Forever in Love by W. Lynn Chantale Page B

weeks, she had flowers to begin and end her week. The roses were nice, but she missed him.
    “I see you got another visit from the florist.” Cal dropped a file on her desk.
    “Yes.”
    “You should put those away. My old lady saw them petals and wanted to know why I didn’t do nice things like that for her.”
    “Did she now?”
    “I told her she didn’t even like flowers. She said that wasn’t the point. Now I’ve got to do something nice for my wife.”
    She laughed. “You should take her those candies she likes.”
    He grunted and walked back to his office. “I’m not encouraging her behavior. Tell that young man of yours to stop making me look bad. I haven’t seen him in a bit.”
    “He’s been working, but is supposed to stop in for a quick drink tonight. Were you coming with us to celebrate the end of the Klaussen project.”
    “No. I’ll leave that to you youngsters.”
    Bonnie nodded and picked up the file he’d placed on her desk earlier. “They came in under budget.”
    “Your brother is pretty good at doing that. I could really use someone like him at my company on a permanent basis. Any way I could talk him into working more than just summers.”
    She shrugged him. “You’d have to ask him. He’s been building stuff since he was a kid, but he might say no. I think his other job made him some sort of supervisor or something.”
    Cal nodded. “I’ll persuade him.”
    She snorted. “Good luck with that.”
    He went back to his office and she returned to work. At the chime she glanced up. A woman in a white uniform shirt and khaki slacks stepped across the threshold carrying an orchid.
    “I have a delivery for a Bonnie.”
    She stood. “No. Take that back.”
    “I’m sorry,” the other woman sputtered.
    Bonnie came around the desk. “You tell whoever is sending those orchids to me to stop. I don’t want them,” she said her voice rising.
    “Bonnie? Everything okay?” Cal stood at the door of his office.
    The delivery girl looked from one to the other. “She has a delivery?”
    “I don’t want it.”
    “You heard her. Take the flower back to your shop or send it else where.” He reached in his pocket, pulled out a couple of bills and handed them to the girl. “For your trouble.” Once the driver left Cal wrapped an arm around Bonnie’s shoulders and steered her to a nearby chair. “What is it?”
    Bonnie forced air into her lungs fighting off the panic robbing her of oxygen and sanity. Her attacker was toying with her and she couldn’t remember who it was.
    “Should I call your brother? I’d hate for you to have one of those female hysteric moments and I didn’t call.”
    Despite her discomfort she laughed. “No. Just give me a moment. If I could remember who this guy was, then it wouldn’t be such a problem.”
    “Do the police know you’re receiving a form of correspondence from your attacker.”
    She nodded.
    He patted her hand. “I’m going to have a dedicated security guard keep an eye out.” When she shook her head he waved a hand. “No. Listen to me. I feel a bit responsible, because I left you here alone.”
    She offered a small smile. “I don’t blame you, Cal.”
    “You should. You’re more than just an employee, you’re like a daughter to me and I should take better care of both. Until that piece of scum is apprehended I’ll have a guard posted around the site and he’ll vet the deliveries.”
    She lowered her head and swallowed hard. Her boss had never said anything like that to her before. This was her first legitimate job and she hadn’t looked back. Looking back she enjoyed the challenge of being bookkeeper and office manager to this gruff man who knew how to run a business and working with various suppliers helped make the company a success.
    “You seem much calmer now. I’ll make that phone call and let you get back to work.”
    She nodded. Maybe it was time she went back over her notes, there had to be something there that could jog