Your Heart's Desire (13 page)

“I'm a little confused by it,” Caroline admitted.

“How's that?” Mrs. Gallagher asked.

“It's just that I read in the employee manual that workplace romance is grounds for termination. And I would think this Valentine display might encourage romance between workers.”

“You actually
read
the employee manual?” Doris asked. “I've been here three years and I've never even opened it.”

“Mr. Gordon
senior
put that old manual together quite some time ago.” Mrs. Gallagher chuckled. “Mr. Gordon has pointed out that it needs updating.”

“And there have been workplace romances,” Doris pointed out. “No one got fired.”

“Really?” Caroline felt slightly bamboozled now.

“And what about Miss Stuart and Mr. Gordon?” Doris asked.

“Well, no one knows for certain that it's an actual romance,” Mrs. Gallagher reminded her. “To be fair, it's only a rumor.”

“Whatever the case, I think the Heart's Desire window sounds like fun,” Doris declared. “Even if I don't have a boyfriend.” She laughed. “Maybe by Valentine's Day I will. Speaking of admirers, I hear that you have one, Caroline.”

“What?” Caroline nearly choked on her bite of apple.

“A certain someone in Sales has expressed interest in you.”

“But I—I don't even know anyone in Sales. Not really.”

“Perhaps he's just admiring you from afar,” Mrs. Gallagher suggested.

“Don't you even want to know who it is?” Doris asked enticingly.

“I don't really think so.” Caroline glanced nervously around, hoping no one else was listening.

“Let's just say his initials are TS.”

“Tom Stephens?” Mrs. Gallagher asked with interest.

Doris just nodded.

“Well, Tom is a very nice young man,” Mrs. Gallagher told Caroline. “Hardworking and sincere. You could certainly do worse.”

Caroline quickly gathered her lunch things. “Yes, I'm sure I could.” And before they could make any more unwanted matchmaking comments, she excused herself.

By the end of the day, when Caroline was leaving the building, she noticed a group of women from the assembly line all gathered around the window. Already some boxes of chocolates were accumulating. And, just like the memo said, the names of the recipients were prominently displayed, but all the “from” lines only read: “Your Secret Admirer.”

As Caroline walked past, she could hear the women giggling and speculating. And it seemed Mr. Gordon was right: They were having fun. Perhaps this would help to lift morale after all. Caroline knew that many employees, including her boss, were extremely stressed out. The specialty packaging seemed to become a bigger headache with each passing day. Not only was it costing too much to produce, it was taking too long. The goal had been to ship these expensive boxes with the last of the Valentine's chocolates this week so they'd be in stores and shops across the country just before Valentine's Day. From where they were standing now, it looked impossible. Unless her boss could get the other VPs to adhere to another plan. He had several in the works.

“Our only recourse might be to ship twice,” Mr. Hancock had told Mr. Price this afternoon. The two men had this conversation in the waiting area by her desk.

“That'll cost more,” Mr. Price warned.

“I
know
that.” Mr. Hancock sounded terse. “But it might be our only hope.”

“I'd like to hear what Finance thinks…”

“We better have a meeting.” Mr. Hancock turned to Caroline. “It's too late to try to schedule it today, Mrs. Clark. But first thing in the morning, I want you to find a time when everyone can get together. I want an executive meeting before the end of the day.”

She had promised to do so and even left herself a note, although she knew she wouldn't forget. As she walked home, she felt concerned for the sake of the company. Hopefully the VPs would be open to Production's ideas and solutions tomorrow.

Fortunately, the VPs couldn't meet until the end of the next day. That gave Caroline a chance to handle the chore list Mr. Hancock had given her, and it took most of the day to accomplish this. The meeting was scheduled for three thirty, and, like before, all the VPs and the secretaries took their seats. The only difference was that this time her boss was heading the meeting. And she had, according to his direction, brought a bag of samples with her—samples that she and a production crew had assembled earlier in the day. She'd also made sure that all the VPs had the short one-page agenda that Mr. Hancock had asked her to prepare this morning. Plus she'd asked Doris to help cover with note taking.

“As you can see by the agenda you received earlier today, we have a problem,” he said solemnly. And now he went into the production challenges, explaining time constraints and budget concerns, the lack of assemblers, and finally pointing out the shipping dilemma, offering the option to schedule extra shipments.

“That's going to up our costs significantly,” Mr. Price said.

“Just hire more assembly line people, work longer hours,” Evelyn told him. “Get the packaging done sooner.”

“We have a budget,” Mr. Hancock reminded her.

“Well, we have to honor our accounts,” Mr. Russell told him. “If we don't deliver the goods, we could lose them for future orders.”

“I'm not saying we can't run a second delivery,” Mr. Price explained, “but as you know that will double the cost.”

“Or we could cut our losses and simplify the packaging,” Mr. Hancock said finally. “Mrs. Clark, please present the new prototypes.”

Caroline opened the bag and removed the first sample that their production team had designed. Unlike the one Evelyn wanted, this one wasn't padded and didn't have the cloth-covered buttons or the ruffled trim, but it was covered in satin and the velvet bow was in place. She laid it on the table and tried not to wince when Evelyn let out a loud groan of disappointment.

“That is ridiculous,” Evelyn exclaimed. “It looks nothing like our prototype. The stores will laugh at us.”

“That's just the first example,” Mr. Hancock told her.

Caroline removed the second sample and began to understand her boss's thinking. This sample was just like the first one except that it had a lace ruffle.

“Humph.” Evelyn just shook her head.

“It's not bad,” Mr. Price said. “And it's not as if our accounts have photos or samples of the original prototype. It might work.”

Mr. Hancock nodded to Caroline. “The third one.”

Caroline reached into the bag. This one actually contained an idea that she'd suggested. Like the first two, it wasn't padded, but it did have the original ruffle and it also had one covered button that was centered into the velvet ribbon, which they had made into a larger bow.

“Now, that's not bad.” Mr. Gordon came over to look more closely at the heart. “And honestly, if I didn't know better, I might think this was the same as what we took to the show.”

“It's not nearly as nice,” Evelyn said.

“But if we can't deliver on the original ones, we might have to compromise,” he told her.

“I don't want to compromise,” she said stubbornly.

“Do you want to risk everything just to have the original packaging?” he asked her.

“Why can't we just hire more workers?”

“Because of cost,” Mr. Hancock said dryly.

“But we sold them with the prototype,” she pointed out.

“We know that,” Mr. Hancock said with surprising patience. “And now we know that the prototype is impractical. Do you really want to risk everything?”

She shrugged. “No, of course not.”

“Okay,” Mr. Gordon announced. “We'll go with the revised package. Will we be able to maintain our schedule and fulfill our orders, Glen?”

“Our chances just improved,” Mr. Hancock said. “But it's still touch and go.”

A little more discussion transpired before the meeting came to a close. Caroline quickly gathered the hearts and got out of the room along with the other secretaries.

“I think that new prototype is just as nice,” Mrs. Gallagher told Caroline as they gathered around to look at it.

“I don't,” Miss Thornton said sharply. “But I suppose it'll have to do.”

As Caroline carried the packages back to the production department, she wondered why it seemed like both Evelyn and Miss Thornton still hated her. Was it simply because she'd gotten off on the wrong foot? Because she'd danced with Mr. Gordon at the New Year's Eve party? Would they ever get over it?

Chapter 14

As the week progressed,
the Your Heart's Desire window steadily filled up. The boxes were smaller at first—mostly for assembly line employees—and then a few midsized ones appeared. By the end of the week, there were several larger ones, including one for Mrs. Gallagher, which everyone knew had been put there by her husband. But each day, before and after work, women would gather at the window, reading the tags and sometimes shouting an unexpected name out loud. Then they would make jokes about who the secret admirer might be, but it was clear they were enjoying it.

In fact, Caroline suspected she was the only one who wasn't enjoying it. “I feel like a spoilsport,” she confessed to Marjorie during the weekend. They were sitting together in her sister's sparse living room, drinking coffee and watching as Lulu chased a ball back and forth across the floor. “I try to pretend to be interested, but the whole thing just makes me feel really sad and blue.”

“That's too bad,” Marjorie told her.

“I even saw your box in there,” Caroline told her. “That was nice of Rich.”

“What makes you think it's Rich?” Marjorie said in a teasing tone.

“I'll just be glad when Valentine's Day has come and gone,” Caroline admitted. “I'm counting the days now.”

“Is that because of your job?” Marjorie asked. “You really think the company won't offer you another position when Miss Bentley returns?”

“Mr. Hancock is predicting there'll be layoffs in every department,” Caroline said glumly. “They'll start with the most recently hired employees,” she said quickly. “Rich's job is secure.”

“So that silly Valentine's package really messed things up?”

“Deliveries that should've been made this past week won't be going out until the end of next week. Less than two weeks before Valentine's Day. That's cutting it pretty close.”

“Sounds like it.”

“Anyway, I've already put in applications at some other businesses.” Caroline took a sip of coffee. “No one's hiring that I know of, but I figured it wouldn't hurt.” To change the subject, she brought up Joe's upcoming birthday. “If you don't mind, I'd like to have a little party for him.”

“That's a great idea,” Marjorie said.

“Just a few of his new friends,” Caroline explained. “A cake and ice cream.”

“I'll do anything I can to help.”

“Thanks.” Caroline knew she'd have her first paycheck right before Joe's birthday. And although she couldn't afford much and needed to be frugal since her next paycheck would be half as large—not to mention her final one from MG Chocolates—she wanted to make the party a good one.

By the end of January, the last of the Valentine's chocolates were finally packaged and boxed and ready to be delivered, but according to Mr. Hancock, their department's budget was in bad shape. “I'll have to start laying off assembly line workers by the end of the month,” he told her in a confidential tone.

“Even with the Easter chocolate season ahead?” she asked. “I've heard it's a busy time, too.”

“Not busy enough to keep a crew this size,” he said. “Not this year.”

Fortunately, the rest of the company seemed oblivious to the problems ahead. Women were still clustering around the Your Heart's Desire window. “Look, there's a new one,” someone exclaimed as Caroline walked past on Friday morning.

“It's enormous!” someone else said.

“And it's for Miss Stuart,” another said.

Caroline paused to see, and sure enough, there was an enormous heart-shaped box with Miss Stuart's name on it. Ironically, it was one of the original satin designs, the padded one with covered buttons—and in the largest size.

“It's probably from Mr. Gordon,” someone said quietly. And everyone quickly agreed. Caroline turned away and headed for the stairs. She'd quit using the elevator shortly after the day when Evelyn had torn into her in the break room. It was the surest way to avoid running into Mr. Gordon or Evelyn. Besides, it felt good to march up the stairs, as if she was proclaiming her independence in doing so.

At lunchtime, Doris mentioned the oversized heart with Miss Stuart's name on it. “Everyone is saying it's from Mr. Gordon, but I'm not so sure,” she told Caroline. “If you ask me, whatever was going on between them has cooled down significantly.”

“What do you mean?” Caroline asked with genuine curiosity.

“I mean I overheard them when I came out of the elevator a few days ago. It sounded like they were fighting.”

“Maybe it was a lover's quarrel,” Caroline tried.

“I don't think so.”

“Then what about that big heart for Miss Stuart?”

“I think she put it there herself,” Doris whispered. “It's probably empty.”

Caroline laughed. It was the first good laugh she'd had in a couple of weeks.

“I'll bet I'm right,” Doris insisted.

“How about the heart with your name on it?” Caroline teased. “I heard that Wally from the assembly line is responsible for it.”

Doris grinned. “Wally's a nice guy, and not bad looking either.”

They joked about it a bit more, but as Caroline returned to her office, she wondered. Was it possible that Evelyn and Mr. Gordon weren't as serious as Caroline had been trying to convince herself these past couple of weeks? Even so, Caroline didn't want to let herself think about it. She knew it was foolish to get her hopes up. Instead, she was determined to focus on work and the plans for Joe's birthday party this weekend.

As she left the building, the usual crowd was gathered at the window. “There's Mrs. Clark now,” someone said. “Look, you've got a box of chocolates in there, too.”

Caroline went over to see, peering at the spot where an assembly line woman was pointing. There, sure enough, it said
TO CAROLINE CLARK FROM YOUR SECRET ADMIRER.
Caroline stared at the box. It was larger than a midsized box, but not one of the overly large ones. Still, it was pretty with its red foil covering and lacy trim. In many ways, it seemed prettier than Miss Stuart's big pink padded box.

“Who do you think sent it?” Miss Warner the receptionist asked Caroline.

“I have absolutely no idea,” Caroline confessed.

“A real secret admirer,” Miss Warner proclaimed.

“I'll bet it's Jack Knowles,” a woman said. “I heard that he likes Mrs. Clark.”

“Or Mr. Stephens from the sales department,” Miss Warner said in a knowing way. “He's had his eye on Mrs. Clark for some time.”

Caroline just smiled, pulled on her gloves, and went outside. While it felt surprisingly nice to know that someone had purchased a box of chocolates for her, she wasn't sure she wanted to know who the secret admirer was. It didn't matter if he was from the assembly line or the sales department or even the moon; she knew she would have no interest in him. Still, it was sweet.

On her way home from work, she stopped by the bank to deposit her check, then went to the hardware store, where she purchased an airplane model that she knew Joe wanted, as well as a baseball. Then she went to a couple more stores, picking up various items for Joe's party: balloons, candy, and party favors, as well as a few baking ingredients. She knew it was a splurge, but it was fun, and they would have plenty of time to tighten their belts again next month.

Although she'd originally planned for this to be a surprise party, Joe had quickly figured it out. So even if he saw her making his cake tonight, it would be okay. Mostly he was looking forward to spending time with his friends, and he'd asked her if it was okay for them to go to the nearby park to play baseball after the party. She had been tempted to buy him the baseball mitt he so desperately wanted, but she knew he'd enjoy it more if he could purchase it himself. He'd worked so hard to save up for it. Plus she knew that the card her parents had sent this week would probably contain the extra cash needed to get it. She couldn't wait to see his eyes light up when he bought it.

On Saturday morning, she wished Joe a happy birthday and gave him his presents. He was delighted over the model plane and baseball. Then she presented him with the card from his grandparents, and just as she had guessed, they had tucked in two dollars. “Do you want to go to town and get that baseball mitt?” she asked him.

He looked down at the two bills, then shook his head. “Not right now,” he said.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “I know you wanted to play ball with your friends today…after the party.”

“It's okay.” He just shrugged. “I think I'll go upstairs and show Danny my presents. Okay, Mom?”

“Of course.”

Due to the mild weather, they set up the party in the backyard. Marjorie put Lulu in the playpen as she helped Caroline. Together they made the picnic table look festive and fun, and before long Joe's four school friends arrived. Joe was the perfect host and even included Danny in the festivities and helped him to play the games that Marjorie had planned for all of them. Eventually it was naptime for Danny and Lulu. And the older boys gathered their bats and gloves and headed to the park to play ball.

“I can't figure why Joe didn't run to town and buy that baseball mitt earlier this morning,” she told Marjorie as they carried things back into the kitchen. “I encouraged him to go, but he refused.”

“Oh…” Marjorie set the dirty dishes in the sink with an odd expression.

“I know he'd saved up nearly enough money,” she continued. “It's been so generous of you to pay him for entertaining Danny. And Mom and Dad sent him enough money to get it. And I can't imagine he'd have changed his mind.”

“No…I wouldn't think so.”

Caroline studied Marjorie. “It feels like you know something I don't know.”

Marjorie gave her a perplexed expression.

“You do, don't you?”

Marjorie turned on the sink faucet.

“No.” Caroline stepped in front of her. “I'm washing these things up. And if you're not going to spill the beans, I think you should go take a nap.”

Marjorie chuckled. “You sound just like my big sister.”

“What do you know?” Caroline demanded. “Why didn't Joe go get that mitt?”

“I'm not supposed to tell you.” Marjorie's eyes lit up. “But if you could guess…”

“Guess?”

“Yes. Perhaps you've had some sort of surprise recently. Something you didn't expect.”

Caroline thought hard. “The Your Heart's Desire window?”

Marjorie nodded. “He overheard us talking last week and he was worried about how sad you sounded.”

“Oh, dear. Please don't say he sacrificed his mitt money for me.”

“I actually tried to talk him out of it. I thought maybe I could sneak in there and get you a box of chocolates myself. But he insisted—it had to come from him.”

“Oh, my.” Caroline turned off the faucet and stared at Marjorie.

“What a sweet boy, huh?”

Caroline nodded as a lump filled her throat, and suddenly both the sisters were crying and hugging each other. How had she ever managed to feel sorry for herself—with a son like Joe?