Full Bloom

Stone?"
    "Yeah, but I didn't order any flowers."
    "These are for you," the boy insisted. "Here. Take them." He grinned suddenly. "You don't have to look so shocked. More and more women are sending flowers to men these days. I know it's kind of mushy, but that's how females are."
    Jacob's brows came together in a hard line as he frowned down at the box of flowers. "They're from a woman?"
    "Yup. That's what my boss said. There's a card attached. What's the matter? Don't you know any woman who might want to send you a couple dozen roses?"
    A rush of exuberant pleasure went through Jacob. He reached out and snatched the box out of the boy's hands. "Let me have those. Thanks. Here, this is for you." He fished hurriedly through his wallet for a five-dollar bill.
    "Geez, thanks, mister," the boy said, clearly stunned by the size of the tip.
    "Forget it. I was in the delivery business once myself."
    Jacob closed the apartment door, the box of roses cradled carefully in one arm and walked slowly into the kitchen. He had never received flowers in his life, and he tried to think of what to do first.
    "Water," he muttered with sudden insight. "They have to go into water."
    He put the box down on a counter and started opening cupboards. Belatedly he remembered he did not own a flower vase. After going through three cupboards, he realized he did not own anything that even resembled a vase. No jars, no pitchers, not even a small bucket. He looked around the kitchen, drumming his fingers impatiently on the sink.
    Then he remembered the bottle of Scotch he had nearly drained the night he'd left Emily at the hotel.
    Jacob snatched the bottle out of the closet and carelessly poured what remained of the expensive liquor into a large glass. Then he rinsed out the bottle and set it back down on the counter. Very carefully, handling the roses as if they were newborn kittens, he began inserting them into the empty Scotch bottle.
    He managed to get three stems into the narrow neck of the bottle. Jacob added water and then began searching for other containers for the roses. There was a half-empty mayonnaise jar in the refrigerator, he discovered.
    "Who needs mayonnaise?" he asked himself aloud. "The stuff isn't good for you, anyway." He dumped the mayonnaise down the garbage disposal and washed out the jar. After that he got increasingly creative.
    Fifteen minutes later he dried his hands on a paper towel and examined his collection of floral designs. They certainly weren't up to Emily's standards, but he was rather pleased with the effect. Two dozen yellow roses adorned the kitchen, occupying the empty Scotch bottle, the mayonnaise jar, a plastic milk carton and a salad dressing bottle. The place looked like a garden to Jacob.
    All his flower garden lacked was the sweet Ravenscroft witch who touched him with magic whenever she was nearby. He took the little card out of its envelope and reread it. The message was short and to the point: "I apologize. Emily." But Jacob felt an odd rush of emotion each time he read the note.
    She wouldn't have sent the flowers and the note if she had not decided her affair with him was more important than her Ravenscroft pride. Tonight he would tell her that his own pride had been less important to him than his relationship with her. He was feeling magnanimous and incredibly relieved. He would tell her that he had been packing to go to her even before the flowers arrived.
    Jacob took one last, satisfied look at his yellow roses and then went back to his packing. With a little luck he would be in Seattle in time to attend Emily's flower show this evening.

    But luck was in short supply on the interstate outside Seattle. A four-car pileup brought everything to a standstill for nearly an hour. By the time the freeway cleared, Jacob knew there was no point in trying to get to the flower show. It was far too late. He decided to head straight for Emily's downtown apartment.
    He used the garage access card she had given him to open the steel gates of the underground parking facility, glancing at his watch as he did so. She should be arriving home herself very soon. He wondered how she would react when she found him waiting for her. Then he scowled as he glanced around at the shadowed, empty garage. He definitely did not like the idea of Emily coming and going from this place on a regular basis. Women in the city had to exercise extra precautions.
    As the gates closed behind him, Jacob guided his car into an empty