I swept my hand in a semi-circle. “Judging by this place, maybe a roller coaster?”
“Not quite.” She laughed, shaking her head. “But we could probably put a small one in if it wouldn’t be such a liability.”
“You’re joking, right?” I asked, my head drawing back in surprise.
“Yes, but only because that might be a step too far for our new donor.” Her gaze drifted over the gleaming appliances. “They were far too generous to risk scaring them off from supporting the center. I’ve never had someone tell us to order whatever was necessary.”
I gripped the edge of the counter to keep my hands steady. “That’s incredible.”
“It really is.” Her eyes softened with the kind of gratitude you couldn’t fake. “They basically wrote us a blank check, with only one small request.”
“What kind of request?”
“That we start with the kitchen.” She gestured at the upgrades. “No idea why, but they changed everything for us. Whoever they are.”
My breath caught. “The kitchen?”
“Yes,” she confirmed with a nod. “They wanted everything in here to be top of the line, and for the walls to be painted pale yellow. Simple enough requests, considering how much they donated.”
A mysterious benefactor had donated a fortune to the youth center where I’d been volunteering for the past five years. And they’d wanted them to start in the room where I spent all my time here and paint the walls the same color I’d used at Hale & Honey.
I swallowed hard. “Did they leave any other instructions?”
“Nope. Just a generic email to use if we need anything more in the future.” She shrugged, laughing softly. “If they hadn’t sent over a cashier’s check, I would’ve thought it was a scam of some kind. But our bank made the funds available to us immediately, and I was able to get someone to come out this weekend and redo everything in here.”
Her answer only strengthened the suspicious voice in my head. “I’m glad you got what you needed. This place deserves all the support it can get.”
As she went to join the kids, I tried to tell myself that I was jumping to conclusions. Gage couldn’t be the anonymous donor. He had no reason to give money to the center. But I couldn’t shake the suspicion.
They only grew during my walk home. And even more on the ride up to my floor, now that the elevator was safe to use.
Inside my apartment, I dropped onto the couch, my mind buzzing with unanswered questions. Pulling out my phone, I tapped on my text thread with Gage and considered sending him a message.
I’d thought thanking him for returning my mom’s scarf would be the last time I ever reached out. I wasn't sure if I wanted to open that door again. But he was the only person who could tell me if he was behind the elevator repair and donation to the center.
I wasn’t sure which answer scared me more.
12
GAGE
Iwas halfway through reviewing the quarterly projections when Susan cracked my office door open.
“You have a visitor.”
I pushed back from my desk, wondering about the mischievous gleam in her eyes. “Who is?—”
My question broke off when I saw Tessa behind her. Her expression was a strange mix of shock and confusion. As she walked into my office, I noticed a folded brochure in her hand. Spotting the logo from the local cancer center, I realized why she’d come here.
Susan shot me a meaningful look before shutting the door behind her.
Tessa didn’t move closer, but I circled my desk so it wasn’t between us. Stopping at the guest chairs, I settled my hand on the back of the nearest one to stop myself from crossing over to her. “It’s good to see you, Tessa.”
Ignoring my greeting, she held the brochure out in a grip tight enough to whiten her knuckles. “I went to the cancer center this morning to drop off some cupcakes for the staff.”
I wasn’t surprised she was still finding thoughtful ways to give back to the place that treated her mom. But her showing up here on the same day she’d been there probably didn’t bode well for me. The plan for her to never find out about the anonymous donation seemed to have failed.
“There’s a new plaque on the infusion room door.” She took a shaky breath. “It has my mom’s name on it.”
