Page 22 of Playing for Keeps
Grabbing a bag, she carefully placed two chocolate-covered strawberries inside before folding down the top and handing it to Mr. Schilling. “From The Cakery. Happy anniversary.”
Mr. Schilling took the bag and sneakily tucked it under his arm. “Thanks. I’ll save this for when we get home.”
Caroline clasped her hands in front of her chest. Her smile might break her cheeks at this rate. “I love love!”
Mr. Schilling raised a finger in front of his lips in a silent shush.
“Oh. Sorry,” Caroline whispered. It was difficult to keep quiet when she got excited.
The bell above the door chimed as a teenage boy walked in with his arms wrapped around two massive bundles of pink roses. Each clear vase must have carried two dozen flowers because the poor guy could barely see over the beautiful blooms.
“Delivery for Caroline Taylor,” he said as he approached the counter.
“Um, that’s me.” Caroline raced around the counter just as another boy walked in carrying just as many roses. A third followed behind with his face completely hidden by the flowers.
All pink.
“What’s this?” Mrs. Schilling asked as she made her way to her husband’s side.
The elderly man held up his hands. “It wasn’t me.”
“Wait. They’re for me?” Caroline asked, still stunned by the arrival. Who would send her flowers? She was pretty confident it wasn’t Conner. They’d ended things on respectful terms, and he hadn’t even called or messaged her since the breakup.
The first boy turned from one side to the other. “Is there a place you want these?”
“Oh, sorry! I guess you can just put them right here.” Caroline pushed a tray of gift cards closer to the register. When she turned around, more bundles of flowers had filed into the bakery. “Peaches and cream! How many are there?”
“Twenty-four dozen, miss,” the first boy answered when he’d placed the vases on the counter. “Where do you want the rest?”
Caroline pushed her hair back from her forehead. The Cakery had just turned into a garden. “Um. I guess on the tables. Anywhere you can set them.”
Less than a minute later, the whole place was covered in blooms of her favorite color.
Skye stepped out of the back room and jerked to a halt. “Whoa. Am I in the right bakery?”
“I guess so. They just arrived.”
The first boy extended a folded piece of paper. “For Caroline.”
Mrs. Schilling nudged her husband. “Look, there’s a note. It looks handwritten.”
Caroline accepted the note and opened it. The pounding of her heart hit a crescendo as the familiar handwriting took her back over a decade.
Please call me.
Oh no. This couldn’t happen. Her fragile heart could not get excited over a grand gesture from a man who’d loved her, then dumped her. Even the sight of his slanted letters made her long for the days when he’d written her sweet love notes.
Caroline folded the note and stuffed it into her apron pocket. “They’re for the bakery. We needed just a little more pink around here.”
“I thought there was enough already,” Mr. Schilling whispered as his wife gave him a playful nudge with her elbow.
“Looks like we’re not the only ones celebrating love today,” Mrs. Schilling said.
No. Justin didn’t get to race back into her life, sweep her off her feet, and shower her with beautiful flowers. She wasn’t ready to call him or make nice or forget about the pain of losing him.
She’d done it once, and she couldn’t let her guard down or it would happen again.
Caroline turned to the elderly lady and pasted on a sweet smile. “Would you like to take a vase of the beautiful flowers home with you?”
