Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Brielle
“I’m going to have my driver pick me up and take me back to the office, so you’re free to do whatever you want,” Caden said as he buttoned up his shirt.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
He sat down on the edge of the bed and put on his shoes while I slipped back into my dress.
“When we go down to the lobby, make sure you cancel the room.”
“I feel you don’t trust me, Mr. Chamberlain.”
He stood up from the bed, grabbed his watch from the nightstand, and slipped it on his wrist.
“I trust you. I don’t want you wasting money on something you won’t use for six months.”
We went to the lobby, and Caden followed me to the front desk.
“Joseph.” I smiled. “I will no longer need that room anymore.”
“Of course, Emmy. I’ll cancel it now.” He glanced at Caden. “I will say that I’ll miss seeing you around here.”
“Thank you. I’ll miss you too.”
We left the hotel, and I saw Ben waving at me from down the street.
“I’ll be in touch,” Caden spoke as he lightly took hold of my hand.
“Looking forward to it.” I smiled.
As I began to walk away, he called my name.
“Brielle.”
I stopped and turned to him.
“No offense, but I never want to see that wig again.”
The corners of my mouth curved into a small smile as I turned away and climbed into the car.
I had Ben drive me to the piano store on West 57th Street. When we entered, a tall gentleman dressed in a black suit with salt and pepper hair approached us.
“May I help you?”
“I’m looking for a baby grand piano.”
“For yourself?” he asked.
“It’s actually for my six-year-old daughter.”
“Lucky little girl. Follow me, and I’ll show you our newest addition.”
After being in the store for two hours, I walked out with a receipt for a Steinway baby grand piano in white that would be delivered tomorrow afternoon at one o’clock. I couldn’t wait for Stella to see it. As we were going to pick her up from school, I received an email from the Speyer school. They had looked over my application and wanted to meet with Stella and me tomorrow morning at nine a.m.
I had always known Stella was highly intelligent. She was sitting up at four months, walking at nine months, and putting sentences together at age one. By age three, she could write her name and other words perfectly. When she colored, she never colored out of the lines, and her imagination was vivid when she played with her toys. The only thing I ever wanted for my daughter was for her to live a normal life because God knew that mine was far from it.
After picking her up from school, I took her to dinner to discuss the Speyer school.
“Listen, Stella, you’ll be late for school tomorrow.”
“Why, Mommy?”
“You and I are going to visit a different school that you might be attending in the Fall.”
“Why?”
“It’s a school for smart kids like you, sweetie. I’m sorry I told you to pretend you didn’t know things. It was wrong of me. You don’t have to do that in this school, and you’ll be with other kids who know everything you do. It’ll be a better place for you. A school where you’ll be challenged and not bored.”
“Okay.” She grinned.
I put Stella to bed, changed into my nightshirt, and sat on the couch with a glass of wine. I had just turned on The Bachelorette when my phone dinged with a text message from Caden.
“Lunch tomorrow. One p.m. My office.”
Shit. I needed to think fast because my piano was being delivered then.
“I’m sorry, Caden, but I can’t. I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow at one.”
“Cancel it.”
“Okay. I will. Then I can’t get a refill on my birth control pills, which means you’ll have to start using a condom.”
“Oh. Keep the appointment. How long is it going to take?”
“I don’t know. Sometimes I’m there for at least two hours.”
“I have a dinner meeting tomorrow night, so let’s plan for the next night. We’ll go out to dinner and then back to my place for the night. I can send my driver to pick you up around six thirty.”
“That’s okay. I’ll have Ben drop me at the restaurant. He still needs his job.”
“Fine. Meet me at Per Se at seven.”
“I will.”
“Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
“You too, Caden.”
The next morning, Stella and I headed to the Speyer school. We took a tour, and then they interviewed Stella in a separate room alone. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.
“So, Miss Winters, do you have the contact information for Stella’s father?” Mrs. Patterson, the school’s director, spoke.
“No. Stella doesn’t know her father. He took off the night I told him I was pregnant, and I haven’t seen or heard from him since.”
“Oh. I see. Will tuition be a problem? We do require the entire year paid up front.”
“No. It will not be a problem. May I ask why you assume that because I’m a single parent and a woman, I can’t afford to send my child here?”
“I’m sorry if you took my asking the wrong way. That’s not what I meant. We like to make sure our parents can afford it because we don’t want any hardships to come down the line.”
“And that’s why you require a full year’s tuition up front? Just in case some parents find they can’t afford it down the line?”
“We have found in the past that some parents had to pull their children out mid-year because they couldn’t afford it like they thought they could, and that’s not fair to the child.”
“Well, if you accept Stella, I will pay the entire year in cash.” I smiled.
Stella walked into the office and took the seat next to me.
“So, Stella,” Mrs. Patterson smiled as she folded her hands on her desk, “what do you think of our school?”
“I like it. I like it a lot.”
“Okay. We’ll be in touch soon, Miss Winters.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Patterson. I look forward to hearing from you.”
After dropping Stella off at school, I headed home to wait for the delivery of the piano. I had the perfect corner for it. All I had to do was rearrange a couple of pieces of furniture, and I was ready.