Page 16 of A Bouquet of Dreams

He exhaled, like he could see he wasn’t convincing her of anything. “You should go to Sunrise. Go see Rose. Talk to her.”

“I will never go back. Neither will Jaime or Tessa. You ruined it for us. You burned the whole town down.”

“The fire burned Rose’s shop and damaged the two buildings on either side. I didn’t burn the whole town down.” He held her gaze with a stubbornness that surprised her. “And I didn’t have a ‘get out of jail free’ card. I spent a year in a state prison. That time changed me.”

Did it? She wondered.

He sensed her skepticism. “God picked me up and set me on solid ground. And I thank him for it every day.” He crossed his arms against his chest. “Jaime’s come back. She’s working at Rose’s.”

“No she isnot.”

“Yesshe is so.” A slight smile tugged at his lips. “You don’t know everything, Claire Murphy.”

“I know what I know.”

“Do you? Because I think you just know what you think you know.”

For one brief moment, they were bantering the way they used to.

He lifted one eyebrow. “So how did I walk on water?”

She shrugged. “Every magic trick has an explanation. You taught me that.”

“Yep. You were a quick study. Best assistant I’ve ever had.”

Do not look at him, she told herself.Don’t do it.She kept her eyes on the top of the desk. She refused to get sucked back into his charms. She’d been down that road before, and it took a long, long time before she felt like herself again. He was the reason she had a habit of dating guys a few times, then ghosting them. Trust issues. She didn’t trustherself.Clearly, she had terrible judgment about men.

“So what’s the explanation?”

She wasn’t entirely sure. “Your shoes. Clear heels?”

He lifted his foot in the air so she could see his shoe for herself. “Nope.”

“Was there a top to the tray?”

He shook his head.

No, she hadn’t thought so. Water sloshed as he nearly tumped over.

“Sometimes, the simplest explanation is the correct one.”

Right.He had taught her that too. But she couldn’t quite figure out this trick.

“See? You don’t know everything.” He was enjoying this ... too much.

“I know that you chose Tessa over me.” That seemed to put the damper on him.

His eyes sobered. “I suppose it might have seemed like I chose Tessa over you.”

“It was my birthday. You were holding her in your arms onmybirthday. I saw you! Don’t deny it.” Claire had always felt a twinge of jealousy over Tessa’s God-given looks. Every guy in high school drooled over her. Truly drooled. Faces went slack, mouths hung open. Jaime and Claire called Tessa a male magnet. They said it in a teasing way, but there was truth behind it. And envy.

He let out a sigh. “I’m not denying anything. Whatever you saw, it didn’t mean I didn’t care for you. I did. I still do.” He picked up his hat and beard and mask and went to the door. “You know, Claire, it’s not such a bad thing to get to a point where you realize life isn’t working out very well on your own. To know you need Christ.”

As his hand reached the doorknob, she said, “Donottell Rose or Jaime how to find me. Promise me.”

He turned to face her. He was silent while he mulled this over. “Can I ask why?”

“No, you can’t.” She wasn’t a teenager anymore. She’d learned a lot about life in the last seven years. And she didn’t want Chris to be the one who set things in motion for her. If she ever did go back to Sunrise to face Rose, she wanted to be the one to do it. “The least you can do is to honor my request.”

---