Page 68 of All Dressed Up

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Rachel took a seat on the first row of the empty bleachers, her elbows resting on her thighs while her hands cupped her chin. “Why are we here?”

“Don’t know,” Jessie said as he paced in front of her. “I’m not getting a signal.”

Rachel straightened. Her interest rising. “Signal?”

“From Mary. The feeling was very strong on the walk over, but it’s dead.”

She laughed sarcastically. “That’s funny.”

Jesse gave her only a blank stare.

“The signal’s dead. She’s dead.”

Still nothing from the old man. “Never mind...” She bent down and wiped a bit of freshly mowed grass off her tan ballerina flats. This was pointless.

He stopped pacing and sat down next to her. “Wait.” He shut his eyes.

Rachel took the moment to roll hers. Had she lost her mind? What was she doing here? She had a business to run. Hanging out on an empty high school football field with the least popular man in Buttermilk Falls wasn’t on her to-do list. “Why don’t we just go ba—”

“Mary was here,” he interrupted.

“Mary’s here?” She perked up. Finally.

“Marywashere. She’s not now.”

Frustrated, she stood. “Well, good for her. Maybe she likes football. Might want to tell her they won’t be playing until the fall. She’ll be waiting a long time.”

Jesse’s eyes remained closed. “Snapdragons.”

Rachel turned to face him, hands on her hips. This game was getting old. “What about them?”

His eyelids finally opened, his baby blues shimmering. “It’s your favorite flower.”

How did he know? An unmistakable shiver crept up her neck. “Why are you talking about them?”

“Are they your favorite?”

She tried to act cool. “So what if they are?”

“Did you ever receive them?”

What was this man getting at? Or better, Mary? She sat back down. “Yeah, a long time ago.” She pointed to her old high school building. “I had a secret admirer in twelfth grade. He left me flowers in my locker. Snapdragons were my favorite because they were so unusual.” She couldn’t help but laugh. “Most girls would get carnations and roses, but my Buttermilk Blooms Bandit would leave me all kinds of unique flowers that I’d never seen before.”

Jesse touched her knee. “I bet you liked the bright pink ones. Not a typical pink. Not quite red.”

Rachel blinked. “Why, yes. Did Mary tell you that?”

“No.” He pointed to their right. “Well, not exactly.”

Rachel twisted around to see a bush of snapdragons growing wildly at the end of the bleachers next to a garbage can. Her eyes widened. She hadn’t noticed them when they arrived. “Where did they come from?”

That got a belly laugh out of Jesse. “Do you have to ask?”

She jumped up and went over to the flowers, plucking a few stems from the ground, taking in their bright pink hues. These were exactly what she’d found in her locker the first time her bandit had struck. “This makes no sense.” She glanced over at Jesse.

“Did anything ever happen between you and Will here?” He snickered. “Any kissing behind the bleachers?”

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