Page 19 of Garden Daddy

Not that she could understand every word.Whoever was calling him was frantic, their words spilling out as soon as he answered the phone.Marcus straightened up, his expression becoming stony.His gaze cut to hers, softening with apology.

“Janet… Janet.It’s okay.Close up shop.I’ll re-open it when I get there, okay?You go with Dillon.”

Eden’s heart clenched.

This wasn’t the same.It wasn’t.

He owned the nursery.He wasn’t just another worker.Whatever had happened, it was bad, and it was ultimately his responsibility.Which meant he needed to be there.

So, this wasn’t the same as before.

Marcus sighed as he hung up the phone, his fingers tightening around hers.

“Plant emergency?”she asked, trying to push amusement into her voice.

“Sort of.One of my employees, Dillon, who also happens to be Janet’s nephew, tripped and fell.He is bad off enough that she called for an ambulance.She wants to go to the hospital with him.It sounds like he might have broken his leg.”Marcus winced, and she could practically see the wheels turning in his brain.

His sympathy for Dillon and Janet was clear, but he also had to think about things like worker’s comp and the fact that if Dillon needed the hospital, he was also going to need his hours covered.

“Do you want to come with me?”

Eden blinked.That was unexpected.Not that Marcus could have ever offered to take her with him to work in the past, but she was so used to being pushed aside and left out of anything to do with work, she’d thought it would be the same.

“You don’t have to,” he said hastily.“I can call around to my other workers and see if anyone can come in.And I can order you food to eat in the breakroom?I might even be able to eat with you if it’s not too busy.”

Not too busy on a Sunday in the summer.He was kidding himself if he thought that was possible, especially since he was going to be taking the place of not one but two of his employees.His expression became pained.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s not ideal, but?—”

Letting go of his hand, Eden reached up with both of hers to cup his face, cutting off whatever he was going to say as she went up on her tiptoes to kiss him.He relaxed as her lips pressed against his.She dropped back down, smiling up at him, and this time, the smile wasn’t at all forced.

“Tacos or grilled cheese in the breakroom sound great.”She didn’t need to explain that she was talking about getting lunch from either Andres or Owen’s food trucks, both of which would be outside the nursery at this time of day.Marcus beamed at her, his gaze full of sheer relief.

“Thank you.”

Hey, if he was going to put in the work to change, so could she.This wasn’t the same as before, and she wasn’t going to react like it was.He was including her, not pushing her away.

It made a world of difference.

11

Marcus

What could have beena disaster of a day had turned out to be… well, definitely not what he’d been hoping for, but not a total disaster, either.Mostly because Eden had taken pity on him.It could have been a lot worse if she’d gotten upset about him ending their date early, and he wouldn’t have blamed her.

The circumstances were out of his control this time, but he was sure it brought up a lot of bad feelings from the past.He’d seen it in her face when he’d first picked up the call from Janet, even though she’d been doing her best to smile and pretend she wasn’t bothered.Thankfully, she was a compassionate person who reallywasn’tbothered once she knew what was going on.

She didn’t just sit in the breakroom and eat, either.Though she did eat first—a Hangry Eden was not an Eden anyone wanted to be around.Marcus didn’t have that problem, so he grabbed bites between customers.Once she was done eating, she came out, grabbed an extra Flower Power shirt, and joined him on the floor.

Did she know anything about plants?

No.

She laughed and joked with the customers, encouraging them to teach her instead… and they loved it.She wasn’t any more interested in the details of caring for miniature roses than he was in art installations, but she smiled and listened, anyway.If he hadn’t already been in love with her, he would have fallen today.

“So, boss,” she said, hopping up on the back counter where he was organizing the receipts and balancing the register.The front door was locked, and the food trucks outside were long gone, leaving them completely alone in the place.“What kind of pay do I get for all the work I’ve done today?”

Little brat.Marcus shook his head.The sultry tone of her voice let him know exactly what she was angling for.

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