Page 47 of Surrender

"Be right with you!" A pretty voice calls out from the back of the shop. I walk around slowly, admiring all of the fall-themed bouquets and potted plants.

Then, a familiar redhead comes from the back room, wiping her hands on a towel and asks how she can help me. I frown at her a little, recognizing her, but not sure from where...

The Envelope. Of course. It's the only place I go besides our running route.

"Do I know you?" she asks first, tilting her head at me.

"Do you work at The Envelope at night?" I ask.

"Yeah! I'm Nina. I've seen you there."

"Serenity," I say, holding my hand out and blushing a little. "I work The Green Side."

She nods in understanding. "And I work The Red. That's where I've seen you before."

I'm not sure why I'm blushing. She's the one that works topless.

"You know the tips are better on the Red Side, right?"

I blush harder. I know she means well but I can't imagine walking around topless for everyone to see. So, I tell her that.

"Meh, you get used to it. Do you need some flowers?"

I look down at the pretty pink roses. They're small and look like an old school variety. "Is it too late in the season to plant roses in the ground?"

Declan gave me his credit card weeks ago and keeps reminding me he wants me to make the house feel like a home, but I don'treally know what that means. I'm not sleeping on a thread-bare musty mattress anymore. That's more than enough 'home' for me. But his front garden beds are fairly bare, and maybe some nice pink rose bushes would show him that I'm putting in the effort to do what he tells me.

"Actually, no. Now's the perfect time. When the flowers and leaves fall off the plant will focus its energy on establishing thicker roots to survive the harsh Winter."

I smile, nodding. That makes a lot of sense. "I'll take four, and these three bouquets, please."

***

"Miss Jones?" I jump, startled and ready to run inside the house if I need to when a deep male voice calls my name.

I drop my trowel and turn to see Detective Johnson.

I place my gloved hand over my chest and exhale shakily.

"I'm sorry to startle you," he says, looking genuinely remorseful.

I was on my knees, back to the sidewalk, planting our new rose bushes. Nina had given me tips on how to make sure they survive the move from their pots to the ground and I'm so grateful to her. She promised to find me the next time she worked The Envelope and get to know each other. It'd be nice to have another friend. I'm not sure how awkward it's going to be, though, making a new friend while they're topless?

I smile at the young detective. "It's alright. Is everything okay?"

He nods quickly. "I just wanted to let you know that your parents have been charged with possession, public intoxication, and are looking at between two and seven years."

I swallow down the ball of anxiety that threatens to choke me. Instead, I nod and thank the young detective. I sit on thegrass and simply stare at the rose bush in front of me and the overturned pot. I know I'm not responsible for their actions, or their addictions, no matter what my mom used to tell me. I am responsible for them getting locked up, though. I won't try to pretend like I know what's good for them, but I do hope that a few years without access to drugs might help them get a second chance at life. When I was still living there, they had a constant supply of money and so a constant supply of drugs. I shouldn't have enabled their addiction, but I realize now how very much I was in fight-or-flight mode, just trying to survive a day at a time. Maybe I didn't make the right choice back then, but I really couldn't see how to escape it.

They'll go to jail, but what has my heart skipping through my chest is the thought that in two years they'll be out. Then what? Will they come after me again? Get their friends to? Would they find me at The Envelope again? Or find me here?

A wave of protectiveness overcomes me. They can't come here. I can't let them taint the one good thing that's happened to me in this life. No. They won't come here.

We say our goodbyes and I go back to my plants.

Just then the front door opens and Declan steps out, closing it behind him and peering down at me from the front porch.

"What do you think?" I ask, smiling and waving my hands over the new rose bushes.

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