Sandra came over with a bowl of cereal in her hand, and sat on the table I had been sweeping under. ‘’Since he hasn’t contacted you, then why don’t you contact him?” she asked, as she deliberately and noisily slurped the cereal off her spoon.
“Will you stop slapping your lips like that?” I scolded.
She laughed. “Hey! Hey! Don’t take your irritation out on me just because you’re too chicken to call him. This is the twenty-first century, you know. You don’t have to sit at home and wait for him to call you, you can call him.”
I sighed deeply, turned away, and continued on with my sweeping.
“Oh for God’s sake, just freaking call him,” she shouted, exasperated. “You were forward about the kiss right, and see what happened? This is just the next step of your journey into his bed.”
“Why do I always have to be the one stepping out first?” I burst out, whirling around to face her.
At first, she had been taking the matter very lightly, the way she always handled her own romantic life, but as she noted the pain on my face and voice, she placed her bowl down and straightened her spine.
“He hasn’t even sent one text?” she asked, her voice quiet.
The reminder was painful, and his behavior, absolutely puzzling. We’d had a great time that evening so what had made him lose interest afterwards? Was it because I was too forward? Maybe he was some kind of Alpha, hunter type who preferred to make all the moves.
“Look, maybe he’s just been really busy,” Sandra said. “Didn’t he tell you that he was working on setting up his office here?”
“No one’s ever too busy to send a text, Sandra. You’ve said that yourself a thousand times.”
“I know, I know, but maybe he’s not into texting. It’s very annoying and the practice shouldn’t be legal, but unfortunately there are people like that. I usually give them a wide berth, but I will make an exception if they look like Caleb.” She grinned.
The phone began to ring and she jumped off the table nimbly and went to the counter to answer it.
“Hello,” I heard her say, and my mind immediately tuned it all out. She didn’t understand. I couldn’t take Caleb lightly. He was not a little romance that I could indulge in and then move on to the next. He was too important to me. He was the man I had dreamed of, waited for all my life. While I continued with my chore, my mind went in never-ending circles as I tried to figure out what I had done wrong, or all the reasons why Caleb had not called, until Sandra rushed over to me. In her haste, she knocked over a pot. I turned around to see soil spill out into the very section I had just cleaned.
My brows drew together in a frown. “What the hell, Sandra.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll clean it up,” she said, waving her arm dismissively. “You’ll never guess who just called.”
A small flutter started up in my chest. Almost like the flapping of delicate butterfly wings. “Who?”
“Someone with an order, but a very special order.”
The butterfly wings grew in span and strength. They were like the wings of a great eagle inside my chest, and suddenly it was hard to breathe. I became afraid I would once again be disappointed. I kept my expression neutral, but my voice sounded choked as I asked the question. “What flowers did they ask for?”
“Daylilies, but that’s not the important part,” she said, coming to stand in front of me. “What’s important is the person was his lawyer.”
I almost couldn’t breathe. “Whose lawyer?”
She crossed her arms across her chest. “You know very well whose. Anyway, she said she absolutely loved the bouquet he purchased the other day from us, and that she would like another. However, this new purchase isn’t for her, but for him because he has just opened his new office, and she would like to congratulate him on it.”
Her smile was wide and filled with excitement, but I just stared blankly at her. I was horribly disappointed. It was not him at all. It was someone else wanting to buy flowers for him.
“How is this good news?” I whispered.
The smile instantly disappeared from her face. “This is good news because I’m going to prepare the bouquet right now and you’re going to deliver it.”
“I’m not doing that,” I said, shaking my head. No, I can’t run after a man like that. No way. If he wanted me he would have to make the next move now.
“You’re acting like you have a choice,” she scoffed. “I’ll prepare the bouquet, but I’m not delivering it. It will just rot in here if you don’t take it. You decide what’s going to happen to it, boss.”