“Good afternoon, Lena.”
She smiled over at her secretary as she grabbed the mail off the table and began flipping through it. “And a good afternoon to you, Wendy. Did I get any calls?”
The woman, who was only a few years older, smiled back and said, “Not since the last time you checked earlier, but you did get a package. I put it on your desk.”
“Thanks, it’s probably those brochures I ordered last week,” Lena said, tossing the junk mail in a basket to get shredded while keeping hold of anything she considered important. “I’ll be in the back if you need me.”
Entering her office, Lena removed her jacket and then took the time to hang it in the closet before taking a seat behind her desk. She eyed the box sitting in the middle of it, immediately thinking it definitely wasn’t the brochures she had ordered. It was a beautiful gift box, wrapped in red satin-looking paper with a huge white bow.
She immediately pushed the button for Wendy.
“Yes, Lena?”
“Where did this box come from?”
“It was delivered to you today by a private courier.”
Lena lifted a brow as she studied the box. There wasn’t a card on the outside. “There’s not a card.”
“It’s probably inside the box. You know, one of those ploys to keep nosy secretaries from reading it. Not that I would do such a thing,” Wendy said, chuckling.
“So, you have no idea who sent it?” Lena asked.
“Don’t you?” was Wendy’s quick response. “It’s your box.”
Lena shook her head. “I don’t have a clue, but there’s only one way to find out.”
“Wait! You want me to call for the bomb squad?”
“Real cute, Wendy.” Lena chuckled as she hung up the phone thinking that her secretary was forever the comic, and Wendy’s comment made Lena see just how paranoid she was being about the box.
Deciding she had wasted enough time as it was, she reached out and began opening it, not surprised when Wendy came into the room. “If there’s an explosion we blow up together,” her faithful secretary said. “But trust me, it’s probably safe. The guy who delivered it was too cute to be on the wrong side of the law.”
It was on Lena’s tongue to say “whatever,” but when she removed the tissue paper her heart caught as she pulled out a beautiful handcrafted snow globe. Inside was a miniature replica of Charlotte’s skyline, and with a push of a small button, that skyline became covered as snowflakes seemed to drift from the sky over the city. Amazing.
A part of Lena’s heart suddenly felt tight in her chest. She knew who had sent the package. Morgan. He had remembered her comments about the snow.
“Umm, it doesn’t look like one of those explosive devices, so I guess we’re safe,” Wendy said, reclaiming her attention but only briefly.
“No, it doesn’t and yes, we’re safe.” A few moments later she said, “Isn’t it beautiful?” still in awe of her gift.
“Yes, if you like snow, and we all know that you’re one of the few strange ones who do.”
Lena chuckled as she looked back at the box and saw there was something else inside. She placed the snow globe on her desk and pulled out another item wrapped in tissue paper. When she had it uncovered she couldn’t help but laugh. It was her very own Carolina Panthers cap. She then pulled out the card and it said:
Lena,
I saw the snow globe in a store today and it made me think of you. Hope you like it. And about the cap. I thought you looked so cute in mine that I wanted to get you one of your own. And I truly did enjoy our walk together on Sunday. We must do it again sometime.
Morgan
Emotions Lena wasn’t ready for touched her at that moment. She couldn’t recall the last time someone saw something in a store—other than an outfit Kylie might see that she would tell her about saying it would look good on her. But this was different. This was special. And it had come from a man. Definitely no man had ever taken the time to send her a gift such as this, one that reflected something she truly liked.
“Before I get back to work, is there something you want to share with me?”
Lena glanced up. She had forgotten Wendy was still in the room. She pulled herself together and cleared her throat and said, “It’s from Morgan Steele.”
Her secretary and friend raised a curious brow. “And?”
“And I think it’s time you got back to work.”
A cute little frown, one that wasn’t at all convincing, appeared on Wendy’s face. “See if I share my next romance novel with you. From now on you’re going to have to buy your own.” With her head held high, Wendy then turned and walked out of the office, closing the door behind her.