Chapter Text
Rey ran her fingers along the display of dilapidated daisies and sighed. Even with her green thumb, she couldn’t seem to get the bunches to bloom properly. Everything in the shop seemed to sag a bit. Wintertime in a flower shop will do that, especially now.
Still, she went about primping and preening her displays, trying to make them stay bright and cherry amongst the gloom outside. Powderpuff layers of snow had settled over her town and the air had an icy chill. She was fighting against the elements to keep her shop open. Anniversaries and birthdays didn’t stop just because the weather turned nasty for the first time in what seemed like forever in this town.
“Hasn’t been snow here since ’85,” more than one older customer said as they bought a few pitiful roses for their loved ones. “Someone up there must be unhappy with us.”
“Snow isn’t all bad,” Rey would respond, trying to be positive, but it did put a damper on her work. She was known in her community for making the best out of any bad situation. This includes any poor flowers that end up in her care. Some said she had a magic touch. All she knew was that it was always easy to get a plant back to life, with a little life.
But as the weather became increasingly gloomy, it seemed Rey’s ‘magic touch’ was fading. So she wandered around her shop, trying to stay warm, wondering how she would keep her shop going if this weather didn’t keep up. She had just ducked behind the counter to grab her jacket when the doorbell jingled.
“This is a sad sight,” a deep voice said, making Rey pop up, halfway through putting on her winter coat.
“Excuse me?” She said, slightly offended. The man who had slighted her store was striking in two ways. First, he was a stranger. There weren’t too many strangers that wandered their way into her shop. That’s why she liked the town in the first place—nothing foreign or unfamiliar drifting in and out of her life. And second, he was striking. Tall was an understatement, the man was towering. Shaggy dark hair and a scruffy face, whereas everyone else in the town was clean cut. Handsome. Very handsome.
“I’m sorry,” he said, slightly surprised by her sudden appearance. “I didn’t mean any offense. You have a lovely storefront. It’s just-“
“It’s just hard to keep flowers looking pretty in the winter,” Rey finished with a small smile.
“Exactly,” the man laughed a bit in relief.
“We’re just trying to get through this storm,” Rey said, pulling on the rest of her jacket.
We?” The man asked.
“I mean ‘me,’ I guess,” she clarified.
“You run this operation alone?”
“My mom left it to me,” Rey explained. “She started it before I was born.”
“I’m sorry for your loss,” the man said respectfully, but Rey shook her head.
“She’s not… I mean she’s gone, but she’ll come back. She’s been on a trip, but she’ll come back for me. I help run the shop, I mean.”
“Well, I hope she isn’t traveling back here in this storm,” the man said.
“It seems to be getting worse every day,” Rey said, crossing the shop to turn up the heat for her guest.
“Someone up there must be angry,” the man mused, making Rey laugh.
“That’s what all of the old timers around here say,” she explained. “I just wish I could make whoever is so angry feel just a little better, you know?” The man smiled.
“That’s a funny way of thinking about it,” he said.
“I’m sorry, I’ve been so rude,” Rey said, going back behind the counter. “Is there something you’re looking for here?”
“Flowers, hopefully,” he said, and something about the way he looked at her made her face hot. Frightened that she might be blushing, she turned her face away. “Just teasing. Mostly I just saw your lovely storefront and something told me I had to come inside and see what beauty was inside.”
“Sorry for the disappointment, then.”
“No disappointment at all,” he said, waving a hand.
“I’m sorry, I have to ask. Are you new around here? I just have never seen you before.”
The man shrugged and ran his hands over a few of the wilted roses on display. “I don’t usually travel outside of my city. I work a lot. But I felt called to do some traveling. A bit of an adventure.”
“I wouldn’t call The Valley an adventure,” Rey chuckled at the very idea of it.
“When you’ve been stuck where I have for so many years, almost anywhere seems like an adventure.”
“Well, I would love to help you celebrate your adventure.” Rey began to pull flowers off the various displays with deft skill, gently and swiftly putting them together in a delicate bouquet.
“Oh, I don’t need a-“
“It’s a gift,” Rey said, briefly looking over from her work. “I’m sorry it’s such a meager one.” The bouquet was lovely, or would have been in the flowers weren’t such poor quality.
“A gift? But I haven’t done anything.”
“You don’t need to do anything special to have something to brighten your day during a storm. I just wish they were a little nicer.”
The man looked touched and reached out to take the flowers out of her fist. Their hands touched and Rey was sure it was a bolt of electricity running through her body when it happened. It was so sudden it made her blink, and when her eyes opened again it was as if the flowers were standing a little taller and a little brighter. Rey shook her head. It must have been her imagination.
“Thank you,” he said, smiling wide. “This really is too kind of you.”
“It’s nothing, truly.”
“Kindness isn’t nothing. Or else the world would be full of it."
“So, are you just passing through?” Rey asked. “Going to find more adventure?”
“I think I can keep finding adventure in this little town. What did you call it? The Valley?”
Rey nodded. “We have two whole restaurants, so you can’t leave until you try them both,” she joked, making them both laugh.
“I’ll see you around then, maybe?” The man asked, starting to slowly head towards the door, still facing her.
“I’ll be here. Probably always.”
“You’d never leave? Take a vacation? Find some adventuring yourself?” He asked. Rey shook her head.
“I can’t. I mean, I could, I guess. But my mother… She would just want me to stay put. Wouldn’t want the family business to go underground. Besides, I’ve never really wanted to leave.”
“Never?” Rey shrugged.
“I guess I haven’t really thought about it too much.”
“Good to know,” the man murmured. “Well, it was nice to meet you…” He leaned forward, looking at her small name tag. “Rey.”
“And it’s nice to meet you…”
“Kylo.”
“Nice to meet you Kylo.” ‘Interesting name,’ she thought to herself. “I hope to see you back here soon. And I hope you stay safe in the storm, it’s so hard to drive in.”
“I’ll be OK,” he said, smiling like it was an inside joke. “Take care.” Rey waved at him as he left, and quickly checked her face on her phone camera. Bright pink. She groaned in despair. How embarrassing! She was sure she had made a fool of herself.
‘It’s not like you could date him. Or go anywhere with him,” she scolded herself. ‘He was from a city, and you were stuck right here. Waiting for Mom.” Her mother had told her that she shouldn’t leave town under any circumstances. “I’ll come back for you. I just need you to stay here and stay safe.” And so she never left.
Vowing to forget about the stranger, she busied herself in her sad, cold shop once more. However, this time when she watered her plants and tried to get them to stand up, they seemed to actually perk up. She silently thanked the stranger for bringing her good luck. And more good luck followed soon after. For the rest of the day, the snow stopped, like whoever had caused it was finally happy, at least for a little while.