Elly In Bloom (28 page)

Keith nodded, listening intensely.

“Okay, so this might sound overly dramatic, but you know what it feels like?” She took a deep breath. “When I was about 10, my mother took me to the North Carolina shore. It was one of the few times that we went on vacation because we couldn’t afford much. Anyway, she swam out past the wave breaks and was just bobbing around in this warm, perfect green sea. I tried to run out there after her, but I got knocked back by the huge waves. And once I lost my footing, there was no stopping it. I got tossed around and dragged under. It was like being in a washing machine. My legs and hands got all cut up from the rocks. No matter how many times I stood up and tried to get to my mother, I panicked and got swept under again. It felt like drowning in shallow water. Finally, my mother came over and grabbed my arm and just held onto me as we walked through it together. I realized it had only been a few seconds since I got pulled under. And walking out was so easy once I was with her.”

Keith’s eyes were filled with empathy. It made Elly want to cry even more.

“And now, I feel like I’m just trying to get past these waves, but there is no one that can help me. Isaac certainly can’t – he has his own issues. I see that it’s calm and perfect on the other side of them, but I just can’t seem to get my feet underneath me.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and stared at the ground. “I need someone to pull me out.”

Keith rose and settled next to her, his face inches from hers. He took her hand. Elly was unsure how to react and froze on the spot, mesmerized by the sparkling azure blue of his eyes.

“Elly. Excuse my frankness, but that’s where you’re wrong. You don’t need anyone to pull you out. You can pull yourself out. I’m constantly impressed by your determination and attitude. You took that empty building and made an incredibly successful business. It seems there is nothing you can’t do. Don’t you have any faith in yourself?”

Elly pulled backwards, letting Keith’s hand drop. “I have faith, but I certainly can’t do their wedding, no matter how profitable it may be.” She groaned. “It was enough to pay off the remainder of what I owe on my apartment.”

“Wow,” Keith whistled. “It must have been a big wedding.”

“Huge. The biggest we’ve ever booked. It was $45,000.”

Keith’s mouth dropped open and a huge clump of turkey fell out as he strangled his sandwich. “Forty five thousand dollars for a wedding? Who would spend that much for just one day?” Elly couldn’t help but laugh at his shock. “Not $45,000 for the
wedding
…$45,000 for the
flowers
.”

Keith looked like he had never heard something so ridiculous. “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?”

Elly blushed. “Yes, it’s a lot but…”

Keith suddenly took on a businesslike tone. “How much would you make from it?”

Elly stammered, “Quite a bit, but it’s out of the question…”

“Why?”

“Why what?” Elly voiced, annoyed. “Why won’t I do my ex-husband’s wedding? Maybe because I haven’t seen him since the night I found another woman straddling him in our bed? Maybe because I don’t want him to see me, looking just as chubby as I looked the morning I left him? Maybe because if I see HER in a wedding dress I will get hysterical, kind of like I am right now?”

Keith frowned at her. “Maybe it’s because you don’t want him to see how just how wonderful you are doing without him.”

Elly stopped. “Keith, I can’t do this.”

“Elly, I hope this doesn’t offend you, but that is ridiculous. I understand you not wanting to see him, but I’m almost positive that you could arrange for that not to happen. You are looking at this completely backwards. This isn’t a chance for him to see what he did to you. This is a chance to show him that what you are without him, and that is an intelligent and wonderful businesswoman.”

Elly shook her head. “No, it won’t be like that, you don’t understand what he does to me…”

“So don’t see him. But take the wedding. Make the money. Pay off your apartment and claim that as your prize. They’re getting married, and that sucks. But Elly, you can gain from this travesty, and you SHOULD. Haven’t you earned that much?”

Elly leaned back against the bench, agitated but thoughtful. “I never considered actually doing the wedding. Wouldn’t that be saying that it was okay? That I was lying down and taking it?”

Keith stood up and started pacing. “No, it wouldn’t. It would be saying that you are doing fine without them. It would be saying that you have overcome your past. Elly, you drastically underestimate your own strength.”

She was touched by Keith’s fierce belief in her. “Thank you Keith. That means a lot to me.”

Keith growled at her. “I’m not trying to make you feel good. I’m trying to talk some sense into you.”

Elly paused, a witty retort sharp on her tongue. It started to fade when she realized that Keith was making sense. It killed her to do it, but why shouldn’t she profit from Aaron’s infidelity in some little way? He might be a bastard, but she was a professional. And she was good at her job. She was the best florist in Clayton, for crying out loud. Maybe even in all of St. Louis. She could design circles around those other stuffy designers, all puffed up with perfume and flower dye. But still, there was no possible way.

“Keith, I…I just can’t. I don’t have it in me.”

Keith was circling around Elly, making her quite dizzy. “Have you thought about the repercussions for NOT taking this wedding?”

Elly’s combative mood faltered. She hadn’t considered the consequences. All she had to do was picture Lucia in a wedding dress, and she was thrown into a flurry of illogical emotion. Yes, there would be consequences. Sunny was a very prominent member of the St. Louis social hierarchy, with connections to many socialite charities and hospital boards. Elly imagined that once she abruptly dropped her daughter’s wedding, Sunny would speak ill of her to all her friends and acquaintances. Elly might lose some business, but wasn’t it worth it?
Wasn’t it?

Sensing Elly’s inner conflict, Keith sat down beside her on the bench. He hesitantly put his hand on her shoulder. “Elly. Tell me this, how much more of your life are you going to let him control?”

It was the right question. For the next two hours, in the secret park, Keith and Elly discussed every possibility until her hands were damp and stiff, her skin swelling with moisture. She cried, she ranted and Keith took it all in. The sun dipped behind the horizon, and the weather went from pleasantly chilly to a damp cold. They walked back in silence, Keith holding Cadbury’s leash and Elly staring off into the distance, deep in thought, her hands shoved into her green sweater pockets. They arrived in front of Elly’s shop.

“Would you like to come up for apple pie?”

Keith declined politely. “No, it seems like you need to time to evaluate things. You know, consider it, think it through…maybe eat some cheese...”

Elly nodded, taking Cadbury’s leash from him. “Keith, I don’t know how to thank you. You are possibly the best listener I’ve ever met.”

Keith waved his hand at her, obviously embarrassed. “Don’t worry about it. Give what I said some thought.”

“I will. I promise. Goodnight.”

Keith looked into her eyes. “Goodnight Eleanor.”

Elly felt a small thrill rush through her body. Aside from Sunny, only her mother called her Eleanor. Hearing it warmed her heart and brought tears to her eyes.

After putting Cadbury into her bed, Elly sat in the dark, staring out at the street below. Her answering machine showed that Isaac had called three times, but she didn’t have the energy to talk to him. Instead, she sipped mulled apple cider with rum and stared out the window. Even though she knew she should be thinking only about Aaron and the wedding, she wasn’t. She was thinking of her mother. She was up at one in the morning when the first raindrop fell, the thunder rattling her windows, and at four am when the downpour ceased. At six am, exhausted, she climbed into her bed, said a quick prayer, and dialed Anthony’s voicemail.

“We need to have an emergency meeting tomorrow morning,” Elly paused, rubbing her bloodshot eyes. “No, scratch that, tomorrow afternoon. Bring Snarky Teenager with you.” She paused. “We’re doing the wedding.”

CHAPTER

TWENTY

Elly looked into the mirror above her small fireplace. Her blond curls were pinned up against her head, and her tortoiseshell glasses reflected the light. She hooked small snowflake earrings into her ears and dashed on some tinted lip-gloss. Her dark jeans hung loosely around her hips, and her pale pink button down shirt clung tightly to her bra.

“I can do this,” she breathed. She headed down the stairs with Cadbury in tow, wrapping a bright red pea coat around her body before heading outside and walking briskly to Ada’s Coffee. She ordered a tall hot chocolate with all the extras: whipped cream, chocolate curls, and something heavenly called toffee crunch.

Thinking to the groveling to come, she also ordered drinks for each of the staff, and some cranberry zucchini bread. Elly sipped her drink slowly as she walked back, feeling with each step that she should mentally arm herself for what lay ahead. She stood outside her shop and looked in the window. Sitting at her now glass-less table were Kim, Snarky Teenager and Anthony. They were all talking animatedly, with Kim waving her hands around like a maniac. Elly smiled. She truly loved these people, she really did. And she hoped they would love her after this. Cadbury, seeing Kim’s Lexus parked at the curb, started barking excitedly, causing all three to look up to the window.

“Here we go,” mumbled Elly, and stepped inside. Cadbury ran to Kim and collapsed at her feet. He was a total fool for her. It was something she understood well.

Elly stood in front of the group, trying to keep her voice calm and under control. “As you all know, I have decided that we are going to do Aaron’s wedding. I hope that you will respect my decision and understand my reasoning. Now, if that’s all…”

“ELLY. YOU CANNOT DO THIS!” interrupted Kim. “This is WRONG. You cannot handle this wedding! Aaron cheated on you and wrecked your life and you cannot REWARD him by doing this.”

Snarky Teenager piped in. “Are you a masochist or something? Is this you punishing yourself for leaving him? You are dating that hot guy next door now, you don’t need to care about
anything
that has to do with Aaron.”

Kim went on, livid. “Elly, listen to me. You have spent the past three days sobbing about this dirt bag! And it’s justified! But taking this wedding will just prolong your pain,
and
it will give Lucia a chance to gloat in your face! Elly, I love you and I think you are a very strong person, but you will not handle this well. I know that much.”

Snarky Teenager flung her arms into the air. “Not to mention that you will be making the bouquet OF THE WOMAN HE LEFT YOU FOR!” She paused, her eyes lighting up with mischief. “We should set it ON FIRE!”

While the two of them continued ranting, Anthony stayed silent, his eyes lingering on Elly. He finally raised his hand, and Kim and Snarky Teenager fell silent. “Elly, why don’t you tell us why you want to take this wedding.”

She paced in front of them. “It’s hard to explain” she started, wearily. “I stayed up all night thinking it through. I know this is the right decision. I…” Elly steeled her nerves. “I can’t let Aaron ruin MY life. He
destroyed
me. So much that I created a whole new life for myself rather than face what he did. I’ve spent the past few years pushing him out of my mind, the very place that I should have control over.” She paused, catching her breath. “Let’s be honest - I need to move on. If I don’t do the wedding, it will always be there, the fact that Aaron could take one more thing away from me.”

She shakily raised her Ada’s Coffee bag. “Also, I bought you zucchini bread, so you have to do this, okay?”

Utter skepticism was still displayed on their faces. Elly bit her lip out of frustration. Kim rose out of her seat and put her arm around her shoulder. “Elly, we love you. We’re just having a hard time understanding.”

Elly took a deep, purging breath.

“You might not realize this, but
not
doing this wedding will have repercussions. Sunny is a very well connected woman. We don’t want all of St. Louis society and every hotel owner from here to St. Charles thinking that we cannot handle a large wedding. They won’t know the details of why we pulled out at the last minute; they will just know that we acted unprofessionally.”
High point
, she thought. They looked half-convinced. “And, I know that this is silly, but I really, really like Sunny. She is a sweet woman, and I wouldn’t be able to tell her why I would suddenly decline the wedding. It’s too late. She would never find another florist who could give her what she wants with this short notice.”