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Summer snorted and turned back to her magazine, shaking her head.
“Of course we celebrate love.” Lori paused. “But I’m not dating anyone.”
Monny’s smile seemed to brighten, and Lori quickly averted her eyes back to the flowers. Was the surprise gift from him? They barely knew each other. But why else would he be interested in her dating status?
A dried petal fell to the counter, and for the first time, Lori noticed another card lying under the vase, a full-sized envelope like one would buy at Hallmark. She tugged it free and slit the light blue flap with her fingernail, noting from the corner of her eye that Monny slipped back inside the kitchen. To hide his knowing smile when she read his card, or just to check the brownies?
She was silly to think he’d be interested in her. No, she only attracted men with fast words and lying lips, men who broke promises and cheated on their fiancées.
Lori pulled her lower lip between her teeth and read the card, the bitterness of the past tainting the cute message. No signature, other than the words YOUR SECRET ADMIRER written in big block letters, an obvious attempt to hide the owner’s handwriting.
Would Monny send a corny note like this one? Everything else he had said or done during their days working together had been smooth. Sauve. Sophisticated, like his accent. But who was to say he didn’t have a silly side lurking beneath that savvy exterior? She really didn’t know him at all.
Couldn’t truly know any man at all.
She slid the card back into the envelope, then thought twice. She pulled it back out and, after making sure Summer wasn’t watching, stood it open beside the cash register. Might be silly, but if Andy—the man she wanted to notice her—never would, at least she could appreciate romantic efforts from a coworker. Even if she had no intention of following through with them.
Lori set the vase in a prime spot on the counter, then grabbed a dust cloth and began to wipe down the display case. Monny started humming a tune from the kitchen, and the melodic sound blossomed a sprig of hope beneath her doubt. If Monny could be interested in her, who was to say Andy might not come around one day? She absently joined in the song under her breath, swaying slowly as she cleaned.
Andy stood outside the Chocolate Gator and hesitantly peered through the window. Lori stood at the counter, head ducked as she counted bills at the register. Strands of her long brown hair, pulled halfway back, skimmed her cheeks as she rhythmically placed bills into stacks. Her lips moved slightly as she counted to herself.
Andy drew a deep breath. He’d been unable to sleep well last night, wondering if he’d done the right thing by sending Haley as a delivery girl. What if she told his secret? What if she wasn’t subtle enough? What if Lori saw her and put two and two together? He wasn’t ready for Lori to know his thoughts, his plan—and he definitely wasn’t ready for her to hear what Pastor Mike had suggested about his love life.
Maybe it was too late. Maybe Haley hadn’t been able to take the flowers yesterday afternoon at all. Or maybe they’d already died. Maybe he’d killed them with his secrets and his schemes and…
No, if the stargazer lilies were already dead, it was no doubt they’d collapsed from their own aroma.
Andy shoved his hands in his pockets, then realized he needed them to open the door—unless he stayed outside, which seemed like a good option at this point. Lori knew nothing, and he hadn’t invested anything in this wacky plan except for the forty-three dollars and twenty-seven cents he’d spent on the flowers. Forty-seven dollars, if he counted the card. He could check on Lori for his aunt another time and just go home, forget about it all.
And then what—forget about ever finding a wife? Forget about his job? Forget about the way Lori’s smile wreaked havoc in his stomach and her playful punches stung his arm like a thousand arrows from Cupid’s bow?
Not likely.
Andy stole a peek through the window again, and his heartbeat spiked. The vase of flowers was on the counter opposite where Lori stood, part of a display with wrapped chocolate bars. That had to mean she liked them, right?
Lori stuffed the money inside a deposit bag and shut the register drawer. His stomach clenched. If he didn’t go inside now, she’d leave out the back and he’d never know what she really thought of the flowers. Not to mention the youth group wouldn’t have any dessert after their service tonight.
He ran his palm over his hair, winced at its clamminess and knocked on the door before he could change his mind. Lori looked up from the display with surprise, then hurried over to unlock the door.
“Hey, there.” Her smile warmed his insides like the winter sunshine had moments ago warmed his clothes. “I just closed up. You almost missed me.”
He returned her smile, trying not to read too much into her greeting. She had no idea—he’d almost missed her by a lot more than ten minutes. If it hadn’t been for Pastor Mike and the church board, he might have missed her by a lifetime. How could he have never noticed the parade of nerves inside his stomach while in her presence all these years?
Andy suddenly realized he had yet to speak and cleared his throat. “Oh, right. I came to get a dessert for the youth service tonight. Sorry I’m late.” He wouldn’t have been if he hadn’t stopped to second-guess himself the entire way here. But she didn’t need that information.
Lori frowned. “You should have just called me. I could have brought it and saved you the trip.”
Andy leaned casually against the counter. “Well, I was just going to, you know, say hi. Or whatever.” He couldn’t tell her about Bella’s request. Hopefully Lori wouldn’t require further explanation. He cleared his throat again to stall, his eyes scanning the area behind the display even though he wasn’t exactly sure what he expected to see. The flowers were already out front and center. What better reaction could he hope for?
“You’ll see me in a few hours.” Lori pulled a plastic glove over her hand and slid open the display case. “Just because I’m a shop manager now doesn’t mean I’m going to skip out on my responsibility to the youth group.”
“Of course not.” Andy rubbed at his throat. What was that lump doing there? Other than blocking everything he was trying so hard to say. “I never thought that.”
“Good.” Lori snapped the edge of her glove against her hand with a flourish. “What’ll it be, sir?” She grinned.
He opened his mouth to order three dozen chocolate-filled crème cookies. But the words lingered on his lips, unspoken. The silly cartoon card was propped against the register, where Lori could easily see it all day.
His neck warmed, and he tugged at his polo collar. “Uh…”
Lori quirked an eyebrow, her hand hovering over the display, waiting to know which item to grab. “Sorry, we’re fresh out of uh. I must have burned them with the sponge cake yesterday.”
Andy shook his head to clear it, forcing his eyes not to dart back to the telltale card. Or was he reading more into it than he should? He suddenly remembered all the reasons why he hadn’t dated in so long. This was complicated stuff. “What’s a sponge cake?”
“It’s supposed to be a very light, airy cake. But because of me, it was a very dark, hard cake.”
“Bad day?”
“An eventful afternoon, to say the least.” Lori snorted. “I think I still have fudge in my hair.”
Andy’s stomach clenched again. Fudge in her hair—did that mean a food fight? He imagined Lori and that smooth-talking Italian flinging batter and dough and laughing together in the kitchen, the camaraderie and teasing maybe leading to a kiss. He swallowed. “I thought that guy did all the cooking?”
“Monny does do all the baking. But I was helping out, and well—it was disastrous.” Lori rolled her eyes. “I don’t know how much inventory I wasted. I probably won’t be doing much baking anymore.”
Good. Andy cleared his throat. “Sorry you had a tough time.”
“Oh, it’s gotten better. Monny and Summer are showing me how things work. It’s been fun.”
Great. Private tutoring. He straightened his shoulders and tried to ignore the way his heart began a slow descent toward his toes. “I guess I’ll take a few dozen of those cookies there.” He tapped the display window with his finger and tried to cheer up. At least Lori seemed to like his gift. Otherwise she would have thrown the card in the trash, right?
“Here you go.” Lori bagged his order, then tossed the used glove in a wastebasket and punched buttons on the register. “At least I haven’t messed this part up yet. If Summer and I can keep this drawer balanced every night, then I won’t feel I’ve failed Bella’s business.”
Andy handed her his business credit card and watched as she swiped it through the machine. “You’ll be fine. You can do anything you put your mind to.” Too bad she hadn’t put her mind to dating him. Or had she? Did she suspect the gift was from him at all? He really should have talked to Haley and gotten the details of the drop-off before coming in here. If Lori had seen Haley with the flowers, the odds of Lori’s figuring out who her secret admirer was were much higher.
He was getting another headache. Maybe this secret-admirer plan wasn’t his best idea. Andy shoved the credit card back into his wallet and took the pink paper bag from Lori’s outstretched hand. “Listen, Lori—”
“Guess what—”
They spoke at the same time. Andy gestured with his hand. “Ladies first.” It would give him time to stall the truth.
Lori shoved loose strands of her hair behind her ears. “I was just going to say guess what happened today?”
“What? Another brownie blowout?” He grinned at her excitement. How had he never noticed how beautiful she was before?
She slugged him in the arm over the counter, and his easy smile faltered at her touch. “No, silly. I learned that lesson.”
He tried to ignore the way his shoulder warmed under his sleeve. “I give up, then.”
“I have a secret admirer.”
Andy nearly choked on his own spit. Play it cool, play it cool. He rotated his shoulders and cracked his neck, mentally preparing his confession. Maybe her no-dating stage was nearing an end. Maybe she would consider him after all. “Really?”
Lori glanced over her shoulder. “Yep.” Then she leaned over the counter to whisper, “And I think it might be Monny.”
Chapter Five
Andy fiddled with the microphone attachment on the waistband of his jeans, turning the volume in his headpiece up, then down. Up, down. At least it made him look busy and hopefully hid the fact that he remained unable to keep his eyes off Lori. She hurried around the kitchen area in the back of the gymnasium, setting out plastic cups and piles of napkins for the after-service snack.
He should be thinking about the announcements he needed to make during the service, or about the sermon he was about to deliver to his dwindling youth group, but all he could focus on was the fact that Lori seemed thrilled about her secret admirer—which would be a good thing if she realized it was him, and not that Italian cheese-ball.
He cranked the volume up again, then quickly back down as the feedback threatened his ears. Maybe the church board was right—he would be less distracted if he had a wife, though not in the way they assumed. Ironically, he hadn’t been distracted at all until they’d approached him about the matter and brought to light his interest in Lori. If Pastor Mike hadn’t said those things in his office last week, Andy would probably be reviewing his sermon notes right now instead of wearing a callus in his thumb from all the volume switching….
“Pastor Andy, watch out!” A Nerf football whizzed past Andy’s head with inches to spare. He jerked and turned to see Jeremy jogging after the renegade ball, head ducked low in embarrassment. “Sorry, I told Peter to go long,” he called over his shoulder as he chased the blur of rolling blue sponge.
Andy glanced at the kitchen again in time to see Lori leaning over the counter, laughing so hard her hair nearly covered her face. “Let me guess. You never made the team?” she shouted through cupped hands.
Like he’d even had a chance at catching that pass. He just waved and offered a smile, probably a pretty goofy one since he could feel his neck flushing a little. She probably thought Monny could have caught that ball and mixed up cake batter all at the same time. Women.
Haley appeared at his side with a soda can. “Here, Pastor Andy. Lori told me to give you this. She said you looked like you could use it.”
He could, but that wasn’t the point. Was Lori being sweet or cracking on his lack of football skills? He couldn’t tell, now that she was back to work in the kitchen. Either way, the cold drink would hopefully revive him enough to get through the service in one piece.
Andy took the can from Haley and popped the top. “Thanks. Did you see your boyfriend almost nail me in the head with a football, too?”
“No. But he’s not my boyfriend anymore.” She wrinkled her nose. “We broke up.”
He took a long drag on the Coke. “Until tomorrow.”
“No, this time it’s for real.”
“Okay, a week, then.” Andy winked.
Haley crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not kidding. He really made me mad. Love stinks.”
He debated arguing the love point with her, but quickly realized he didn’t have nearly enough time before the service started, and it would probably fall on unwilling ears anyway. Instead, he patted Haley’s shoulder. “He’ll come around. Guys aren’t all that bad.”
“I know. Love doesn’t stink for everyone.” Haley grinned and twisted one braid around her finger. “For example, I think you and Lori will make a great couple.”
“Shh!” Andy’s grip tightened around the can, and the aluminum crackled. He lowered his head to her level. “You agreed to keep that a secret.”
Haley shrugged. “No one’s around. Besides, you can’t keep it hidden forever—especially if you want a date for Valentine’s Day. Eventually she’ll figure out the gifts are from you.”
“Not if you avoid being seen as we discussed.” And unfortunately, not if Lori’s current train of thought kept whistling toward Monny.
Andy squeezed the can harder, and a bubble of Coke blurped from the open tab. He had to find a way to show Lori—subtly, of course, so as not to scare her away—that the gifts were from him. The next present would have to be perfect, something romantic and meaningful—and, most importantly, something that would hint at his identity while not taking away the air of mystery. Somehow, it would do all of those things and leave him looking much more appealing than Monny.
He took another sip of Coke and felt the cold liquid trickle down his throat. Right. And I’m the next Joe Montana.
Lori secured the lid back on a two-liter bottle of Dr Pepper and slid the full plastic cup toward a young man with multiple tattoos on his arms. “Here you go.”
“Thanks.” He took the cup and smiled before leaving to mingle with the rest of the youth group. A few years ago, Lori would have seen someone like that—tattooed and pierced—on the streets and immediately cast judgment. But these kids had shown her that what was on the surface didn’t always accurately reveal the heart.
She watched the tattooed guy meander through the crowd toward Andy, who greeted the young man by name and slung an arm around his thin shoulders in greeting. It seemed Andy was finally back in top form. The first half of his sermon she’d wondered if he was okay—he looked distracted, almost frustrated at times. But the longer he talked about the importance of friendship and fellowshipping together at church, the more involved he became, and eventually that determined spark lit his eyes once again. Now he interacted with the youth group as if he had nothing else on his mind.
Friendship—Andy’s specialty. Lori supposed he was living proof of the age-old argument that a man and woman could be just friends and nothing else. She sighed. Story of her life. She’d sworn off dating after Jason cheated on her. Now that she finally felt a little more interest in getting out there again, her Mr. Right remained oblivious.
Lori shoved the two-liter across the counter to make room and leaned over, bracing her elbows against the worn Formica and wishing she could turn off her worries as fast as Andy seemed to during the sermon. Who was her secret admirer? Not Andy, as much as she wanted him to be. He didn’t have a romantic bone in his body—and definitely not toward her, the girl he burped in front of during monthly movie nights at her town house. If Andy cared about impressing her, he would have done so long before now. They’d been friends for years, and he’d never shown even a flicker of interest. Lori learned months ago to quit trying before her heart got broken yet again.
All secret-admirer signs pointed to Monny. Earlier today, when she told Andy as much, she’d felt almost certain Monny was the culprit. But once she and Monny left for the day, he gave his usual goodbye wave and wink and disappeared into the back alley without a word about the flowers. Lori couldn’t decide if she felt disappointed or relieved. Interest from a handsome Italian chef would definitely be a day-brightener, but in the overall picture, it didn’t matter. She wouldn’t date Monny even if he was her secret admirer. Despite his charm, dark good looks and delicious accent, he just wasn’t Andy—silly, rumpled, prankster Andy, who could always make Lori laugh with a dumb joke and tell what she was thinking often before Lori even knew herself.
Lori traced her fingernail across the fading design on the countertop, and the rhythmic thumping of a dribbling basketball nearby punctuated her thoughts. Maybe she’d imagined the whole thing. The flowers and card were real enough, but maybe the secret-admirer concept wasn’t. Just because the card was signed that way didn’t mean someone was being serious. It could have even been a youth-group member playing a joke.
“Lori? You okay?” Haley stepped up to the counter and waved her hand in front of Lori’s face. “You’re totally somewhere else.”
“No, I’m here. Just thinking.” Lori straightened, then frowned as a movement across the gym caught her attention. Andy was staring at them, his face pale and drawn, his eyes wide. He stepped forward as if to approach them but was held back by a youth-group member demanding his attention. He looked back and forth between the kid and Lori before settling his gaze on the youth, the panicked expression only slightly fading.
Was Andy feeling sick again? She’d have to talk to him after the kids left and make sure he was okay. Lori turned her attention back to Haley. “What kind of drink do you want?”
“How about one that will give me enough guts to tell Jeremy I want to get back together?” She slumped over the counter-top, mimicking Lori’s previous position.
Lori smiled. “Trouble in teen paradise?”
“Something like that.” Haley rolled her eyes.
“I think Coke should do the trick.” Lori poured her a glass and slid it across the counter. “What’s going on?”
“I was fine with our breakup, but after hearing Pastor Andy’s talk tonight on friendship, I realized that I miss him. Jeremy is—was—my best friend on top of being my boyfriend.” Haley poked an ice cube with her pink-painted fingernail. “I guess I forgot that part when we started fighting and called it quits.”
“He’ll take you back.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Because he probably feels the exact same way.” Lori gestured over Haley’s shoulder. Jeremy stood alone near the stage, hands in his pockets and head hung low, as if studying his shoes. He shuffled his feet, looked over toward the kitchen where Haley stood, then down again.
Haley turned back to Lori. “What should I do?”
“You know what they say.” Lori nudged the plate of leftover chocolate cookies closer to Haley. “The way to a man’s heart…”
Haley plucked two cookies from the pile, hope lighting her eyes. “Thanks, Lori. Of course you would think of that, working at the Chocolate Gator and all. I bet—”
“Wait, how do you know where I work?” Lori interjected. That was odd. She hadn’t told any of the youth-group kids yet. “I just started.”
Haley’s eyes widened to giant orbs. “Um, Pastor Andy mentioned it earlier. When I asked where the cookies came from.” She snatched a napkin from the counter. “Gotta go. Thanks again.” Then she whisked across the floor toward Jeremy, narrowly dodging a man rolling up the thick black cords from the sound table.
Lori tapped her finger against the half-empty bottle of Coke, watching Haley present her peace-offering dessert to Jeremy. He offered a tentative smile, and then they hugged and simultaneously bit into their cookies.
If only every relationship were that easy. Lori almost wished for the complicated days of high school. Wasn’t growing up supposed to get easier? Yet now, the one man who seemed to show genuine interest in her remained a mystery and couldn’t possibly be the man she wanted.
Lori nibbled on the edge of a cookie and relaxed as the chocolate melted in her mouth. She missed Gracie. Her best friend would know exactly what to say at a time like this, what to advise, how to cheer her up. They’d talked on the phone a few times since Gracie and Carter’s wedding, but Lori didn’t want to bug her friend on her honeymoon. Thanks to Carter’s wealth from his old life of music-industry fame, they were able to take an extended vacation together and start their marriage off with month-long tans and all the seafood they could eat.
What would Gracie say if she were here? After sharing some chocolate, she’d probably tell Lori to step it up a notch. Dust off her flirting abilities that were stored on a high shelf after her nasty breakup with Jason and get back in the game. If someone was pursuing her, she should pursue right back, even if it wasn’t Andy, aka Mr. Right.
Maybe Mr. Good Enough—whoever he was—would be better than nothing.
Chapter Six
Lori looked up as the bell above the shop door jingled. A boy, maybe ten years old, came inside carrying a gift-wrapped box. He set it on the counter in front of her, scratched his nose and turned to leave.
“Wait!” Lori dropped the supplies catalog she’d been paging through and grabbed for the present. No card or tag. “Who is this from?”
The boy kept going, pausing once to hitch up his baggy jeans. “Don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know? How can you not know?”
He turned around at the door and shrugged. “I’m not supposed to say.” He pushed at the handle, and the bell jingled again.
Lori reached over the counter as if she could stop him from across the room. “Wait, I…” Her eyes narrowed, and she smiled. “Want some chocolate?”
The door clicked shut as he made a beeline for the counter.
Lori triumphantly reached under the display and pulled out a caramel-crème chocolate. “Here. Now tell me what you know.”
“Shmm laymie.” Chocolate oozed around the sides of the boy’s mouth as he chomped on the dessert.
“Excuse me?” Lori shoved a napkin toward him.
He swallowed twice. “Some lady. She said not to tell you who.”
A woman? Lori frowned. Obviously it had to be another delivery person working on behalf of her secret admirer—someone she might recognize due to their request for anonymity. But why would Monny send someone to do the work when he could just wait for her to leave the room? She shoved her hair behind her ears and leaned forward. There had to be more to it. “You don’t know her name?”
“Nope. She had blond hair.”
“How old was she?”
The boy shrugged and crumpled the unused napkin in his hand. “Twenty? Maybe younger. Probably older, though. People think I look eight, but I turned eleven last month.”
Lori rocked back on her heels. Great. A wasted chocolate out of her paycheck, and still no information other than the gift was delivered by someone who could fit the description of almost half the women in the city. “All right. Thanks anyway.”