Your Heart's Desire (14 page)

Chapter 15

It took Caroline a
week to decide, but on Friday she knew what she needed to do. So during her lunch hour, she went to the hardware store to purchase the mitt that Joe had wanted so badly. She wasn't exactly sure how she would present it to him. Everything inside of her longed to give it to him tomorrow morning, so that he could take it to play baseball with his friends. But she was worried that might tip him off, and according to Marjorie, he had really wanted to keep it a secret. She didn't want to spoil it for him. She pondered her dilemma as she walked back to work. So much so that she didn't even notice Mr. Gordon standing by the entrance.

“You seem rather preoccupied.” He held the door open for her.

“Oh?” She blinked in surprise, forcing a smile. “I suppose I was…” She paused by the Your Heart's Desire window and let out a small happy sigh to see Joe's heart still out there in front, shining like a bright beacon of hope.

“Looks like you have a secret admirer,” he said as he stood beside her.

“Oh, yes,” she cheerfully agreed. “I do.”

“So I've heard.”

“You've heard?” She peered curiously at him.

He knowingly smiled. “Oh, you know how people talk.”

“Really? Are you suggesting that someone here knows who got me those chocolates?” she asked with a defiant expression. “I seriously doubt that.”

“Don't be too sure.” He walked with her toward the elevator, but when she just kept going toward the stairs, he followed. “I've noticed you've been avoiding the elevator lately. Worried about a mechanical failure?”

She laughed as she stepped onto the first step. “No, of course not.” She continued going up.

“Why then?” he asked as he followed her up the first flight.

“Maybe I like the exercise,” she said lightly. She paused at the second-floor landing. “Why are you taking them?”

“Maybe I like the exercise, too,” he said in a teasing tone.

She stepped onto the next step, looking evenly at him from her vantage point. “So then tell me, what is it that people are saying about me? Who do they think put that box of chocolates in the window for me?”

He made a half shrug that reminded her of how Joe acted when he didn't care to answer a question. “You obviously know who put it there.”

“Yes, I do know. But I'm curious as to this rumor you mentioned.” She folded her arms across her front.

“Well, everyone seems fairly certain that Tom Stephens in Sales put it there.” His expression became fairly serious. “But you obviously know that.”

She laughed. “I know nothing of the sort. Although I do know who my secret admirer is. He is in fact someone I'm terribly fond of. Someone I love dearly and would not want to live without.”

Mr. Gordon looked slightly stunned. “Well…that's good.” Now he turned around as if he was going back down the stairs.

“You don't want to know who it is?” She boldly reached for his arm, stopping him. “You seemed so interested.”

He turned to look at her, and unless she was imagining it, there was hurt in his eyes. And suddenly she regretted this game she was playing. “It was my son, Joe,” she declared. “The sweet boy used his baseball mitt money to buy it for me last week.” Suddenly she felt those same maternal tears coming again. “It was supposed to be a secret, but I found out and…” She held up the package. “I just bought him this mitt and the reason I was so distracted just now was that I was trying to decide whether to give it to him tomorrow or wait until Valentine's Day.”

And then, feeling very silly and emotional, she took off running up the stairs. She'd just reached the top of the fourth flight when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Wait,” he said breathlessly. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have treated you like that.”

She turned to look into his eyes. “It's okay. I probably shouldn't have said what I did. It seems to have troubled you.”

They stepped out of the stairwell, still looking at each other. “There's been a misunderstanding,” he said, still catching his breath. “I've received misinformation from an unreliable source.”

“Oh…?” She nodded. Somehow she felt like she knew which source he was referring to. Not that she cared to admit it to anyone. But, unless she was mistaken, she could hear the sound of the source's high-heeled shoes clipping down the hallway. “Evelyn?” The name escaped her lips almost without her knowing it.

“Yes,” he said quietly. “That day in the break room, when you seemed upset and left quickly. I need to know—was Evelyn warning you to be careful about an office romance? An affair with Mr. Stephens?”

“No. Of course not.” She firmly shook her head. “I've never said more than two words to Mr. Stephens. Evelyn was chastening me for not getting out of her way fast enough when she wanted her coffee. And for not respecting her position as a vice president. And then she was warning me about…well, something regarding you.” The sound of the heels was getting closer.

“And is that why you seemed to have disappeared during these past few weeks?”

“Oh, there you are.” Evelyn strode toward them. “I was just looking for you, Terry.” She barely glanced at Caroline. “We need to talk. Now.”

“Yes,” he said firmly. “We do.” Now he turned to Caroline. “If you will please excuse me, Mrs. Clark. Although I do hope to continue our conversation later. And I do have some thoughts on that mitt. In my opinion you should maintain the secret. Let him wait until Valentine's Day for it. And, by the way, since Joe's had his tenth birthday, he should start coming to Buckaroos. We meet after church. We will officially induct him this Sunday if he comes.”

“Oh, thank you!” she said eagerly. And then, almost afraid this was all a good dream, she turned and hurried away. She couldn't explain why she felt so joyful, but it was as if she were floating as she went into the production department.

To Caroline's dismay, she didn't see Terrence for the rest of the day. As she slowly walked home, she wondered about their conversation on the stairs. She knew it had been real, but it still seemed rather strange and dreamlike. Unless she was imagining things, and she knew that was possible, it had almost seemed that he was about to declare his feelings for her.

But she knew that the whole company had been feeling a bit on edge all week, and even more so today. Another emergency meeting with the VPs had been called at the end of the day. “Mr. Gordon wants Mr. Hancock in his office by four o'clock. And tell Mr. Hancock the meeting will probably run late,” Mrs. Gallagher explained. “And it's just the VPs and Mr. Gordon this time. The secretaries aren't required to be there.”

Caroline suspected the meeting was related to the layoffs that were scheduled to take place next week. Somehow this information, like the romance rumors, had leaked into the gossip mill, too. And, naturally, job stability had taken precedence over the Heart's Desire window. Morale was steadily sinking.

When she got home, she tucked the baseball mitt package into her closet, but when Joe came down to greet her, she told him the good news about being inducted into the Buckaroos. “Mr. Gordon invited you himself,” she assured him.

As Joe did a gleeful dance all over their apartment, she realized that the glove could wait a few days. As she fixed them dinner, she wondered what the conversation between Terrence and Evelyn had been like. As badly as she wanted to believe that Terrence had given Evelyn her walking papers, she suspected that hadn't happened. For one thing, Evelyn's family was close friends with Terrence's family. Besides that, Evelyn was actually really good at her job. But hopefully he had set her straight about a few things. Made it clear to her that he was the boss and what he would or wouldn't put up with. Mostly she felt glad that he knew…that he understood.

On Sunday morning, Caroline and Joe walked to church together. Wearing the periwinkle suit, she felt amazingly hopeful as she reached up to push a piece of windblown hair into place. She had arranged her hair in one of the looser styles that Marjorie said made her look chic and young. But after she and Joe parted ways, she suddenly felt nervous. Oh, she knew it was silly as she went into the sanctuary. After all, she was simply going to church. And even when she noticed that Terrence was sitting with his family and that Evelyn and her parents were sitting right next to him, she decided to pay it no mind.

Taking a seat in back, she told herself it was simply two families, ones that had been close for decades, sitting together. Nothing more. Instead of obsessing over it, she focused on the sermon and the beautiful light glowing through the windows, but as soon as church ended, her bravado faded as she slipped out of the sanctuary to find Joe.

“Are you ready for Buckaroos?” she asked him.

He nodded eagerly, looking over his shoulder to where a couple of boys were tearing down the stairs to the basement.

“Well, have fun,” she told him. “Do you want me to come back here to walk you home later?”

He grinned. “No, Mom. I know my way back just fine.”

She resisted the urge to run her fingers through his sandy curls. “Okay. See you later then.” As she watched him hurrying toward the stairwell, she noticed Terrence and Evelyn at the other end of the hallway. They were chatting with another couple and a boy about Joe's age. Terrence had his back to her, but something he was saying was making the other couple laugh and smile. He was obviously putting them at ease.

There was something about that scene, maybe it was the way Evelyn placed her hand on Terrence's arm—in a way that seemed to suggest ownership. That, combined with just having seen the two of them and their families together in church, well, it just unraveled what little confidence she'd recently gathered. And so, without saying a word to Terrence, she found the nearest exit and headed for home.

As Caroline slowly walked through the sunshine, she reminded herself of how many times she had observed Terrence interacting with others at work and other places. He always showed everyone such kindness and generosity. It was simply his way. Surely that was what he had been doing for her. Trying to make her feel a part of the team, helping her to adjust to her new life here in California. Perhaps she had read him all wrong. Certainly, it wouldn't be the first time.

On Monday, Caroline felt unsure about a lot of things as she went into the chocolate factory. For one thing, she knew that this was the week when Miss Bentley had informed everyone she planned to return to work. As far as Caroline knew, it wouldn't be for a day or two. Still, it was unsettling. Especially since Caroline hadn't heard anything from any other businesses in town. She also felt uneasy about the layoffs that she knew were coming—primarily in her department, which she felt some loyalties to. And, of course, the most disturbing thing was trying to determine the status of her relationship with Terrence. By now she almost felt like she'd imagined the stairwell conversation. Or else she had misunderstood his intentions. Maybe she should celebrate that her stint at MG Chocolates was coming to a swift end. A few more weeks like this and she might end up in the nuthouse!

She was barely through the front door when she heard the twitters coming from the direction of the front display window. “There she is,” Miss Warner said in an excited tone. “Come here, Mrs. Clark, you have to see this.” She grabbed her by the hand, pulling her to the window, where a new, extremely large heart-shaped box was positioned on the very top of the display. Almost as if it was playing King of the Hill. The handsome, shiny red box looked like a gigantic version of the one that Joe had gotten for her—and like his, her name was on it.

“Who could it be from?” a woman asked.

“Do you know?” Miss Warner asked Caroline.

Caroline just shrugged. “Sorry, I don't know.”

“It's the biggest one by far,” someone said.

“Someone must really like you,” another added.

“I heard it's from Tom Stephens,” a woman said.

And then, without sticking around to endure their questions and speculations, she hurried toward the stairs, but seeing the elevator open and no one inside, she decided to take that instead. As she rode up, she couldn't stop thinking about that enormous heart.
Could it possibly be?

As she emerged from the elevator, she nearly ran smack into Evelyn. “Excuse me,” she said as she stepped aside, bracing herself for a scolding for not being more careful—or a lecture on Evelyn's status.

“No, excuse me,” Evelyn said in a polite but chilly tone. Miss Thornton was with her and both of them looked at Caroline with curious interest.

“Did you see your heart in the window?” Miss Thornton asked quietly.

Caroline just nodded.

“Impressive,” Miss Thornton said as if she meant it.