life change as leaving school. At the time, her decision seemed like the lesser of two evils, but now she wasn’t so sure. His vehemence about his feelings made her doubt and wobble under the crushing blow of regret. 

Rhonda slipped under the covers and closed her eyes. 

There was nothing she could do about her actions now. She couldn’t go back in time and turn down her mother and Mr. Ross’s request. 

The doorbell rang, and her eyes popped open. Who could be at her door at this time of night? Frowning, she rolled onto her back and waited to hear if the doorbell rang a second time. Once again, the gentle chime sprinkled sound throughout the house, and Rhonda sat up. 

Could it be Peter? Did he come back?

She scrambled from the bed and slipped her arms through a satin robe to cover the short nightshirt she’d worn to bed. The doorbell went off again as she rushed out of the room and down the hall. At the door, she peered through the sidelite on the left and saw the unmistakeable shape of Peter standing on the porch in the darkness. 

Heart racing, she unlatched the door. “Hi.”

“Hi. Do you mind if I come in? I have something I need to say to you.” 

“Sure.” Rhonda let him in and then led the way to the small living room. She flicked on a lamp and faced Peter. 

He froze when he saw her in the light, and she realized what she must look like, standing there in her satin robe molded over her breasts and curves. The heat of his gaze practically seared her skin, and she self-consciously tightened the knot in the belt. 

“You have something to say?” she queried.  

Her question shook him from his daze, and he lifted his eyes to meet hers. “Yes, I did. I drove to the hardware store and sat in the parking lot, thinking about what you said and how I behaved. I shouldn’t have reacted like that.”

“I gave you shocking information you weren’t aware of before. It’s understandable that you were upset.”

A rueful smile quirked the right corner of his mouth. “True, I was upset. At Gramps, at Miss Dee, at you, and at me. I shouldn’t have given up on us so easily, and I shouldn’t have stayed away so long. Over the years, there were times I considered coming back to see you, to fix what had happened between us. Every time, I chickened out, and I wish I hadn’t. I wish I hadn’t taken a job I wasn’t even sure I wanted. You know why I stayed in New York? And believe me, it’s hard for me to admit. I’m not sure I even realized it until I saw you the other day. I stayed there because coming back meant I might see you, and I didn’t want to see you. I didn’t want to see you and face that we were over. Face that maybe you had someone else. So I… stayed away.”

His confession caused a tightening in her chest and confirmed her belief that he’d loved her as much as she loved him. He didn’t stay away because he was glad—relieved—to be free of her, as she’d originally thought. 

“A few years after we split, I thought about reaching out to see how you were doing,” Rhonda confessed. “See if maybe you still cared a little bit about me. I wanted to come see you.”

Peter’s eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Why didn’t you?”

She blinked rapidly, the enormity of her emotions making her teary-eyed. “Mom found out she had MS, and no matter what I had hoped about us, I couldn’t leave her then. She needed me, and I had to take over the flower shop so we’d continue to have income coming in. Not only for her medical bills, but so her last days would be comfortable.” 

Peter nodded his head slowly in understanding. “And were they? Comfortable?”

Rhonda nodded, smiling. “Yeah. I’d like to think that was because of me. I made her happy, I made sure she was comfortable, and that was important to me.” 

“Rhonda, I’m so sorry.” He came closer and took one of her hands in both of his. 

Her eyes were instantly drawn to his mouth, and she wondered if his kisses were the same—as sweet and drugging as honey.

“You’re too good. Your heart is too big, you know that?” he asked.

She swallowed the lump of pain lodged in her throat. “I don’t need your pity. My mother and I… we had a good relationship, and I’m proud that I was able to help her in her last days, and I’m proud of what I was able to do with the store she loved.” 

Peter’s thumb moved in a slow back and forth stroke across the back of her hand, and the gentle action soothed her inner turmoil. She never wanted him to stop touching her.

“When I came back and walked into the flower shop, I expected to see Miss Dee. Instead I saw you, and everything changed in that moment. I didn’t expect you to be here. I assumed you’d moved away and was maybe married with a kid or two.”

He linked their hands together, intertwining their fingers—light and dark, side by side like piano keys. 

“I thought the same about you. I figured you’d have a wife and a couple of kids by now—or at least making plans in that direction.”

“I guess we were both wrong,” Peter said. 

“I guess so.” 

They fell silent, and only the ticking clock on the mantel could be heard. 

“I better go. You said you have two weddings tomorrow.”

“I do.” She tried not to let disappointment overcome her.

His thumb moved against hers. “Just so you know, I don’t blame you, Rhonda.”

“Thanks. I needed to hear that.”

They walked to the door, hands remaining linked as naturally as if the years apart had never existed. 

At the front door, Rhonda said, “Good night,” and tried to pull away her hand.

Peter tightened his grasp, and her heart jumped in her chest. When he looked into her eyes, she saw how much he hungered for her and feared she’d be consumed by the hunger she felt for him. 

“Is it too late for us?” he asked. 

Rhonda opened and closed her mouth. She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know how to answer his question. 

“Rhonda.” He whispered her name in a strangled voice. 

Time slowed, but her heart rate went berserk. 

“I don’t want to leave,” he said.

“I don’t want you to leave,” she whispered. 

A flash of heat lit up his gray eyes, and then he tugged her against his chest. Her free hand went around his neck and drew his mouth down to hers. Rhonda strained on her toes, arching her body against his. The kiss was brutal, their lips meshing together as their tongues tangled around each other. 

Peter released her hand to lift her against the wall, his low grunt of pleasure matching the breathy moans coming from the base of her throat. She scraped her fingers through his hair, gyrating her hips a lusty, provocative dance of need. 

“I need you, Rhonda, I need you so much.” He spoke in a husky, pained voice against her neck. “Say yes. Tell me—”

“Yes!” she panted. 

That tiny three letter word contained the power of an atom bomb. 

Rhonda dropped to her feet, and Peter reached under her robe and shoved her panties past her hips. The entire time, they kissed and nipped at each other with a desperation born from years of deprivation. 

Rhonda stepped out of her underwear and, panting as if she’d just run a marathon, grabbed his hand. 

“This way,” she said, pulling him in the direction of the master bedroom.

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Only a few more episodes left. Continue to Episode 7! 🔥