Five Minutes Late (18 page)

It looked like Michael was going to be getting another free round of golf. Cedric shot him a look that said, “I owe you, buddy.” Michael winked and Veronica caught it.

“Okay …” Veronica eyed Cedric. “You’re not leaving until I get the details.”

After Soledad left, Cedric filled Veronica in on everything regarding Ellie from the beginning, including his idiotic behavior.

Veronica nodded. “Looks like you two have it bad for each other. I think you just need to get her alone and tell her how you feel. Don’t beat around the bush. Lay it out there. Women appreciate honesty more than anything.”

“And the ex?”

 
“Well, you definitely need to be careful there.”

Chapter Seventeen

Ellie was on a roll, accomplishing and checking off one thing after another on her to-do list. The fundraiser was just a few days away, but there were still plenty of things to organize and confirm, in addition to selling more bricks. She was happy with her fundraising efforts so far, having raised over five thousand dollars.

She’d just about finished everything she wanted to do in the morning, so she took a moment to stretch, bending forward and touching her toes.

“Don’t forget to breathe,” said Julio.

Ellie stood back up and smiled. “If you see me turning purple, you know I forgot.”

“Purple looks good on you.”

“It’s good to look on the positive side of passing out.”

Julio grimaced. “How are you doing with your brother? I know how close you two were.”
 

“I’m better. Thank you” she smiled. “I was just thinking about how he used to call me almost every day to check up on me when I went away to college. Just the sound of his voice helped me get through some rough days.”

“I remember you told me it was hard.”

Ellie nodded. “There was no way he was going to pass up being park ranger at Yellowstone and I understood that. I was sad to see him move away, but happy to see him doing what he loved.” Ellie smiled. “He’ll always be in my heart. Forever.”

“Your brother?” Peggy asked, approaching with a slip of paper in her hand.

“Yeah,” said Ellie.
 

“Well, I know you said you didn’t want any time off, but let me know if you change your mind.”

“Thanks. I’m good.”

“Good, then. I have two more things to add to the list.” She waved a piece of paper in the air. “Well, three.”

“Okay.”

“If you could confirm the arrival time of the photo booth and the band, that would be great.” She handed Ellie the piece of paper. “And we never did receive this autographed 49er football helmet for the silent auction. We just need to confirm the whereabouts of the helmet and who’s actually signing it. If it’s not Kaepernick, hopefully we can get one signed by Joe Montana. And if I can meet Joe, even better!”

Julio held up his hand. “Me too.”

Ellie smiled. “No problem.”

“I appreciate it.” Peggy turned to leave but Ellie stopped her.

“What was the third thing?”

Peggy stopped and turned back around. “What do you mean?”

“You said there were three things to add to the list. You only gave me two”

“Oh, of course. How could I forget Cedric?”

That
got Ellie’s attention. “Cedric?”
 

“Yes. Well, it’s not actually something for the fundraiser. Cedric Johnson is here and—”
 

“Where?” Ellie looked around the library but didn’t see him.

“In the children’s area. He may need some hand-holding today.”

Julio leaned into Ellie. “Some gland holding could be fun too.”

Ellie smacked Julio on the shoulder. “Behave.”

“All these years and you still haven’t perfected your library voice,” said Peggy.

“I’ll work on that.” Julio smiled as he walked off.

Because of Julio, Ellie was imagining Cedric on a deserted island. He just sliced the top off a coconut and was letting her drink from it. Then Cedric dropped the coconut to the sand, cupped her face, and leaned in to—
 

“Ellie?”

“Yes?”

“Please peek in on Cedric to see how he’s doing. I forgot to tell him that he was going to be reading to a group of a hundred kids, which may be overwhelming for someone on their first day solo. I’m sure he’ll be wonderful, but it wouldn’t hurt to check.”

“Of course.”

Peggy leaned in and lowered her voice. “And I’ll give you some unsolicited advice. I’ve seen the way you and Cedric look at each other, and you certainly didn’t fool me with that slap after the kiss. Better snatch that man up quick. He won’t last long on the open market.”

Right. Like it was that easy. He hasn’t returned her phone call.
 

Cedric was sending her a strong message. Not interested.

*****

Cedric felt like he was going to throw up. Where the hell did all of these kids come from? There must be a thousand!

He paced back and forth trying to relax. He was going to be fine. He’d completed his volunteer training, including the one-on-one reading session, and was told he was ready to go. He’d asked Peggy if maybe he should do more training, but she’d said—with confidence—he didn’t need anymore.
 

Still, his hands were sweaty and he was pretty sure he could feel his pulse trying to bang out of his neck. Most of the three and four year old kids sat on the floor in front of him in a few semi-circles, even though he gave them no such instructions. Others sat on the clover-shaped ottomans. They’d obviously been here before. Maybe they had high standards. He certainly didn’t want to let them down. He wanted them to enjoy the story, but even more, he wanted them to be enthusiastic about wanting to learn to read. The thought brought memories of Cedric’s mom and those unforgettable times when she would read to him. He suddenly felt a little more relaxed. Time to get to work.

Cedric smiled at the kids. “Welcome. Ready for a story today?”

The kids answered in unison, “Yes.”

They crossed their legs and waited in anticipation, staring up at Cedric with their big beautiful eyes hungry for a story.

“Great. Let’s get started.”

Cedric opened the book
The Giving Tree
by Shel Silverstein and began to read. It didn’t take long before he was lost in the story with them, alive and full of life. Every eye was glued to him, and it was the quietest roomful of kids he’d ever seen. Peggy taught him that it was good to pause the reading and ask the kids to predict and anticipate what was going to happen next.
 

“Wouldn’t it be cool to have a tree as a friend?” asked Cedric.

Many of the kids agreed, but a cute girl wearing a dress covered with pink hearts raised her hand. “My dog is my best friend. His name is Bruno. He farts when my older brother gives him cheese.”

The kids laughed and Cedric smiled, even more relaxed. “Interesting. Trees don’t eat cheese so we won’t have to worry about that. But they love water, though.”

“Water doesn’t give you gas,” said the girl.

“That’s good to know since I was getting thirsty.” Cedric made a funny face.

The kids laughed again and Cedric felt connected to them. He imagined having his own children and reading to them every night. His confidence was coming back. For two years, he’d shut women out of his life, but things were going to change. No more denying himself the pleasure of having a wonderful woman in his life. The thought of Ellie crept into his head.

Lovely Ellie.

In his peripheral, Cedric sensed the presence of someone, but didn’t want to look and get distracted.
 

Was it her?

Maybe she was checking up on him to see if he was doing okay. He knew he shouldn’t look, but he couldn’t help it. He waited until he reached the end of the paragraph and then shot a look in that direction.

Ellie.
 

Looking like an angel.

And oh, crap, he lost his place in the book.
 

He felt his cheeks burning and his heart rate going up. Idiot.
 

What a rookie mistake. Cedric paused, took a deep breath, and then continued with the story. Another minute passed and Cedric stopped reading, looking around at the children. “What would you do if you had a tree like this?”

A girl with ponytails and a Cinderella T-shirt raised her hand. “I would hug it.”

Cedric smiled. “That’s sweet. I’m sure the tree would like that very much.”

After the reading, Cedric strolled through the library with only one thing on his mind: find Ellie and ask her out. This was going to happen today. Right now.

He approached the Tech Center and spotted her inside with the last person he wanted to see. Vlad. Ellie turned and saw Cedric. She said something to Vlad, who also turned and saw Cedric.
 

She came out of the room, leaving Vlad inside. “Hi. How did the reading go? I peeked in on you and it looked like the kids were enjoying it.”

“It was amazing.” Cedric looked over Ellie’s shoulder at Vlad, who was staring back.

Ellie shrugged. “He just showed up. There’s nothing I can do, it’s a public place.”

“I want to go out with you and—”

“What are you doing here?” said Vlad.

Ellie turned to him. “I told you to stay in the Tech Center.”

“And let this bozo make a move on you? I don’t think so.” Vlad turned to Cedric. “I asked you a question. What are you doing here?”

“I’m a volunteer here, that’s what. What about you? Looking for a book on good manners?”

Vlad got in Cedric’s face, and Ellie used her arm to wedge herself between them. “Stop, both of you. You’re acting like children.”

You’re?
Cedric was wondering what the hell he did.

Ellie pointed to the door. “I have things to do so please leave.”

Cedric held up a finger. “I—”

“Please,” Ellie said, cutting Cedric off. “Leave.”

Chapter Eighteen

“Not again!” Cedric had just hooked the ball into the Pacific Ocean.

Michael threw him another golf ball. “Try it again and aim for land this time. It’s the part on your right that’s not wet.”

“Very funny.”

Most people would cut him some slack since he was playing on what many would argue was one of the greatest golf courses in the world. Pebble Beach.

“Focus,” said Michael. “No pressure.”

“Right. No pressure …”

The most famous golfers in the world stood and played exactly where Cedric was standing, but the pressure Cedric felt had nothing to do with the difficulty of the game or history of the golf course. The problem was his mind was not on golf at all, and it hadn’t been all morning. He was still thinking about Ellie.
 

“I screwed up,” said Cedric.

“Just hit the ball and we’ll talk about it as we ride.”

“I mean, here I meet one of the most amazing women ever and I do stupid things in her presence.”

“I know. Hit the ball.”

He thought of Ellie’s beautiful smile and the way she smelled, and his shoulders instantly relaxed. He scooted up closer to the ball, took his swing, and smacked it down the middle of the fairway.
 

“There you go!” Michael watched Cedric’s ball roll to a stop. They hopped in the golf cart and drove toward the middle of the fairway.
 
“By the way. Thanks for this.”

Cedric turned to Michael. “Are you serious? The last couple of years haven’t been easy for me, but you and Veronica have always been there. That’s worth a hundred times more than this round of golf.”

Playing at Pebble Beach was not a regular occurrence for Cedric. A round of eighteen holes was priced at a whopping five hundred bucks a person. Cedric had promised Michael six rounds of golf at the local community course for all of the time he’d spent at his office, but he asked Michael if he’d prefer to have one round at Pebble instead. “No brainer,” Michael had answered.

After they finished, Cedric took a deep breath and admired the crashing waves and the two cypress trees next to the last green before they turned and headed to The Bench, an open-air restaurant overlooking the last hole.

As they ate, Cedric looked at his scorecard. “The first hole was a disaster. Two through seven, a little less horrific. It depended on what I was focused on at the time. Whenever I thought of how I was an idiot around Ellie, I either hit the ball into the water or into the rough. So, I made a decision.”

“To pull your head out of your ass?”

Cedric just stared at him for a few seconds and laughed. “Have you ever given that advice to someone during a consultation? Told them to pull their head out of their ass?”

“No.” Michael, took a sip of his beer. “But I’ve thought it, though. More than a few times.”

Cedric smiled. “Anyway, I decided to focus on something positive I could remember with Ellie, instead of the negative. And then I started playing well.”

“What was the positive thing you thought of?”

“Her smile.”

“That’s it?”

“That just shows you how amazing it is.”

“I doubt it’s that powerful.”

“Okay, maybe it’s a combination of her smile and the way she smells.”

The waiter returned to the table with the check and Cedric’s credit card. “Thanks, gentlemen. Enjoy the rest of your …”

The waiter’s words were interrupted by a group of three women practically running him over as they headed out of the restaurant. A man and a couple of teenagers followed the women. Another man ran by, awkwardly trying to remove a camera from his case at the same time.

Cedric signed the transaction slip and asked, “What’s going on?”

The waiter shrugged his shoulders. “Rumor has it that Samuel L. Jackson is golfing on the eighteenth hole right now.

“Seriously?” asked Cedric, looking outside and noticing the growing crowd around the eighteenth hole.

“We get celebrities here all the time. Bill Murray. Michael Jordan. The Iron Chef.”

“Who knew?” said Michael. “Hey, let’s go outside and check it out. Maybe I can get a picture for my office.”

Michael and Cedric headed toward the eighteenth green, where a wall of people was forming. They couldn’t see Samuel, but everyone was talking about them.