…

Part 2 of 2.

Beth learns everything she knows about plants from her mom. Annette has always loved them – so much more than flowers because, as she explains it, everyone loves flowers. Plants need some love, too.

She fills the Greene farmhouse with so much greenery, her dad, Hershel, has joked that they will have to start sleeping outside to make room for all of the plants. Beth helps Annette care for them; watering them, pulling off the dead leaves so new ones can grow, positioning them with the proper amount of sunlight, checking room temperatures. Beth sometimes even plays the piano for them or talks to them them because it is known that those things can help plants grow, too.

Beth gets her college degree in horticulture – with a minor in music – and she begins discussing plans with Annette to open their own plant store. There are so many flower shops – and yes, Beth will sell flowers, too – but she really wants to focus on plants.

Annette thinks it was one of the best things she has ever heard.

When Annette passes away from breast cancer, and completely distraught, Hershel throws all of his wife's plants from the house away, Beth is even more determined to open up her own plant store.

She almost names it Annette's, but The Greene Thumb has been the name Annette had thought of to use and most days, Beth still thinks it's the best thing she's ever heard.

…

Daryl is back and Beth tries to tell herself to not look so happy, but she can't help it because that is exactly how she feels. She doesn't even know him except that he comes in once a week to buy a new, different plant and being around him makes her stomach clench and she hasn't had a clench in her stomach like this for so long.

He's not like the other guys she has found herself attracted to in the past.

For one, Daryl is a man. Older than her with the slightest bags under his eyes as if maybe, he never seems to get quite enough sleep. His hair is dark – almost black – and it is grown long, always hanging in his face and yet Beth can't imagine – and she imagines it a lot, actually – him with short hair. Even with the jacket he wears, she can see the muscles move in his arms when he lifts one of the planted pots up and Beth has never given that much thought to muscles on a man before, but honestly, with Daryl, it seems like it's the only thing she can think about.

She shows him a cast-iron plant today. "I've had one since high school. I don't want to call it indestructible, but… it kind of is." She gives him a smile. "They grow slow and steady so I would buy one at the size you want. Low light and these guys can survive basically in any kind of temperature."

"Sounds good." Daryl hoists one of the planters up into his arms and she makes sure that she quickly moves her eyes away from his arms.

She tells herself that he probably has a girlfriend or even a wife even if he doesn't wear a ring. Of course he would have either of those things. Beth can't imagine this man in front of her being single; can't imagine that the entire female population is that blind.

She walks to the counter and hits a few buttons on her cash register. Daryl stands on the other side and hands her some cash. He never pays with a credit card and she has wanted to ask him about it more than once before she swiftly reminds herself that that is definitely none of her business.

She gives him a smile as she hands him his change. "Have a wonderful day, Daryl."

"Thanks," he says to her in that gruff voice of his that actually makes her want to shiver. He starts heading towards the door, but then he stops himself. He looks back at her. "You, too," he then says to her and Beth doesn't care how big her smile is right then.

…

She moved out after graduating from college and got her own place on the first floor with a sliding door and a private patio that she has plants both on the ground and hanging from hooks. Inside, there are plenty of plants, too.

She likes to think that her mom would have absolutely loved her place.

She goes back to the farm every Sunday though to go to church with her daddy and then to do his laundry and cook him dinner and straighten the house a bit. Hershel tells her again and again that she doesn't have to do all of these things, but Beth ignores him again and again and she sees nothing wrong in making sure that he's taken care of.

And she loves them, but she can't rely on Maggie and Shawn to look after their dad.

"You're just like your mama with all of your fussing over me," Hershel smiles.

Beth smiles, too, because comparing her to Annette is the best thing he can do.

Hershel is tinkering with the toaster that always pops bread up after just exactly ten seconds and Beth is stirring the egg noodles for the beef stroganoff she has prepared for dinner when there is a knock on the front door.

Hershel looks to the clock and then stands up. "I hope you don't mind, Bethy, but I invited someone over for supper tonight."

"Of course not, daddy," Beth smiles at him. "The more the merrier and I made plenty."

Of course, when Hershel goes to answer the door and returns a few minutes later with Mrs. Harper, a widow from church, and she's holding a pecan pie in her hands, Beth immediately wishes she could take her words back.

…

"You alrigh' today?"

Daryl's question breaks through her clouded mind and she looks at him to see that he's looking at her with a slight frown, but she won't allow herself to think that he's actually concerned about her.

They have been looking at Boston ferns today and her mind has completely wandered.

She shakes her head slightly and tilts her eyes up, looking to the man, doing her best to give him a genuine smile because there's no reason why he doesn't deserve one.

"I'm alright," she says and then clears her throat. "Um, medium amount of sun and this guy likes to stay moist. It's perfect for Georgia because Boston ferns love humidity."

She stretches on her toes to take the hanging planter down from its hook, but Daryl beats her to it. His arm stretches past her and he is so close to her, she can feel his warmth and smell his scent. She almost closes her eyes at the close proximity, but thankfully, she's able to quickly step back before she can make a fool of herself.

She goes to the counter and he follows her to pay for his newest plant. She wants to ask him why he is buying so many plants, but she won't dare, because if she asks, maybe he'll figure she doesn't want his business and he'll go somewhere else.

Any sale is a good sale, but more than that, she knows she would miss if he stopped coming here. Seeing him every week had become the highlight of her week and she can't help, but wonder if he ever thinks about her at all during his week.

She lets out a sigh. "My mom passed away three years ago and I go see my daddy every Sunday and this past Sunday, he had invited a woman over for dinner. A woman!" Beth hears herself exclaim before she can keep herself quiet and poor Daryl is looking at her, a bit frozen, and she instantly wishes she could have just held it in to herself.

"Sorry," she says and hands him his change. "I think I just need a drink."

Daryl puts his change back into his wallet, slowly and neatly as he always does. "There's a place I know not too far from here. If you wanna get a drink," he offers.

Beth sees the tips of his ears, poking through his hair, turning the faintest red. She wonders if he's just telling her where she can get a drink or if he wants her to get a drink with him.

After a moment, she decides to gather her Maggie courage. The worst thing that can happen is he gives her the name of the bar and he won't be joining her. That's definitely not the worst thing to ever happen to her.

"That sounds great," she finally says with a smile, feeling a little breathless as she looks at him. He has to have a girlfriend.

Daryl gives a nod and visibly swallows as if he's nervous. "We can walk there from here."

Now, she definitely feels like she can't breathe.

…

The bar is small and there are a few other patrons – patrons who seem like they're regulars. Beth wonders how they view the picture she and Daryl make, sitting on stools next to each other at the bar with a Boston fern plant sitting at his elbow. She offered to keep the plant inside the store until they got back, but Daryl shook his head.

"Might spruce the place up," he had said and had smiled a little when she had laughed.

Daryl orders a beer and Beth gets a whiskey sour and Daryl tells the bartender to put it on his tab, making Beth think that he's a regular here, too.

"I'm sorry for just unloading on you," she says after her first sip.

Daryl shrugs. "Sometimes, a person just gotta let it out," he says.

"I just wish I had my brother or sister to unload on, but I already know what they'll say. They'll say that I'm overreacting and it's been three years and don't I want our dad to try and be happy again."

Daryl is just blinking at her and she sighs.

"And that's what you're thinking right now, too," she concludes.

Daryl shrugs and takes a sip from his beer bottle. "'m not sayin' anything."

"But you're thinking it," she says again and she finds herself turning on her stool more so she's facing him. "It's okay if that's what you're thinking. It's the perfectly logical thing to be thinking and I know that. I just can't… it's selfish of me and no, I don't want my dad to be miserable in however many years he has left on this earth, but… she was my mom."

Beth sighs again and takes another sip of her drink.

Daryl takes another sip of his beer. "'m not good at givin' advice."

"You don't have to," she assures him with a shake of her head and a gentle smile. "Just offering to sit with me while I bitch out loud means more to me anyway."

His lips twitch upwards a little at that and her own smile bursts across her face at the site.

"You don't have a girlfriend, do you?" She finally feels brave enough to ask.

Daryl smirks a little and shakes his head, putting the bottle to his lips for a sip. "If I did, I wouldn' be sittin' here with you."

And that answer is exactly the answer – in so many ways – that she hoped he would give.

"I just hate how older siblings think they know everything. Even if they're completely wrong," Beth sighs heavily.

This time, Daryl gives something that looks a little bit more than a smirk. More like a smile. "Tell me 'bout it," he says and Beth smiles as if she understands exactly what – or who – he's thinking about.

…

Maggie sets her up on a blind date even though she really – really (she can't emphasize that enough) – doesn't want to go.

As always though, Maggie takes her answer and swiftly ignores it before going through Beth's closet to try and find her the perfect dress to wear for tonight.

The young man, Benjamin, is perfectly nice. Maggie would never set her up with a total jerk, but he's so young looking, Beth has to actually come out and ask how old he is.

He laughs at the question. "Twenty-six," he answers. "No drinking or smoking and I get eight hours of sleep a night. It does wonders," he says and she smiles a little at that.

She knows she shouldn't and it's not fair to Benjamin for her to, but Beth can't help, but look at the young man sitting across from her and compare him to a man who's older with the slightest bags under his eyes.

…

"You don't have any pets, do you?" Beth asks as Daryl picks out one of the dracaena plants that he is buying and taking home with him that evening. "This one is poisonous to animals if you have any."

"Nah," Daryl shakes his head as he hoists one of the spiky plants into his arms.

"This is one of my favorites," Beth smiles as she takes the cash he's holding out for her.

"So that mean you don't have any pets either?" Daryl asks.

Beth smiles. She is going to think that he is trying to get to know her and nothing will be able to convince her otherwise.

"My daddy was a vet before he retired so I grew up with all sorts of animals always around. I miss it." She hands him his change. "I actually would love to get a dog. He could come to work with me every day. A shop dog," she smiles at the thought.

Daryl is quiet for a moment. "That sounds real nice," he then comments in a quiet tone.

And not that Beth is the sort who needs approval from a man, but Daryl saying that, she's not going to lie to herself; him saying that sounds nice, too.

…

"After all of this time, I still have no idea what you do," Beth says.

Once again, they are sitting on two stools at the bar after she has closed up show for the night. This time, there's an aloe plant next to him. She is already wondering what is going to happen once she sells him all of the hard-to-kill houseplants.

Daryl smiles a little as he tears open a peanut shell from the basket between them. "'m a mechanic," he answers. "Over at the Chevy dealership."

"That's awesome!" Beth beams and hopes she doesn't sound as lame as she fears. "My daddy taught all of us how to change a flat tire when we first started driving. No reason to be stranded on the side of the road for that, he always said."

"He ain't wrong. 'specially a girl who looks like you," he says and even in the low lights of the bar, she can see the flush creeping up his neck at his words and he looks away.

Beth just keeps smiling though, her own stomach tumbling all about inside from his words. She takes a sip of her drink tonight – just Coke.

"That is awesome that you can do that," Beth continues, hoping he isn't too embarrassed to keep talking. "And to work for a dealership, you must be really good at it."

Daryl shrugs. "'ve just always loved it. The only thing I've ever been good at."

Beth smiles. "That's how I am with plants. It seems such like a useless, silly talent-"

"Nothin' silly 'bout bein' able to keep things alive," Daryl cuts in.

She stares at him and slowly, her mouth closes.

She has never looked at it that way, but isn't that exactly what she does? The plants around her suck up carbon monoxide and fills the air with fresh oxygen and most of her plants can also help with medicinal purposes. Plants just aren't plants. The world needs plants and using Daryl's logic, keeping her plants alive, she is keeping her own corner of the earth alive, too.

"That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me," she says.

Daryl gives her a look like maybe she's crazy, but Beth doesn't care because it's the truth. And this man in front of her is the one to have had said it.

Not for the first time in her life, she wishes she had Maggie courage to do something about it.

But instead, she just sips her Coke and Daryl eats more peanuts.

…

Benjamin calls her, seeing if she wants to go out again, and Beth does feel awful when she declines.

He's actually a genuinely nice man and he's actually showing an interest in her. She's letting her crush on Daryl though hold her back. What if she goes out with Benjamin and Daryl finally shows her that he likes her like she likes him?

Or what if she starts going out more and more with Benjamin and she suddenly finds herself in a relationship with him and Daryl never makes a move because of it?

Does he even want to make a move?

This is the first man she has ever found herself attracted to and Beth realizes that she knows absolutely nothing about them.

…

"You will love this one," Beth smiles as she helps him pick a philodendron. "It is the all-star of indoor plants. It's hardy and adapts to any kind of light level. But it is a climber and this one's toxic, too, to animals and kids so be aware of that."

"This one's good," Daryl says and he picks up one of the plants in a cream-colored planter. "This one good?" He then asks.

"It's good," she smiles warmly at him.

At the register, he hands her cash, as he always does, and Beth hands him his change, as she always does.

"You have quite the collection now," she says, admitting to herself that she doesn't want him to leave. Can she ask him out for a drink even though they just went to the bar together a couple of nights before?

She doesn't want him to think that she's some kind of lush or boozehound.

Having a crush on a man is ridiculously nerve-wracking and she's just not used to being so unsure of herself all of the time.

"Actually," Daryl starts to say and then clears his throat. He looks down to the plant and then to her. "I was hopin' you could help me."

"Of course," Beth instantly agrees.

"Some of my plants are wiltin' a lil' and I'm not sure why. I was hopin' you wouldn't mind comin' to my place and takin' a look at them. Maybe I'm waterin' 'em too much… or not enough," he says, looking to his plant again instead of at her.

Beth feels her stomach tumble. "I would love to," she says and she wonders if she sounds as breathless as she thinks she does.

…

Daryl's condo is a medium-size and clean and still smells like fresh paint.

She hasn't realized how many plants he had actually bought from her until she sees them all on a patch of tiled floor in front of his patio door. Either on the floor or hanging from hooks on the ceiling and Daryl steps aside so she can go to them.

She is quiet as she kneels down and begins inspecting each one. Pressing fingers into the dirt, touching the leaves.

She turns her head when Daryl crouches next to her.

"You're silly," she gives him a smile. "All of these look as good as the day you bought them. You have a wonderful green thumb."

Daryl is looking at all of the plants and he is rubbing a hand on the back of his neck.

"I jus' said that. That they were wiltin'," he says and Beth can't help, but have her brows furrow a bit at what he has said. Daryl clears his throat and stands up. "I didn't know how else to get you to come over."

Beth stands up, too. She wonders if this is when any other woman would start to feel nervous; being in a man's home with no one else knowing that she's here.

But standing in front of Daryl, looking up at him as he looks at anything but her, she feels anything, but nervous or scared. Actually, she feels a tightness in her chest and it is almost as if she's anticipating something; what, she has no idea.

"Daryl," she says his name and his eyes flick over to her.

"'cause I wanted to see you outside of your store or a bar," he manages to mumble. "'ve been tryin' to think of a way to see you outside the store for a while now."

Beth's stomach won't stop churning. "Why did you buy all of these plants?" She dares to ask. She knows what she hopes his answer will be, but she needs to hear it from him.

"You know," he mumbles and shrugs. Beth keeps looking at him and his ears are red again. "I bought all of these plants 'cause I knew I wanted to talk to you, but I didn't know how."

He is staring at the wall, but when she takes a step closer to him, he moves his eyes once more to her. And this time, he keeps them on her.

It's incredible to Beth; how much she can want something without even really realizing it until the second when it's presented to her.

She looks up at Daryl, feeling amazed.

She doesn't need Maggie courage right now. She can do this all on her own.

Taking another step into him, she stands on her toes, throws her arms around his shoulders and kisses him.

…

The End.

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! I'm glad I was able to write this idea out that has been in my head for months now.