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“I think you need to turn off your head and ask yourself what you really want.”
“I want her.” I didn’t miss a beat.
“Then you know what you need to do.”
“Any suggestions?”
She used her finger to trace the splits in the wood on the fence for a bit, then she smiled. I could tell she was thinking of Dad and knew that was the kind of relationship I’d want with Sue.
“When we were first dating, your dad would often leave me a flower on the front step in the morning on his way to work just so I’d know he was thinking of me. After that, he started showing up at random times where I was to make sure I saw him. He was persistent in all the right ways. There’s a balance in picking up social cues. Sometimes you might ignore them, but sometimes you need to act on them.” She looked over at me.
“From what I know about Sue,” she raised an eyebrow, and I chuckled and knew she’d done a little digging, “she’s smart, Dan. She’s lovely and apparently refused to date over the past year.” She eyed me. “That tells me she’s been waiting for you. I may be wrong. Perhaps it’s wishful thinking on my part, but when a girl takes herself off the market, there’s a reason.” She cocked her head to make her point.
“Maybe.” I smiled and hoped she was right.
“Now get that darn bucket moving. There’s more animals to feed.” She gave me a push.
“I love you, Mom.”
“Love you, too, sweetheart.”
Once I finished up my chores, I jumped the fence and knew what I needed to do.
I flipped through the pages in my notebook and ran my finger down over my messy handwriting until I found her number. I dialed and waited for her to pick up.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Tracy, it’s Daniel Logan.”
“Um, hi, Daniel.” She had a right to sound confused. “Not to sound rude, but where did you get my number?”
“Zack.” I kept it short as I wanted to get this conversation moving in the right direction fast. “Look, Tracy, I need a favor.”
“Well, that depends.”
“It’s to do with Sue.”
“Oh, yeah.” She chuckled. “I’m totally in on that. What do you need?” I kicked my feet up and explained my plan, happy to have her on my side.
Taking a page out of my father’s playbook, I spent the next week working to get Sue to notice me. I slipped the odd flower into the side of her mailbox where she’d see it as she left for work. Thanks to Tracy, I got the inside knowledge on as many things as I could.
“What are you doing?” Mom peered over my shoulder as she saw I was all thumbs with the ribbon, glue, and paper bag.
“Trying to be romantic,” I huffed. “I’m fantastically failing at it.”
“No, you’re not.” She set the fresh lavender she had picked on the counter and moved to stand next to me. “You’re doing just fine, but sometimes a simple gesture is much more romantic than an over the top one. Here, let me show you want I mean.” She separated half of her flowers and brought them to the table. “Placing her favorite candy, with a small sprig or two of lavender, will mean so much more than a bag full of lollies.” She used a piece of twine, gathered some sprigs of lavender and the lollies together, and made a sweet little bouquet. “Women read into things, so let her mind soar with this.” She held it up, and I looked at her, confused.
“It’s much prettier than what I did but what am I supposed to read into it?”
“Well, they say to plant lavender for luck, and it’s well known the scent is supposed to relax your body, and the candy means you think she’s sweet.”
“Ahh, I see what you did there.” I admired her handiwork. “And it’s her favorite candy, too, so she’ll know I did my research.”
“Well done, Daniel. Don’t forget you’re a Logan. You men know how to sweep a woman off her feet.”
“That’s the plan.” I kissed her cheek and hurried outside. I wanted to drop it off before she got off work.
If it could be said that a guy skipped, that was what I did on the way there. I was so proud of my gift to her. As I reached for the office door, it swung open, and I just managed to catch it with my hand and step aside in time to avoid a collision with a delivery man’s dolly.