Luke’s revelation about his feelings for her had shaken April, but not as much as she’d thought it would. She kept waiting to have a major freak-out, to reassess her life and everything she’d thought she knew, but for the most part it just feltright. Like her body had known for a long time where she was supposed to be and it had just taken her mind a little while to catch up.
“Got plans for today?” Luke asked as she watched the flowers sway from the large glass doors at the rear end of the house.
She hesitated. “I was going to go to the market, actually. I wanted to look for some stuff for the store and then I have to be back in the afternoon for the first flower delivery.” Her hands lifted up to tug nervously on her earring. “D-Do you want to come with me? You and Sadie,” she added hastily. “It’s that outdoor market beyond the Larkins’ place, so she’ll be fine to come too.” She shut her mouth with a snap before she could ramble.
“Sounds good,” he said casually, but there was a gleam in his eye that told her he was pleased to have been asked. “You ready now?”
Reluctantly, she turned away from the view and nodded, taking in his blue jeans and grey tee tuckedin. Maybe the view on this side of the glass wasn’t so bad either.
The market was busy, as it always was, but it was her first time navigating the bustle with a dog at her side. Sadie was loving it, though, excited by the scents and sounds and, above all, the people.
“We come here a lot,” Luke explained as Sadie tugged them on a specific route that led straight to a food stall with roasting sausages, burgers, and more. “Sadie knows where all her favorite stalls are.”
April chuckled and handed over some money to the man on the stall so she could buy Sadie a sausage treat. “Does she know tricks?”
Luke nodded. “I mean, she’s trained. She’ll sit, lie down, and do paw.”
April backed up so they weren’t in the way of the stream of people moving over the grass toward the vendors. “Sadie, sit.” The dog immediately dropped down, eyes focused entirely on the perfectly crisp sausage April held. She tossed her a chunk. “Good girl.” Sadie swallowed it in one gulp and then panted, eager for more. April laughed and called out commands until the whole treat was gone.
They kept wandering between stalls and April stopped at one that sold hand-woven throws. She was immediately drawn to a pale-green one, but it was overshadowed by the bright orange next to it that she instantly fell in love with. Luckily, Luke had brought abag and she was able to bundle up the material inside to carry it more easily.
Next came a stand with fresh-baked pastries. They all looked mouthwatering, and April was struggling to choose just one, so the woman let her and Luke sample several. Luke popped a piece of chocolate éclair into his mouth, his eyes growing wide with pleasure as he chewed. As he swallowed, he reached for a piece of sugared donut which he held up to April’s mouth. Obligingly, she parted her lips and let him drop the delicious treat onto her tongue. It practically melted in her mouth, and she couldn’t stop herself from sucking the remaining sugar from his thumb.
“Behave, Jones,” Luke murmured in a warning tone, his eyes alight with want. “There’ll be plenty of time for that later.”
April smirked, relishing the effect she had on Luke. She wiped her lip with her finger and sucked the sugary tip. She removed it from her mouth with a tinypop, and said in a low tone, “Consider that payback for the blackberry jam incident, Pointer.”
Luke laughed under his breath, before stepping closer and pressing a kiss to April’s upturned lips. She could still taste a hint of chocolate as he pulled away, grinning.
In the end they bought a selection of pastries and had them placed in a box to eat when they were done, before heading off to browse the remaining stalls.
The sun was still shining brightly and, when Aprilturned, a glimmer caught her eye and reminded her that she’d wanted some sun-catchers for the store. They headed in the direction of the stall and several immediately stood out to her. One in particular was shaped like a sun, with bits of sparkling glitter on the edges in a gilded effect that sent out sprinkles of rainbows across the black backdrop behind the display.
That piece was wrapped up within seconds and tucked safely in her bag, but then she got talking to the stall’s owner, Jessa, and it turned out that she took commissions. They swapped info, and April was buzzing with excitement at the thought of custom viola and lily sun-catchers—maybe even one with the store’s logo. By the time they found a seat on a bench and broke open the box of pastries, she was wondering if this had been one of the best days of her life so far.
“How is it?” Luke pointed to the brownie in her hand and she nodded, offering him a bite which he accepted. “Holy shit, that’s gooey.”
She laughed. “How’s yours?” He’d opted for a large pain au chocolat that looked incredible.
“Sogood,” he mumbled around the flaky pastry. “I think I saw a stall up there that had blackberry jam if you want to go look? I know it won’t be as good as your mom’s,” he teased, “but it might be nice to take something back for her.”
The fact that he was thinking about her mom was incredibly sweet. “That’s a great idea. There’s usually a lemonade stand here that does the best—”
“Raspberry and elderflower?” he finished, eyes sparkling. “Hellyes. That’s one of my favorites. Let’s do those two stalls and then we’ll probably have to get going,” he said, glancing down at his phone. “I don’t want you to miss your delivery.”
In the end, they visited three more stalls. The one with the jam, the other with the lemonade, and one more that had the most gorgeous candles with different crystals embedded into the wax. She took a business card from the stall too, mind whirring away as she considered the different products she could also stock in the store.
They climbed back into the car, settling Sadie in the back on a thick blue blanket, and set off for the store. They had just less than an hour until her delivery was due, so they had left the market at the perfect time.
Noah, Emma, and Izzy were meeting them at the store to help sort and place the stock, and April was beginning to get nervously excited, her mind racing ahead to everything they needed to do that afternoon.
A large hand touched her knee and she froze, only realizing it had been bouncing up and down when Luke gently applied pressure.
“Excited?”
She nodded. “Anxious, too. I think I’ve thought about everything that could go wrong, but I’m also sure I’ve forgotten something.”
He laughed. “If I were a gambling man, my money would be on you, Jones.”