Forget Me Not (12 page)

Gideon leaned against the front counter. “This is the only statement I’ll make at this time.”

An audible groan rumbled from the crowd. Gideon knew he should have offered more than that. He’d just helped his team win a Super Bowl championship for God’s sake. Plus, if he wanted to keep up in this industry, and he did, he would have to put himself out there to the media as well as show some support to his team. He couldn’t think about anything else but his family.

Despite his overt brush-off, the reporters, photographers, and DJs all shoved their business cards at Gideon. He tossed each one on top of the counter. His mother would be disappointed if he threw them into the garbage in front of them. He would wait until they all disappeared first.

Besides, before he could do any kind of press, he would have to talk to his coaches and agent. Then he would have to patch things up with Dennis.

Gideon shifted his weight to the side with his injured knee. Yes, he would need to see someone about that. When he could find some alone time, he would handle his personal business.

One by one, people cleared out of the store until the fan who had followed Gideon from Janelle’s store remained.

“I’m afraid I don’t have any flowers left.” Gideon went behind the counter.

“I know. I wanted to tell you something about the woman at the other store.” Dudley pressed his belly against the counter and leaned forward.

Although Gideon hated gossip, knowing that he could get better insight into Janelle Gold’s life intrigued him. He remained quiet as he stared at the man.

“Her employee told me that she’s growing that plant to enter it into some contest. Virginia’s Best Plant and Flower show or something like that.”

Gideon knew the competition well. His mother had entered it annually and usually won the award for best floral arrangement. Once they’d gotten home, she would give the ribbons to Gideon. At the time, the show hadn’t allowed anyone younger than eighteen to enter. They hadn’t known that Elizabeth’s entries had actually been done by Gideon.

“Why would you think I would be interested in that?” Gideon wiped down the counter.

Dudley shrugged. “I don’t know. I figured you’re a competitor. I don’t know why you’re here exactly, but if you really do know about flower arranging and all that stuff, I’d say enter the contest and be a bigger champion in another area. Wouldn’t that be a hoot? A Super Bowl quarterback who’s also a florist.” He laughed.

In the customer’s revelry, Gideon ran the idea through his head. Janelle had accused him of being someone who didn’t know his way around flowers. Although she denied calling him a dumb jock, he knew
what she meant
.

She would definitely eat some crow if he showed up to the contest and beat her in her category. Winning would be the ultimate redemption.

“Thanks for the information. I think I have enough on my hands.” Gideon moved around the counter and ushered the man out the door.

If he gave a hint to Dudley that he would think about entering the contest, the news would be all over the Internet. In this situation, silence would be golden. He wanted to see the look on Janelle’s face when he walked in with an arrangement and a plant that would beat hers in a contest.

“Oh, yeah. Whatever, man. Hey, great meeting you.”

Gideon shook his hand as another man approached the door. “Hot damn. Gid the god is here.”

More than being called the boy next door or America’s Couple when he’d dated Hilary, he hated the fan nickname of Gid the god. It had started in high school and stuck with him through his athletic career no matter how much he’d tried to stop it.

“I was about to close up.” Gideon stood at the doorway to stop the shorter man from entering. As he stared at him, he started to recognize him. “Ant? Is that you?”

The young African-American man held Gideon’s hand and pulled him in for hug. “Yes, indeed. Can’t believe you remembered me. Your brother Guns didn’t.”

“You were in my same class. Gunnar is older.” Gideon would leave out the fact that Ant had annoyed Gunnar…and him.

“What do you mean you’re closing early?” Ant managed to slip under Gideon’s arm to go into the store. “What is this place?”

“A flower store.”

Ant turned around. His halo of hair shaped in a circular
A
fro framed his face. Gunnar could do a lot with a head of hair like that.

“Pick ’N Clip. This isn’t a flag football league?”

Gideon suppressed a laugh before he answered the delusional man. “No, this is my mother’s place. I’m running it while she’s out.”

Ant raised his hands in the air. “I can’t get a break. I thought your brother was
managing a gym, and that turned out to be a hair salon. And now this.”

Gideon suppressed a chuckled as he regarded the diminutive man and his troubles.

“Can’t you change the place now that you’re here?” Ant placed his hands together in prayer form.

This time, Gideon couldn’t help but laugh out loud at Ant’s request. “This is not my place to change. Come on. Valentine’s Day is coming up. You want to place an order? Maybe something for your mother?” Gideon pointed to an arrangements book on the counter. “Nothing like getting some flowers sent to the only woman in your life.”

“Hey, I have a girlfriend.” Ant puffed out his scrawny chest that hadn’t changed that much since their high school days.

“I’m sure you do.” Gideon smiled, but another chuckle threatened to make his way out of his mouth at any moment.

“Forget you, man.” Ant stormed out of the store.

Gideon took that moment to lock the front door. He exhaled. He felt as though he’d been holding his breath in all day.

Victor appeared from the back
-
room area. “Everyone gone?”

“Everyone and everything.” Gideon raised his hands again. “I gave Janelle’s place a shout out. I hope that gets her some business.”

“Aww, that was nice of you.” Victor patted Gideon on his cheek. “Queen Elizabeth raised nothing but gentlemen.”

Gideon smiled but kept his mouth clamped shut so he wouldn’t say anything disparaging about his younger brother. “Did you get a status update about the rush order? We’ll definitely need more flowers. If they can’t make a rush shipment, we’re going to be taking orders. I have a feeling while I’m here, business will be booming.”

“That’s a good thing for Queen. I’m sure her medical bills will be high.”

“Even if her businesses failed, her medical bills would have been paid for. Between me and my brothers, we would make sure she’s taken care of.”

For as much as Elizabeth Sommerville had done for Gideon, Gunnar
,
and Thane, paying for her bypass surgery would be the least they could do for her.

As he looked at Victor, he realized his mother’s reach and responsibility. She had employees. She had people depending on her for their lifestyles. Gideon felt a sense of pride to step into his mom’s shoes.

“It was a good day today, huh?” Gideon braced his hands on the counter as Victor put money from the register into a bank bag.

“Very good day. Would you mind it terribly if I hung your body from a flagpole in front of the doors to get people to come in here?” Victor giggled.

“I’d mind it a little. It’s cold out there.” Gideon slipped on his jacket and glanced down at his watch.

Before leaving the store, he called his mother.

“Darling, did you go back up to the hospital?” Elizabeth’s smooth voice oozed through the phone.

“No. It got really busy here today.” Without saying a word, Gideon pointed to the bank bag and then pointed to himself to see if Victor needed him to drop off today’s take at the bank.

Victor shook his head and put on his coat. He flung his purple scarf around his neck. Then he slipped on his red leather gloves. The man loved his colors.

“Are you still at the hospital?” Gideon asked as he opened the door for Victor.

“Uh, no. Gunnar needed some space.”

The way his mother made the statement and her tone gave Gideon a niggling feeling of concern. “So are you at your house?”

“Yes, getting dinner ready. Are you coming by?”

“How can I refuse a home-cooked meal from you?” Gideon smiled as he unlocked his car. “See you in a bit.”

“Do you want to ask Janelle if she wants to come to dinner?”

That uneasy feeling came across Gideon again. “No. I need to talk to you about her when I get to your place.”

After disconnecting the call, Gideon worked on getting the ice off his windshield and Victor’s before going to his mother’s. He parked in her driveway, thankful not to meet with a ravenous team of paparazzi.

He thought that being in Virginia, he would be able to avoid those trappings. He could only hope that with time, the fervor would die down and he could live a normal life until training time.

Although his mother would encourage him to walk in the house, he felt odd doing so now. He rang her doorbell and waited. A tall, dark-skinned African-American woman answered the door. With her two large
A
fro puffs on the sides of her head, Gideon couldn’t tell her age. She wore a tight T-shirt with the word
Fancy
emblazoned across the front and tight black leggings. Was she someone from the community center or one of his mother’s many employees?

The longer he stared at her, the more he noticed something unusual with her face. Although the pound of makeup she’d used around her eye probably hid something sinister, she couldn’t disguise the swelling. Gideon felt his pulse racing even though he didn’t know this woman, didn’t know her story. For all he knew, she could be a friend of Gunnar’s, a female MMA fighter. The way she stood so delicately and looked at him like a savior, he had a feeling she hadn’t asked for the fight she must have engaged in to get that souvenir.

“Well, well, well. Aren’t you a sexy thing?” She nibbled on her bottom lip.

Definitely not a teenager. Then again, nowadays young people said things that he would have gotten punished for had he uttered the same comment at that age.

“Thank you.” Gideon peered into the house to give this woman a hint that he wanted to be out of the cold.

“I suppose you want to come inside…of the house I mean.” She winked.

“Move aside and let my son into the house.” Elizabeth held the woman’s waist and eased her off to the side.

Like a teenager, the stranger rolled her eyes and moved away from the door.

Queen, in a crisp, white button-down blouse and black slacks, opened her arms to welcome Gideon.

“Hey.” Gideon hugged his mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Honey, this is Shay. She works at Press ’N Curl. She’s staying here until she can get on her feet.” His mother put her hand on Shay’s shoulder. “Shay, this is my middle child, Gideon Wells.”

“Nice to meet you.” Gideon put his hand out to her.

“Oh, no. I’m a hugger.” Shay threw her arms around Gideon’s neck and held him
tight enough that he could feel every part of her body. Gideon wished he’d worn all of his football padding.

Being a gentleman, he patted her back and attempted to let her go. Shay held onto him harder.

“Mmm, he even smells good.” Shay nuzzled her nose into the crook of his neck and took a deep whiff.

The feeling of air by his neck tickled. Gideon shrugged and tried again to get out of Shay’s embrace. She held him tighter. This woman needed to be a tackle or linebacker.

“Let that boy go.” Elizabeth cocked her head as she regarded Shay. “Go set the table, please.”

“Fine. You know how to ruin a girl’s fun.” She winked at Gideon before she trotted off to the kitchen.

“She’s, um, something.” Gideon removed his coat and hung it in the closet. “How long has she been here?”

“Only a few days.”

He waited a beat before continuing with his questions about Shay. “Did she slip and fall on the ice? I noticed her cheek looks a little swollen.”

Elizabeth held her son’s hand. “She has some issues.” She smiled. “Don’t we all?”

He felt that anger flaming up inside of him again. “Anything I need to do?”

“No,” Queen responded quickly. “You know I don’t like confrontation. It’s been taken care of.” She took a deep breath.

He recognized Queen’s desire to get off the subject as fast as possible. “Whatever you’re cooking smells great. And I skipped lunch, so I am starving.”

“Good. It’s all done. We can sit down and you can tell me about your day.” Elizabeth linked her arm around Gideon’s and walked him to the formal dining room.

Gideon stopped by the table. “Not until you tell me about Gunnar.”

Elizabeth glanced into the kitchen where Shay moved around getting dishes to set the table. “Later.”

Gideon nodded. “Now that I’m home, I think I want to get back into competing.”

“What do you mean, darling?” She rested her hand on her hip.

“Flower arranging. I hear the flower show is coming back in town. Have you already entered?” He had a plan to knock Janelle down a peg or two since she assumed he didn’t know anything about flowers.

“I haven’t. And I really didn’t think you would want to do it again with me. How nice. I think it’s a great idea.” She kissed his cheek. “I’ve been growing some white roses in the greenhouse at your house. They would make perfect for the arrangement.”

He rubbed his hands together. He had a plan for the plant. He would use their beauty to crush the competition. Now he felt like the old Gideon Wells. This flower competition couldn’t match the excitement of the Super Bowl, but it would mean something to him. Seeing the shock on Janelle’s face would be payment enough.

He faced his mother. “By the way, why did you want me to invite Janelle Gold to dinner?”

“You didn’t find her pleasant?” His mother crossed her arms over her chest.

“I know you taught me to never say anything negative about anyone, especially women, so I’ll say that I must have caught her on a bad day.” Gideon would leave out the fact that the woman had shot laser beams out of her eyes at him, especially when she’d
discovered her customer had come to Pick ’N Clip without buying anything at her establishment.