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“I don’t know. I guess I read sometimes or look
for ways to make my business better.” She shrugged and looked out
the window, not wanting to make eye contact and see what he was
thinking about her. That’s why she didn’t really have any friends.
There was nothing to talk about with them.
    “It sounds like you are in desperate need of
a hobby,” he said, flatly.
    “Well, what do you do for fun?” she asked
defensively.
    “Well, I go fishin and shoot some pool
sometimes. Oh, and I just love playing horseshoes at my brother’s
trailer park.” He faked a really bad red neck accent and then let
out a snort. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. That’s just usually
what people assume when they look at me. Really, I like to learn
new things. Sometimes I read or I just go out for a walk and talk
to people or look at things. I take martial arts classes sometimes;
nothing major. I don’t know, I’m just one of those people that
enjoys everything.”
    Clarke was taken aback by the answer he
gave. How could someone like everything or find time to do so much?
They were clearly at the opposite ends of the spectrum. In fact,
they’d probably never talk again after he was done with the shop.
But she found it surprisingly interesting to learn about how
someone else lived. “That certainly isn’t what I expected from you,
but it’s interesting. I just don’t have the time for hobbies.
That’s the trade off of having a career.”
    He took another sip of his coffee and looked
her up and down like he was studying her. She began to feel a
little uncomfortable. “What?” she finally asked.
    “I’m just trying to understand why you feel
that you’re so imperfect; that everything you do is so imperfect.”
She blushed, wondering how he could guess such a thing about her
when he didn’t even know her.
    “What makes you think that’s how I
feel?”
    “Because that’s why you always work and do
nothing else. It’s like you think you don’t deserve to do anything
else and that if you don’t keep working on it, you’ll be
criticized. Otherwise, you’d be at home right now instead of
micromanaging the cleanup of your closed shop.” He winked at her
and stood up, throwing his paper cup into the trash before heading
out the door.
    “You coming?” he asked, holding the door
open for her. She shook her head as if coming out of a trance and
followed him out the door.

Chapter Ten
    Clarke looked around as Vince flipped on all the lights in the
shop. It had been less than a week since he started working on it,
and it looked great; ready to open. He’d gotten an inspector in
over the weekend to make sure everything was safe, and they gave
the go ahead. All she needed now was to get in the new shipments of
flowers. “I can’t believe what a great job you did,” she told
Vince, reaching for her phone. “I was so scared that this place
would never be the same.”
    She walked into the office, which still
needed some work done to it. The desk had been warped and melted,
and there were still a few chunks out of the wall. But the burning
smell was gone which was a blessing in and of itself. She dialed
Katie’s number and got her on the second ring.
    “Hey, Katie, is there any chance I could get
you to come in today? We have to start ordering flowers again and
restocking. It might take a few hours.”
    “You mean the shop’s alright?” Katie asked
in a cheery voice. Clarke hated to admit it, but she’d missed that
voice. “That’s so great. I was so worried.”
    “Yeah, I found a guy that could fix it up
real quick, and it’s been inspected. There are still a few minor
things, but it’s safe to be in.”
    “Well, I guess I’ll see you as soon as I
drop the kids off at daycare, boss. Do you want me to call in
anyone else to help out?” Katie asked. Clarke knew she was trying
to help their employees get some hours and get paid since they’d
been out of work for several days, but Clarke was being more
practical