Chapter 1
Lucas sighed as the last customer left him to wallow in his loneliness. If he could go back and do one thing, one thing differently he would, but knowing himself he would probably just mess things up again. He took off his globes and spotless white coat and got the keys to his shop and locked it. Hearing the wind on his face, and the smell of freshly cut grass, he walked past the sea of strangers, in a peaceful sort of mood. All day he spent working with animals, his own mother and father had abandoned him and his father was nothing but a distant memory that still sent shivers up his arm as he thought about the things he'd done to him. Even Pappy Joe had gone, without a trace leaving only a dreary funeral and thousands of plates of casseroles.
The only good thing about that black and white day was a single red flower. He could think of a thousand things that people immediately think upon receiving a red flower but it only meant one things to him; hope. Hope that perhaps, perhaps Riley had forgiven him. God if only he could see her one more time, to be able to be engulfed in that hug of hers that…
He was dragged away from his thoughts by a loud thud, 'Woops, I'm so sorry it's just that I was multitasking and checking my email and,' the world halted to a still, the sounds stopped coming through, the same shivers that he had been thinking about only moments before came back with full force although one thing was different and he smiled a bittersweet smile. This time those shivers came with a longing, a longing for a smile from her for the very girl he had just crashed into who turned out to be none other than Riley Matthews and he wasn't about to let her slip through his fingers a second time.
