Elly in Love (The Elly Series) (6 page)

Elly cut her off. “Another store? Are you kidding me? Do you think I could afford another store? I haven’t paid off this store yet. Also, I don’t have time to run Posies and a new venue. We can barely keep up with the demand here, ever since the article in
Pleats
!”
Pleats
was
the
magazine for Clayton’s elite. Elly had been featured in a two-page article that chronicled her rise in the St. Louis wedding business, along with pictures of her flower arrangements. There had also been a gratuitous photo of her bending over the cooler in which her bottom appeared as some sort of barge. That’s why she had only read the article once. She had spotted the picture at Keith’s deli, hanging in his office. She wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

Snarky Teenager circled her foot on the carpet. “Elly, I know you are superbusy and very in demand right now. So, I thought maybe … I could run it.”

There was a moment of silence when the elevator music in the store seemed to raise a few decibels. Elly stared at Snarky Teenager, bewildered. Her mouth opened and shut
. She felt like a fish
. “You—
you
would run it?”

Snarky Teenager shrugged. “Yeah.”

Elly gave a tiny laugh. “You’re a senior in high school. How would you possibly run a shop?” Snarky Teenager jumped up from the table and sat down very close to Elly, leaning forward on the desk excitedly. Elly leaned back as she leaned forward. Elly suddenly understood that she had been ambushed. This was not a random conversation.

“I’ve got it all figured out. I can change my schedule to take all morning classes, and besides, most of classes this year are, like, pottery and women’s studies, which is, like, who cares about sad housewives with rocks in their pockets?”

Elly winced.

“So, I could be done by noon to spend the rest of the day at the shop, and we could hire someone to run the place in the morning. We could cut off deliveries at four, so that I could make it home in time to finish my homework.”

“You don’t do homework,” Elly pointed out.

“True. So, even better for the store.”

Elly blew out her breath slowly. “Look, I think it’s a good idea, I do, I just don’t know how we would pay for it. I am totally overwhelmed with this store and these weddings already. I can’t imagine running another.”

Snarky Teenager was starting to look angry.
Oh boy, she was sort of terrifying
.

“Look, I appreciate you and all that you have done for me this year with my ex and Lucia and that whole mess, but you are so young, and I don’t think you could run a store alone. Don’t you want to do something easier?”

Snarky Teenager’s fierce eyes filled with tears. “Easier? Do you not think I’m smart enough to do this?”

Elly rose out of her chair to comfort her, but she jerked away, jutting out her chin—a snarky-teenage movement if Elly had ever seen one.

“You are just like my
stupid
parents! You have no faith in me, but I can do things! I could run the shop—I practically run
this
shop while you’re out cavorting with your Italian man candy!”

Elly raised an eyebrow. That was definitely not true and definitely the first time anyone had ever called Keith “man candy.”

The hysterical tirade continued. “By now, I’m almost as good as a designer as you. I can take orders, design a bridal bouquet, run consultations….”
This was quickly getting out of control.

Elly stood up. “Yes. I know you can do all those things, and I’m so proud of you for that. But can you deal with a hysterical bride? Can you take an order with one hand while stripping a stem with the other? Can you deal with the hordes of advertisers that regularly descend on the shops or the bridal magazine harpies that push you into a corner? Can you handle a last-minute wedding change? More importantly, how about balancing a budget which fluctuates wildly with each season? You are right—you are fantastic at all the fun stuff that comes with this store. But are you ready to deal with the administration of it? With the times that make you want to cry? The times that don’t have anything to do with ‘
pretty’
?”

Snarky Teenager’s lower lip trembled. “No, but I could
learn
those things. I’m a fast learner.”

Elly sat back and hardened her tone. “You are not ready to run a shop. I’m sorry. And I don’t appreciate being ambushed like this. There are easier ways to talk to me about something without ripping down my display.”

“Which was
ugly
!” Snarky Teenager snapped.

Elly took a deep breath and focused on not strangling her employee. “Besides that, I don’t even think it’s a possibility financially.”

“Not even with the money you made from Aaron and Lucia’s wedding? I know how much you got paid. We all know. You told everybody.”

“Yes, and a lot of that went to paying off my condo and updating this shop.”

Snarky Teenager shot up, sending the chair flying behind her, and grabbed her tiny pink jacket. “Yeah, and it was totally worth it seeing how it
still looks like an old-lady shop
!” She wrenched the door open. “Everything about this store says middle age, including
you
. Oh, and
by the way, you might have figured out that I’m not working today!
” With that, she stormed out the door, which slammed loudly behind her, the bells sending out a harsh clank.

“Yeah, well, … old lady,” Elly muttered to the suddenly-empty store. She looked around, taking in the perfect quietness. A bright morning light flickered over the pale-yellow walls.
Ugly pale-yellow walls?
Suddenly, she was unsure of everything. “Shoot,” she whispered. She hadn’t meant to upset her assistant that much.
It wasn’t her fault that her coworker had insane teenager emotions. How was she to know that this was something her worker had been dreaming about for a long time? Another store….

Elly let her thoughts linger on the idea. Could they do it? Was that even feasible? She sat down at her desk and leaned her head against the white wood, cool against her forehead. Elly decided she would stay there all day. The door banged open again. Elly kept her head down on the desk. “You can’t storm away angry like a psycho and then come right back. We have to be apart for at least a day before you can beg my forgiveness and plead your case to still have a job. Also, that was also not the best demonstration of your professionalism.” Elly heard an awkward shuffling of feet. She raised her head, a bright-yellow piece of Post-it stuck to her forehead. “Oh, sorry.”

The kid standing before her was growing increasingly nervous as she untangled the Post-it from her bangs. “Sorry about that. I just had an argument with a very talented but unruly teenage worker. We’re not officially open yet, but can I help you?”

As she stood, he raised his head and stared at her. His pimply face was a hardened mask, but his bright-blue eyes took in every inch of her. They bore into her, without flinching, full of judgment and curiosity. She was suddenly unsure of what to do with herself. No one had ever looked at her with so much intensity, not even the men she had loved. Elly felt unreasonably nervous as she walked toward him, taking in his appearance and trying to decipher what this imposing but awkward kid could possibly want in her store. A dirty blond shag hung just over his eyes and a chubby chin jutted forward through his greasy mane of hair.

His mouth barely moved. “Flowers. Uh, I guess.” This was all he said, and then he went back to staring at her. The beginnings of a beer belly protruded out in front of him, barely covered by a filthy black T-shirt that featured a smiley face with a bullet hole in the temple. The pale skin of his knees poked through worn-out jeans, and Elly caught a whiff of something that smelled alarmingly like Cheez Whiz. His grungy hands clung tightly to a neon-orange backpack. He looked like he hadn’t had a shower in weeks.
Why is he staring at me like that?
She thought.
It’s like he wants to murder me.

She smiled kindly at him, hoping to prompt a reassuring reply of some sort. “So, you said you are here for some flowers?”

“Uh, yeah. Flowers would be good.”

“Do you know what kind of flowers you have in mind? We have some fresh mint that just came in that smells absolutely resplendent paired with some pinky-orange anemone….” Elly could tell that he wasn’t listening to her. His eyes stayed glued to her face.

“Whatever. Whatever you think. I have ten bucks.”

Fine. Just get out of my store
, Elly thought,
you are really freaking me out.
Her stomach churned, but she kept a professional smile on her face. Something was wrong with this kid. “Are these for a girlfriend? Do you know what color she likes?”

He shook his head. “No girlfriend.”
Is he buying flowers for himself?

“Would you like me to pick something out for you?”

“Yeah. Whatever.” He gave a loud, awkward laugh that ended in a snort.

Elly looked up, alarmed.

He wiped his nose with his sleeve. “Sorry. Yeah, that’s fine.”

She walked over to the cooler and began grabbing a mellow mix of green bells of Ireland, cream gerbera daisies, and chocolate-brown artichokes. Since she didn’t know whom the flowers were for, it was safest to stay neutral. A chill crept up her spine, and she knew without a doubt that she was still being watched. She raised her head out of the cooler and caught the teenager staring at her. “Can I help you with something else?” she asked nervously.

His gaze never faltered as she stared back at him. His jaw clenched and he shook his head. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. There was something alarmingly familiar about him, what was it?
Am I about to get robbed? Or worse?
Elly willed herself to stand up and look at him. She was terrified, but she couldn’t look away. When she faced him, the kid thankfully dropped his eyes down to the floor again. Elly quickly wrapped the flowers with brown paper and twine before laying them down on the consultation table. “Here you go, that will be….”

The boy threw a ten down on the table and walked swiftly out the door, the bells clanking loudly behind him. Elly was left standing alone in the middle of the store, her hand hovering above the cash register. “Um, okay then.” Feeling unnerved, she deposited the bill before she saw the flowers lying on the table. The boy had forgotten his flowers—and she certainly didn’t want him coming back for them later. Grabbing the bunch, she ran out the door. He was nowhere to be seen. Jogging, she made it about halfway up the long block before her legs cried out in pain.
Chubby girls were not meant to run.
The kid had disappeared into thin air.

Forget it. Elly was not moving any farther. Flowers in hand, she sank down onto a cement ledge in front of Ada’s coffee house. She needed water. On second thought, hot chocolate didn’t sound so bad right about now. “Shoot.” She threw the flowers down in frustration.

A shadow covered the sidewalk in front of her. “May I ask why you appear to be throwing perfectly good flowers on the ground? Have you had it with your ridiculous boyfriend?” Keith sat down beside her, resting his hand lightly on her knee. “I saw you run by my shop window looking crazy.”

Oh Lord. He’s seen me run.
Elly had a humiliating vision of her chest bouncing every direction as she ran up the street, and not in a good way.

He gave a deep laugh. “I’ve never seen you run before. I’m not going to lie—it’s pretty great.”

Elly felt embarrassment stirring deep in her chest. “As you may have noticed, my days in cross-country have long passed.”

Keith ran the back of his finger lightly down her cheek. “Elly. Don’t be so hard on yourself. You were never in cross-country.”

She leaned against his solid shoulder and inhaled. He smelled like pepperoni and garlic today. Heavenly. “Why were you running?”

Her mouth twisted into a frown. “It was the weirdest thing. This kid—well, he was like eighteen, not really a kid—came into the store and just acted
so
bizarre. He didn’t seem like he wanted flowers—I’m not sure he knew what he was doing there—and he kept staring at me. I mean, really staring. Wouldn’t stop.” She shivered. “He gave me the creeps. There was something oddly familiar about him. When I gave him the flowers, he left them on the table, threw down a ten, and ran out the door. I tried to chase him, but he must have been faster than me. I wanted to make sure he didn’t have a reason to come back.”

Keith grinned, trying to make her feel better. “Well, it wouldn’t be hard to be faster than you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Will you stop?” Keith acquiesced. “Honestly,” Elly whispered, “it was kind of unnerving.”

Concern crossed Keith’s face and his tone immediately went from playful to protective. “Do you really think he was dangerous?”

Elly remembered the intense stare he had given her as she bent over the cooler. The way his icy-blue gaze had furrowed into the side of her face. “I don’t get the feeling that he wanted to harm me. But he seemed very …,” she searched for the right word, “curious. And careful.” She pushed her curly hair back from her face. “He was probably just some kid on drugs. I heard there is a growing drug problem in Clayton.”

Keith and Elly both looked up the street, where two socialite women walked arm in arm, their handbags held loftily as their tiny Yorkies peed on a fire hydrant. They both burst out laughing. “Yes, this seems like a place with a drug problem.”

“Probably a prescription-drug problem.” Keith shook his head.

“Or a Botox problem.”

“They’ve got a lot of problems around here.” Keith pulled Elly toward him, wrapping his meaty arms around her waist. He spoke into the top of her hair. “I’ll keep an eye out. I would never let anything happen to you, not ever.”

Elly’s heart seemed to dissolve in her chest, fizzing up to her brain. She was a little dizzy.
Every woman loves a hero
, she thought.

“What do you want to do this weekend?” he asked.

Elly looked up at him. “We could go to your place if you want to. I’d love some truly homemade cooking. And to see where you live.”

Keith pulled his head back from her and stared awkwardly at the sky. “Nah, it’s so messy there. I need fair warning before you come over. Plus, I want to see Cadbury.”