Hearts and Flowers
As soon as Angela was well-sorted and the police had dealt with Andrew, Lucien raced back to the banquet hall. He'd left Jean somewhat suddenly, and he'd promised to drive her back home after the award ceremony. It was probably all over by now, and she was probably all alone, annoyed that he'd kept her there waiting. He didn't like making her unhappy and had tried recently to do better at avoiding becoming the cause of her displeasure.
But, in a stroke of luck, Lucien was right on time. They'd just begun announcing the begonia prizes. A round of applause for all the entrants, yes, lovely. Lucien entered through the back of the hall and stood there quietly as Charlie Griffiths made the announcements.
"Now, our honorable mention. The judges had some trouble with third prize. There were two plants that were equal in their splendor, so rather than choose one over the other, we've done two honorable mentions instead. And the first of those goes to Mrs. Jean Beazley." Charlie held the placard and ribbon for Jean to come onstage to collect.
The crowd had some polite applause. Lucien paid them no mind. As soon as Jean stood up from where she sat at that front table, he whistled and cheered with thunderous clapping. "Bravo, Jean!"
She whirled around at the surprising noise and blushed a bright pink to match half the begonias on the stage. Jean saw Lucien there in the back, shouting her praises and absolutely beaming with pride. She had to laugh, looking down to hide her face as she climbed the steps of the stage to collect her prize. Lucien was still cheering and applauding for her. She knew if she looked at him again, she'd burst into tears.
"Lucien," she hissed as she finally made her way back to him, carrying her plant and award card in her arms.
He ignored her gentle scolding, not caring a single bit if she was embarrassed. She deserved to be showered with accolades, and now that she'd finally gotten one, he was going to make damn sure that whole bloody town saw. "Well done, Jean," he murmured, his eyes shining brightly. "Here, let me carry that for you," he insisted, taking the beautiful white begonia from her.
"Thank you, Lucien," she replied softly. The blush in her cheeks was probably still brightly visible. But for once, she found, she didn't care.
