My heart tripped with excitement. My first flowers from Joey!
“Miss O’Mara?” the man asked. When I nodded, he held the box forth. “These are for you.”
“Thank you.” The box was thick and heavy, and I didn’t bother trying to hide my grin. “Have a good day.”
He tipped his cap at me. “You too, miss.”
He jogged back to his truck, and I shut the door, squealing inwardly. Rushing into the living room, I set the box on the coffee table. When I pulled off the lid, I gasped.
Joey had send me a dozen gorgeous red roses. My hands rose to my heart and then reached to finger the thick, velvety crimson petals, the emerald stems dotted with thorns, even the crinkly white paper. They were the most beautiful flowers I’d ever seen—so pretty they didn’t even look real!
Peering closer, I noticed an envelope nestled among the blooms. When I reached for it, I saw that something else was in there too. Lying at the bottom of the box was a smaller parcel wrapped in white paper. I gasped again—had Joey gotten me a wedding gift already? The box looked too big to be a ring, but with Joey, you never knew…he might be teasing me somehow. Maybe he’d placed the ring in a bigger box just to fool me. But wouldn’t he want to offer something like that to me himself?
Immediately I glanced out the front window. Was he lurking in the bushes, ready to pop out and surprise me?
Grinning like mad, I pulled the envelope from the box and tore it open. Inside was a plain white card, upon which words were written in spidery black script. As I read, the smile faded from my face, my lips going slack.
The flowers weren’t from Joey.
Dear Miss O’Mara,
I’m delighted to find that you are excellent at keeping a secret.
I hope you have had time to consider my offer, as I am anxiously awaiting your acceptance, and I hope the flowers will help persuade you to give it sooner rather than later. I am also returning something that belongs to you, as you mistakenly left it in my motorcar the other night. Wear it tonight when you visit me at the Statler, just the way you wore it in your bedroom. Telephone the number below to reach me so we can arrange a time…although I believe you still have the key.
Until then,
E.D.
Enzo DiFiore. I didn’t even have to open the smaller box inside the flowers—I knew it contained the diamond choker. The one he’d bought for Gina as an engagement gift. The one Raymond had stolen from his brother’s room and sent to me as a misguided attempt at affection. The one I’d worn in my bedroom, naked everywhere else, when Enzo had snuck in and surprised me. My face burned.
You can’t think that way. What’s past is past, and the escapades with Enzo are part of your history. It was just a bit of fun, just a girl reacting to being responsible her whole life, and finally getting a taste of freedom.
A taste? OK, more like a meal.
A really attractive five-course meal, served searing hot.
But I wasn’t the type to wallow about my mistakes, even if Enzo was the biggest one I’d ever made. No sense in it. What made sense was that I needed to tell him right away that I wouldn’
t be accepting his offer, that what was between us was done, and he should focus on Gina or switch his attentions to some other girl he could control easier than me. But not tonight. Not when we were alone in that apartment with darkness pressing at the windows. I was in love in Joey and trusted myself not to give in to Enzo, but I didn’t trust that Enzo would be a gentleman. I’d barely managed to put him off last time we were there together, and he was not a man who liked being told no.
I needed to phone him right away. But I felt that I’d have more success in person than on the telephone convincing him not to be angry, and I had to return the key and choker. A daytime meeting would be best, or one in a crowded location. Would he agree to see me on my terms?
Chewing my lip, I went to the telephone and dialed the number. I wondered if it was the number to the apartment at the Statler and got my answer when the hotel switchboard operator came on the line.
“Mr. Enzo DiFiore, please,” I requested.
“One moment, thank you.”
While she made the connection, I wondered briefly what a switchboard operator made. If I didn’t return to school right away, I’d have to get some sort of job. I didn’t much relish the thought of sitting in a small room plugging wires all day long, but maybe as something temporary, it would do.
“Hello, darling.” Enzo’s deep, smooth voice sent a chill down my arms. This wouldn’t be easy.
“Hello. Thank you for the flowers.”
“You got them.”
“Yes, they’re beautiful.”