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Being a single parent was a series of endless challenges. Agatha would think she had the whole thing down - how to fit in with PTA moms, how to help Nicky with his homework, how to make Valentine’s for every kid in Nicky’s class in a single night - and then life would throw her a new problem to figure out.
For example, Nicky coming home covered in dirt, clutching a bouquet of yellow and pink flowers.
“You’re a mess!” Agatha said as he walked through the back door into the kitchen looking like Pig-Pen, making a small localized dirt storm when he kicked off his shoes “What happened?”
“I was helping Miss Vidal with her azaleas and I fell in the mulch.”
“Of course you did,” Agatha said, rolling her eyes. “Alright, stay there, I need to clean you up before your playdate.”
“‘K.” He put the flowers on the counter, then stood patiently as she wet a paper towel and started clean off his face. “Mama?”
“Yeah, sweetie?”
“Didja know that flowers say stuff?”
Agatha paused wiping his face and narrowed her eyes. “You heard flowers talk? Miss Vidal didn’t give you a brownie or gummy or something, right?”
“No, Mama,” Nicky said, giggling, “they don't talk. It’s like … um, like how drawing a heart means I love you.”
“Oh, right. Like how red roses are for romance and yellow roses are for friendship. I've heard of that,” Agatha said, going back to cleaning off her kid. She nodded at the flowers on the table. “So what do those mean?”
“Miss Vidal said the yellow peonies are ‘new beginnings’ and the pink ones are affect … affection? I think. She wanted me to give ‘em to you."
Agatha cleared her throat, trying not to blush in front of her son. “Well, that’s nice of Miss Vidal. Alright, go change.”
Nicky took off, leaving Agatha with her apparently very meaningful peonies.
She checked the time - fifteen minute until they needed to leave. Then she headed out to the backyard.
Their street was on a busy road that had once been a neighborhood but had been redistricted for businesses, like their funeral home, back in the nineties; and those businesses were all in normal houses that had been built around sixty or seventy years ago. But at the end of the street was one big gothic style mansion, Edward Scissorhands style, a leftover from a time when this part of town had been more exclusive and high-end. It was three times as tall as the other houses, with dark gray stone walls and dark slate roofs, and it had actual turrets, and it was covered in vines and moss. In it lived the single remaining Vidal, heir of the Vidal family fortune.
Rio was out in her garden when Agatha walked up to their shared fence, which was iron with spikes along the top, unlike the normal white picket fence around the rest of Agatha's yard. When she first moved in, Agatha had worried about Nicky hurting himself on the spikes, but Nicky seemed to have no desire to climb fences, at least not as long as the gate remained unlocked so he could go visit Rio’s garden and greenhouses anytime he wanted. For reasons Agatha couldn’t understand, her son could spend hours sowing seeds and burying bulbs, and even more surprising, Rio seemed happy to indulge him.
“Hey,” Agatha called as she approached the fence, “what’re you teaching my kid, huh? Are you gonna start sending him back home with flowers that mean ‘die, witch’ or something?”
Rio laughed softly under her breath, putting down her trowel and squinting against the sun to look up at Agatha. “No, I’d never do that to Nicky.”
“But there is a ‘die, witch’ flower?”
“Not exactly, but I could get the message across if I wanted.”
Rio smiled, sharp and dangerous, and Agatha couldn’t help but smirk in return. Then she remembered herself and frowned. “Try not sending my kid back looking like he took a dirt bath next time. I don’t need any more reasons for stuck-up moms at his school judging me.”
“I’ll do my best, but Nicky likes the dirt. Maybe even more than the flowers.”
“Great. Hope he’s not doing stuff like that at other kids’ houses.”
Rio tilted her head, her gaze assessing. “Why does it matter?”
“‘Cause the last thing I need is them thinking I’m not a good mom.”
“But you are a good mom,” Rio said, like it was an undeniable fact.
“Oh. Uh, thanks,” Agatha said, unable to stop a grudging half-smile from creeping onto her face. “I’m just saying, I don’t want to make things harder on Nicky with his friends. I already had one mom say her kid couldn’t come over anymore because … well, let’s just say, kids might say they want to play with Ouija boards, but they get really freaked out if they think they actually work.”
“I’m guessing playing with one in a funeral home doesn’t help.”
“No, it does not. Especially with a big scary mansion next door.”
“I prefer to think of it as a manor, but I see your point. And I’ll try to encourage Nicky to stay a little cleaner from now on.”
“All I’m asking.”
She turned to leave, making it maybe a half dozen steps before Rio called her name.
She turned back. “What?”
Rio raised her eyebrows. “Did you like the flowers?”
Agatha thought of the yellow and pink peonies, what Nicky had said - new beginnings and affection - and she felt the back of her neck heat. She made sure her voice was even when she said, “Sure. You know I think you grow the best flowers in town.”
“Hmm,” Rio said, her gaze all too knowing. “You’re coming over on Saturday to pick up the arrangements for the Lewis wake, right?”
“Yep, that’s the plan. Two o’clock okay?”
“Absolutely. See you soon, Agatha.”
When Agatha got back to her kitchen, she let out a shaky breath before looking at the flowers, now sitting on her counter.
Affection.
New beginnings.
They’d been neighbors for almost two years and Rio had subtly flirted with Agatha since the day she met her, but this felt different. It felt like Rio was making an actual move, and Agatha wasn’t sure what she wanted to do about it.
But she did find a vase and put the flowers in water before she took Nicky to his playdate. And every time she passed them over the next few days, she found herself smiling.
*
The next day, Agatha was standing at her fence, chatting with Jen, a former doctor who ran her skincare and beauty supplies store out of the house across the street, about how annoying their sweet sweepers were. They waved at their mailman as he dropped off Agatha’s mail before he continued down to Rio’s house.
A few seconds later, they heard him cursing up a storm, and they looked over to see him pulling something out the Vidal mailbox.
Jen leaned forward, staring at the thing in his hands. “Is that - is that freaking snake?”
“A fake one,” Agatha said, looking at the lifeless way it jiggled as the mailman shook it, glaring at the Vidal manor. In the window, Rio was watching him rage , a pleased, evil grin on her face.
“Such an asshole,” Jen said, having noticed Rio as well.
“Totally,” Agatha agreed, but she couldn’t help but smirk. Stupid and childish as the prank was, Agatha couldn’t help but be amused by it. Besides, their mailman was kind of an asshole himself. He probably deserved it.
And Agatha liked the devious delight on Rio’s face. It looked good on her.
*
Saturday arrived, and Agatha spent more time than usual picking out her clothes, trying very hard not to think about why, shrugging on her long, dramatic coat that always made feel in control of any situation. She also didn’t let herself think about why she didn’t bring Nicky with her like she usually would so he could explore Rio’s greenhouse while they talked shop, instead leaving him with a snack and permission to watch one episode of Bluey before he did his math homework.
Rio’s arrangements were stunning as always, even if they were the same sort of thing that people usually wanted - lilies and carnations and roses, all of them white, with a few tasteful pops of blue delphinium - but not one petal had the slightest hint of brown, no flower head drooped, no leaf had any holes. Once she had examined and approved them and Rio had promised to drop them off tomorrow morning, instead of going home like usual, Agatha looked around the greenhouse. She had learned more about plants in the last two years since she’d met Rio and Nicky had discovered his love of botany than she had in her entire life up until that point. She had always liked flowers, but they hadn’t been of any particular interest to her, and even these days, she didn’t care that much beyond their usefulness to her business and supporting Nicky’s hobbies.
Today, however, she felt like she was seeing them with new eyes, especially all the weirdly shaped, brightly colored, bold flowers, the ones that never made it into her own arrangements.
And, maybe, possibly, she wanted a reason to stay longer.
“I’ve never seen dahlias that color before,” Agatha said, trying to sound as off-hand as possible, pointing at the ones that had deep maroon petals that got darker in the center, so dark they almost looked black. “Do they, uh. Do they mean anything?”
“Ah, black dahlias. More crimson or purple, really, but that’s what they’re called. One of my favorite. They signify sadness and doom.”
“Hmm. There are some people I’d like to send them to, then.”
Rio cackled. “I’ve sent more than my share.”
They shared matching wicked grins.
Agatha nodded at another flower. “What about those?”
“Purple snapdragons. Spirituality and magical mysteries, usually. Royalty and wisdom, sometimes.”
“Magical mysteries, huh? I like that.”
Rio clipped a purple bloom and held it out. Agatha couldn’t look away from heated gaze as she reached out and took it. “Um … thank you.”
“Of course.”
Agatha tried to break the tension by pointing to a larger pink flower growing on a small shrub. “And what about that one?”
Chuckling softly, Rio clipped off the smallest of the pink blooms. She walked over to Agatha and slipped the stem through the top button of Agatha’s suit jacket. “Camellia,” she said, adjusting the flower until it stayed up, intricate petals all displayed proudly. “Desire and passion.”
“Ah,” Agatha said, her breath catching as Rio’s fingers brushed against her skin. She felt hot, felt light-headed, felt a pull deep in her chest that made her want to reach out for Rio. Instead, she twirled the snapdragon nervously between her fingers. “It’s beautiful.”
“Mm, yes. Beautiful.”
Rio laid her hand on Agatha’s lapel and her eyes met Agatha’s. She wondered if the other woman could feel how hard her heart was beating.
She licked her lips, and she watched Rio watching the path of her tongue. “I should go home.”
“If that’s what you want,” Rio said, but she didn’t move, except for her thumb, which trailed along the space where the opening of Agatha’s shirt met skin.
“Nicky needs help with his math homework,” she said, firmer this time.
Rio sighed, but stepped back. “Then I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
“Right. Yes. Tomorrow. Bye, Rio.”
She turned on her heel, coat sweeping majestically enough that she felt she retained some of her dignity as she beat a hasty retreat.
Her heart didn’t slow down, not as she walked across her backyard and back in her house, not as she drank half a glass of water in one go to cool herself down, not until she was halfway through helping Nicky with his word problems.
And even then, she could swear she felt where Rio had touched her like a heat rash all night, right up until the moment she fell asleep.
*
Sunday morning found Agatha standing in the kitchen, staring out her kitchen window, waiting for Rio and her flowers. She jumped when she felt something pulling at the back of her suit jacket, whirling around to face her son. “Nicky! Don’t scare me like that!”
“Sorry, Mama. But I kept calling and you didn’t answer. Is there something bad out there?”
“Oh. Um. I was looking at some, uh, birds. You see the robins out there?”
“No,” Nicky said, utterly uninterested. He was a plant kid, not an animal kid; robins meant nothing to him. “Is Miss Vidal coming soon?”
“Yes, soon. Any minute.” She checked the clock on the oven. “Or, well, in fifteen minutes, I guess. Why?”
“I drew pictures of her irises and I wanna show them to her.”
“Bet she'll love that. You go grab ‘em, kiddo, and you can show her when she gets here.”
“Okay!” He went sprinting back out of the kitchen and she smiled at the sound of his little feet scurrying up the stairs.
And then immediately jumped again at the sound of a sharp rap at her kitchen door. She looked over to see Rio peering in, holding one of the flower arrangements in her arms and its three duplicates sitting in a cart behind her. She took a second to compose herself, straightening her suit jacket, before going to open the door. “Hey! You’re early today. Eager to see me?”
She’d meant it as a joke - or at least that’s what she told herself - but Rio just smirked. “Maybe I am.”
Agatha cleared her throat. “Um. You know where to set it up, I’ll grab one of the others and meet you in there.”
Rio nodded and headed towards the parlor, and Agatha took a steadying breath before getting one of the arrangements and following after her.
She heard their voices before she saw them, Rio kneeled down on the floor and making excited faces as Nicky proudly showed off his drawings. Something in Agatha ached, seeing her son so excited, and seeing how comfortable he felt with Rio.
“You showing your pictures to Miss Vidal?” she asked as she put down the flowers.
“He is,” Rio confirmed, her voice so much softer than usual. “They’re so pretty.”
“Thank you,” Nicky said, shy but so proud at the same time. “What’s iris mean, Miss Vidal? You never told me that one.”
“Blue irises stand for hope,” Rio said, looking up at Agatha. “I think that’s a really nice meaning, don’t you, Agatha? We all need a little hope sometimes. Hope that things work out, that we get what we want.”
“Well, right now, I hope we get these all set up before the Lewises get here."
“Your wish is my command,” Rio said, smiling like she knew she’d already won whatever game she was playing. “C’mon Nicky, help me with the last two of these.”
As Nicky ran ahead, Rio stood up and leaned close to Agatha. “What do you think? Will I get what I’m hoping for?”
“Maybe,” Agatha said, keeping her voice low. “If you ask with words and not flowers sometime.”
“But where’s the fun in that?”
Before Agatha could answer, Rio was walking after Nicky, leaving Agatha alone and confused.
*
Every month, the businesses on the street had a meeting to discuss important local business things. At least, that’s what they said it was for, and sometimes they had some actual professional discussions.
Mostly, though, it was wine, cheese, and unwind night. Agatha was surprised how much she’d come to rely on her fellow business owners as sounding boards, people that she didn’t have to worry about putting on an act for when she needed to vent or rant or even when she, very occasionally, needed advice.
So at their meeting that week, after everyone had their wine as was seated around Lilia’s living room in armchairs of varying age and comfort, she opened with, “Would it be weird if I started dating Rio?”
She could feel the relaxed vibes in the room grow tense immediately, smiles fading and brows furrowing.
“What?” Agatha asked, putting her wine down on Lilia's ancient coffee table. “I know she’s a little antisocial -“
“Understatement,” Jen said under her breath.
“But I like her, and you guys know I don’t like a lot of people, and she’s interesting, and I think most people are boring. Plus, she’s great with my kid.”
She watched as the five of them shared worried looks while simultaneously avoiding her gaze. Still, no one said anything.
“Okay, seriously, what?” Agatha finally snapped.
“Nothing,” Billy said. “It’s not our business.”
Agatha looked between them, her eyes narrowing. “C’mon. Spill it.”
Mrs. Hart broke first. “Rio is … well, she’s sort of … I mean, I'm sure she's lovely, deep, deep down, but I also think that she’s …”
“She’s a scary bitch,” Lilia finished for her.
“Yeah, I know. It’s one of the things I like about her.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Jen asked. “But we’re not talking about you.”
“So what are you …” Agatha paused, putting the pieces together. “Nicky. You’re worried about her being around Nicky? He’s around her all the time.”
“Yeah, sure, outside in the garden where any of us can check on them,” Lilia said. "Where you can see them just by looking out your window."
“We don’t think she’d do anything on purpose -“
“Speak for yourself,” Jen interrupted.
Alice ignored her, continuing, “We know she loves Nicky. But she’s kinda reckless and intense and I don’t exactly see her going to PTA meetings or chaperoning kids on field trips, not without something going really, really wrong. Or at least really weird.”
Jen nodded. “Exactly. Like Agatha, you’re also reckless and scary, obviously, but you’re also a really devoted mom. Are you sure that Rio will be able to put aside being a destructive miscreant enough to be what Nicky needs?”
A pit grew in her stomach. Because she hated to admit it, but they weren’t wrong. Sure, Rio had always been good to Nicky, but being an accommodating neighbor a couple hours a week was a lot different than being his mom’s girlfriend, let alone … well, anything else. And around anyone but Nicky, Rio was a menace. Which was half the appeal when it came to Rio, if she was being honest, but not if it affected her son.
“We’re really not trying to be mean,” Billy said - Alice, Lilia, and Mrs. Hart nodded, Jen just made a face. “We just want to make sure you thought things through.”
“Uh, yeah. I can do that,” Agatha said, her throat tight.
She didn’t speak the rest of the night, but she did drink four glasses of wine. She could think about it tomorrow.
*
Later that week, Nicky came home with a bouquet of lavender that he handed to Agatha. In it was the same rubber snake that Rio had used to scare the mailman. Nicky giggled when Agatha jumped at the sight of it - the head was surprisingly realistic.
“Ha-ha, very funny,” she said as she pulled the snake out of the flowers. “Did you take this from Miss Vidal, Nicky? Because we’ve talked about this. Stealing is wrong, mostly.”
“No, of course not,” Nicky said, still smiling brightly. “She gave it to me. I told her that Brad was being mean to me and I wanted him to stop, and she said if I scared him, he’d leave me alone.”
“Brad’s being mean to you? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was gonna, but I saw Miss Vidal first. And she helped me.”
Agatha sighed. “I don’t think that’s the right way to deal with that, kiddo.”
“Don’t you do pranks?”
“Sometimes, but I’m an adult, and I know when it’s okay. Besides, have you tried talking to Brad about why he’s being mean? Or your teacher?”
Nicky shook his head.
“Then I think you should try that first. You are such a sweet kid and I don’t want that to change, okay? So maybe we lay off the pranks, no matter what Miss Vidal says.”
“Okay, Mama,” Nicky agree, looking only a little disappointed. “Can I keep the snake to put in one of my plants?”
“Sure, as long as it stays there. Now go wash up, I’m starting dinner soon.”
He took off and Agatha looked down at the lavender, her heart sinking.
Then she pulled out her phone and looked up flower meanings.
*
Rio was in her garden the next afternoon, watering her azalea bushes. Agatha walked over, feet leaden, flowers that she'd picked up from another of her vendors hidden behind her back.
“Hey, Rio,” she said when she got close.
Rio turned off the hose, the corners of her mouth turning up in a small smile. “Hi, Agatha. Nicky coming over today?”
“No, I don’t think so. Um, I thought we should talk. I feel like things have been changing between us lately.”
“I think so, too,” Rio said, and her smile grew, which just broke Agatha’s heart.
Before she could change her mind, Agatha thrust the bouquet at her.
Rio’s smile faded away. “Yellow roses and butterfly weed. Friendship … and rejection.”
“Yeah,” Agatha said, crossing her arms and staring at her feet. “I think it’s for the best. I need to be focused on Nicky right now.”
“I understand.” Rio stared down at the flowers, but Agatha could see her eyes suspiciously shiny. “They’re beautiful.”
“Not as beautiful as yours,” Agatha said, her heart aching. “Um. I’ll see you around.”
And then Agatha turned on her heel and walked back to her house, dashing a few tears out of her eyes before going inside.
*
That night over dinner, she told Nicky he should stay away from Rio’s for a while.
“But we were gonna plant pumpkins,” Nicky said, pouting out his lip.
“It’s not forever,” Agatha said, hoping that was true. She was pretty sure it was; Rio was absolutely the type to hold a grudge, but she hadn't seemed angry, really, and she cared too much about Nicky to keep her distance too long. “We just need to give her space for a while.”
“But why?” Nicky whined, and Nicky rarely whined. It was the equivalent of screaming from another kid.
“Because she might be a little mad at me. Or a little sad, I dunno.”
Nicky scowled, a brand new expression for him that actually made Agatha lean back in her chair. “Why? What did you do to her?”
“Nothing!” Agatha exclaimed, more than a little insulted. “And why do you think I did something to her?”
“Because you spread the rumor about Kylie’s mom putting something in her water bottle that’s not water and now they won’t let her give out snacks at our games anymore.”
“How did you find out about that?”
“And you told everyone about Miss Kale’s pet … pecholi … jelly stuff in her moisturizers and she had to change it. And you played that prank on Mrs. Davis and her face was blue for a week. And -“
“Okay, jeez, I get it. Look, I didn’t do anything bad. It’s just … “ Agatha rubbed at her temples, trying to will away her growing headache and come up with the right words to explain herself. “So the thing is, you’re right. I’m not always the nicest person, even to people that are … closer acquaintances or whatever. But there is one person that I am determined to never, ever hurt or let down. Nicky, I’d do anything to be a good mom, because you matter to me more than anything. And it’s hard enough being a single mom without an unpredictable, antisocial, occasionally vengeful … friend.”
“But Mama, you’re all those things, too,” Nicky said, his eyes big and pleading. “But you’re not any of stuff to me. And neither is Miss Vidal.”
“That’s a good point,” Agatha allowed, “but we don’t know if it’ll stay that way for Miss Vidal. If she’ll keep being nice to you if you spend a lot more time with her.”
“But aren’t we supposed to give people chances? Like I did for Brad? We talked and now he's nice to me again, just like you said.”
“It’s not that simple, sweetie.”
“Why not?” he asked, with big, sad eyes. “How do you know if someone can do better if you don’t let them try?”
“I don’t know, kiddo,” Agatha said, sighing. “I really don’t know. But I can’t take the risk.”
“Fine.”
“Sweetie -“
“I’m not hungry anymore,” he mumbled. He got up, his chair screeching against the tiles, leaving his barely eaten food behind as he morosely made his way out of the kitchen and up the stairs. A few seconds later, she heard his bedroom door close with a loud, pointed click.
Agatha put her head in her hands and groaned. It felt like nobody liked her choices lately.
She sat there, letting her food get cold, for at least twenty minutes before she gave up. Because it was one of those rare times she needed advice, and there was only person she think to talk to about it. Fortunately, Billy picked up on the first ring.
She didn’t bother greeting him, instead launching right into it. “I need to ask you something, something important. And I’m asking you because you’re the nicest person I’ve ever known that I don’t actually hate, aside from my kid.”
“Aw, thank you.”
“And I’m asking because you’re the one who knows Nicky the best, and Rio, because you babysit him the most and I know he gardens with her when you’re there sometimes, and I just … what is she like with him when I’m not there? Have you ever been worried about him with her? Has she ever done anything bad, even something small?”
She could hear him breathing down the phone, and she squeezed her lips shut so she wouldn’t snap at him to answer.
Finally, he said, “At first I worried a lot. I’d stand at your kitchen window and watch the two of them together because she’s always been so … well, you know, you’ve met her. I couldn’t imagine her being good with any kid. But she’s good with him.”
“But you still agreed with everyone that I shouldn’t date her.”
“I didn’t say that. I just wanted you to think it through and be careful.” She heard him sigh. "Look, honestly, Agatha? She’s been on her own a long time and from what I’ve seen, she’s not great at letting people in. And we’re the ones who hear about how much trouble you have with the other kids’ parents and being a single mom who runs her own business and we don’t want things to be harder for you or Nicky. But I know Rio cares about both of you, and I think she’ll probably try to make it work. So if you want to try with her, then I support you.”
“But do you think I should?”
“That’s not my decision.”
“Lotta help you are.”
“Sorry I can’t live your life for you, Agatha. Not that you’d like any of the choices I’d make if I did.”
“Fair point.” She worried her lip before saying, “Thanks, Billy.”
“Anytime. I want good things for you, Agatha. We all do.”
That was her limit for sappiness. She hung up without answering and sat the table, staring at her cold lasagna, hoping the right answer would come to her.
She took a deep breath, and the scent of lavender filled her lungs, soft and soothing. Exactly what she needed.
And finally, she knew what she should do.
*
She didn’t see Rio in her garden for almost a week. Nicky dragged his feet around the house and while he wasn’t mean or rude, he did seem wilted, like an unwatered flower. Billy and Alice sent her cheer-up texts and Lilia sent her daily horoscopes that constantly contradicted each other about if love was on the horizon or if she needed to be by herself for a while.
It was the worst almost week of her entire life.
Finally, she looked out on a cloudy afternoon, rain just starting to drizzle down, and there Rio was, in the middle of patch of dirt, digging in sharp, jagged motions. She didn’t even seem to notice the weather even as the dirt started to turn to mud.
Agatha grabbed the present she’d gotten Rio out of the coat closer, threw on a raincoat, and trudged across her backyard.
“Hey!” she called out as she got closer. “Rio, hi!”
Rio looked up, and the first thing Agatha noticed was how distant she looked. Her eyes were more hooded than usual, her mouth downturned. She brushed off her hands and stood, but didn’t move any closer to the fence. “Hello, Agatha.”
She shifted on her feet, nervous and awkward. “Haven’t seen you around for a while.”
“I thought you’d like it better that way.”
“I didn’t. I was looking for you.” She held out her present - a bouquet of red and pink flowers made of wood. Not cheap ones, either, almost indistinguishable from the real thing in how well they were crafted. “There’s a shop in the next town over that makes these. I thought, um. I changed my mind and the other flowers I got you probably died by now, and these ones will last. Because I don’t plan on changing my mind again anytime soon. So.”
Rio’s eyes narrowed. “And you want to send a permanent message that you don’t just not want to date me, you want me dead?”
She almost dropped the fake flowers in surprise. “What?!? They’re supposed to be for new beginnings and affection, like you did for me!”
Rio’s eyes studied her face for a few seconds, then her stiff posture loosened. “Those are peonies, not poppies.”
“Oh. Damn it. I thought it was just a different color version or something. And red’s supposed to mean, you know. Romance.”
“Usually, but in this case, it’s blood, death, or obliteration.” Rio reached out and took the wood bouquet, her fingers brushing Agatha’s. “Which I don’t mind, under normal circumstances, but after the last time we talked -“
“No, I get it. Probably should’ve looked it up, made sure I didn’t accidentally tell you I wanted you obliterated.”
Now Rio finally took a few steps closer, her posture loosening, rain making her eyeliner run just a little. “Then, just so we’re clear, what are you trying to say?”
Agatha sighed heavily. The whole point was that the flowers would talk for her. “I told you that I didn’t want to do anything that would be bad for Nicky. And that’s still true. We’ll have to take it slow and there’ll be boundaries, like when we tell him about us and how often you can come over.”
“Okay, Agatha,” Rio said, smiling softer than Agatha had ever seen.
“I’m serious. I can’t … Nicky has to come first.”
“I know. I always knew that. It’s one of the reasons I waited so long to say anything, so that I knew I was ready to be there for him the way you need me to be.”
“Good. That's good," Agatha said, relieved. "And that means no more things like rubber snakes or any other mailman pranks.”
Rio winced, then nodded. “I can do that.”
“Good.” Agatha stepped closer. “I can go back to the shop and get you the right flowers, if you want. I’ll give them to you on our first date.”
“I kinda like these. Feels like affection and destruction is a good representation of the two of us.” When Agatha gave her an unimpressed look, she grinned, evil and tempting. “Kidding. Mostly.”
Agatha shook her head, annoyed and more endeared that she wanted to admit. Rio, chuckling under her breath, cupped Agatha's face with the hand not holding the wood flowers and pulled her into a kiss. It was soft at first, and then Rio’s hand moved from her arm to her shoulder and then to her neck, and she squeezed softly. And then Agatha lost herself in it, melted into Rio with a sigh, ignoring the sharp poke of the spikes on the fence, and the kiss grew deep and lush and wet -
Very wet.
Then she heard a rumble.
Panting, she pulled back and laughed as she realized the drizzle was becoming a storm. “We need to go inside.”
“Yep, that’s the responsible thing to do,” Rio said, just loud enough to be heard over the rain. “And we’re going to be responsible, right?”
“Mm-hmm. In just a minute.”
Rio was laughing when Agatha kissed her again.
Maybe three minutes, two more rumbles of thunder, and one very impressive bolt of lightning later, Agatha walked into her kitchen, soaked through and grinning ear-to-ear. She closed the door behind her and then leaned on it with a sigh, like she was sixteen again experiencing her first crush.
Nicky walked in and stared. “Mama? What happened?”
She straightened up, doing her best to push the wet hair out of her face. “Nothing, sweetie. Just got caught in the rain. Oh, and good news. You can go over to Miss Vidal’s again. Tomorrow, if you want.”
“I can? Really?”
“Really.”
“You gave her another chance, like Brad?”
“Something like that.” She looked down at the puddle she was making on the floor with her dripping clothes. “I need to change.”
“You’re the best mom ever,” Nicky enthused as she shuffled past him.
She reached out and ruffled his hair. “I’m trying, kid. You have no idea how hard I'm trying.”
***
“Morning,” Rio whispered as she wrapped her arms around Agatha’s waist.
“Mm, a very good morning,” Agatha purred, leaning into her. She poked at the eggs she was making with her spatula. “You slept well, huh?”
“Well, you wore me out,” Rio said, nipping gently at Agatha’s jaw. “And I needed to rest up. I have something important to do today.”
“You do. And you’re gonna do great.”
“Thank you.” Rio put a finger on her chin and pulled her in for kiss, noses bumping at the awkward angle. Agatha didn’t mind; she never did. A year together, and she’d still take Rio in whatever way she could get her.
She was just reaching up to tangle her hand in Rio’s hair, swiveling so they could deepen the kiss, when the sound of Nicky’s feet pounding down the stairs broke them apart. Rio sighed and Agatha kissed the tip of her nose. “He’s early because he’s excited.”
“You think?”
“I know. He’s been talking about how you’re gonna know more than all the other chaperones.”
“Rio, you're here!” Nicky cried as he ran in. Then he frowned. “You’re not ready yet?”
“We don’t leave for another hour, Nick,” Rio said, smiling at him fondly. Agatha loved it, how much her girlfriend loved her kid. “I thought I could eat first.”
“I guess,” Nicky said, pouting. “Mama, you’re burning the eggs.”
“What? Crap!” Agatha pulled them off the stove and examined them. “They’re not so bad. I’ll make breakfast sandwiches and put a crap ton of cheese on them.”
“And then we can go?”
“I think the arboretum will still be there if we leave for school at the normal time,” Agatha said, sharing an amused look with Rio. “Now you two sit down and I’ll get the cheese and the English muffins."
Rio kissed her on the cheek before sitting at the kitchen table, Nicky clambering into a chair next to her. Agatha took a few seconds to watch them, heart full.
The two biggest risks she’d ever taken. The two best things that ever happened to her.
Then she turned to make the sandwiches. On the counter were the wooden poppies and roses, and a fresh vase full of violets.