She waves me off and notices me looking at the other arrangements. “Can I help you find something else?”
I look into a refrigerator of flowers. “Yeah, I’m looking for a bouquet.”
“What’s the occasion?”
I replay the conversation I overheard between Samantha and Carrie last week. When Sam said no one has given her any flowers before, I knew I needed to remedy that fast. I would have done it before now, but it’s been crazy at the office.
“I just want to make someone feel special.”
She turns to look, and that is when I spot it. “Yes, that is perfect!”
It’s a huge bouquet in a red heart-shaped vase. It’s got beautiful red roses, and just the arrangement is bold. “I want that one.” I nod. “Yes, that’s the one. It’s perfect.”
“Oh!” Janice says in surprise, looking between me and the perfect bouquet. “I made that one this morning for another client, but they’re not picking it up until this afternoon. Go ahead and take it. I can make up another one real quick.”
I’m pulling out my credit card from my wallet. “Thank you, Janice. You’re the best.”
As soon as I sign my name to the receipt, I head back to the office. I carry the flowers to Sam’s desk and leave them there, already imagining how happy she’s going to be to receive them.
I go back to my desk, and I’m on a phone call when Carrie and Sam come back in the afternoon.
The call lasts way longer than I thought it would, and when I finally make it toward Sam’s office, I’m surprised when Carrie says, “Hey, boss man, did you hear? Sam has a secret admirer.”
My mouth drops, but I recover quickly. At least on the surface, deep down, my heart starts to race, and my palms start to sweat. “I didn’t hear that.”
Carrie grabs a little white card from Sam’s hand.
All I can do is look at it, and that’s when I realize that when I bought the bouquet, it already had the card in it. I completely missed that, and Janice must have too.
Carrie starts to read. “Roses are red, violets are blue, I saw something beautiful today and thought of you.” She sighs. “Signed, your secret admirer.”
Carrie drops her hands to her sides. “Isn’t that the sweetest thing?”
I look at Sam. Her cheeks are a ruddy red. She’s embarrassed, but there’s no hiding the pleasure in her expression.
Carrie’s excitement brings people out of their offices to see what the commotion is. Even Russ, who saw me carrying the flowers in, doesn’t give me away.Say it, Elijah. Just tell her that you brought her flowers. But I keep my mouth shut while everyone talks around us.
When people start to disperse, I stay rooted to my spot in the doorway.
Sam is holding her hands together in front of her. “Thank you for the lunch and pedicure. Carrie and I had a really good time.”
I nod and clear my throat. “You’re welcome.”
My gaze flicks between her and the flowers.
She looks at the huge bouquet on her desk. “Uh, do you know where they came from?”
I almost tell her. I want to tell her, but she seems so happy right now. Like something light and simple made her feel appreciated.
If she knows it’s me, will that feeling disappear? Is she going to think I’m doing this because she’s my best friend’s little sister? Because I feel sorry for her? I shrug. “Does it matter? It looks like someone just wanted to make you smile.”
She tilts her head, searching my eyes, and I know I need to get out of here because she’s going to see the truth on my face. I point over my shoulder. “Uh, I need to go check out a work site. I’m going to be out the rest of the day. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She barely gets out, “Okay” and I’m backing out the door. It’s like I’m walking through a tunnel as I go into my office and shut the door behind me. I lean against it and take a deep breath. I’m not sure how long I can keep this up because holding Sam at a distance is not working for me at all.
CHAPTER 10
SAMANTHA
