He had someone who was special to him? He was thinking about her?
She felt a pain shoot through her chest and out both arms.
There went that idea. She thought he was falling for her, like she was falling for him. But he had someone else who was special.
“Is there something she needs that the two of us can do together?” she asked, surprised her voice sounded natural. She felt congested inside, like her chest was squeezed tight.
“I’ll let you know, thanks.” It seemed like he was smiling underhis ski mask—it sounded like there was humor in his voice, but she barely registered it.
Now she knew who he was, now she knew that her feelings for him were one and the same—the way she felt about Roland, all rolled into the way she felt about her Secret Saint partner—and now, to find out that he was giving anonymous gifts to a very special person in his life.
Just her luck.
They chatted about what they were going to do the next day, and she had to admit, it was all she could do to try to sound enthused and interested. Because she felt despondent.
They parted thirty minutes later, and Nelly walked slowly to her car.
Figures, she thought as she drove home.Just figures.
But she needed to be supportive. He was going through a hard time, and he thought that she was his friend. She wanted to be his friend—actually, she wanted to be more, but even if she couldn’t be more, she still owed him her friendship. She needed to support him in whatever way she could.
As she pulled into her regular spot and parked, she noticed that there seemed to be a big box on the front porch.
She got out of her car, walking softly to the porch, looking around a bit to see if there was anything else out of the ordinary.
She walked over and peeked inside. Was someone dropping off Secret Saint supplies?
There was a sheet of paper on top, and she opened it up, tilting it toward the streetlight so she could read it.
“Dear Nelly, I noticed that your grandma seems to be having some difficulties, and I thought you might be able to use these things. Your friend, SS”
She stared at the note, thinking. Could it be true? Roland’s special friend, the one that he was deeply affectionate toward, was her.
The butterflies in her stomach started floatingaround dreamily.
Roland liked her. She wasn’t sure how much, but she was definitely special to him. That made her whole heart sing. She dropped to her knees and rooted through the box. It was supplies to help her take care of her gram. There was absorbent underwear, a baby monitor, and a Ring camera, which she wished she would have thought of. She could put it up, and she could check on her gram while she was at school. She could tell her grandma it was there, so it wouldn’t be like she was spying on her or anything, but it would give her a peace of mind that she hadn’t had in a long time.
She continued to look through the box—more items that would be so helpful, and each new discovery made her smile grow bigger and bigger. And by the end, she was grinning like a fool. Roland was so very, very sweet.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“Idon’t know my lines,” Maryellen said as tears started to fill her eyes.
Roland looked at her. She wasn’t going to cry, was she?
He would rather be handling the boys, but Nelly had been working on getting them to stand in the exact arrangement she wanted, and he didn’t exactly know what that was. So he was going over lines with the other kids. However, Maryellen, who was playing Mary in the play, looked like she was about to cry, because apparently she didn’t know hers.
The wind howled outside as the first real storm of the season blew in.
They had wanted to get practice over quickly so they could hopefully send the kids home, but they needed at least an hour. They’d had fifteen minutes.
“That’s not a big deal. We’ll just work on them a little. You only have a few, and you’re gonna be fine.”
“But I’m scared. What if I mess them up?”
“So if your mom was in a play, and she messed up her lines, would that bother you?”
Maryellen looked at him and seemed confused before she slowly shook her head.
