24. Chapter 24
Chapter 24
Luke
T he Half Moon Café is quite busy but Kate waves to me as I come in and seems intent on showing me to a corner table where Sheena, from the Oak River Hotel, is sitting which strikes me as a bit odd as there are other tables that are free.
“Howdy, Sheena. I hope I’m not intruding.” I loosen the scarf from around my neck. It’s invitingly warm inside compared to the chilly street.
“Hello, Luke,” Sheena says looking surprised. “How nice to see you. I’m waiting for Lydia. She’s late, unfortunately.” Sheena looks around the walls. “Isn’t this lovely? Someone’s gone to a lot of effort. Kate’s very creative. Look at those beautiful roses. Did you ever see anything more romantic?”
We admire the flowers and the wall décor of hearts, ribbons, and little pink angels shooting arrows.
“It’s very pretty, but I won’t disturb you more, Sheena.”
“No. Please. Sit down. I’ll call Lydia to find out where she is.” I stay standing.
Kate brings two cupcakes decorated with pink frosting and red hearts. “For you sweet people.” She beams as she places the plate between us with two forks on folded heart-covered serviettes.
“Oh, how lovely,” says Sheena. “Is this a Valentine’s Day special?”
Kate doesn’t answer but winks and smiles warmly before hurrying back behind the counter where a family is waiting to be served.
I look around at the other tables in the café and notice their lack of themed decoration. Maybe this is the only Valentine’s Day table? I’m feeling awkwardly uncomfortable as if I’m the center of attention.
Sheena hunts around in her purse and locates her phone. “I hope nothing serious has happened. Lydia made a point of telling me not to be late.” She shakes her head and dials a number.
While Sheena talks on her phone, I call Maisy, but the call clicks straight to voicemail, so I hang up. I message her instead. “Hey, Maisy. Where are you? Should I order coffee or are you going to be some time?”
Sheena is still talking with Lydia, but she waves a hand indicating that I should sit down. Maisy has been held up somewhere, no doubt. So, I take off my jacket, drape it over the back of the chair that’s entwined with loops of pink glittery hearts, and relax into the vacant seat opposite Sheena as she hangs up the call.
“It’s been so nice running into you, Luke. But I’ve got to go now. I have a date. With a special someone. A Valentine’s Day date.” Sheena puts her phone into her purse and prepares to leave. “If you see Lydia, tell her I’m sorry I missed her.” She stands up. “Next time.”
Sheena grabs her coat and purse, then wraps one of the cupcakes in a serviette. “They just look too good, don’t they?” Then she briskly makes her way to the exit.
I’d love it if Lydia walked through the door right now. I could share the solitary cupcake with her. Maybe she would have time for a coffee. But Valentine’s Day is a florist’s busiest day. She would be rushed off her feet, I imagine. I could stop by her store with a takeout coffee and the cupcake. Would that be weird? Would she think I was trying to…
My phone beeps. It’s Maisy. She seems surprised to hear from me.
“Luke! Are you having a lovely time?” she asks. Her voice is strange and pitched higher than normal.
“Yes.”
“That’s so great! Did you get the special Valentine cupcakes?”
“Um, yes.”
“Is she still there? Are you going on another date?”
“Is who still here?” I lower my voice and shift my phone to my other ear. My elbows are on the table. “I was meeting you, right? Or don’t you remember?” There’s quiet on the line. “Maisy. Are you still there?”
“Yes.”
“Do you want to explain what’s going on?”
“No.”
“I think you should.”
“Alright. But I’m at Green Acres. I’ll see you back here?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be having coffee with me here at The Half Moon Café?”
“That was what I told you, wasn’t it? But I said that just to get you there so you could meet up with the woman you like from the hotel.”
“Sheena?”
“Is that her name?”
“Maisy. I’m very confused.” I sigh heavily. “I’m hanging up now. But I’ll see you later.”
Something tells me that I’ve been manipulated in some way, but I can’t quite join all the dots yet to get the big picture. Maisy has been reckless and clueless in the past, but after working with her on the Open Day event, and while she’s been helping out the past few weeks, I believe she has a good heart, and she only means well. We’ve mended our bridges, and I don’t think she would betray my trust. However, …
To take my mind off trying to unpick a conundrum which is, quite frankly, giving me a headache, I wrap the remaining cupcake in a serviette and take it to the counter where Kate looks concerned but doesn’t say anything. I order two cappuccinos to go. I pay for the coffees and cupcakes.
“Just the coffees, thanks,” Kate says as I tap my bank card on the machine. “The cupcakes were a gift.”
“Ah, how nice. Thanks.”
“Don’t thank me. Thank Lydia.” My face must have shown exactly what I was thinking because Kate adds, “Lydia Lane, from Blossoms in Bloom, the florist?”
“Yes. Thanks, Kate. I’m going there now. One of those coffees is for Lydia. Do you know how she likes it?”
Kate smiles and nods. She makes the coffee, froths the milk, and spoons the foam on top. She adds chocolate and cinnamon, then fixes lids onto the take-out cups, and gives me a brown paper bag for the cupcake. I leave the cozy warmth of the café and stride with purpose a few blocks to Blossoms in Bloom.
I’m excited to see Lydia. And, secretly, I’m pleased that Maisy let me down, although there are definitely questions that need to be answered. But later.
At the florist’s door, I stand aside to allow a middle-aged couple to exit before I go in. Stepping inside Blossom in Bloom is like entering a fragrant botanical paradise, a world away from the winter street outside. Laura is at the counter. She smiles and welcomes me to the store.
“How may I help today?” she says.
“I was hoping to see Lydia. Is she in today? I bought her a coffee.” I hold up one of the take-out cups. “Or I could just leave it for her, if she’s too busy.”
Laura asks me to wait one minute and disappears through a doorway to the office, I presume. Still holding the coffee cups, I gaze around at the various colors and shapes of the petals and leaves in buckets and baskets. A huge wicker heart, threaded with red roses and feathery ferns dominates the window, blocking out most of the weak winter daylight. Happy Valentine’s Day banners adorn the wall behind the counter. Gift cards, ribbons, and wrapping paper add to the Valentine wishes.
“Luke!” Lydia sounds surprised. “How lovely to see you.” She walks over toward me as I hold out one of the coffee cups.
“It’s a cappuccino. Chocolate and cinnamon, but no sugar. That’s right, isn’t it?”
“Ah, coffee! Thank you. Yes. Perfect.” Lydia tears off the lid and lifts the cardboard cup to her pink lips. “How did you know?”
“Kate knows. She made it. I told her it was for you. And this...” I pull out the brown paper bag from my pocket containing the cupcake. “… this is for you.”
Lydia blushes and takes the brown paper bag from me. Then she calls for Laura.
“Can you please mind the store for a few minutes, while I have my coffee?”
“Sure thing. Marty’s delivering the final orders and should be back soon, so take your time.”
I follow Lydia through the doorway to a workspace where, I guess, most of the arrangements and displays are created.
“Ah, the nerve center of Blossoms in Bloom,” I say with a smile. Lydia offers me a stool beside a tall wooden table. She perches on another near the corner. Our knees almost touch. “I hope I haven’t caught you at a busy time.”
“No. Not at all. Your timing is perfect, actually.” Lydia sips her coffee. “Thanks for bringing coffee and whatever’s in here.” She nods at the brown paper bag.
“That’s my pleasure,” I say as Lydia tears open the paper package. She hops down to retrieve a knife from the bench by the sink where a clear, plastic dome covers more pink frosted cupcakes. Lydia returns and, with one swift movement, slices the cupcake in two, right down the middle of the red fondant heart. The two vanilla sponge halves fall apart and deep raspberry jam oozes from the central wound.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Lydia. Although, I’ll bet you’ve been flat out creating romance for other people.” I drink more of my coffee. “Kate, at the café, said that it’s you who I should thank for the cupcake.” As I reach out to take one of the delicious-looking sweet pink halves, my gaze drifts to the plastic dome again. “Do you bake for The Half Moon, as well as run a floristry store?”
Lydia sips her coffee and appears to be deep in thought. Her eyes are agitated. They dart from me to the cupcakes under the dome. Then Lydia utters something like, “Shoot,” under her breath. Her pretty mouth twists to one side. She takes a breath and sighs it out before speaking.
“Luke. I have a confession to make. And I hope you won’t think the worst of me.”
“How could I?” I laugh. “What could possibly be that bad?”
“Well, I’ll explain, and then we’ll see.”
Lydia’s seriousness puts an instant stop to my jovial mood. “Alright. What’s on your mind. Tell me?”
“I’m Hotel Babe.”
“Excuse me? Who?”
“Hotel Babe is the name I used on TheOne4U dating app.” Lydia looks at the floor and kicks a stray leaf that has yet to be swept up.
“Nope. Nothing yet. You’re going to have to explain some more.” She lifts her gaze and looks confused.
“We’ve been chatting.”
“We have?”
“Online. On TheOne4U.” Lydia puts down her coffee cup, hops off the stool, and locates her purse on the bench. She shuffles items around before she finds her phone and turns it on. “Here,” she says. “You’re Lonesome Cowboy.”
“Nah. That’s not me. I think you have me confused with someone else.”
“But you came to the café to meet me. I mean, Sheena.”
“Lydia. What’s going on? Sheena was there, but I didn’t arrange to meet her.”
“No. You arranged to meet Hotel Babe.”
“Sorry. I didn’t arrange to meet Hotel Babe either. I was at The Half Moon Café because I was…” My sentence trails off as the penny drops. “… meeting Maisy.” I put my coffee cup down on the tabletop and stand to leave. “Lydia. I suspect that someone has been playing a prank on both of us. And I’m pretty sure I know who. I’m truly sorry, but I’m going to deal with it right now.” I can’t believe that Maisy would do such a thing. It’s unforgivable to pretend to be someone else. To manipulate. To lead someone on. Then it occurs to me. “What do you mean, I arranged to meet Hotel Babe? I thought you said that Hotel Babe was you. Why did you say that I arranged to meet Sheena? Is she also Hotel Babe? How many are there?”
“Alright. I can see how this looks and, believe me, I had the best intentions. I really did.” Lydia stands up and takes a deep breath. “I pretended to be Sheena because I thought you liked her, and she liked you. She’s been unlucky in love, so when you walked in at The Oak River Hotel, it was like, Pow! You are so handsome and charming. I thought I could, you know, aid the path of romance for you guys.”
“Aid the path of romance? But why?” I start pacing. “Don’t you think that people can find love on their own?”
“Well, sure. But sometimes they need a helping hand.”
“What? Manipulation? Ambush? Stealing someone’s identity? That’s illegal by the way.”
“It’s not like that. I only had your best interests at heart.”
“Did you? Did you really? Because a cynical person might look around and wonder, mmm, ‘Why is a florist matching couples up?’ Because it’s good for business? Possibly?”
“No. I mean, yes. If everything goes to plan. The couple might fall in love and want to get married…”
“Goes to plan! Just listen to yourself for a minute. That’s the most conniving, manipulative thing I’ve ever heard. Are you a puppeteer pulling strings all over town? Is that what you do for entertainment?” I shake my head and stride to the exit.
“Luke. I can see how the situation looks but…”
“I’m disappointed. Lydia. I really like… liked you.”
“You liked me?” Lydia rushes over and bars my way. “You never said anything about that or gave me any indication that it was me you liked. Why didn’t you ask me on a date or something?”
“What?”
“If you’d shown me any kind of attention or given me any kind of a clue about your feelings for me, none of this would have happened.”
“Unbelievable,” I say, hitting the middle of my chest with my fist. “You’re blaming me for your botched matchmaking setup?” Exasperated, I step past Lydia to the door. But then, I stop and turn around to face her. “And you have been so hard to read. It’s like, one day, I think you like me, and the next, you’re pushing me away.” Lydia’s jaw drops open. “And that message I sent from Dubai, about wanting to see you, and spending more time together. Did you not think that maybe, that was me telling you I think you are wonderful?”
“But…”
“I’m sorry. This conversation is over. I’m going now.”