The night of my surprise sweet-sixteen birthday party had been a whirlwind. My friends lined up to greet me and to wish me a happy birthday. I couldn’t believe my mother had arranged a surprise party for me and that I had no idea about it whatsoever.
Taylor came up to me first and apologized. “I felt so bad yesterday having to cancel our plans at the last minute, but we wanted to surprise you.”
Erica added, “None of us thought that you ever should have planned your own birthday party, so we called your mom and she helped us arrange something even better!”
I smiled with appreciation, “Thank you.”
Megan and Victoria also told me how guilty they felt canceling our plans the night before, even though they knew it was for a good reason.
There were ten girls, in total, and we had the room completely to ourselves. My mom, brother and Brian were going to leave and sit at a table in the main dining. Before they left, James, as usual, protested.
“Why can’t we stay in here with Willow?”
“I’m sure your sister would rather be alone with her friends tonight,” my mom said as she pulled him by the scruff of his neck.
My mother gave me a hug and a peck on the cheek. “Have fun, dear.”
I hugged my mother back. “Thanks, Mom. I will.”
My friends and I ate delicious Italian food, gabbed, laughed and even gossiped. When it was time, they gave me their full attention as I opened each of their gifts. We finished the night with my favorite, double chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. I savored the moment as my friends gathered around me and sang, “Happy Birthday.” To me, for the first time in a very long time, it really was.
• • •
I thanked each of my guests as their rides arrived to pick them up. Some of the lucky girls even drove their own cars to the party. I envied them and hoped my mom would let me get my permit soon.
My mom paid the bill as Brian stood beside her and the waitress. I thanked my mother, again, by hugging her even tighter this time.
“You’re very welcome, Willow. I’m glad you had a nice time.”
Brian drove us home and I actually thanked him, too, for giving us a ride. I was so happy, I felt like I was walking on air.
The three of us stood at the front door while my mother unlocked it. Just as my mom and James started to walk in, I noticed that there was mail stuffed inside our mailbox. I guessed the mailman had delivered it late after all. I grabbed the pile before I followed them inside and bolted the door behind me.
James and my mom went straight to bed while I stood next to the front door flipping through junk mail, flyers and bills. I was searching for my grandmother’s birthday card and finally found it. I placed it on the very top and put the whole stack on the antique side table so I could take off my coat and scarf.
As I slipped off my jacket, my arm knocked some of the mail onto the floor, including my grandmother’s card. I bent over and collected the mail, but couldn’t find the card from my grandma anywhere.
I got on my hands and knees and searched around. It was nowhere to be found. How the heck could I have lost a card I was holding just a few seconds before?
I ducked underneath the side table and searched behind it. When I actually lay down flat on the floor, I could see a white envelope and the corner of a red one stuck between the table and the wall. I used my fingers to pry both of them from their secret hiding place.
I recognized my grandmother’s handwriting on the big white envelope right away and knew it was my birthday card, but I was unsure whom the red envelope was from even though it was addressed to me.
I opened my grandma’s card and smiled as I read it and, like always, she sent me a generous check. She signed it “Happy Anniversary, Willow. Love, Grandma & Grandpa.”
I put down the card and check and tore open the mysterious small, red envelope. It was a Christmas card with a picture of a fireplace and a decorated mantel on the front. I opened the inside and read:
“Willow,
MERRY you will be,
on CHRISTMAS you will see,
the joy TO be given,
like our savior, YOU are risen.”
And it was simply signed, “Michael.”
When did Michael send me a Christmas card, I wondered and how did it get stuck behind the table? I was puzzled at first, but thought back and suddenly remembered how it had come in the mail during Christmas break and I had intended to read it, but hurried out because Tessa was waiting for me in the driveway. It must have fallen off of the table like my grandmother’s card and been wedged back there the whole time.
Now that I solved the mystery of its arrival, I had to reread it to figure out what his words meant. More than that, I was baffled because I hadn’t seen nor heard from him since that terrible night on Thanksgiving. Why did he feel the need to reach out to me at all when he clearly was pissed off at me?
At the very least, the unexpected card meant that he was alive and, hopefully, doing well. Even so, why couldn’t Michael just call me and say, “Hi!” like a normal person? Why did he feel the need to send me a cryptic note instead, with a poem that didn’t make any sense?
I read the note again and noticed that one word in each line of the poem was capitalized. I kept rereading it and when I finally pulled out just the capitalized words and put them in a sentence, I realized that the message read: “MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU.”
Still, I was confused. It had been almost three weeks since Michael had sent me the card and I hadn’t heard another word from him in between. What was I to do? Thank him for the Christmas card or send him one after the fact?
I quickly realized that I couldn’t have sent him a card even if I wanted to because he didn’t write his address on the envelope. I had even tried to look up his address online through a free white pages website a while back, but there was no listing for him or his family.
Why did Michael Cooper do this to me? I had been feeling so joyful after my terrific birthday party, as if I were floating on a cloud and, now, his stupid note had totally burst my bubble and sent me crashing back to Earth.
I had moved on with my life and I thought Michael would have, too. I wished I hadn’t dropped my grandmother’s card. I never would have had to look for it and discovered it next to the mysterious red envelope. Along with my feelings for Michael E. Cooper it, too, would have been lost and forgotten forever.
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
In the Middle of Nowhere (Willow's Journey #1) Page 15
