Running Back to You (The Running Series, #1) by Suzanne Sweeney

card said.”
    I read her the card and together we try to riddle its meaning.  “The message
talks about passion, right?  That definitely means he’s totally into you.”
    “Maybe you’re right, but even if I wanted to, I have no way of getting in
touch with him.  Am I supposed to just show up at his door one day wearing
nothing but a big red bow?”
    “Ooh, yes!  I’ll help.”  She starts jumping up and down, clapping her
hands together.  She thinks I’m serious.
    “Forget it, Emmy!  If he wants me, he’ll have to come find me himself.”
    I look around, and the bar is starting to get packed again.  For the rest
of the night, we keep busy and there’s little time to gossip.  Finally, at
closing, as we’re wiping down the bar, I promise Emmy that I’ll call her if
there are any new developments with Evan.

    A fter getting home in the wee hours of the night, I decide to turn off my
alarm and sleep in.  I skip my morning run for the first time since moving back
home.  I’m not ready to face Evan and there’s a very good chance I’d run into
him again. 
    I emerge from my room around eleven o’clock to discover Auggie sitting in
the kitchen reading today’s news on his iPad.  Directly in front of him are my
flowers.  I turn to make my escape, hoping to go unnoticed, but I’m out of
luck.
    “Oh no, Jepetto.  Get your ass over here and start dishing!”  Auggie
closes the flap on his iPad and pats his hand on the seat next to him.  “Who
the hell is Evan?”
    “Auggie, if I tell you, you have to promise not to make a big deal out of
it.  Okay?  Promise?”  I look at him with the most serious look I can conjure
to let him know I mean business.
    “Sure, Jette.  You okay, honey?  Did something happen?”  Now he looks
serious and worried.  That’s not what I wanted, either.
    “No, I’m fine.  Better than fine, I think.  I went jogging yesterday and
I ran into someone.  You’re never going to believe who.  Our mystery man from
Monday has a name, and it’s Evan.”  I wait for his response, and I’m not
disappointed.
    Auggie jumps up out of his chair and nearly shouts, “Shut the front
door.  Are you shitting me?”
    “No, I’m not shitting you, Auggie.  Now, do you want to hear the rest, or
do you want to continue to curse at me?”
    I tell Auggie about my ankle, Evan’s chivalrous acts, the flirting, and
the flowers.  He doesn’t say much.  He just takes it all in and now I’m waiting
to hear what he has to say.  “Well, what do you think it all means?” I ask him.
    “I have no idea, my Pet.  From everything you’ve told me, this boy sounds
like a straight shooter.  He didn’t press his advances on you, he made you feel
special, and he sent you beautiful flowers to let you know he’s thinking about
you.  He’s either a big tease who enjoys messing with the minds of beautiful
young women, or he’s just as conflicted as you are.”  He gets up and pours us
both a cup of coffee.  “You
said his sister is a florist, right?”
    “Yeah, so?”
    “Well, that means he knows something about flowers.  Maybe the real
message is in the flowers themselves.  Doesn’t the choice of flowers reveal
something about the sender?  I’m pretty sure roses mean ‘true love’, but what
do daisies mean?”  He opens up his iPad and we do an online search for more
information.
    Auggie finds an article on eHow entitled, “What is the meaning of Gerbera
Daisies?”  Together, we read the article and I’m no closer to understanding
Evan’s gesture than I was before.  It says that Gerbera Daisies represent
‘innocence, purity, friendship and classic beauty’.  Maybe that means Evan just
wants to be friends and is trying to make amends for the flirting.
    “Click here, there’s more.”  Auggie spots a link to a related article
that further explains the meaning of orange Gerbera Daisies.  It says, ‘Because
of the bold color, orange Gerbera Daisies also represent