Page 80 of V is for Valentine
She pulled out the paperback she’d taken from the furnace room locker and would hopefully give to Viv later that day if they both had jobs, then stilled as she noticed the small white envelope stuck inside the yellowed pages of the book.
She pulled the card from the envelope, her heart beating even faster than it had when she’d received the call from Mr. Fanning, and scanned the message. Her heart gave a mighty twist, then she quickly pushed the card back into the envelope, squared her shoulders, and headed out of her office on her way to who knew what. Mr. Fanning was going to have to deal with her having less than professional hair, because she was having a day.
*
“The inspections aredone. The work has been accepted. Thank you, kid.” Her dad’s voice sounded weary but satisfied as Felicity changed to speaker and propped the phone on the end table. “It’s been a long haul and I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“I loved doing it,” Felicity said, curling her feet beneath her as she looked out over the lights of the city before taking a sip of cinnamon tea. Her beloved condo felt oddly foreign tonight, and her tea-brewing ritual hadn’t had its usual calming effect. She had confessions to make.
“No trouble catching up at work?”
“Actually, I came back to quite a shakeup. The uneventful spell while I was gone had been the quiet before the storm.”
“Is everything okay?”
“I still have my job.” As did Viv, although she was still edgy about her professional future four days after the firings. “They let three people go, all above me.”
“That’s unnerving.”
“That’s business.” She sucked in a breath and asked the question that was the lead-in to the conversation she was about to have. “How’s Danny?”
“Never home. I paid him, though, so don’t worry about that.”
She laughed a little. “I knew you would.” Another quick sip of tea, then, “Dad, I have a confession to make. Something I haven’t told Stevie or Tess.”
Her dad cleared his throat. “I kind of thought you two had…uh…”
“Come to an understanding?”
“Something like that.”
“We didn’t, Dad. We parted ways at an impasse.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” He spoke earnestly and Felicity mentally squared her shoulders before diving in.
“That isn’t the confession. When I moved to Seattle, I did it for the wrong reasons.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I left my job, relinquished the matching funds to my 401(k), and abandoned my life plan to follow a man.” There. It was out. But she didn’t feel better. She felt bad for having kept the secret in the first place.
“Sean? I thought he followed you. I mean, he was the one with no ties.”
“And I let you think that because I was embarrassed about what I was doing, and that should have told me something then and there.”
“It all worked out, though, right?”
“Well, he did dump me and leave me in a new city where I’d never planned to live, but yes, ultimately I landed on my feet.” Although she’d always regretted leaving Portland.
Her dad was quiet for a moment, and she could hear sportscasters in the background. Finally he said, “I don’t think you need to feel self-conscious. It was a while ago, and I guess I understand why you kept it to yourself.” He cleared his throat as a cheer went up from whatever game he had on in the background. “I’m surprised…but yeah. I understand.”
“Thank you, Dad.” Felicity reached for the small white envelope on the end table next to her teacup saucer, turning it over with one hand. “I think I might do it again.”
The words hung for a long moment. Too long?
“For Danny?” There was a note of hope in her dad’s voice that made things right.
“Well, it won’t be for Cade Kincaid.”
