Nine o'clock. Time for the shop to open. Mama had already unlocked the door and was sitting behind the counter, bagging up the new shipment of seeds. And here I was, not even dressed to go in public. Mama glanced up at me as I walked through the door to the shop and had to look back up from disbelief.

"Popuri, darling… What's wrong? Are you sick?" she asked.

"It's nothing, Mama. I just couldn't sleep last night is all," I yawned out.

"Well, if you're tired, the flowers can wait a bit and you can go back to bed for a little while?" she was still focused intently on bagging.

"Nah, I won't sleep a wink tonight again if I let myself sleep in."

She never looked up from her work. But that was just Mama whenever Papa was on one of his excursions. She was a nervous wreck about getting things done. They had to be done right then and there, or everything would just be out of whack. I didn't really understand why Papa continued to go on his journeys when he knew the sadness it brought her to have him away. For two seasons, he would be out gallivanting. Mama told me that he used to take her with him. But since I was born, she stopped going, so she could take care of me in a stable environment. I never told Mama, but when he returned last time, late at night, I happened to be awake. I could have sworn I heard a woman's voice at the door. She sounded young, but the voice was unfamiliar. I didn't know what to do, so I simply went back to sleep.

With the way Mama had been acting since he left two weeks ago, I was beginning to think she had heard the woman's voice, as well. She had never been one to talk badly about him in front of me. But I could pick up the sarcasm in her voice when she would talk about his latest excursion at dinner. The women in town would snicker when I mentioned him. It made me wonder if everyone but me knew that my father had been less than honest to Mama. It made me sad to think they had grown apart. They used to be one of the most loving couples to date. Everyone wanted a marriage like theirs. Papa would take her on trips, or when he went alone, he would bring her back the most beautiful flowers and seeds that he had found. One time, he even brought her back a beautiful sapphire necklace. And I couldn't help but notice that she had stopped wearing it last year.

But all of this was never told to me. I was forced to figure it out in my eighteen years. There were a lot of things I hadn't been taught in my life. I never went to school because Papa wanted Mama to teach me. All I ever learned was reading and writing. No math, science, or history did I ever learn. I never learned how to ride a bike like the rest of the kids. I never learned how to climb trees. There were more things I had NOT experienced in my life rather than things I had. And one of the most crucial things that I had never experienced was a kiss.

I guess it's weird of me to value a kiss so highly. But I just wanted to kiss a boy so badly. I was the only girl in town who hadn't kissed somebody. And to think eighteen was how old Mama was when she married Papa just made me sick. She had seen and been through it all by eighteen. Because of how worldly they had been at my age, though, I had been sheltered to an unrealistic degree, mostly by my father. Poor Gray had finally worked up the guts to ask my father's permission to take me to the flower festival the spring I turned sixteen, but Papa refused. He told Gray to find a girl of a suitable age to date. I was so angry with Papa for that, but I never let him know that. Gray probably would not have been my first choice as a date, but he was a date, nonetheless. Despite his shyness, I possibly could've even convinced him to kiss me before the night was over, too. Come to think of it, that red hair and those blue eyes and that cute little smirk he had every now and then did make for a pretty handsome face. It didn't matter anymore though, because my father had successfully shooed him away.

I had been thinking of all this while getting dressed and brushing through my long, strawberry hair. I didn't realize it had taken up a whole hour. Hurriedly, I slipped on my shoes and just as I was about to head for the door, Mama poked her head in.

"There's a young man here to see you," she gleamed, "and might I add, he's not bad looking."

A boy was here to see me? A good looking one? And Papa wasn't here to send him away. I almost wanted to pinch myself to make sure this was reality. I could feel my cheeks getting hot. My pulse was rushing. Suddenly, I was back in reality and Mama was giving me a weird look.

"Well, do you want to see him or not?" she laughed.

"O-of course! Tell him I'll be there in a couple minutes. I just need to put on a bit of makeup first."

I threw some powder and blush on, and topped it off with a bit of mascara. No need to be too ambitious. Trying to do too much would either take too long or look bad because it was rushed. It would have to do. I checked myself one more time before going through the door to the shop, not knowing what or who to expect.

I walked into the room and found a rather tall, but strong looking red head dressed mostly in khaki, besides his blue hat—Gray. He was having a rather pleasant conversation with my mother about crop season, which was extremely foreign for him. I had barely heard him speak ten words since I'd known him. Not that I was complaining, oh no. This was a very pleasant surprise. He hadn't given up on me quite yet. My heart began to flutter as I thought of all this in the few seconds before he turned to me and uttered, "Well, um, hey there, Popuri."

Smiling at his awkward greeting, I replied, "Hi, Gray. What can I do for you on this fine day?"

He blushed, "I need to talk to you about something… Uh… About flowers. I need your advice on flowers."

It was too funny. His intentions were so clear that I knew them before we even got past the small talk. He wanted to take me to the beach festival this Saturday. What else could he possibly want? No one needs personal advice on flowers. My mother could've handled that. Besides, he was very obviously blushing through his sun burn. What's so embarrassing about advice on flowers? I was practically squealing with joy on the inside, as I eliminated all the disappointing reasons he could be here and was left with the one I wanted.

I looked at Mama and laughed a bit before turning back to Gray, who was now standing about five feet away from me, "Well, I can certainly help you with that. What do you need help with?"

"I, uh… Need you to come out to the ranch and look at something for me. That is, if you don't mind. I don't mean to be no trouble or nothing. If you ain't got time, that's fine. I'll just come back tomorrow. I shouldn't have shown up unannounced. That was real stupid of me. I'll just be going now, and I'll come back another…" He started for the door.

I interrupted, "You came at just the right time, actually. I just need to show my own flowers a little love and then I'll be able to accompany you to your ranch to help."

He stopped and turned around and took off his hat and squeezed it in his hands, "That'd certainly be real nice of you… Tell you what, I'll help you out with your flowers since you're so kind to help me."

Mama chuckled at the two of us, "Popuri, I can handle the flowers here. It'll be lunch time soon anyway. Go on and help the boy with what he needs."

I nodded and Gray thanked her in his own little socially awkward way. We began down the path to his family's ranch. I hadn't really been down this way a lot. The only reason I ever left town was to go pick flowers by the mountain. The new rancher hadn't really shown much interest in getting to know me, so I'd only been by there once. Karen and Ann were both older and married, so I didn't pal around with them anymore. And Papa would never allow me to go see Gray after he tried to ask me out. I had attempted to go apologize for my father's "protective nature" under the guise of delivering seeds, but Papa had refused to let me go there. By the time he left on another journey, it was months later, and I figured Gray had forgotten about me anyway.

Trying to break the silence, I began "It's been a really long time since I've been down this way. I haven't been to your house to see Ann in ages."

"I know. She's all the time busy with her family. Strange to have your little sister marry before you do."

"Yeah, I bet. How old are you now, anyway, Gray?" I asked.

"Twenty two," he snickered a bit, "Lord, your daddy would have a fit if he knew you were going with me to the ranch."

"Don't worry about him. He'll be gone until the winter. And even if he wasn't, what's he gonna do? I'm eighteen now," I boasted.

He looked pleased yet he replied, "Still though, I don't like doing stuff behind people's backs. But I will admit, and pardon me for saying so, your daddy is a bit too protective of you. I remember back two years ago when I tried to ask you to the flower festival and he told me to get on somewhere. Now, I didn't know you was a year or two younger than Ann, but still. You was sixteen. That's when most of the girls around here start looking, if you know what I mean."

I blushed a bit and looked at the ground, "Oh, believe me, I know."

A few more steps and we were on Green Ranch soil. It had actually gotten prettier since the last time I saw it. I supposed it was because they had an extra hand working there now, Cliff, Ann's husband. Not to mention, Gray had learned to almost single handedly tend to all the animals at the ranch, leaving the rest of the chores to Ann and Cliff. Mr. Green had come down with a respiratory illness that left him unable to do hard labor, so the kids ran the ranch while he kept the feed store they had running.

I looked around some more. There were some empty plots that had been plowed around Cliff and Ann's house and the edge of the pasture. Gray led me to the closest one and stopped.

"I was wondering if this here was good soil to grow pink cat flowers in…" he reached down and picked up a clump of dirt.

Giggling, I answered, "Of course! Any soil is good for them. My Papa picked those seeds to bring back from his travels because they're so easy to grow."

He blushed, "Oh. Well, uhh… Good. Guess I didn't waste any money on the seeds, then."

Smiling, I couldn't help but say, "Of course, when they're grown, I expect a freshly picked bouquet from you for helping."

He blushed deeper, "Ann… uh, she told me them were your favorites?"

I had a feeling she had something to do with this. But I confirmed, "She would be correct."

He kicked some dirt around, "So, I guess I should walk you back. Wouldn't want to make a lady walk home by herself."

We started back to my house, and by the position of the sun, I would say it was around noon. I wondered if he would invite me to the beach festival. My heart was so set on it. The flowers were a sweet gesture, even though he wouldn't openly admit, even to me, that he was growing them for me. But I wanted more than a sweet gesture. I wanted a date. I wanted to be kissed. Eighteen years of wishing and hoping had finally caught up with me. I was almost willing to ask him if he didn't ask me.

As we arrived at my door after an almost silent walk into town, he began to say something, "I really appreciate your walking all that way and giving me your opinion, ma'am. I'll be sure to fix you up a real nice bunch of them when they bloom… Uh… Popuri…?"

About to burst at the seams, I answered, "Yes…?"

"I... I'm not real good with being romantic or anything, but I'd like to take you out sometime. I would say the beach festival, but I have to go out of town this weekend to go buy some supplies to start restoring the barn. Oh, and I don't like going behind nobody's back so I asked your mama if it'd be okay, and she said yes. I guess we have until your papa gets back to go on that date, then," he nervously blurted out.

Almost in disbelief, I chimed, "Of course! Just let me know when you'd like to go. And as far as Papa goes, I wouldn't worry about him. Mama will deal with him when he gets back."

He tipped his hat, "Yes, ma'am. I'll let you know. You have a good day, now."

I could feel my cheeks hurting from smiling as I told him bye. I caught myself smiling a lot the rest of that day. I was going to get my kiss from Gray Green. It was so strange to have him open up to me finally. He had always been so quiet. But with a little prodding and questioning, he started talking and making conversation just like anybody else. I couldn't wait for the day he would ask me on a date. I hoped he wouldn't wait too long. I had waited eighteen years for this. My patience was gone.