“Two packages,” I said, yawning again.
“Were you expecting something?”
I loved my mother, but I couldn’t help rolling my eyes at her question. Why would I think it was weird if I was expecting it? “Nope.”
“Well, open the first one.”
“Okay, hold on. Let me put my coffee down.”
“I have no idea how you juggle all these things,” she said. “Where are your roommates?”
I slid my coffee onto the kitchen counter, past a pile of dishes and an old pizza box. “Olivia has class. Tanner is probably asleep.”
“Has he gotten a job yet?” She didn’t wait for me to answer before she rattled off her concerns that he was going to kill himself playing video games day and night. I untied the satin bow and slipped the ribbon off the package, murmuring half-hearted ums and ohs in agreement with her. Lifting the lid, I found an envelope resting on neatly folded tissue paper.
My hands shook a little as I drew out a card of thick ivory stock and read the words scrawled across it.
I couldn’t text this. Sorry. I’ll pick you up at nine.
-J
My mouth went dry, and I nearly dropped the phone. He really did expect me to go out with him tonight. Swallowing, I pushed open the sheets of tissue to reveal emerald velvet. I picked the dress up gingerly, and its skirt rippled down to puddle on the floor.
“Thea, honey,” my mom said on the other end of the line. “Are you there?”
“Yes, sorry, I think I’m half-asleep.” I hated lying to my mom but telling her I had a date with a vampire probably wasn’t going to ease her mind.
“Maybe you should go back to bed,” she suggested.
“Can’t.” I checked the clock on the microwave and felt a fresh wave of panic. “I need to get to class.”
“You’re stretching yourself too thin.”
“Not much longer, I promise.” I’d lost track of the number of times that I’d said that to her since I started at Lassiter. I told myself it was a lot as well. “Oh, hold on, the delivery guy is back.”
“Another package?” she asked as I opened the door.
“It’s for Olivia.” Why was I lying so much? Because I didn’t want to put any more stress on my mother, not with remission looking so promising.
But when I saw what the delivery guy had in his hands, I dropped my phone on the floor. Quickly, I picked it up and apologized to Mom.
Julian hadn’t just sent me a dress for our date tonight. He’d also made good on his promise about the cello. It wasn’t my cello case in the man’s hands now. Mine had come with my cello, both purchased secondhand. And while they had been well cared for, they’d also been well-loved. The case he held was a Bam L’etoile in a striking violet purple. It must have cost a couple thousand dollars.
“Mom,” I said softly, “I need to let you go.” I was vaguely aware of her saying goodbye, but I ended the call.
“Looks nice,” the guy said as he passed the case to me.
As soon as it was in my hands, I knew my cello was not inside. Julian hadn’t repaired my cracked instrument. He’d bought me a new one. “Thanks.”
Shutting the door, I carried the case and placed it carefully on the kitchen counter. I closed my eyes as I unfastened the locking clips. When I finally looked, I nearly fainted.
Two hours later, I was not in class. I was sitting on a stool, velvet dress in my lap, staring at the cello Julian had sent me. Tanner ambled into the living room, rubbing sleep from his eyes, and stopped when he saw me.
“Shouldn’t you be in class?” he asked with a yawn.
I looked at him, blinking as I processed his question. “Oh, yeah. Probably.”
“Earth to Thea.” He snapped his fingers. “What’s going on?” He moved closer and peered into the open case. “Is that a new cello?”
“Yes,” I said numbly but quickly added, “or, no. Not really.”
“You need some coffee?” he asked. “Because you aren’t making much sense.”
“It’s a Grancino.” I sighed when he gave me a blank look. “It’s from the seventeenth century.”
“An antique.” He reached to touch it, and I batted his hand away with a shriek. “Whoa! Sorry. Is it worth a lot of money?”
I swallowed and repeated the value Google had placed on it when I’d searched earlier. “Half a million–give or take.”
Tanner took a step backward as if he’d found himself past a velvet rope in a museum. Then he sank onto the stool next to me and joined me in staring at it. After a minute, he finally spoke, “So when you said rich…”
“Rich.” Honestly, I hadn’t even known just how well-off he was, but this was probably a good indication of the status of his bank account.
“And he’s in love with you,” Tanner added.
This snapped me out of my daze. “What? No! I just met him.”
