Chapter Twenty-Six

Blake

 

“The doorbell,” Alyssa yelled down the hall.

She was getting ready for work, probably already in the shower, so I left the kitchen and headed for the front door.

A man stood on the porch, holding a large bouquet of flowers.

“Thank you,” I said bewildered as the man handed the vase with beautiful lilies to me and left without a word.

I shut the door, checked the card, and was surprised to see my name on the card.

“Who was it?” Alyssa asked, peeking out from around the corner of the hall in nothing but a towel.

“Flowers,” I gasped, still in shock that they were for me.

“Oh, how sweet,” Alyssa smiled.

I opened the card and read the note from Aiden, that simply said, “I’m sorry,”

“Those are beautiful,” Holly gushed, bouncing from her bedroom, all dressed and ready for day camp.

“You want them?” I asked.

“Yes!” Holly gasped, taking the vase from me and running into her room.

“What did you do that for?” Alyssa asked, still buttoning her blouse as she walked into the living room.

Her hair was wet, kinky curly, and dark black. I watched as her eyes lingered on the card in my hand.

“I don’t want flowers. I really don’t see how that will help anything,” I scoffed.

“What did the card say?” she asked.

“I’m sorry,” I handed it to her to read for herself.

The doorbell rang again, causing Alyssa to call for Holly who was waiting on the bus. She moved towards the door, opened it, and a different man was now on the porch with another vase of flowers, this time pink roses.

She looked as bewildered as I felt as she turned to me after closing the door. She handed me the flowers, made a silly face with her nose wrinkled up, and giggled.

“What’s that card say?” she pushed.

I sighed, tearing open the small envelope.

“Forgive me,” I read.

“More flowers,” Holly exclaimed, back in the living room with her mouth hanging open.

“Yup. You want these too?” I asked.

Holly ran towards me, giving me a tight hug. She took the vase, disappeared down the hall to place it with the others I presumed, and then reappeared, checking the window.

“Your bus will be here any minute; you have everything you need?” Alyssa spoke sweetly to the little girl that only held a small resemblance to her mother. She was the spitting image of her dad, a close resemblance to me as a child.

“There’s another van out front,” Holly announced, and then rushed to the front door.

As she opened it, a third man, different from the first two, stepped onto the porch holding two dozen red roses in a crystal vase

“Thank you,” Holly said, quickly accepting the flowers and shutting the door. “You have more flowers, Aunt Blake,” she said excitedly.

I laughed at her excitement, and the feeling of pride she gave me by calling me ‘aunt.’

“You can have those too,” I said, pulling the card from the top of the bouquet.

Holly sat them down on the coffee table, noticing her bus arriving in front of the house, and quickly gave her mother and me a hug before rushing out the front door.

“What’s this card say?” Alyssa laughed.

“I promise I’m done being an ass,” I read with a chuckle.

“He ordered three vases from three different places, just to get them all here to you so close together in time,” Alyssa smiled.

I had to admit, it was impressive, and the thought of Aiden worrying so much about me had my heart swelling in my chest. I still wasn’t ready to cave, not yet. They were just flowers, and what I’d endured was much more stressful than what flowers could erase.

“Are you going to call him?” Alyssa asked, a look of hopefulness in her eyes.

“No,” I said quickly, shoving the cards into the trash.

“You’re not gonna believe this,” Alyssa howled just as the doorbell rang.

I turned, shocked that yet another delivery was being made. It was too much, too desperate, and who needed that many flowers?

“More flowers?” I groaned as Alyssa shut the door.

She carried a basket into the kitchen, shaking her head.

“Not flowers this time,” she smirked.

She set the basket on the table. It was filled with an assortment of chocolates, fruits cut into different shapes, and sweet breakfast breads.

“Oh my God,” I exclaimed.

“This is nuts. He’s really trying hard,” Alyssa pointed out the obvious.

He was, but why?

“You want some chocolate?” I giggled, pulling a piece from the delicately decorated basket.

Alyssa pulled out a piece of her own, moaning as she popped the gourmet dessert into her mouth.

“Is there a card?” she asked.

I dug through the basket until I found a card. I opened it up, read it, and tried to fight back my tears.

“What does it say?” Alyssa questioned.

“Nothing is as sweet as you, and I’m nothing without you,” I read.

Alyssa placed her hand over her heart, her eyes narrowed, and she let out a soft sigh.

“He really is trying,” I mumbled.

“So, the flowers didn’t get you, but the chocolate did?” Alyssa teased.

I shrugged off her comment, laughing as I pulled out another piece of chocolate.

“Looks like he’s not done,” Alyssa said, motioning towards the door.

I rolled my eyes as my cheeks started to blush. This really was more than I ever expected, especially from Aiden.

Alyssa got up, greeted the man at the door, and then brought an even larger basket into the kitchen, setting it on the table.

“What is all this?”  I questioned, pulling the card from the handle.

“Looks like your laptop, a bunch of beauty products, and wine,” Alyssa noted as she dug through the items.

“I know you need to get some work done, but I wanted to make sure you took the time to pamper yourself like you deserved,” I read the note aloud.

This time, tears did fall from my eyes. I couldn’t hold back the emotions that were flowing through me.

“I’m taking off work. Let’s eat chocolate, pamper ourselves, and drink wine,” Alyssa announced.

I smiled. It sounded perfect to me. I didn’t want to be alone.

“Thank you,” I said softly.

Alyssa made the call, taking a personal day, and then opened the wine. I’d barely finished my coffee, but we agreed it was noon somewhere and poured ourselves a large glass each of the expensive white wine.

We nibbled on the fruit as we dug through the beauty basket, finally settling on mud masks for our first beauty treatment.

“So, you’re gonna at least hear him out, right?” Alyssa asked.

I sighed. I loved him; I still did. Yes, of course, I was going to hear him out.

“I suppose,” I admitted.