Chapter 58
Jessica quickly hung up. “What a crazy man,” she thought to herself.
Noticing her flushed cheeks, Robert tilted his head slightly toward her and asked, “What’s going on with you? Feeling warm?”
She touched her cheek and smiled. “Yeah, probably from the heater.”
When Jessica got to Robert’s place, she sent Zachary her location and even took a photo, making a peace sign without showing her face.
Robert’s place was an antique–style villa. Right at the entrance, there was a fountain that had already dried up and frozen over.
“Ms. Hawthorne!”
Jessica spotted her teacher, Mabel Hawthorne, who was just about to come out and greet them.
“You’re here, Jess!”
Mabel was a little plump, and her coat was tight enough to show the rolls underneath. They gave each other a big hug, while Robert stood to the side with his hands in his pockets, eyes on
Jessica.
After some small talk, Mabel said, “You mentioned over the phone that you wanted to pick some wintersweet flowers from my garden. You came at the perfect time. They’re in full
bloom!
“Pick as many as you want. I’m too lazy to clean them up anyway.‘
As she spoke, she grabbed Jessica’s hand and led her inside.
“Yeah. It’s rare for me to come back here, and wintersweet flowers haven’t bloomed back in the country. I figured you’d have some here, so I thought I could snip a few to take home with
me.”
Not long after, Elsa and Jennifer arrived, though Shirley was a no–show.
The
group gathered in the living room to eat. They were all some of Mabel’s favorite students and still regularly kept in touch.
After dinner, Robert offered to help Jessica trim some branches, but she politely turned him down. She could see how he felt about her from the look in his eyes.
“I have to do it myself,” she said as she took the clippers into her gloved hand.
There was no sunlight that afternoon, but the sky was bright blue, and light snow had started
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falling again. Wearing a hat and white gloves, Jessica stood in the backyard, carefully clipping wintersweet branches.
She avoided the ones in full bloom, only choosing those with unopened buds–about a dozen in total–then wrapped them in some old newspaper.
Mabel, standing nearby while giving instructions, insisted that she take another ten or so.
Robert stood off to the side, quietly watching her. Jessica was bundled up in a light pink down coat, the oversized kind with goose feather padding.
With her hood pulled low, she looked like a little winter fairy. Her cheeks flushed pink from the cold, her breath curling in the air like soft mist around her.
They stayed at Mabel’s place until after dinner, finally saying goodbye when it got late.
Elsa drove Jennifer home after. Since Jessica stayed in the opposite direction, Robert insisted on driving her instead. She tried to say no, but he wouldn’t take it for an answer.
With no other choice, she got into his car.
“I remember that you used to love tulips,” he said, glancing at the wintersweet branches in
her arms.
“People change,” she replied.
Tulips meant love and eternity—not exactly a message she wanted to send anymore. The last time she gifted them, it had caused a misunderstanding.
It was no wonder Zachary had looked so happy.
Wintersweet, though, signified hope, perseverance, and resilience. She couldn’t think of anything better to give in the middle of winter.
Zachary wore suits that cost more than ten grand each, and there was no way she could afford a proper gift for such a man. This was free, so it would have to do.
When they pulled up outside the hotel, Jessica quickly said goodbye and got out. The last thing she needed was for Zachary to see her getting out of Robert’s car.
His possessiveness was no joke. If he got upset, she would have no idea how to calm him down. Like she said, he was harder to please than a snarky teenager.
Robert didn’t say much after. It was late, and it was only natural for women to be more cautious at night. Hence, he drove off without pressing her.
A breath of relief puffed out of Jessica as soon as his car disappeared. She adjusted the bundle of flowers in her arms, satisfied, and turned to head back into the hotel.
“Hey, honey.”
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Zachary stood at the entrance. His gaze was dark, much like a bottomless pit that could lure
one’s soul in.
She froze, her chest heaving. How should she respond? By calling him by his name or in the same way he called her?
“Why did you come down?” she asked, skipping the dilemma altogether.
“To pick you up,” he answered, his gaze drifting to the newspaper bundle in her arms.
