26
“Girl, six weeks left. I don’t know about you, but I am counting the days. This Monday was hard.”
I turned to smile at Jenna Reynolds, one of the other third grade teachers who had the classroom next to mine, as we exited the Monday afternoon staff meeting into the teacher’s lounge. It was four thirty, and I was ready to pick up Sofia, go home, drown my sorrows in tea and chocolate, and continue to ignore Xavier’s calls just like I’d been doing for the last week.
“Me too,” I agreed.
“You have plans for the summer?”
I swallowed. Since Matthew’s bombshell announcement, I’d been wondering the same thing. Nina was currently embroiled in a divorce, so it was safe to say they weren’t getting married anytime soon. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder if she was moving in or he was moving out. I had no clue what to expect for me and Sofia, and I was too afraid to ask. Matthew was still upset over what had happened this weekend. I didn’t want to rock the boat.
“Probably just teach summer school and classes at the Y,” I said, hoping it was true, but also sort of not. “You?”
But before Jenna could reply, my name was called across the room.
Lisa, the front office receptionist, waved at me through the window between the front office and the teacher’s lounge. “These came for you just before the bell rang.”
Jenna and I turned to see a massive bouquet of Easter lilies on Lisa’s desk, their aroma filtering through the window into the lounge.
“Holy smokes!” Jenna squealed. “Those are gorgeous!”
I scowled. I knew exactly who they were from. And if he thought some pretty flowers were going to make up for his deception, he had another think coming.
I plucked the note from the spray and read it.
Like a ripple that chases
The slightest caress of the breeze,
Is that how you want me to follow you?
Xavi
If I knew anything about Xavier Parker, it was that his messages usually had ulterior meanings. Three short lines contained multitudes. If he was planning to follow me, it was because he had something in mind when we met. I was prepared for anything at this point. He could throw every lawyer he had my way. I wasn’t budging.
“Is he cute?” Jenna asked after I was done reading.
I looked up to find her still fawning over the flowers.
“If he sent flower this big, he messed up big-time, didn’t he?” she pressed.
I sighed. “I don’t want to get into it.”
“Oh man. He’s really cute, isn’t he?”
Across the lounge, Adam exited the conference room. When he caught sight of the flowers, he stopped, frowned, then gave a little wave before apparently deciding to come over. He hadn’t requested a second date since our first disastrous one, but I could feel it coming. Especially once he realized Sofia’s dad was out of the picture. Again.
“I’ll tell you more tomorrow,” I said to Jenna as I grabbed the flowers off the desk, eager to escape Adam’s reconciliation. “Right now, I need to go.”
* * *
An hour later,after I had picked up Sofia and made her a quick dinner of the stupid cabbage pancake that had become her favorite food (it was not, she informed me, as good as Xavi’s), I sat in the kitchen, staring at the note and the flowers while Sofia watched Doc McStuffins until the front door opened.
“Mattie?” I called. “Is that you?”
“Shower!” he called back as he jogged up the stairs. He must have been on a run.
But I wasn’t to be put off. I’d been staring at these petals and Xavier’s note for what seemed like forever, with no idea how to respond. I needed some brotherly advice.