Would she accept?
I smooth the ice cream off my spoon and give it some good thought.
“I’m a good time,” I say out loud to no one. “Possibly strange at times, but who doesn’t like a little odd behavior in a friendship? Keeps things alive and slightly unpredictable, which is key to maintaining longevity in a relationship.” I pause and then say, “Am I really talking out loud to myself?”
Knock. Knock.
I quickly turn to the door. Who the hell is that?
It’s clearly not an appropriate time for a visitor. It’s past eight, which to me is the time when everyone crawls into their homes and strips down to troll status. Hence why I’m wearing my pajama pants and don’t mind the ice cream stain on my shirt.
I strip out of my blanket cocoon, set my ice cream down, and walk to the door, where I look through the peephole to see a large bouquet.
Oh. Flower delivery.
I open the door, and instead of taking a bouquet from a delivery person, I’m bombarded by the happy glees of my mother and father.
What.
On.
Earth.
“Penny!” Mom shrieks as she passes the bouquet to Dad and pulls me into a large hug. “Oh honey, we are so happy to see you.”
Uh . . . what are they doing here?
Am I missing something? Did I miss an email? Correspondence that they were coming? Was Pacey supposed to tell me they were on their way and forgot to mention it to me?
Either way . . . THANK GOD the boys are on an away trip because that would have been incredibly uncomfortable to explain to them why a six-foot-four hockey player, shirtless—because God forbid he wear a shirt—lived with me.
And then a bolt of sweat forms on the back of my neck as I remember said six-foot-four beast moved in with me. What if there’s evidence of his residence here? As my mom hugs me and my dad looks at us lovingly, I desperately scan the living room to see if he left a sock or a man item around the apartment.
I can’t tell from this angle, but that’s not to say I’m in the clear.
“Oh, you feel so frail. Have you been eating?” She pulls away and spots the ice cream stain on my shirt. “Well, I guess you have.”
“Take these, Tina,” Dad says as he gives her the bouquet and then pulls me into a hug, jostling me around. “Oh, my baby girl, how are you?”
Frantically trying to see if there’s any evidence of my live-in baby daddy.
“Surprised,” I answer as my dad traps me in a giant bear hug. My face is buried in his chest, making it impossible to look around. “Did you guys say you were coming?” I muffle into him.
“Nope,” Mom answers with pride. “This was done on a whim. We thought we’d surprise you. Hopefully catch a game when the boys return, but until then, we’d love to spend some time with our girl. And before you freak out, don’t you worry, we have a hotel room.”
Look at that. Miracles still do exist.
“Oh, well, what a surprise,” I say when Dad releases me. I straighten my shirt and give the apartment one more scan. Nothing seems to be screaming “hockey man lives here.” “Sorry that I’m not properly dressed.”
“Oh, please.” Mom waves her hand dismissively. “No need to dress up on our account.”
“And you brought me flowers.” I take the vase. “How kind.”
“We didn’t.” Mom waggles her eyebrows at me. They didn’t? “They were at your doorstep when we arrived.”
Hmm, I thought I heard a knock when I was going to the bathroom but just chalked it up to the noises of living in an apartment building.
“Who could they be from?” Mom asks, following me into the kitchen while Dad shuts the door and takes his shoes off.
Who could they be from? Great question. No one sends me flowers, so I honestly have no idea.
Wait . . . they can’t be.
They wouldn’t be.
Eli would never send me flowers.
There’s no reason to.
And we don’t do that, romantic gestures like flowers.
Would he send me flowers?
“There’s a card,” Mom says as she reaches for it, and out of pure survival instincts, I swat her hand away and rip the card out of the holder and hold it against my chest.
“No one,” I say with panic. “They’re, uh, they’re from me.” That sounds believable. “Yeah, you see, I read this book that you should treat yourself to certain things you don’t normally get, so yeah, I sent myself flowers. Sounds kind of lame, but trust me when I say, my spirits were just lifted seeing how much I care for myself.” I toss the card on the counter. “Anyway, do you guys want any ice cream? I think I have a quarter of a pint I can offer you.”