Page 5

Someone walked by the front window, passing the front door before turning around again, and walking all the way back.

By the second time they passed by, hesitating at the front door, Daisy realized that it was Ethan again.

He waved a hand at the doorknob, his long brown hair looking like freshly picked chestnuts in the late morning sunlight.

Barely an hour had passed since he last came to the shop, and yet, it felt like she was suddenly seeing him for the first time.

Even at her distance, Daisy’s eyes clung onto the scruff growing above his lip and around his chin, how it took on a different color than the rest of his hair. Somehow, it was reddish in the light, and she wondered if he happened to have some Irish blood within him.

Daisy could barely remember that there was a phone in her hand.

She only stared, her eyes fixated on Ethan, who paced in front of the shop.

He dug a hand through his hair, a motion that almost threatened to steal Daisy’s breath right out of her chest. Ethan shook his head before snatching onto the doorknob and ripping the door open.

The bell sang through the air.

Daisy was lowering the phone before she even realized she was still holding onto it. Tessa poked her head out from the office, glanced at Ethan striding through the store and back at Daisy, and hurriedly returned to the small room, pulling the door shut.

I’ll need to thank her for that later, Daisy thought to herself.

Ethan didn’t look like the clumsy man he had been before. He slipped by the aisles effortlessly, his broad shoulders no longer smacking into the vials or the countless racks hanging all around him. He walked like he was on a mission, like he knew exactly what he needed.

Daisy’s breath hitched in the back of her throat.

What was happening? What had changed? Maybe the tea she brewed for him was something else, not the energy inducing tonic she thought she had given him.

Suddenly, panic raced through her stomach.

If she had managed to give the man she dreamed of something horrendous, like a foot grower or mole remover, Daisy had no idea what she would do.

“Ethan,” she blurted before he had the chance to speak. “Back so soon?”

He placed his hands on the counter firmly, with undeniable determination.

Daisy glanced down at his palms, at his sleeves pulled up to his elbows, at the deep maroon-colored hair along his arms. She had known him for so long, and yet, she never really took in what his arms looked like, how his hands might’ve felt against her own.

The blush erupted across her face before he even had the chance to speak.

“Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?”

Daisy went still, a nervous laugh blurting out of her mouth. “W-What?”

Ethan tilted his head, the corner of his lip curling into a teasing smile. “Honestly,” he said. “Have you heard that lately?”

“N-No,” Daisy stammered, her shoulders raising. “I suppose I haven’t.”

“That’s the saddest thing I’ve heard all day.”

Her eyes went wide. “E-Ethan,” she breathed. “What’s gotten into you?”

“What’re you doing on Friday?”

“Me?”

He laughed. “Yes, you! Do you have any plans?”

Daisy could only stare in disbelief for a moment. None of it could be real, could it? In the matter of an hour, Ethan managed to make his way back to the shop, to what? Ask her out? Daisy opened and closed her mouth like a fish, searching for her ability to speak.

“No, I don’t,” she replied. “Why?”

“I’d like to take you out.”

“Out?”

Ethan grinned. “On a date, Daisy.” He tilted his head again, and he looked so handsome Daisy thought her heart was going to implode. “Can I have your number?”

“Oh,” she breathed, fumbling for some sort of paper behind the counter. “Yes, of course!” She scribbled her number carelessly on the back of a card, her handwriting looking more like chicken scratch. She passed it over the counter to him.

Ethan gingerly took the card, his fingers grazing her skin unexpectedly. “I’ll call you,” he said, his gaze holding onto her face. “Alright?”

“Y-Yes,” she whispered. “Alright.”

And before Daisy could even gather her senses, Ethan gave her a short wave and left Fields’ Herbals .

She moved like a ghost, her feet feeling as though they weren’t even touching the ground. Pushing open the office door, Daisy slipped inside, not caring about the shop as she shut it firmly behind her. Tessa stood in the center of the small room, her hands pressed together expectantly.

“Well?” she asked. “These walls are as thick as molasses, Daisy! I couldn’t hear a thing! What happened?”

Daisy raised her hands, suddenly at a loss for words. “Ethan, he,” she paused, the disbelief still clinging to her despite it all really happening, “he asked me out. He asked me out. Did I say that right? He asked -”

Tessa suddenly screeched, the sound capable of breaking glass in the tiny office.

She shot forward, her arms snapping around Daisy’s nimble frame and pulling her into a tight embrace.

Tessa was already plotting the entire evening out in Daisy’s ear, mentioning what the weather forecast was and what dresses she could borrow - since Daisy couldn’t possibly have a cocktail dress that was perfect for a date with Ethan.

Daisy sunk into her best friend’s embrace, the reality of the moment finally sinking into her skin. And when she felt drunk on her inexplicable happiness, Daisy rested her head on Tessa’s shoulder, her eyes gravitating to her desk, where a ripped piece of paper managed to catch her attention.

Now you’ll get what you deserve.

Her arms tightened around Tessa, the sinking feeling returning to her stomach.

What was still yet to come for Daisy?