Calvin gently closed the door and flicked off the light, and I fell into the most beautiful dreams of campfire songs, safe green eyes, strong secure hands, and firework-inducing kisses.
The next few days passed by with a new sense of hope.The Harvest Bonfire had been a huge hit. Even though we had rented out the space for the farmers’ market vendors to set up their tables, each one had done so well they decided to give us extra tips. The donations for the wish logs had beat records for years past, and even a couple of the larger businesses in town—like the police department and Simon and Gloria, on behalf of The Tool Box and Love in Bloom—sponsored bigger donations so we could continue to host events like this.
I was beyond grateful for the way our community came together to help my family. I only hoped it would be enough.
While I made my way into town to grab my morning coffee from Cupid’s Cup, I couldn’t help but whistle the little tune that had been stuck in my head all morning. Actually, now that I thought about it more, it wasn’t a song I recognized at all, but one that felt like it was written on my soul from the very moment I kissed Stella.
I made a mental note to explore that a little more, but my eyes were drawn to Gloria and Teddy sitting at the table outside Cupid’s Cup. Gloria looked like she had a death grip on hercoffee mug, and when I looked at their faces, they looked strained and worried.
“Morning, Gloria, Teddy,” I greeted as I walked up. “Is everything okay?”
They had both been at the Harvest Bonfire last week and there wasn’t even a bit of worry in their faces then, so I wasn’t sure what could have caused the concern on their faces now.
“Hi, Cal, sweetie. I was hoping we’d see you here this morning,” Gloria greeted me while standing up to walk toward me. Teddy slowly waddled behind her, but the concern on his face was an exact replica of Gloria’s.
“What’s going on?” I asked again. It had to be something.
“We’ve both received a few…odd…requests,” Teddy started.
“You wanted us to tell you if anything else strange came in for Stella…and…well?—”
I cut her off before she could say anymore. “Let’s call Patrick over so he can be here for this, too,” I said as we made our way across the street to the post office. If Stella’s safety was involved, I didn’t want to do this without him.
A few minutes later Patrick swiftly walked into the post office, brows furrowed and police uniform on. “I came as quickly as I could, what’s going on?”
I turned to Gloria and Teddy so we could hear the story from them.
“Well, it started with more calls for flower orders to be delivered to Whispers of Love,” Gloria started.
“For Stella?” I asked.
Gloria nodded. “They always just said ‘for a guest at the bed and breakfast’ but I knew it was for Stella—she’s the only one staying there. I refused to fulfill them, though. Politely at first, trying to explain that we didn’t have those specific flowers, or that I was unable to handle deliveries for the time being. But the calls became more frequent that finally I just flat out refused service and demanded he quit calling.”
I could imagine Gloria telling someone off. It wouldn’t be the first time someone was set straight by her, and I was sure it wouldn’t be the last either.
“But today, packages came in at the post office,” Teddy added.
“Packages?” Patrick and I both asked simultaneously. My stomach dropped.
“A few envelopes, some are small boxes. All of them are addressed to the bed and breakfast but the name on the package is Crystal Broastberg. There’s no one in Love who goes by that name, and the packages came from Utah, so it must be Stella.”
My heart sank. Had she been lying to us this whole time? Stella wasn’t even her real name? Although I felt despondent in this moment, there was still that instinct to protect her.
“We have to see what’s inside them,” I demanded, reaching for the packages.
Teddy pulled them away from me as Patrick gently explained, “Cal, you know we can’t open other people’s mail. I know you want to protect her, but there are some things people need to do on their own. But that doesn’t mean we can’t be there to help.”
He turned to Teddy and grabbed the packages himself. Three large envelopes, one smaller one, and two small boxes.
“Thanks for letting us know.” Patrick looked to Teddy and then to Gloria, sympathy and gratitude coating his expression. “We’ll take these to her so she can open them up at Grandma’s.”
That was the right call. At least if there was something inside them that made her uncomfortable, she could fall back into the arms of the people who loved her.
I hopped in the passenger seat of Patrick’s cruiser. As he got in, he handed the packages to me and I held them in a death grip in my hands. I was in no state to drive right now and was grateful that Patrick knew.
“Why did she lie about her name?” I wondered to myself but must have said it out loud as Patrick glanced over at me.
“Does it really even matter?”
