Page 48 of This Feeling

All I could do was nod…though I had my doubts about Sean.

Once I got back into the house, I looked everywhere for Harper but couldn’t find her. What Ididfind, however, was Sean and Caroline, huddled together in a corner with their heads bent together, laughing at something one of them had said. I glanced around to see where Caroline’s boyfriend was, but didn’t spot him anywhere, either.

Frowning at the two of them, I vowed to talk to Sean and find out what in the hell was going on.

An hour later, I was pulling into my spot at the back of the toy store. Music softly floated down from the roof of the flower shop, and I smiled. I knew the right thing to do would be to head up to my own little apartment, watch a movie, and go to sleep. But the devil on my shoulder pointed out that wasn’t what Iwantedto do. What I wanted to do was see Harper again.

So, I made the decision and went for it. Cupping my hands around my mouth, I called out her name.

“Harper!”

A few moments later, her head popped over the side of the building. “Hey!”

“Feel like company?”

“Um, sure. Give me a second, and I’ll come down and let you in.”

About a minute later, the back door to the flower shop unlocked, and Harper appeared. She looked fucking adorable dressed in gray sweatpants, a long-sleeve T-shirt featuring a picture of Perry, the official town moose, and her dark brown hair fell around her shoulders with the sides pulled back into a braid, with a few strands falling around her face. Her eyes looked blue against the light blue T-shirt.

“The sun’s about to go down. Come on!” she said, motioning for me to come inside.

I quickly slipped through the back door, shut, and locked it.

“Hurry, Declan!”

Following Harper up the steps, I took them two at a time, matching her speed. Jesus, did the girl run or something? Even I was having a hard time keeping up with her.

Seconds later, she burst through the door and onto the rooftop of her flower shop. I was instantly struck by how nice it was up there.

White lights were strung around randomly, and were currently lit. To my left was a freestanding hammock, and in the middle of the space was a table that seated about six people. To my right was a small kitchen area and grill. The entire perimeter of the terrace was filled with raised beds of all different styles. Some wood, some metal, and even a few little enamel tubs. All of them were filled with flowers or vegetables. Even above my head was a small pergola that had vines growing on it with small white flowers.

“Harp, this place is beautiful.”

She smiled as she glanced around. “Thanks. Wine?” She pointed to a bottle she already had open.

“Sure.”

She quickly poured a glass and handed it to me. Then, she took my free hand and led me over to where we had a clear view of Moose Lake and the sun about to set.

“Wow,” I whispered.

“I know. I come up here as much as possible to watch the sunset.”

“Is that why you left my parents’ party early, or is this a typical Friday night for you?”

She looked at me and smiled. “Were you searching for me?”

I laughed. “No, but I did notice you were gone. And so was Caroline’s boyfriend.”

Harper faced the sunset again and nodded, but didn’t say anything about that.

“So, I wish I could take credit for everything up here, but the tenant who lived here before bought all the furniture. She was from New York City, moved to Moose Village for about a year, and rented from my mother. She was a romance writer, and she wrote a book here.”

“Wow, I didn’t know that.”

She nodded. “She even worked in the flower shop some days for my mother. Her book was about a woman who owned a flower shop, and someone was trying to tear it down. I think it was made into one of those holiday movies, if I’m not mistaken.”

“That’s kind of cool.”

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