A Valentine's Vow Part 1

Finally, silence.

The Valentine 's Day event that The Belle had was finally over. All of their guests were happy with what the staff had prepared for them. We had created something whimsical, romantic and at the same time, it renewed the love each couple have for each other.

For someone like me who had never celebrated the event, this was a success. This was also the first time they had a Valentine event at the inn. For the past years, we had only offered a couple of dinners and a honeymoon package.

This time, Thor came up with something a bit more elaborate that we usually have.

Each couple had their own romantic tent on the property grounds. It was a good thing that there were a few couples that were checked in for this month. Each tent had a basket of charcuterie box.

Inside was from the shops that can be found at Strathpeffer. From the meat shop that was known for the traditional way of curing meat, to the homemade honey from the bee shop at the end of the town. Of course, from Riley's shoe, a decadent cake that was good for two people. The kind of cake each couple would have would depend on the couple themselves.

They have given The Belle a summary of their medical history. So putting together a box of goodies that would fit their needs was easy.

But all the credits of this endeavor belonged to my kids.

Claude and Nicole, bless their innocent minds. They had never seen me be on a date each Feb 14th, and it looked like Thor asked. The guests had a tent, a candle light dinner, and a romantic stroll at Jane's Greenhouse. The things that my kids liked to do were when we have a 'date night' was the idea behind the Valentine Celebration.

Now, I need to figure out what to do for my son's birthday tomorrow. Yes. Claude was born the day after Valentine's Day. He was delivered via C-Section. If I was not having my contraction a minute apart, he would have been born around the third week of February.

Fifteen years old.

My firstborn was going to be fifteen years old. Time does fly, I mused. I could still remember the first time we set foot in Scotland. My kids were terrified. I have uprooted them from the home all of us grew up in. All of us knew no one other than Jane. I was on the verge of going back.

Yet I didn't.

I loved how the people that were working at The Belle warmly greeted us. How they welcomed my kids like they had always been part of the family. In a span of one month, Claude and Nicole were running on The Belle's ground like it had always been their home.

From the chains of events that had been happening, regardless if it was good or bad, relocating at Scotland was the right decision.

I turned off the computer in the office. The only source of light inside was a lamp that Claude had picked when they were at a flea market two years ago. I groaned inwardly, I really needed to edit this book. My publisher needed, "Marked by Love," two days ago. To think that I had finished re reading and making sure that there were no typos on the book that I gave him four months ago. I sigh, I still have enough time. As long as my mind likes what I have written so far, editing was a breeze. If not, RIP.

As I got near the closed door, I noticed that there was a piece of paper was stuck underneath the door. I laughed when I read what and who had given me the letter. Nicole, it seemed, was in her leaving her letters yet again.

"Be my Valentine?"

She loved leaving little notes for me. It was like a game that we usually play together. With valentines however, she tends to be a bit different. Last year, I found a similar note. When I got home, there was a home cooked dinner that my head chef had prepared. Next was a date night that involved popcorn and the latest Disney movie my kids haven't watched.

It was the kind of Valentine date a single mom like me who look forward to. But when I opened the door, another note was posted on the door itself. What baffled me was it was not hand written, but it was typed written.

"Follow the flowers."

"Flowers? What flowers?" when I looked down, there were flowers petals on the floor. No, they were not really petals, but the buds of Angel's breath and some daffodils. These were not the variety of flowers someone would use for luring a potential valentine date. Then again, I was never normal.

The PA system I have installed suddenly blared to life. Nobuo Uemastu's Flowers Blooming in the Church filled the whole place. I felt goose bumps ran along my body. The music being played on the PA system was my favorite game music. I am a thirty-eight year old woman who still loved playing video games when I have enough free time.

Which was rarer than the blue moon. Still I do find time to play video games.

Looking at the trail of flowers someone had actually took effort to doing, something inside me slowly broke. A watery smile appeared on my lips as I slowly followed the trail. My office was located in the West Wing of The Belle. From the looks of bit, this was not a simple case of following the flowers. Because the next thing that I saw was another note. It read:

"Keep going," and "Pick me."

The "Pick me!" note made me smile. It was a basket of things that I liked. A cake of glow in the dark yarn that I wanted to buy, but was always out of stock, next was a bar of 85% dark chocolate, then a box of chocolate pralines.

I laughed when I looked at the bottom of the box. There was another note, telling me, "Give the kids the ones with the nuts." There was only one person who would do such an effort to make me smile.

Jane.

"Jane, what are you doing now?" I asked. My voice carried over the empty wall of The Belle. Jane was the only person she knew that was capable of pulling this together.

Or…