Chapter Text
Sarah’s morning was so hectic that she barely made it to her flower shop on time. Her brother had just come back home and it was hell ripping her boys from his side. When she finally got them feed and to school she thought she would at least have a moment to breathe when she got to her shop. Well, at least the thought was calming, but Sarah knows better. It’s two days before Valentine’s Day and her phone is ringing off the hook with customers begging for red roses or pink Calla Lilies, anything at such short notice. One customer even begged Sarah to paint a bouquet of white roses red because it was her second Valentine’s Day in a row where she forgot to get her wife something. When the phone finally slows down customers coming to pick arrangements up pile in.
“Miss Katie! Good morning I’ve got your flowers right here. What do you think?” Sarah says smiling brightly and anxiously hoping that the old woman will hurry so that she can get to her other patrons.
“Sarah honey these are gorgeous. Thank you again for doing this. My daughter’s gonna love em.”
“ oh you know it’s no problem at all”
“ let me pay you dear” Katie pushes her glasses closer to her face and starts to dig for her wallet
“ oh no Miss Katie you paid last week when you ordered,” Sarah says with a patient smile. The old woman laughs at her bad memory and bids Sarah goodbye.
Sarah is on to the next customer asking them what they need when she hears it. The bass line of How does it feel by D’Angelo. The music is so loud that it shakes her little shop and knocks the air out of her. She excuses herself to go next door.
The lot next door had been empty ever since Sarah set up shop here five years ago. A few years before her divorce.
Sarah bangs on the door vigorously. She's so focused on getting the music down she doesn’t notice that the fist she was using to knock is now being held in a gloved hand.
“WOW” He laughs “ if I wouldn't have caught this you would have knocked me out” he moves her fist so he can see her face. That’s when Sarah’s eyes really open. Her lips are like soft pillows he wants to dive into after a long day. His shoulders look like they could carry the weight of a house and never falter. Her eyes are deep and warm like the season of spring itself. His eyes remind her of cool breezes you feel on a forgiving summer afternoon. And the yellow sundress Sarah dawns. Well, Bucky decides not to think on that for too long.
When broken out of her trans she yells “COULD YOU LET MY HAND GO” He reads her lips due to the loud music and reluctantly release her hand.
“I- could you turn the music down I need to speak with you” she yells
Bucky turns the music down. “ not a big fan of D’Angelo?”
“No. A big fan actually but the music is so loud I can’t hear my customers speak” Sarah says politely though her patience is wearing thin
Bucky raises his eyebrows and smirks “ oh yeah. All those people lined up the block to get flowers” he says sarcastically
“Well, I don’t see people busting down your door for” she looks around to see what exactly he does here. She takes in the parlor-like chairs and different outline drawings on the wall “Tattoos?”
“ yes, ma’am. I got everything in yesterday”
“ Congratulations on getting your business started but can you please keep the music down?”
“ well, we have a problem. I work faster with the music loud so maybe we can compromise.”
‘Compromise’ just one of the many words that remind her of her ex. “What’s your name?” Sarah asks politely
“James. Everybody calls me Bucky” he sticks out his hand awaiting a shake
Sarah firmly shakes it which for some reason catches Bucky off guard. He’s impressed? Aroused? Both maybe
“Sarah”
“Sarah,” he says it so slowly. Almost like he’s savoring it.
“We are gonna be by each other for a while so it only makes sense that we try to get along. You can keep the music on but can you please turn it down” she ends her request with a smile
Bucky chuckles “ people were not lying about that southern hospitality thing”
“What do you mean”
“I mean that was the nicest way anyone has ever told me told me to keep the music down or their foot would be up my ass”
Sarah looks at him perplexed “ I never once said anything about my foot or your ass”
“ nope but that smile did,” he says walking closer to her “ it was sweet. You want the music down. It’s down”
Sarah pulls her white cardigan over her chest. She feels naked with him so close “ thank you” she makes her way to the door.
Before she could walk out Bucky announces “ you know if you keep being that sweet Sarah I’ll do whatever you ask me too”
Sarah keeps a straight face to make it seem he has no effect on her. On the inside, she’s squealing like a 16-year-old girl.
Sarah didn’t even get a break for lunch. The orders and the customers just kept coming. She likes the rush though. The feeling of finishing an arrangement and the look on her clients' faces is absolutely incalculable. This never feels like work no matter how swamped she gets.
It’s two o’clock and she still hasn’t gotten to a good stopping place and the boys need to get picked up. Sam’s busy with the fishing business and the bank, so her last resort is to call her ex. “ hey Anthony, I hate to bother you but do you mind picking up the boys? I’m swamped”
“ Of course no problem. I’ll drop them off to you” Anthony says before hanging up
They don’t hate each. Things just have been awkward for the past few years. The divorce didn’t have a clear reason. Anthony just stopped trying, and in turn, so did Sarah, but they try to keep the awkwardness at bay for the sake of the kids.
Bucky’s done with the bulk of his work. He really doesn’t have that much to do, or at least that’s how he rationalizes sitting on his outside furniture “people watching”. He really just hopes to get a glimpse of Sarah again. As soon as his mind starts to think about her gorgeous legs she comes out walking to this big guy. ‘Annnnd I’m an ass hole. She’s married with kids’ Bucky mentally kicks himself. He sits and watches as they give each other a very awkward side hug and they tell the kids to get inside. The couple starts looking very serious at each other and telling each other something important which Bucky misses because he’s too busy just looking at her.
“Sarah do you mind if we talk,” Anthony asks
“Yeah sure” Sarah can feel Bucky’s eyes on her and she’s both flattered and pissed off
“I-“
“Anthony hold that thought” she walks over to Bucky giving him the same eyes he was giving her. Only more malicious. “ Has anybody ever told you, you have a staring problem?”
“ Actual more times than you’d think” he jokes.
Sarah rolls her eyes “ Anyway. Could you stop? Please” she asks with a smile
Her smile hits his heart in a way it hasn’t been hit in a while. It’s big and bright and striking though it’s defiantly forced.
“There’s that smile again” Bucky expresses while standing up “look I uh- I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Really. I’ve just been people-watching.” He smiles
“Cool. You know normally when you people watch the people aren’t 5 feet away from you.”
“Noted,” he says as he watches her walk away.
She walks back over to Anthony with her arms crossed, and kind of feeling bad for the tone she took with Bucky. That's not like her.
“Sorry bout that. What you wanna talk about?”
“Sarah I’m gonna be moving for work next week”
“Oh” her eyes go big “ where to”
“Savanah, Georgia”
“Have you told them yet?”
“No, I was thinking about taking them out for Valentine’s Day. I know that’s normally your day but”
“ I don’t mind really. They can stay the whole weekend. They’ll need time to process everything”
They say their goodbyes and Sarah goes back in the shop to hug her babies knowing the next few days are gonna be hard for them.
“Boys” she calls out. She goes to her office hoping to see them either doing homework or playing hide and seek, but nothing.
“ BOYS” she yells again with panic sprinting through her. She goes out front and as soon as she opens her mouth to yell for them. She hears them laughing.
“BOYS”
“Hey ma,” Cass says so innocently whilst hanging on Bucky’s metal arm.
“Cass get off the strange man’s arm”
“ but mom”
“ now! And where’s your brother?”
Cass looks at Bucky and laughs “ you’re in trouble”
“ He’s in the back” Sarah raises her eyebrows prompting Bucky to go on
“ waiting for his tattoo to dry”
“His what?” Sarah almost screams but tries to keep her composure. In walks, her oldest baby with the biggest smile on his face and his sleeve rolled up to show the very patriotic display on his arm. The temporary tat has it all: a bald eagle not one but two American flags with red, white, and blue fireworks. The rage that bubbles up in Sarah is so potent it makes her grit her teeth.
“ Mom isn’t cool!”
“Boys.the shop. NOW!”
AJ and Cass hang their hands and tell their new friend bye.
“ Why in God’s name does my ten-year-old have the arm of a fifty-year-old veteran! How long does it last? Do you just go around branding random children?”
“I showed him a car but he thought the vet tat was cool. It last 2 weeks and no”
Sarah plops down in a parlor seat with her head in her hands “ this is my fault. I left my children unattended. I mean you could be a crazy kid snatcher and they ran right to you cause you have a cool arm”
Bucky smirks “ you think my arm's cool?” Sarah lifts her head and looks at him with pure annoyance.
“ hey look. It’s not your fault kids are curious. They’re always finding something to get into. If it brings you any solace if I knew they belonged to you I would have sent them back”
“Look today has been a day so, if you stay out of my way I’ll stay out of yours. We don’t have to acknowledge each other at all. okay?”
“Yeah okay”
At around five Sarah packs the boys up and gives them a refresher course on stranger danger on the way home.
“Uncle Sam!” Is squealed by both of the boys when they see him on the porch. They run out of the car almost forgetting their backpacks.
Sam quickly ends his call and practically smothers the boys with hugs. AJ shows Sam his tattoo “ Guess we’re kind of twins now, huh?” Sam asks pointing to the small falcon on his arm.
“Here guys” Sarah hands them their backpacks “get started on homework” the boys gleefully run in the house to do what she says. They’re just glad they didn’t get half the punishment they thought they would.
Sarah sits in the rocking chair by Sam. For the first time since her feet hit the ground, she finally gets the chance to breathe. Looking over at Sam she says “you hung that up fast. Was it Monica?”
“Sarah” Sam says half annoyed
“No, don’t Sarah me. I really like Monica Rambeau, and the boys love watching her on the news.”
Sam, attempting to keep some of his relationship with Monica to himself, changes the subject. “ I got approved for the loan,” he says smiling
“Stop! You’re kidding! What? How?”
“The guy thought I played for LSU. I didn’t tell em any different”. Sarah thanks God that her very honest brother kept the truth to himself. They talked about her extremely interesting day.
“Sam I just let them walk into this random guy's tattoo shop” realization hits her “I forgot to feed them. Oh my God what is wrong with me”
“Well, one that guy sounds awfully annoying, two you’re a great mom but kids are gonna be curious it's not your fault, and three I bought dinner and cleaned the kitchen,” He says getting up to go in the house with his little sister behind him.
Sarah squints her eyes and cocks her head at him “Sam what did you you sign me up for?”
“I invited a friend over for dinner and I told him it’d be the best food he’s had in his life”
“Great”