phone in the room rang.
“It’s been mainly the media.” Gunnar waved his hand dismissively.
Gideon had no problem telling off a nosy reporter. He answered phone that rested at the head of Gunnar’s bed. “Yeah?”
“Gunnar?”
Gideon recognized the voice but needed to hear a bit more. “This isn’t Gunnar. What can I help you with?”
“Is Queen Elizabeth there? This is Victor. I need to talk to someone about the store.”
Gideon relaxed back into his chair. “Hey, Victor. This is Gideon.”
“Oh, thank God. You’re in town.” Victor exhaled. “I need some help with some the business. Queen was way better at this than me.”
“I’ll come down there.” Gideon stood. The pain didn’t register to him this time as he thought about the store and his duty to his family.
“Good. Good. I’ll see you later.”
Gideon disconnected the call. “Victor needs help already. I hate to leave you so soon after getting here. I was hoping to see Mom and Eboni.”
“Hopefully, I won’t be here for very long.” Gunnar smiled like he wanted to reassure Gideon.
“If you want to stay with me at my house, you can. You know I have plenty of room.” Gideon embraced his brother.
“I know. But you know how Mom is. At least for now, I’ll stay with her.” He waved at Gideon as he walked out of the room.
He got into the elevator and made it down to the lobby. As he stepped out of the elevator, he saw Eboni going into a different one. He had to smile at her dedication to Gunnar. His brother had better treat her right this time.
Gideon walked through the lobby and went by the gift shop, where he noticed someone familiar. He walked into the store and stood behind a woman he recognized. As she admired a display of freshly cut flowers, he watched her touching a petal and smelling an open bud. He took a deep breath and caught her distinctive flowery scent. Even among the various bouquets for sale, her aroma brought Gideon back to his days of sitting at the kitchen table and inhaling every bit of food his mother produced and then some.
“Are you going to stand there or are you going to hug your mother?” Elizabeth said without turning around.
“How do you do that?” Gideon laughed.
Elizabeth turned and embraced Gideon. “Don’t you boys know that you can never get anything by me?”
As soon as he embraced Queen Elizabeth, Gideon felt like he had arrived home. His shoulders relaxed. His breathing slowed. Even the throbbing in his knee subsided. She made everything right.
“I’m learning. I saw Gunnar. I was going to stay but Victor called and said he needs some help.”
“Oh, no. I can go.”
Gideon shook his head. “No, you stay with Gunnar. Besides, I have a feeling he’s about to do something special.”
Queen Elizabeth cocked her head. “Do something special? What is he going to do? Walk on water?”
Gideon shrugged. “He might. You did raise us to be the best at whatever we do.”
She gave him a playful slap on his arm. “You’re cute. Good luck at the store, honey. If you need help, I have a friend who also owns a flower shop nearby. Her name is Janelle Gold. She owns Flowers Galore. Hold on.” She opened her purse and retrieved a business card from inside. “Here’s her information. See her if Victor can’t help you.”
Gideon blinked. “So the competition helps you? That’s like me asking Peyton Manning for tips. Doesn’t happen.”
Queen placed her hand against Gideon’s cheek. “Florists are way different than football players, darling.”
Gideon laughed again. “You are right about that. I’ll check out the store and hopefully will be back soon.”
“Good. If not, be sure you come by the house for dinner tonight.” She kissed Gideon on his cheek.
He wanted to spend more time with Gunnar and his mother, but duty called. He would handle it and get back as quickly as he could.
“Oh, and once you get done at the store, make an appointment with a doctor about your knee.” His mother smiled and crossed her arms over her chest. The silk purse that hung from a gold chain dangled from her arm.
Gideon remained quiet. He smiled and almost laughed off her assumption about his health. To stall for time, he said, “Mom, I got checked out by the team’s doctor. I’m fi—”
“Don’t lie to me. I apologize for interrupting.” She pointed down. “I know you haven’t developed a strut in your walk after twenty years. What’s going on with your leg?”
Gideon glanced over to the cashier area. When he noticed a couple of customers looking at him and whispering, he kept a cool head while talking to his mother.
“I love you, Mom. I’ll try to be by your house later for dinner.” He kissed her forehead.
“Love you, baby.” She patted his shoulder. “Remember to go see Janelle if you need anything, understand?”
Gideon nodded. He would have to school his mother on having public conversations about him. He had seen too many real and fake stories about him in the press. For once, he wanted to control his image.
As though on autopilot, Gideon got to Pick ’N Clip in record time. He parked in the back like he used to when he’d worked alongside Queen Elizabeth. Once he got out of the car, he realized very quickly that he no longer had keys to access the store from the locked back door. After his mother made him and his brothers sign power of attorney forms for her business, she’d tried giving him a set of keys to the store. Believing that holding the keys meant something bad would happen to Elizabeth, Gideon had refused. Now he would have to get that extra set while he stayed in town.
“Damn.” He circled the standalone store to get to the front door.
Nothing had changed about the place. Gideon’s mother had a way of making every place, including all of her stores, feel like home. The front of the all-white store with a black shingled roof created a great frame for the black wrought-iron trellis that surrounded the front door. His mother had ivy creeping up each to give the place a garden appeal.
As soon as he opened the door, a fragrant bouquet greeted him. As he scanned the inside, he realized not much had changed in here either. Roses, daisies, and lilies remained housed in lit glass cases. Vases lined the shelves behind the bouquet-making counter. Streamers of different colored ribbon came off rolls on both sides of the counter. His sneakers squeaked over the brick-colored tile floor.
“Oh, great. You’re here.” Victor put his hand to his chest as he came from the back room.
Except for the sprigs of gray hair, Victor looked exactly the same. The diminutive Filipino man embraced Gideon before taking a step back.
“The
