CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Usually, they would dial the extension for the landline in my classroom if there was an emergency. However, given it was after lunch, and the kids had just woken up from a twenty-minute nap, we were on the playground trying to get their energies up for the next session.
In all my years of working at Little Learners Academy, I’d never once been contacted by the front office in the middle of the day. It was oddly nerve-racking.
I answered on the third ring. “Hello?”
“Hi, Melodie,” came the receptionist’s dulcet tone through my phone speakers.
“Oh, hi, Tina,” I offered.
“Hi… So, I have a few deliveries here for you, and I was told to make sure you collect them in person?”
“Deliveries?” I asked, confused. I hadn’t offered anything. And if I did, I’d have simply collected it from the front office at the end of the day. They wouldn’t usually need to call me.
“Yeah, babe,” Tina replied cheerfully, “One of the delivery guys insisted that you must collect in person. The other guy didn’t care. He just asked me to sign for it and left. I suppose so long as you got the package, his job was done.”
I frowned, getting more and more confused the longer the conversation went on.
“Tee,” I mumbled in exasperation, shortening her name with customary ease. “What delivery guys? Also, insisted?”
“I know, right?” she scoffed. “I had to remind him that this was a school full of tiny little sirens. And unless he wanted the words ‘stranger danger’ echoing throughout his nervous system for the next six to seven months, it was best he let me sign for the package and be on his way.”
That sparked a laugh out of me. With a receptionist like her, we didn’t need security. Nothing was getting past her unless she wanted it.
Then Tina’s words finally caught up.
“Package?” I asked, still a little confused, but a lot more curious now.
“Oh, yeah, two of them. And they’re nice, too. If you asked me, I’d say the red ones are a bit over the top. But the other one… oh, that one is put together really nicely.”
Okay, scratch the curiosity; my confusion was back in full effect.
Caving to the reality that I’d lost control of this conversation two point five decades ago, I sighed and massaged my temples, more out of irritation than anything else.
“Red ones?” I inquired.
Tina snickered, announcing cheerfully, “Come see for yourself. I don’t want to ruin the surprise.” Then she hung up.
I tilted my head back and sighed my frustration up to the skies.
I loved Tina. Really, I did. She was the only other black woman who worked at the school.
Like me, she was also biracial with an African-American mother.
And the first time we’d met, we’d immediately bonded over our shared cultural similarities.
But Tina was a little on the aloof side of the spectrum when it came to picking up social cues, and dealing with her could sometimes be exhausting.
Nevertheless, I shook off my irritation—and my confusion about my irritation—and alerted Emma of my absence so she could watch over the kids while I was gone.
Minutes later, I stepped into the front office, and Tina’s face lit up at my entry.
Her gaze then shifted to the two giant bouquets sitting at the edge of her desk.
My breath caught in the back of my throat, and Tina cracked a beaming smile.
“These are for you,” she announced.
She pointed at the flowers—as if anyone could miss them—and I stared at them in confusion.
“For me?” I asked, still in a daze. “Are you sure?”
“You’re the only Melodie Hart that works here, so I would assume so.”
Slowly, I made my way over to the arrangements, feet heavy, and my heart thumping loudly in my ears, as I studied the brightly colored petals cautiously.
“Did the delivery guy say who they were from?” I asked stiffly, still in disbelief.
“Guys, and no.”
“Huh?”
“Delivery guys,” she stressed. “Two of them, remember? Two different senders.”
Right. I’d forgotten she’d mentioned over the phone that there were two delivery guys. But two similar deliveries at the same time being sent to me? What were the odds?
Tina was smiling so hard, my cheeks ached in sympathy as she bounced excitedly up and down in her seat.
“Go on. At least one of them must have a card. Read it and find out,” she encouraged.
I reached for roses, mostly because they were closer, and because they were the more obnoxious of the two. There had to be at least five dozen red roses in there, and there was a small white envelope at the top that held a card.
Removing the note from its protective casing, I quickly scanned the words.
‘Mellie,
I know I haven’t been paying much attention to you lately, and that’s on me.
Let me make it up to you. We should grab dinner this weekend at that restaurant you wanted to try for your birthday.
I’ll make the reservation and everything.
You don’t have to do or worry about anything.
Just look beautiful and show up. I miss us.
Let’s work on spending more time together.
Regards, Seth.’
A sudden bout of nausea washed over me, and I swallowed it down before it could escape.
Now he remembers my birthday?
My mood instantly plummeted.
Furthermore, if Seth was genuinely interested in following through on his plan, he would have known to check with the restaurant before promising such a feat, because I knew for a fact they were fully booked.
Besides, I’d already dined at Sauvage with Declan, and I was not going to taint the memory of that place by going there with Seth.
Also, why that specific restaurant? Did he know about Declan?
I wanted to puke.
What was Seth up to? He had never sent me flowers at work, not even when we were good. Heck, Seth didn’t do flowers. Period. Not to mention that I didn’t want to be around him, let alone go on a date with him.
“So?” Tina inquired excitedly. “Who’s it from?”
“It’s… um,” my voice broke, and I cleared my throat. “It’s… they forgot to sign it. No name,” I finished lamely.
Tina frowned, looking disappointed. “Oh, well… check the other one. Maybe they’re from the same person, and they just forgot to sign one of the cards?”
I attempted a quick smile and reached for the simple, yet elegant arrangement of white and yellow water lilies. There was a tiny card hanging from the delicate yellow ribbon that was wrapped around the bouquet, and on the back were neatly formed words written in block letters.
‘Darling,
In honor of our pond-dwelling friends: Maeve, Brett and Bartholomew, Lydia and Hyacinth, and those ever-squabbling twins, Winslow and Mecca.
I hope these brighten your day and your classroom as much as you have brightened my life.
Yours, Declan.’
My mood, which was utterly dark and desolate mere seconds ago, instantly brightened. I was so ridiculously happy, I could cry. And my chest ached with that now familiar feeling of elation and adoration for Declan.
That was one of the things I admired most about him.
When I’d named the ducks last night, I’d done so on a whim and had forgotten the names the moment they’d left my lips.
But Declan hadn’t. He’d remembered them.
Whether he had total recall or had memorized the names for this specific purpose, I wasn’t sure.
But one thing was for certain, and it was that Declan listened when I spoke.
My heart ached a little. That was all I ever wanted in a partner, someone who truly heard me.
A tear slipped down my cheek, and I quickly wiped it away, bringing the flowers to my nose and inhaling deeply, absorbing their freshly sweet scent.
“Well?” Tina asked. “Is that one signed?”
I chuckled at her impatient tone. “Yeah, it is.”
She lifted a questioning brow, eyeing me with concern. When I didn’t say anything, she inquired hesitantly. “Oh, my God… Melodie, are you crying?”
I quickly brushed away another stray tear and eyed Tina over the top of my flowers. “Yeah—no. Don’t worry. These are happy tears.”
“Aww.” She stood up from her chair and strolled over to give me a quick hug.
“No, I’m fine, I promise,” I assured her.
She didn’t seem to be convinced, but nodded nonetheless and went back to her station.
Looking at the arrangements, you’d think the roses were from the guy who was super rich—they were so ostentatious.
But no, the simple, more thoughtful gift was from the enigmatic billionaire.
It only further highlighted the differences between him and Seth.
Seth flaunted his possessions in a cheap imitation of wealth.
While Declan, on the other hand, was wealthy.
But you’d never know it from the flowers.
Also, his note said, ‘hope these brighten your day and your classroom’.
He’d sent them specifically for me to have and enjoy at school and in my classroom, not so I could show off.
Which was no doubt the purpose of the roses.
And with that awful realization, I quickly removed the small envelope from the roses and tucked it into my pocket.
“Here,” I said to Tina, handing her the roses.
“Wh—what?” she stuttered.
I chuckled. “You can have these. Share them with the rest of the ladies in the office if it’ll make you feel better, but they’re yours.”
She gingerly grasped the bouquet, eyeing me suspiciously. But before she could ask more questions that I would have to lie my way out of, I swiftly slipped out the door with my water lilies tucked firmly in the crook of my elbow.