Page 21 of Love Unwrapped
“No, sorry. I was just thinking.” He paused another moment. “Have you heard from Andi?”
“She’s fine. Give her a few more days to sort things out.” Babs stopped talking, and Blake feared that was all she’d give him, but she made a frustrated noise on the other end of the line and continued, “I love that girl, but she was raised in a bad environment. Well, that’s not true. But she’s sensitive to other people’s emotions. And her parents and Nat screwed with her head without them even realizing it. They all three lived their lives blaming other people for everything. Andi worked so hard in life because she wanted to be the good girl…for them. I’m not going to talk out of school about this, but you knew Nat and her personality. I thought if I told you Nat came by her manipulative personality naturally, that you might see where Andi’s demons come from.”
Blake started to speak, to explain he’d already had this conversation with Andi—that they’d talked about the past—but Babs shushed him again.
“Andi’s demons are haunting her now more than ever, but she’s the one who has to deal with them. They can direct her life or she can break free. So I need you to leave her alone for a few days. I know you want to talk to her, but it won’t do you any good right now. You’ll have to trust me on that.”
“Babs, if I don’t talk to her, I can’t fix this.” He’d never spilled his guts to a near stranger, but the last few days had left him desperate. “We connected on Friday. I need to find out what happened—from her—and fix it.”
“Aww, you’re so sweet. I knew you’d be perfect for my Andi. Now stop bothering her and come to the award ceremony on Saturday. I’ll text you the invitation with the details.” Then she hung up.
What the hell?Hadn’t they been in the middle of a conversation? That was the most detailed and least helpful conversation he’d ever had with anyone. He tossed the phone back on his desk and slumped in his chair. When his phone dinged, he shot to his feet again, hoping it was from the woman avoiding him for whatever reason. But no, the promised invitation to an awards ceremony he didn’t have any desire to attend popped up on his screen.
“Ooh, who pissed you off?”
He jerked his attention to the doorway of his office. Chelsea stood there with the door partially opened and her eyebrows raised high.
“What?”
“You look like you want to hurl that phone across the room.” She chuckled and came over to his desk.
Blake set the phone on the desktop gently and smiled at Chelsea. He had no reason to take out his frustrations on her. “What did you need?”
“Your three o’clock wedding cake consultation is here. I’ve got the samples ready to go whenever you are.” Chelsea pointed over her shoulder with her thumb.
“Can’t Wyatt take this one? Is he still here?”
“No, he finished up an hour ago.” She looked at him nervously. “I can reschedule if you need me to.”
Blake took a deep breath and stretched his shoulders to relax his body, focusing on the techniques he’d learned in service to let go of tension and focus on missions.
“No, no, of course not. Let’s go make some wedding dreams come true.” He gave her the best smile he could come up with while pushing away the faint smothering sensation that came when he thought about Andi being MIA. He came around the desk to pull his apron off the back of his door.
“Are you sure you’re okay? You’ve seemed off since the Christmas Bazaar ended.”
Obviously he hadn’t been able to pull off the smile. He’d have to work on that so he didn’t upset his customers. He took another deep breath. “I’m fine. I promise.” He patted her on the shoulder and steered her out the office door. He followed behind her and tried to put Andi on the back burner…for now. Until he could gather more intel and possibly do a little recon, he wouldn’t be able to move the needle on that situation. He wasn’t giving up, but maybe Bab’s was right… A strategic retreat might work in his favor.
Chapter 12
Luckily for Andi, the darkness of night came faster this time of year. She sat in her Prius, heater turned on high, parked just to the side of the front doors of the community event center, watching as different people left their vehicles and headed inside. She smoothed a hand down the front of the form-fitted red lace dress she had chosen to wear tonight. She’d been afraid it might be too dressy or perhaps too cliché to the season, but based on how elegantly festive everyone looked, she’d chosen correctly.
The other thing she noticed was everyone entered the building in couples. Some had children, others had aging parents on their arm, but everyone had someone, which was the exact reason she sat in this car, trying to time her entry. Andi didn’t want to deal with all the small talk happening while waiting for the ceremony to begin. She gave a deep sigh, moved her long, curly hair out the way and rested her head on the head rest. Here she was again, all alone in a sea of happily committed people.
If she hadn’t freaked like she had, maybe Blake would have been her plus one… “Get over yourself.” A phrase she’d muttered several times over the last two days. “No boyfriend is better than a bad one.”
Technically true. Besides, Blake had never mentioned dating or them going anywhere together. She’d had sex with him, in a bakery, while volunteering… Her cheeks flushed as she thought about her brazen actions. What had she been thinking? Her lip slipped between her teeth as she thought about how quickly she had orgasmed. The window of having Ryan or Bree showing back up to catch them in the act was super small; she’d been so turned on. Andi opened her eyes and lifted her head, instantly reprimanding herself. “What’re you doing? You’re about to have dinner with a bunch of senior citizens and you’re thinking about sex.Stop.”
One solid week of pining for a man she didn’t even like in the first place seemed more than enough time. She needed to steel her spine, put on a brave face, and get inside the event center so her grandmother didn’t worry. Andi lowered the visor, looked in the mirror, and took in the serious expression on her face. She forced a bright smile. Okay, that wasn’t a good look either. She needed a middle ground, somewhere between the downer she’d become and this weird, overly bright smiling person who looked crazy and might scare any small children in the room.
At least she hadn’t lost her sense of humor. Andi gave a soft snort and turned off the ignition, grabbed her evening bag, and pushed open the car door. A rush of chilled winter air filled the warm car. She reached for her shawl, quickly wrapping it around her shoulders while kicking the car door closed. Her high heels turned into joggers as she dashed for the front doors and wondered when it had turned so nippy outside.
She was barely through the front doors before she heard the beginning of the ceremony. She had stalled too long. Her grandmother had to think she wasn’t coming. “Damn.”
Ushers began closing the massive doors to the main evening room as the interior lights dimmed. Andi rushed forward, sliding inside before the doors completely shut. Just like she’d come to know with this group, the giant room was decked out in the holiday’s finest decorations with what had to be twenty-five large round tables filling the room. Luckily, in a sea of moving waiters placing dinner plates in front out each seated person, one stopped and asked, “Can I help you find your table?”
“I’m Babs Wilson’s granddaughter. I think I would be at her table,” she said quietly, not wanting to disrupt the speaker. The waiter nodded and motioned her toward the front of the room. She followed, edging her way through the tables as the man at the podium introduced her grandmother who took the stage just feet away. Andi moved past the waiter, who pulled her chair out, and took her seat while clapping along with everyone else in the room.
Thankfully, she hadn’t missed her grandmother’s award.
