Leaving Normal, Stef Holm [ebook reader screen .TXT] 📗

get easier on him, on Parker. He had no way of anticipating when Parker would one day say she would rather be with Kim and Brian, wouldn't want to come anymore.

He wondered when she would gradually phase him out of her life to begin her new one. He'd see less and less of her—until he stopped seeing her at all.

It was a truth he had a difficult time reconciling.

So for now, he promised himself to make the most out of the time he had with Parker.

"Toe-Knee," she said in her silly voice. "Do you know what the toy is in the Happy Meal today?"

"Nope. But we'll find out."

"Are you going to get a Happy Meal, too?"

He glanced at her and smiled. "Yeah. I think I will."

Chapter Six

Renegades and Outlaws

The window of Hat and Garden was filled with Valentine hearts and cowboy-clad teddy bears. A saddle was used as a prop for a plant sitting in a cowboy boot, a big red satin bow spilling over the side of tooled leather. Varieties of silk flowers in shades of pink and a sprinkling of red glitter hearts finished off the display.

Tony cupped his hand, peeked into the window before going inside. The last time he'd been here his mind had been elsewhere and he hadn't paid much attention to the flower store.

He did now.

The inside of the shop smelled good. Candles burned on the counter and in several other strategic locations. Sweet roses and other fragrant scents collected in the air. A large cooler with an assortment of flowers in tall buckets took up one wall, the other areas were small coves with theme-filled items.

Valentine's Day was about two weeks away and Natalie had her store ready for the increase in business.

A female clerk greeted him, and asked if he needed help. He recognized her from his last visit. She was young and fresh, and had a friendly smile. She gazed at him with an eagerness he had seen in women's faces many times before. He knew he stood out—was bigger than most men. Most of the time he forgot about being so tall, so filled out. Other times, when women were all smiles and acting as if he were a pair of shoes to try on, he grew more aware.

Suddenly, after reminding myself why he'd come, he felt self-conscious. "Is Natalie working today?"

"Yes, she's outside in the flower shed making arrangements. Is there anything I can help you with?"

He gazed around, but didn't really look at his surroundings. "Do you think she'll be coming back in soon?"

The young woman smiled. "I can get her if you want."

"Yeah," Tony caught himself saying. "That would be good."

"Can I tell her who's here?"

"Tony."

"I'll be right back." The clerk headed out back but not before gazing over her shoulder at him once, giving him another smile.

He smiled automatically; hers broadened with a show of teeth, and then she disappeared.

Tony was left to wander around, to study the rest of the shop. Natalie was original and organized, and pretty clever because of the Idaho cowboy and Western theme she presented for Valentine's Day instead of the standard cupids and arrows.

More than once during the past month, he'd thought about the day she'd come over with a bottle of wine. While he hadn't been in the best frame of mind, he appreciated the fact that she'd stayed and watched television with him. For a short while, he had forgotten to be pissed at the world and he'd actually laughed.

Remembering their discussion, he wouldn't have guessed her age right if she'd asked him to. She looked younger than forty-three. She was uptight about the number, no doubt. Why women got that way he couldn't understand. He could give a damn he was thirty-four. Age was a state of mind. It was all about how he felt, how he thought, how he kept busy.

He'd been spending too much time at the fire station, losing himself in long twenty-four-hour shifts that ran one right into another. He'd finally told the guys on the A and B Shifts that he was getting a divorce.

The news surprised Captain Palladino because Tony hadn't spoken much about his crumbling marriage at work. He kept most of those things to himself. It wasn't as if he didn't want to talk about it with the men he worked with. He respected them and they were like family, but there were just some emotions a man kept to himself—like how he'd felt discovering Kim's infidelity. He hadn't spoken about what had been the actual cause of their breakup, but the implication was pretty much there.

A pink cow-poodle figurine caught Tony's eye. His mom had enough style and an open-minded quirkiness to like this. He picked it up, checked underneath for the price. Just as he was doing so, Natalie came up behind him.

"Hello."

He set the figurine down, turned and was immedi-ately aware of how good she smelled. Her scent caught him off guard; he wasn't prepared to breathe her in, but he recognized a primal need to pull that smell into his lungs and savor it.

She didn't smell like any perfume he'd ever smelled in a department store. It was more pure, more natural. A fragrance of flower petals, a mix of sweetness and muskiness.

At the base of her throat, a pulse beat, and from that warmth came the smell of her skin, all fresh and flowery.

His palms suddenly felt fiery hot, his body overtly warm in the heavy Boise F.D. sweatshirt he wore.

"Hi," he returned, clearing his throat.

Studying her, Natalie seemed a little out of sorts, pressing her hands down the front of her work apron. "Meagan said you were here."

Meagan? Then he recalled the young female clerk. She'd returned to the cash register counter and, hearing her name, she gave him another smile. He shot one back to her, then focused on Natalie.

"I came by for some advice."

Her eyebrows rose. "Advice?"

"On some flowers."

"Oh," she replied in an exhale of breath, as if