Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

"Welcome to—" Claire began speaking automatically but cut herself off when she saw it was her dad walking through the front door of her shop. "Oh, hey, Dad! I didn't know you were stopping in today. What's up?"

Hudson felt himself flush slightly, glad that his close-trimmed beard hid the blush. He'd been doing that a lot lately… ever since he and Lori had reconnected.

"Hi, sweetheart," he greeted in return. "And I didn't know I was coming in today either. It was an impulse stop-in, partially to say hi and partially to buy some flowers."

He tried to say this second part as casually as possible, but it didn't trick his daughter for a minute. She gave him a teasing smile.

"Oh?" she asked in a too-innocent tone that didn't fool her father for a second. "Flowers for yourself? It's such a nice, simple way to brighten up your home. That's what I've always thought. Mom did too."

He arched an eyebrow. "You know perfectly well they're not just for me, you little punk. Who raised you?"

They both grinned at that. It was a standing joke between them whenever Claire showed signs that she was a lot like the man who had raised her.

Then he paused, thinking about the last thing his daughter had said.

"You're okay with this thing between me and Lori, right? You know it doesn't mean I loved your mom any less?"

Claire's mouth fell into a surprised O. She hurried around the counter so she could look her dad directly in the face.

"Dad," she said seriously. "Of course, I'm okay with you and Lori. Actually, no, I'm more than okay. I'm thrilled for you. And I know it doesn't mean you didn't love Mom, or that you're forgetting her or anything like that." She gave him a slightly sad smile. "We'll both always miss Mom. I know that, and so do you. But she's been gone a long time, and the woman I remember wouldn't have wanted you to spend the rest of your life feeling sad and alone just because we couldn't have her with us."

Hudson cleared past the thickness in his throat. "Thanks."

"I'm not done," she said sternly, although her eyes too, were damp. "I don't know how consciously I recognized it, but after my lupus diagnosis, I resigned myself to feeling sad and alone for the rest of my life. And that felt okay… for a little while. But then I met Liam, and I took a chance. And I realized that ‘okay' is not all that I want from life, not for me, and not for you either. So not only am I okay with you finding new love, not only am I thrilled for you… I'm proud of you too, Dad."

"Okay, okay, I get it," he said gruffly. "You're going to make your old man cry, and then we'll both be embarrassed."

She smiled. "No, that would just be you, you silly man. But I'll lay off anyway. Don't want to embarrass you before your big date. Let me just say one last thing?" He nodded. "Life's a lot brighter when you let love in." She gestured around the gorgeous blooms that decorated her shop. "Stop and enjoy the colors. You'll be glad you did."

Hudson wrapped his daughter in a tight embrace, which she returned with equal force.

"Love you, Claire Bear," he murmured against her bright red hair.

"Love you too, Dad." Gently, she shoved him away. "Now, let me make you a good bouquet so you can impress that pretty real estate agent, huh?"

"Please," he said, gesturing for her to return to her work.

She shot him a look over her shoulder as she moved around the shop, picking handfuls of flowers and greenery with purpose.

"Okay, so Monica gave me this book about the language of flowers, which was apparently very popular in Victorian times. It's interesting, but most people want flowers based on how they look or smell, not on their symbolic language. But you're my dad, so I can bully you into taking whatever I give you," she teased.

He laughed. "I defer to your expertise."

"Anyway," she continued, "daisies get a bad rap for being so simple, but they're beautiful, and they grow really well this time of year. Plus, they represent new beginnings, especially romantic ones."

"That's perfect," he confirmed.

She added a couple pink flowers.

"Plus, to make it a little more visually impactful, I'm going to add some peonies, since they signify good fortune."

"Who doesn't want that?" he agreed.

"Plus some greens because… well, those are actually just because they look nice," she said, grinning. She wrapped up the bouquet with a wide, white ribbon with scalloped edges. The overall effect was elegant and deceptively simple. She presented it to him with a flourish.

"This is gorgeous. Thank you," he said sincerely. "What do I owe you?"

"You are very welcome. And you owe me nothing. Friends and family discount."

Hudson narrowed his eyes at his daughter. "Okay, well, I'll just be sneaking the money to you when you're not looking, then. Gotta support small businesses, and all that."

She shooed him away. "Stop that. You're my dad. I'm supporting you."

He laughed, letting her herd him toward the door. "I'm just saying, if you find twenty bucks you don't remember losing, you'll know why."

She shoved him out the front door, then glared at him through the glass, although the sparkle in her eye told him she didn't really mean it. He was almost all the way back to his car when he heard the door open again.

"By the way," Claire called after him, "tell Lori I said hi and have fun on your date!"

Before he could respond, she closed the door again and walked back into her shop, leaving him chuckling over how, even when she was being kind, his kid always liked to have the last word.

Lori had forgotten how much fun it was to primp and dress for a date when she wasn't quivering with nerves. Though her relationship with Hudson was still definitely in its first bloom, she felt more comfortable now that they'd discussed their perspective and intentions, and that meant that the awkwardness between them had basically evaporated. When they'd gone out for that drink to celebrate the sale of Dorothy's house, they'd talked smoothly about everything and nothing, and had both been surprised to find that hours had passed, not mere minutes.

Things between them felt at once new and comfortable, well-established. She supposed this was because they'd known one another for years… but had spent most of that time quibbling as rivals, rather than truly getting to know one another.

Well, they were making up for lost time now, she thought happily as she applied the final touches to her lipstick, only bothering to squash her smile so she didn't smudge the makeup across her face.

Promptly at seven o'clock, a knock on her door signaled Hudson's arrival. She hurried to the door, feeling practically giddy with excitement. It was silly, but she didn't care.

He looked so handsome when she opened the door that she couldn't help but pop up on her toes and press a quick kiss to his cheek, nearly crushing something between them.

"Well, hello to you too," he said, grinning as she backed up. "I'd say ‘don't squash your flowers' but I don't want to do anything that will stop me from getting a greeting like that one."

"Flatterer," she teased, glancing at the bouquet in his hands. " And you brought me flowers? You must really like me, Mr. Boone."

"I just might," he said, giving her a quick, flirtatious wink.

"Well, these are beautiful," she said, ushering him through the door. "Come inside for a minute before we head out. I want to put these in water to make them last."

He trailed quietly behind her as she walked into her kitchen. Call it a realtor's curse, but she was intensely proud of her home, and felt a blush of pleasure as Hudson trailed his finger over her counters, which were immaculate if she did say so herself, and let out an appreciative hum.

"I love this kitchen," he said.

She grinned. "I won't say it's my pride and joy, because I have two daughters… but it probably comes in third place."

He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Hey, I get it. We're house people. It's what we do."

She liked the sound of that ‘we' quite a bit.

"Anyway," she said as she grabbed a small vase from atop her fridge, "do I detect some Claire Boone handiwork in this bouquet?"

"As if I'd get flowers anywhere else," he scoffed. "But yes, she says hello."

"Hello back," she said absently, admiring the delicate petals of the flowers. "I love daisies."

"Claire says they're an underappreciated flower."

"She's right," Lori agreed. Then she bit her lip, considering. She'd worried it was too soon, but this bouquet was such a thoughtful gesture…

"Stay here," she ordered, quickly darting out of the room before she could change her mind. Leaving a bemused Hudson behind her, she grabbed the small box off her dresser and brought it back to him. "This is for you," she said.

He gave a small smile to the jewelry box she'd handed him. "Lori, it might be a bit soon to propose… and usually that's the man's job."

"Oh, hush," she said, swatting his arm playfully. His teasing had, however, made her feel better about the gift. "Just open it. I was at an estate sale, looking for staging stuff, and saw these and they just reminded me of you."

He opened the box to find a pair of stainless-steel cufflinks. They weren't overly fancy, but they had been faceted in an interesting way and… well, Lori didn't know exactly why they reminded her of Hudson, but they just did.

The way his eyes lit up suggested that this had been the right impulse. "Oh, these are awesome!" he exclaimed. He immediately started fidgeting with the cufflinks he already wore, and Lori reached out to help him. "I've never seen ones quite like these."

"The estate salesman didn't know where they'd come from, so no idea where you could see ones like them again. But I liked them."

"I like them too," he said, turning his wrist back and forth to admire the effect. He put the old cufflinks back in the jewelry box. "And I like you," he added, bending down to give her a swift kiss.

When he pulled back, her lipstick had streaked on his mouth a bit. Laughing, she got a damp towel to clean him off. By that point, they had to rush or risk being late for their dinner reservation. They hurried to Hudson's car and began driving, windows down to enjoy the balmy, summer night air.

"I think I forgot to mention this the other day," she said, eyes closed and head back against the headrest, liking the way the breeze ruffled her hair. "But I told Dorothy how you helped with her house. She said we worked well together."

When she opened her eyes, she saw Hudson's smile. "Did you need Dorothy to tell you that?"

"Nah," she said, chuckling. "We're obviously a way better team than we were rivals."

"Yeah," he said slowly. "So, I've been thinking about that…" He looked nervous as he pulled up to a red light. With the car stopped, he was free to turn to look at her more fully. "The best parts of my day are when I'm with you, Lor. And that's not just when we're spending fun time together like this. It's when we're working too. So I was hoping…" He trailed off.

"That we could do more projects together?" she supplied.

Looking a little sheepish, he nodded.

"Hudson." She grasped his hand in hers, glad, for perhaps the first time in her life, that this red light was notoriously long. "I'd love that."

His face brightened. "You would?"

"I would! We did great work together. And not only did it improve the work in the end, but it made it easier and more fun."

"I think so too," he agreed, looking relieved. "And hey, who knows, maybe one day we could make a partnership between our businesses. Then we'd be officially putting our rivalry behind us."

Lori smiled at the thought. The light in front of them turned green, and Hudson began to drive again.

"I like the sound of that a whole lot," she said as they began to drive forth into their future, together.

The series continues in Whale Harbor Blessings ! Return to beautiful Whale Harbor and spend more time with all of your favorite characters. Darla and Rick continue their efforts to grow their family, Marty and Wyatt prepare for the new baby, and Darla gets a chance to play matchmaker!