She sighed and put the book down. She turned off the light.
She had a busy day tomorrow. She might as well be well-rested for it.
Chapter 23
Holly
Holly woke a full hour before her alarm went off. She lay in bed with the covers up to her chin. Her cheeks were cold, but she didn’t want to turn the heat up. The old apartment building leaked warm air like a sieve and her heating costs were already too high this year. Better just to wear an extra sweater. Or stay in bed.
She heard her coffee-pot click on, the machine on automatic. Soon the scent of coffee filled the air and she found the siren’s song of endless energy irresistible. She slid out from under the covers, wrapped a robe around her and shuffled into the kitchen.
The sun was still barely cresting the horizon, and the kitchen was full of shadows. Holly went on autopilot, reaching for a mug, the creamer, and finally the coffee. She sighed with contentment at the first sip.
And then she thought of Nathan.
He liked his coffee with sugar, no cream.
She shook her head. It didn’t matter how he liked his coffee. He was probably back in San Francisco by now. She wondered if he would look into ECT for her like she asked. She didn’t doubt that he would, just that anything would come of it.
She glanced at her phone to see if there were any new messages or updates, but the screen held nothing but a new like on a Facebook post. She sipped on her coffee and started the shower, telling herself to get on with day and stop thinking of a man she was never going to see again.
“It was a dream,” she told herself. “A marvelous dream, but it wasn’t real.”
With a sigh that came straight from her soul, she put down her coffee and got ready.
She arrived at school the required thirty minutes before the first bell. She wore comfortable slacks and a fluffy white and red sweater. She was glad she didn’t have to pay for the heat at school, because for the first time all morning she finally felt warm.
She went around the room, putting the graded writing assignments on each student’s desk. Today they would be transferring the now fixed paragraphs to handmade snowflakes and hanging them around the classroom. In a few hours, her room would look like a frosted paper winter wonderland.
“Ms. Jones?”
Holly looked up to see the school secretary in her door. Ms. Chellie handled everything that came through the front door of the school from attendance to packages to the new swing set they’d ordered last year.
“Hi. Is someone going to be absent today?” Holly asked, standing up from her desk. Ms. Chellie didn’t usually come by in person to inform her of an absence, but it happened from time to time.
“Nope. These came for you.” Ms. Chellie stepped to the side, letting in a delivery man. The man had a vase bursting with the most beautiful red and white roses Holly had ever seen. It was massive, with sprigs of holly poking out among greenery between the roses.
“Just put them on my desk,” Holly told the man. “I’ll get you a tip.”
“No need, ma’am,” the delivery man replied. “It was included in the purchase. Have a wonderful day.”
He tipped his hat and hurried out of the classroom. Ms. Chellie glanced out the door to make sure he really was leaving before coming over to admire the flowers.
“Holy cow,” Chellie whispered. “I didn’t know they made vases this big. Or flowers like this.”
Holly reached for the pretty red card sitting carefully on the top of the flowers.
Happy Tuesday
-N
The smile that filled Holly’s face was slow, but permanent. She had a feeling that it wouldn’t go away for the rest of the day. There was something wonderful about knowing that someone was thinking of her. It was a great way to start a day.
“Who’s N?” Chellie asked, peeking over Holly’s shoulder. “And does he have a brother? Cousin? Good friend?”
Holly laughed. “I met him up the award thing,” she explained.
Chellie took a deep breath in of the flowers and shook her head. “I think you did more than just meet. You made some sort of impression. Especially since this isn’t all he sent.”