Page 22 of Hope After Loss

Usually, I secure a red-hot date well in advance of Valentine’s Day, but with everything that’s been going on lately, I haven’t had much free time for dating or even hooking up. This is the longest dry spell my manhood has seen in years.

All work and no play makes Weston a dull boy. It’s time to get back on the horse, especially now that my bachelor pad is ready for action.

In the meantime, I have to make sure that the current women in my life are taken care of.

On my way into the office this morning, I stop by Rocky Pass with a dozen chocolate-covered strawberries and a card for Mom. I’ve been giving her the same gift every year since I got my first job, working as a grocery bagger when I was in high school.

“Happy Valentine’s Day to my best girl,” I say as I poke my head into her office.

Her eyes light up as I place the box on her desk. She stands and hurries around to give me a tight hug.

“My favorite,” she cries.

I’m sure she’ll tell each of my brothers the same as, one by one, they also make their way over to shower her with love. I, however, always make sure to be the first—after Pop, that is.

My next stop is the post office to pick up the delivery that arrived last night, and then I decide to run into the general store for a teddy bear with a huge red bow and a vase of brightly colored wildflowers.

I get everything in place minutes before Anna and Kaela arrive and hurry into the break room.

I listen for the door to close behind them and wait.

“What are these?” Anna calls.

“What?” I yell back.

“The display on my desk.”

I walk out with a mug in my hand and shrug. “I have no idea. Some delivery service dropped it all off this morning,” I lie.

She looks at me skeptically as she places Kaela in her pen. “A delivery service. On the mountain. Before seven?”

“Well, yeah, I hear today is a busy day for them. Seems logical they’d want to get an early start,” I reply.

She grins and plucks the card from the bouquet of nontraditional wildflowers and reads the inscription aloud. “Wild about you. Sincerely, The Universe.”

“Who are they from?” I ask, pretending like I didn’t hear her.

She sets the card beside the box from Olive & Sinclair Chocolate Company, picks up the vase, and buries her nose in the flowers.

“Apparently, the universe likes me,” she says.

“The universe, huh? That’s a lot of people. I hope you don’t end up with a big head.”

She smiles and fumbles with the ribbon on the box of candy. “A big ass is more like it. I wonder how the universe knew that Olive & Sinclair is my favorite,” she says.

I wrote down the name of the candy store located in Nashville when I overheard her and Leona discussing her favorite caramels one day while picking over a selection from the café at lunch.

“I bet the universe is pretty smart, and it probably listens to everything.”

She looks up at me.

“It looks like it even left something for a baby girl to love on,” I say as I nod toward the teddy bear seated in her desk chair.

She picks up the stuffed animal and hugs it to her chest before walking over and placing it beside Kaela. Then, she walks to me.

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Weston.”

She bears up on the toe of her shoe and plants a quick kiss on my cheek.