by Sandra Kitt
Just then a raucous group of waiters and waitresses descended on the table with a birthday cake and a loud off-key rendition of the birthday song.
* * *
When Val pulled into her parking spot at her condo a couple of hours later, she juggled balloons, the two small gift boxes, a box with birthday cake in it, and a birthday/Valentine’s Day present from the kids at the community center. Their party had been fun.
Val made her way to her mailbox, opened it, and stuffed the handful of envelopes in her coat pocket. February 14 had dawned cool and clear. It had warmed up considerably through the day.
“Need a hand with any of that?”
Val looked over at her old friend the floral delivery guy. She laughed. “More flowers?” She made her way up the stairs with the driver following her.
“More something,” he said. “I have a two o’clock delivery for you and this one, a three o’clock.” It was well after three, almost four.
At her door, Val put the cake box down so she could get the key in the lock. She deposited everything on the dinette table and wrapped the streamers from the balloons over the back of a chair. She then signed for the two deliveries and thanked the driver.
The two o’clock turned out to be a lovely dish garden assortment of green plants. The card said TO. The word MY accompanied a hibiscus. Val spent a few moments deciding where to place the plants, then went to look at the collection of cards on the counter.
“You bring sunshine, joy, and laughter to my. What’s the next word, Eric? I know this is all from you.”
Val collected the teddy bear that she’d decided to call Joy and the mail from her coat pocket, then settled on the sofa. Birthday cards from friends and even a couple of clients constituted most of the mail. She laughed out loud as she read the gag cards from Shelley and Kalinda.
Val’s gaze wandered over the pink roses Eric had sent and then at all the delightful deliveries that could have come only from him. She smiled.
“This turning-thirty business is all right.” She got the boxes from her parents and looked at them. The Hawaii trip consisted of round-trip airfare for two and then seven nights at a resort hotel. Val shook her head. Her parents were really something else.
She conceded to herself that their remarriage might not have come as such a surprise to her if, like Eric, she viewed the world through the eyes of a romantic.
As a matter of fact, she rather liked Eric’s notion of romance, it was, well...romantic. She carried Joy, the teddy bear, with her to her bedroom.
Eric had advised that she wear something special. Val rifled through her closet for a few moments, then her gaze fell on the perfect outfit. She pulled the red suit out and held it up to her. The suit, with its leopard-print cuffs and collar, was trim and elegant. The short skirt that fell to just above her knees would accent her legs. Val selected a high-heeled red sling and held the shoe up to the suit.
“Perfect.”
She slipped the suit hanger over a hook on the door and then selected large gold earrings.
The doorbell rang.
She smiled and almost tripped over herself getting to the door. Then she stopped, ran back to her bedroom, and pulled a twenty-dollar bill from her wallet.
“Package for you,” the delivery guy intoned dryly. But he couldn’t hide his smile.
Val signed for it, handed him the tip with a look that said “Don’t even try to not accept,” and accepted the box. This one had some weight to it.
“How many more are coming?” she asked.
The driver smiled, shrugged, then tipped his hat to Val and went back to his van.
Val placed the box on the coffee table, then dug in.
“Oh, Eric. It’s lovely,” she whispered as she pulled a delicate music box from the wrapping paper. She wound the back and opened the lid. The lilting, tender melody of “As Time Goes By” floated over her. Val swallowed hard but couldn’t stop the tears that gathered in her eyes. The fundamental things in life did apply, and she finally knew what it was her parents had discovered so many years earlier on an escalator, the very thing they’d rediscovered in each other: love.
Val loved Eric Fitzgerald, heart and soul, mind and body. It didn’t matter that they’d recently met. It didn’t matter that they had been introduced through a matchmaking service. What mattered was love. Is that what he had been trying to tell her?
Val rewound the music box and hummed along. “Well, I might disagree with the kiss part. A kiss from Eric is like no other.”
She searched in the box and sure enough, a small white card had a single word on it. LIFE.
Val carried the card to the counter and read the complete message.
YOU BRING SUNSHINE, JOY AND LAUGHTER TO MY LIFE.
She felt blissfully happy. The feeling intensified when it dawned on her that Eric had gone to a lot of trouble to make the day special for her. And there was more to come, the night lay ahead. Val hugged herself.
The day called for pampering. She gathered up the music box and took it to her bathroom. In her bedroom she pulled out hose and silky, sexy undergarments. Val drew a luxurious bubble bath and was just about to step into it, when the doorbell rang.
She slipped a caftan over her head and went to the door.
“You again,” she told the driver.
The routine well in place now, she signed for the huge arrangement of red roses. Val carried the flowers straight to the bathroom and put the vase on the ledge of her big whirlpool tub. She wound the music box up, stepped out of the caftan and slipped into the tub. Reaching up, she plucked the card from the roses, then settled back amid the mountain of bubbles. The card read: Happy Birthday, Val. He’d signed it Love, Eric.
Val smiled in contentment.
Life was good. Love was grand. And the future she and Eric might have would unfold as time went by.
Chapter 9
When her doorbell rang again, Val knew she’d find Eric on her doorstep. She did. And he looked good enough to eat. The single-breasted smoke-gray suit made him look distinguished. The thin sage and periwinkle stripes in his shirt accented the tie at his neck. Clothes didn’t make the man, but Eric sure made clothes look good. Val liked his style. And his smile.
“Good evening, gorgeous. And happy birthday.”
“Hi. You look great.”
Eric stepped in and snaked a hand around her waist. “You look absolutely divine. May I?”
“May you what?”
But Val recognized his intent as his head lowered to hers. When Eric finally got his fill, he smiled at her, the smile just as intimate as the kiss had been.
“I don’t think I want to leave,” Val murmured.
Eric’s dark eyes flashed. Val was tempting him in ways she probably didn’t even realize. She didn’t know how partial he was to red. When she’d opened the door in that fire-engine-red suit, he wanted one thing: to see her out of it. He wondered if Val would be as wild and as sleek as the leopard at her collar and cuffs. He longed to pull the pins and combs out of her hair and run his hands through it.
But tonight, tonight was Val’s night. He’d managed to control himself this long, he’d manage again. But there was one thing he couldn’t resist—he had to hold her again.
Eric ran one large palm from her waist to her thigh. Her delicious ample curves made him break out in a fine sweat. He brought her hips flush with his. Val wrapped her arms around his waist.
“You are beautiful,” he said against her lips.
He felt Val’s smile at his mouth. “Thank you.”
“I think we better leave now,” he said. “Things are really starting to heat up.”
“I think you’re right.”
Val reached for her small handbag and a winter wrap.
“Your chariot awaits, mademoiselle.”
Eric turned off the lights and led her down the stairs.
A late-model sapphire limousine awaited them. The driver opened the door as Eric and Val approached.
“Eric! This is for me? I’ve never been in a limousine.”
Eric handed her into the car. “Then tonight, sweet Valentine, is your night.”
The driver closed the door behind them. They settled in, and Eric handed her a single red rose.
Val inhaled the heady scent. “This is beautiful. And thank you for all the surprises today. It’s been fabulous.”
Eric pressed a button and the gentle instrumental refrains of “As Time Goes By” filled the car’s inner chamber.
Val turned to him with a trembly smile. “Oh, Eric. This is so romantic.”
“You’re not supposed to cry,” he said, taking a handkerchief from his inside coat pocket and dabbing at her eyes.
“This has all been so beautiful. Thank you.”
Eric gathered her in his arms. In his rich baritone he softly sang the words of the song to Val as they made their way to their dinner destination.
When they arrived in Williamsburg about half an hour later, Eric showed her into a restaurant. When Val recognized the building, she buried her head in his shoulder for a moment.
“This is my absolute favorite restaurant in the world. How did you know?”
Eric simply smiled as they were led to an intimate table for two.
Through seven courses they talked and laughed and shared with each other. When the last dishes were taken away, a waiter materialized with a bottle of champagne.
“I thought you didn’t drink.”
“This is a celebration. Every celebration should have a toast,” he said.
Val smiled and picked up the delicate crystal flute. “Eric! Oh, my God.”
Draped around Val’s glass was a stunning diamond-and-gold link bracelet.
With hands that trembled, Val unclasped the bracelet. The diamonds shimmered in the candlelight. Eric took the jewelry and secured it to Val’s arm.
“Happy birthday, Valentine.”
She gulped hard, a hot tear trickling down her cheek. Eric wiped it away with the pad of a finger.
“Eric, you shouldn’t have.”
“You deserve this and more, Val. Tell me these tears are of joy and not something else.”
Val managed a smile. “You do bring me joy, Eric. Thank you.”
Eric poured the champagne. “A toast, then. To Valentine, an intelligent, beautiful woman who stirs my heart and fires my soul. Happy birthday.”
Much later that night, Val realized something: turning thirty had been downright spectacular. A gentleman Prince Charming to the very end, Eric had seen her home, kissed her good-night and left with the limousine.
Val drifted to sleep with the diamond bracelet still on her arm, Joy the teddy bear at her side, and a single red rose on her pillow.
* * *
When day dawned, Val fully expected the lovely fantasy to have been nothing more than an elaborate dream. Maybe she’d gotten her earlier wish to go to sleep on February thirteenth and awaken the fifteenth. But the cool fire at her wrist told her differently. Each double link in the bracelet joined the next with three diamonds. Val glanced at the cute stuffed teddy bear.
Val threw her legs over the bed and padded to the bathroom. If she’d needed any extra proof that Wednesday, the previous day, had been one to remember, there on the ledge of the whirlpool were both a huge arrangement of red roses and a pretty music box. Val wound the box and listened to the sentimental tune as she brushed her teeth and washed her face.
She lingered in the shower, then dressed, ate and selected one of the flower arrangements to sit atop her desk as she went to work. When she turned to consult her appointment book, Val couldn’t find the slim volume. After searching the desk, her purse and even the car, she remembered. She’d left it at the receptionist’s counter at A Match Made in Heaven.
Val called the service to ensure that the daybook was there. She then made as many calls as she could remember she had to before venturing out to greet the day and pick up her appointment book.
When Val arrived at the dating service office she was just in time to see Netanya Gardner stretching on tiptoe to remove the cupids dangling from the ceiling. Netanya sported pink stirrup pants and a pink baseball-type shirt. Val, who’d taken extra pains to look nice on the off chance of seeing Eric, felt positively matronly compared to Netanya. The long sleeves, long skirt and relative shapelessness of the empire-style dress she wore made her wonder how high she’d score on the frumpiness scale. Netanya, on the other hand, looked as dainty and sweet as ever—even in casual wear.
Without reservation Eric admitted he loved this woman. Though the timing, the ambience and the moment had been right, he’d spoken no love words to Val the previous evening. He’d been gentle, kind, loving and abundantly generous with his gifts and his time, but not once did he mention anything lasting. Because his heart belonged to Netanya? Had she up and fallen in love with a man who was in love with another woman? Had his mission simply been the challenge to make Val believe in romance? If that were the case, Eric had successfully completed the mission and earned bonus points along the way. He’d shown her in myriad ways over the past few days the many different ways romance could be expressed and enjoyed. But for him, had it all been simply an inventive challenge?
Val cleared her throat. “Ms. Gardner?”
Netanya turned around in midstretch. “Val, how nice to see you. I have your daybook. Just a sec.”
Netanya captured the last cupid, then, with a hand from Val, she scrambled down from the top of the receptionist’s counter.
“Thanks,” she said, dusting her hands on her pants. “Come this way. It’s in my office.”
As Val followed Netanya, the other woman explained her attire. “Today’s a half day for us, so I’m here trying to get some things done and some paperwork taken care of.” Netanya walked into her office and motioned for Val to have a seat.
“The week right before Valentine’s Day is one of, if not the busiest week we have. It’s right up there with New Year’s Eve. People don’t want to be alone. We’re always closed on Valentine’s Day. Then we give the staff another half-day’s rest before the second rush starts.”
“What’s the second rush?” Val asked.
Netanya gave a small smile. “The people who realized they were alone for Valentine’s Day and decide that’s not going to happen again. So they make appointments with us. We’ll be pretty steady for the next two or three weeks, then it will ebb off and balance out.”
“You’ve been doing this for a long time,” Val observed.
Netanya nodded as she put the cupids in a box that held other Valentine’s Day theme decorations, then sat at her desk. “Yes. Eric and I have been together eleven years. He’d been working by himself for about a year before I joined him.”
“The two of you seem very...close,” Val said.
Netanya smiled. “We are. Eric is terrific.”
Netanya watched Val’s face fall, and wondered what she’d said wrong. Val sat in the chair, her hands folded in her lap, looking dejected and to some degree defeated. It took Netanya a minute, and then she put two and two together.
“Val,” she said softly.
When Val raised her eyes to meet Netanya’s, Netanya placed a hand over Val’s folded ones and squeezed. “Val, you don’t understand.”
Val nodded once. “I understand,” she said. “You two have a very long history together, and it’s quite obvious you love each other.”
An indulgent answering smile was Netanya’s first response. “Yes, you’re right. I do love him, but I’m not in love with him. Val, I’m in a committed relationship.”
Netanya opened a desk drawer and pulled out a heart-shaped pink and white ceramic photo frame. She handed the photograph to Val. “Yes, I love Eric. I love him as a dear friend and brother. My heart, though, belongs to someone else.”
Val glanced down at the picture. Netanya and an equally attractive woman smiled at the camera. So obvious was the friendship between the two that they could have been sisters or best fr
iends. Val looked up at Netanya.
“Do you understand?” Netanya quietly asked.
Val nodded. She looked at the picture again then at Netanya as she passed the photograph back to her.
Netanya placed the frame on the edge of the desk near them. “Eric and I met back in the days when I couldn’t deal with issues that were important to my own well-being. I hired him as an escort one weekend to play out a little drama for my family. I’ve long since stopped the fiction, and my family has come to grips with who and what I am. Eric and I, we’ve been friends ever since. When he told me he’d started a matchmaking service, I offered him a few suggestions. Before long, we’d teamed up.”
“So what this means...” Val started to say.
“Is I’m no threat to you,” Netanya finished. “The only threat to you is if you don’t hold on to Eric and never let him go. I knew soon after I met you that you were special. I wanted the two of you to meet.”
Val nodded. “Thank you for being candid.”
Netanya smiled as she slipped the photograph back into her desk. “Some things aren’t generally known,” she said.
The two women looked at each other. Val assessed all that she’d just been told. Val nodded. By unspoken agreement, a bond had been formed between the two.
“Well, I’d better go. I have to be at court this afternoon,” Val said as she stood to leave.
Netanya extended her hand to Val. But Val ignored it and hugged Netanya. “Thank you.”
Val swung the strap of her bag over her shoulder and moved toward the door.
“Hey, Val.”
Val turned back to Netanya, who held a small leather volume.
“You forgot your appointment book.”
Val shook her head, smiled and accepted the book. “Thanks.”
Netanya turned her attention back to the stack of papers on her desk.
Later that afternoon Eric breezed into her office. Netanya was gone for the day, but had left a message for him that he could find a draft of the company’s new marketing and promotion plan on her desk. Eric spied the stack of papers, picked them up and went to his own office to review the material.
