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“Thanks, Denise. I’ll have Cindy reschedule the meeting in the morning when she comes in,” she said, referring to Jake’s executive assistant. If they wanted to postpone the meeting until the end of the month, Jake could handle it himself, and no one knew his schedule better than Cindy.
“And this came for you.” Denise placed a brown teddy bear holding a box of her favorite chocolates down on her desk. “Unless you need something, I’m going to leave now.”
“All set. I’m leaving soon too. Have a nice evening.”
Allison waited until the receptionist left before she opened the card attached to the bear’s ear. Thought you’d like something sweet while you worked the typed message on the small notecard read. She could always use something sweet from Favre, a chocolate company she’d fallen in love with during a trip to Switzerland. Although well known in Europe, the company had only recently begun exporting to the United States.
Derek. The present had to be a joke sent from her twin brother. He loved to play jokes and harmless pranks on her. And it wouldn’t be the first time he’d sent her a present and not signed his name to it. He’d done it once back in high school, only then he’d included “from your secret admirer” to the present. He knew where she worked and how much she loved Favre chocolate. Not many people knew either of those things. The present had to be from him. It was the only thing that made sense
Allison flipped the card over to see if any other information was printed on the back. Perhaps if she called whoever delivered the bear, they’d tell her who ordered it. Except for flowers printed on the back of the card, it remained blank. “They’re from Derek.” Even as she repeated the words, a chill passed through her and she dropped the card. Later she’d call him and confirm he’d sent the present. He may deny it at first, but if she hounded him enough, like a good twin sister, he’d eventually tell her the truth.
Pushing the bear and the chocolates into the far corner of her desk, she answered her final email and closed the Internet browser. Although she kept telling herself Derek sent the present, she didn’t grab it when she gathered up her things and left for the night.
Traffic remained heavy through much of the city, and when she pulled into her driveway, she couldn’t wait to get inside, slip on some PJs, and call Derek to get some answers. Once she satisfied her curiosity, she’d try her sister-in-law, Addie. Rock should be calling any day now to finalize their plans for the weekend, and when he did, she wanted it all planned out. Since she didn’t know him well, she hoped his sister would provide her with some ideas for their date.
Her entire townhouse remained in darkness until she used her keychain remote and switched on the lamp inside. Once the front hall was ablaze with light, she opened her car door. Inside, she punched in her alarm code, turning the system off, and then made sure she locked the front door behind her. She still didn’t understand how she’d forgotten to turn the alarm on the night Rock picked her up. Despite the little voice that kept telling her she hadn’t forgotten then either, logically she knew there was no other explanation.
“Come on, answer the phone,” Allison said as she waited for her brother to pick up. She’d changed, popped a mini pizza in the oven, and decided to call Derek while she waited for the timer to go off.
“Sorry I missed your call. Leave a message,” Derek’s recording said after a few rings.
Figures. “Thanks for the chocolates. Call me when you get this.” He was good about returning her calls. Assuming it wasn’t too late when he checked his messages, he’d call her back tonight.
With one call down and dinner not ready, she pulled up her sister-in-law’s number and hoped she answered.
Like her first call, it rang a couple of times, but then Addie answered. “Allison, hang on a second,” she said.
“Sure,” Allison said, although she wasn’t sure if Addie actually heard her or not. In the background, she heard noise as if her sister-in-law moved around. Then she came back on the line.
“Sorry. I wanted to finish putting the groceries away before Trent gets home. He thinks I shouldn’t lift anything heavier than a pencil these days.”
Allison heard the annoyance in Addie’s voice and smiled. “I’d take advantage of that while you can.”
“Trust me, you wouldn’t. He’s driving me crazy. At first it was kind of sweet, but now, oh man.”
“Not too much longer.” She had a feeling Trent would be fretting over his wife even after she had the baby, but she kept her suspicions to herself. “If you’re not busy, I need some help with something.”
“Sure, I’m just waiting for Trent. We’re going out with Gray and Kiera tonight.”
Sometime soon she needed to get up to Providence and visit her brother Gray and his fiancée. She’d spent some time with them earlier in the year when they’d first started dating, but had not seen them since they announced their engagement.
“What type of things does your brother like? We’re supposed to go out Saturday night.”
“He’s letting you plan the date?” Addie’s disbelief filtered over the phone.
“I asked him, so it seems like I should plan the night. Do you think he’ll mind?”
“Probably not, and I’m glad you asked him. Give me a second to think.”
The oven timer buzzed, and Allison pulled out her dinner while she waited for some suggestions and tried to come up with a few ideas of her own.
“He likes football, but the season is over.”
Sports, she should have thought of that. “What about baseball?” She understood enough about baseball and could sit through a game.
“The season doesn’t start until the beginning of April. You’d have to check the exact date.”
Well, assuming their date this weekend went well, maybe a baseball game was something they could do next month together.
