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She set the daisies down in the front hall and walked away to wash her hands. Then she drank a glass of soda and stared at the clock. Came back, circled them. God, they were gorgeous. There had to be two dozen of them, each flower more perfect than the last.
And deluding herself wouldn’t help anything.
She pulled out the card and thumbed it open.
These flowers aren’t half as beautiful as you. Happy birthday.
Sucking in a breath, she dropped the card as if it had caught fire. Of course it was unsigned. Maybe Alana wanted her to think Spencer still cared. That was a best friendly thing to do, wasn’t it?
A quick phone call ascertained that no, Alana had not pretended to be her make-believe boyfriend for the day. Nor had Nicky. Or her parents. Or anyone else she could call within the tri-state area.
After she’d exhausted all the possibilities, she sat down on the floor with the phone in her lap. She should call him. Just say thanks and that was it. Easy, breezy, buh-bye.
If she didn’t start bawling, she’d be in business.
She dialed his cell and got voicemail. Naturally. He’d be working. As always. She left the quickest, most inflectionless message she could then hung up and closed her eyes.
The phone rang half an hour later. It was still sitting in her lap.
She flipped it open and stared at the readout.Oh God. She so had no clue how to deal with stuff like this. Maybe she was better off with one-weekend stands. “Hey. You didn’t need to call me back,” she said in her most casual voice.
“I wanted to.” He sounded like a mixture of heaven and hell, wrapped in a thin chocolaty layer of sex-drenched sin. “I didn’t know if you’d realize I sent them.”
“Signing the card usually alleviates that problem.”
He paused. “It’s your day. I didn’t want to make it worse.”
“You didn’t.” It’s already pure hell. “Thank you. Daisies are my favorite flower.”
“I, ah, sort of guessed from the background on your PDA.”
Her cheeks burned. Of course. “Good guess.”
“They suit you.” He let out a breath. “Why’d you quit?”
“Because I didn’t feel the same anymore,” she said, sure he wouldn’t understand what she meant. She’d never see the bookstore the same way again. Easier to step away and start anew than watch what you loved turn into something you didn’t recognize.
“I know it doesn’t change anything but I’m sorry, Kelly. So sorry.”
“I’m okay,” she said hoarsely, praying repetition would make it true.
“Are you?”
“Yes.” I will be.
“What are you going to do now?”
A dozen flippant answers came to mind but she went with honesty. “Try to find something I love as much. If it exists.” She doubted there could be another something or someone, but she wasn’t giving up without a fight. Now that she’d tasted the good stuff, there was no way she was going back to just getting by.
No fucking way.
“I hope you do. Kelly…”
She drew her knees up to her chest and laid her forehead on them. Tears loomed and she didn’t know if she’d be able to hold them off if she stayed on the phone much longer. Which was stupid. This was her chance to grill him.
Did you really sleep with Diana? And if you didn’t, why did you make me think you did? Did you just not know how to let me down easily? So why did you send me flowers?
“I’ll let you go,” he said finally.
