Free Forget Me Not by Crystal B. Bright Page A

placed her hand against Gideon’s cheek. “Florists are way different than football players, darling.”
    Gideon laughed again. “You are right about that. I’ll check out the store and hopefully will be back soon.”
    “Good. If not, be sure you come by the house for dinner tonight.” She kissed Gideon on his cheek.
    He wanted to spend more time with Gunnar and his mother, but duty called. He would handle it and get back as quickly as he could.
    “Oh, and once you get done at the store, make an appointment with a doctor about your knee.” His mother smiled and crossed her arms over her chest. The silk purse that hung from a gold chain dangled from her arm.
    Gideon remained quiet. He smiled and almost laughed off her assumption about his health. To stall for time, he said, “Mom, I got checked out by the team’s doctor. I’m fi—”
    “Don’t lie to me. I apologize for interrupting.” She pointed down. “I know you haven’t developed a strut in your walk after twenty years. What’s going on with your leg?”
    Gideon glanced over to the cashier area. When he noticed a couple of customers looking at him and whispering, he kept a cool head while talking to his mother.
    “I love you, Mom. I’ll try to be by your house later for dinner.” He kissed her forehead.
    “Love you, baby.” She patted his shoulder. “Remember to go see Janelle if you need anything, understand?”
    Gideon nodded. He would have to school his mother on having public conversations about him. He had seen too many real and fake stories about him in the press. For once, he wanted to control his image.
    As though on autopilot, Gideon got to Pick ’N Clip in record time. He parked in the back like he used to when he’d worked alongside Queen Elizabeth. Once he got out of the car, he realized very quickly that he no longer had keys to access the store from the locked back door. After his mother made him and his brothers sign power of attorney forms for her business, she’d tried giving him a set of keys to the store. Believing that holding the keys meant something bad would happen to Elizabeth, Gideon had refused. Now he would have to get that extra set while he stayed in town.
    “Damn.” He circled the standalone store to get to the front door.
    Nothing had changed about the place. Gideon’s mother had a way of making every place, including all of her stores, feel like home. The front of the all-white store with a black shingled roof created a great frame for the black wrought-iron trellis that surrounded the front door. His mother had ivy creeping up each to give the place a garden appeal.
    As soon as he opened the door, a fragrant bouquet greeted him. As he scanned the inside, he realized not much had changed in here either. Roses, daisies, and lilies remained housed in lit glass cases. Vases lined the shelves behind the bouquet-making counter. Streamers of different colored ribbon came off rolls on both sides of the counter. His sneakers squeaked over the brick-colored tile floor.
    “Oh, great. You’re here .” Victor put his hand to his chest as he came from the back room.
    Except for the sprigs of gray hair, Victor looked exactly the same. The diminutive Filipino man embraced Gideon before taking a step back.
    “The shipment came in.” Victor pointed to the storeroom.
    Gideon glanced around but noticed that the glass cases and shelves still looked bare. “Did you have a good sales day or something? I don’t see any merchandise.”
    “I received a shipment two days ago, and I put it all in the cases like usual. I didn’t know the thermostat stopped working.” Victor rushed over to one of the cases and opened a door. “Feel.”
    Gideon strolled over to him. He put his hand in the case to feel the temperature. Hot air surrounded his digits. “That’s too hot.”
    “No shit.” Victor covered his mouth. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to curse in front of Queen’s boy.”
    “Don’t sweat it. I’ve heard worse in the locker