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“Did you already eat lunch?” I wasn’t even sure what time it was, but I knew he and Shelly usually ate early.
“Yeah, sorry, if I’d known you were going to be downtown today, I would have waited.”
“I had a few errands to run, and I happened to be in the area and there was no way I could be this close and not stop by to see you.” He gave me an odd look and for a split-second I thought he didn’t believe me. Even his smile didn’t look quite right but I wasn’t sure why. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m glad you stopped by. You just surprised me is all.” He smiled then and I took a step back.
“What time will you be home tonight?”
“The usual. We’re nearly done with all the new stock, and we’ve packed away most of the winter items. Now to finish the Valentine’s Day display.”
“I can’t wait to see it. Don’t worry about dinner, I’ll make sure there’s something to eat when you get home.”
“Thanks, Randy, I guess I’ll see you after work,” he said, and again looked unsure. Leaning in I kissed him again.
“Bye, Eli,” I said before walking out the door. It took everything in me not to tell him what I’d done, but I hoped he’dthink it was the perfect Valentine’s Day surprise the same way I did. Now to figure out something for dinner.
Eleven
Eli
Istood at the window and watched as Randy walked away until I couldn’t see him anymore. He was so happy, but I wasn’t sure exactly why, and even though I didn’t want to dampen his happiness, I wondered what had really made him so happy.
“Eli? Are you okay?” Aunt Carol asked as she walked out of the back room.
“Yeah, sorry. What did you want to work on next?”
“Let’s get the Valentine’s stuff all set up then we won’t have to worry about it.”
“Sounds like a brilliant idea,” I said, and hoped the day would stay busy so I didn’t lose myself in my thoughts all day.
“Any idea when the cookies we ordered will be ready?” she asked.
“Yes, we baked them all this weekend and decorated some yesterday, so we should have them ready by Wednesday. You know you’re a priority customer.” I smiled at her, and she patted my cheek.
“You’re a good one, Eli,” she said, and walked toward the backroom.
I glanced out the window again and shook my head. Randy hadn’t given me a reason not to trust him, or to be suspicious, but I just had a feeling something was up. The Valentine’s display got my attention, and I wondered if it had something to do with what I thought was strange behavior. I smiled to myself. That had to be it. Which meant he had a plan—and I had none. Fuck I need to get busy. I took out my phone and opened a travel app and scrolled the different hotels in Tahoe. There were way more to choose from than I wanted to think about. I looked at reviews, compared, and did everything I could think of to narrow it down until I couldn’t take it anymore.
“Eli? Are you sure you’re okay?” Aunt Carol asked, her brow furrowed in worry.
“Yeah, I just can’t figure out which hotel to book for Valentine’s Day. I want to have it all booked and ready so I can drive Randy there and surprise him but there’s forty million hotels in Tahoe and I can’t narrow it down.”
“Well, I don’t know if there’s forty million but come on, I’ll help you.” We walked over to the counter, and she searched for hotel rooms in Tahoe, and just like when I’d searched myself, there were a lot to choose from.
“How much do you want to spend?” she asked, her fingers poised over the keys.
“Oh, I’m not sure. What do you think?” I had no clue what a hotel room cost and hoped she did. “I don’t want it to be in the most expensive place, but I want to make it special. This is our first Valentine’s Day and I want him to know I love him.”
“Is there anything you want in the room? King size bed? Hot tub?”
“King size bed, but I don’t care about a hot tub. We were joking about it but it doesn’t really matter to either of us. I know he wanted to plan it with me, but he’s been very busy adjusting to running the business. I think if we could get a hotel room that’s right downtown then go to a good restaurant and maybe see a show, it would be perfect. What do you think?”
She shrugged her shoulder as she continued to scroll different places. “I’d be happy with a place that has room service.” She smiled before laughing. “Oh, how about this place? It’s fairly new, the rooms are all suites, and it’s close enough to downtown you could walk to the casinos. If you look, there’re a lot of new restaurants that are by famous chefs. Maybe that could be fun?”
“That’s right. Gordon Ramsay has a place there, and several others. I forgot about that.” I scrolled on my phone and found out there were still a few reservations open that night and booked one because there was no way that Randy wouldn’t freak out about eating at Gordon Ramsay’s place.
“How does that hotel sound?” she reminded me. “I don’t think you’ll find much better, and it’s very close to where you’ll go to dinner.”
