Elly In Bloom (21 page)

Elly laughed at her dear friend. “You do.”

The next two hours passed quickly as they sampled a handful of flavors. Kim had regained her positive glow, endlessly amused by Elly’s retelling of the romantic Hermann trip.

“So, he was on fire, and he STILL wanted to get in your pants? What does it take to get him to – you know - calm down?”

Elly laughed. “I don’t KNOW. He was like a lion, ready to pounce. I mean, he seriously prowled towards me. There is no other word for it…he PROWLED.”

Kim licked gelato off her finger. “So, how has it been since then?”

“It’s been…good,” said Elly.

“Why the pause?” Kim arched her eyebrow.

Elly recanted. “Oh, it’s nothing. I think I just need to spend more time with him…and less with his band.”

“His
band
? That sounds awful.” Kim grinned evilly. “Are you an Everest Oppressed groupie now?”

“I feel like it sometimes. I sit there, and I watch him strum his guitar or lean over the piano with a pencil in his teeth. And it was – no, is – very sexy. I still get the chills when he smiles and me, and I feel like the only woman in the world when I am with him, but…”

“You’re bored.”

“YES. I’m SO bored, but only when he’s with his band. Or talking about his band. Or music in general. Which is a lot of the time. But I know that as his girlfriend, I should be interested in what he is interested in. He loves music, the way I love flowers.” She bit her lip and looked past Kim out onto the busy sidewalk. “Just tell me how I can get him to stop taking me to indie clubs with heavily tattooed waitresses.”

Kim snorted. “I don’t know what to tell you. Are you sure he’s your type?”

Elly spooned a rich chocolate cream into her mouth. “For those eyes, I will make him my type.”

Kim winked at her. “He is gorgeous, that much is true.” Suddenly she sat up, a mortified look on her face. “Oh my gosh, Elly, I just farted! We have to leave. Now!”

Back at the shop, Elly prepped for her meeting with Sunny Kepke. She was doing a centerpiece trial, with full table settings. In the center of the studio, Snarky Teenager, Anthony and Elly transformed her consultation table into a white and gold wedding reception table, fit for a sultan. White phalenopsis orchids and pale yellow mimosa launched from a gold candelabra, cascading down and twisting around the bottom of the table. Crystals dangled from each white taper candle, which was covered with gold Indian beading. Each gold charger held delicate white china with a folded champagne linen napkin topped with a cattalya orchid, which had a delicate monogram painted on its creamy leaf. All around the centerpiece, white candles flickered in mirrored votive cups with a gold lace pattern on the top. In between each votive sat a tiny glass vase holding bundles of individual flowers: yellow tea roses, white gardenias, and white calla lilies. Glistening in the center of the room, the table was luminous.

“Wow, this makes the rest of your store look like CRAP!” declared Snarky Teenager.

Elly shushed her. “Okay, take it all in. I hope she likes it.”

“I don’t know how she couldn’t,” Anthony nudged her shyly. “It’s fabulous.”

Elly eyed it up and down. “Yes, yes it is.”

She turned to Snarky Teenager. “Do you want to sit in on this consultation? I want you to start learning the language and how to meet with clients. I know this particular one is abnormal, but it couldn’t hurt for you to listen in. Do you understand me? JUST LISTEN. Sunny is perhaps the most important client that Posies has ever had.”

Snarky Teenager rolled her eyes. Elly shook a finger at her. “Don’t make that face. I genuinely like Sunny. She’s quite nice, very accommodating, and for a wedding of this size, she has been surprisingly easy to work with.”

Anthony handed her a stack of papers. “You still need a lot of specific questions answered. We don’t have the names of anyone, the ceremony start time, the cocktail layout, and we also need to ask about floral allergies.”

Elly felt like she was preparing for a high school test. She took the papers from Anthony and glanced at her watch. “Okay, she’s coming in five minutes. Places, everyone!”

When Sunny Kepke walked into the store, she gasped and put her hand over her heart. Tears shimmered in her bright eyes.

“Oh Eleanor…it’s BEAUTIFUL.” She walked around the table, her proper white gloves gliding over the chargers and orchids. Delicately, she took her seat next to Snarky Teenager, who was chewing gum, Elly noted with annoyance.

“Okay Sunny, tell me your immediate reaction to the layout in general,” Elly prompted.

“I don’t know what to say – it’s perfection! I love the centerpiece, the way the orchids drape, and these little votives are so elegant. Could we maybe have just a little less greenery around the base here? I think we would want a cleaner look.”

Elly nodded enthusiastically. “I was actually thinking that, as well. Also, I could see some white garden roses here, maybe instead of the yellow tea roses, and I’d like to add some curly willow to the top – I think it would give it an enchanted, almost whimsical feeling.”

Sunny clapped her hands gaily. “Oh Elly, that sounds beautiful. This wedding will be the talk of the Clayton elite. All my friends are coming from Paris, and I’ve been telling them about the work you have been doing, they are so excited! And Lucia, she cannot wait to meet you. She’ll be in town in two weeks for our final consultation. What are your thoughts for the bridal bouquet?”

Elly placed several pictures down on the table. “I looked at these for inspiration, and came up with a concept: For the ceremony, I see a ring of lily of the valley tucked into the back of her updo, which will accent her bouquet. I imagine a cluster of white blown garden roses and ranunculus, peonies, rare cattalaya orchids, fringe parrot tulips in pale shades of pink and white, and sweet pea accents with small flowering cherry branches. For the reception, we’ll go with a timeless look: a gardenia in her hair, which will be side swept, and a hand-tied bouquet of cattalaya orchids in a gold tussie. For her departure, a pale pink peony strapped to a chocolate headband.”

“That is going to look SO freaking sweet!” chirped Snarky Teenager.

Elly shushed her with a look. “Sunny, what do you think of this?”

“Well, I would have to look over it with Lucia, but I think that she’ll love it. She’s very artsy, and that sounds right up her alley.”

“Where does your daughter live?” Elly asked. Sunny sipped her tea demurely.

“Where
hasn’t
my daughter lived? She is a world traveler, definitely a free spirit, bohemian girl. She has lived in New York, Europe, L.A, Berlin…I never thought she would settle in the South. We don’t talk as often as I’d like, but I keep up with her travels. I can’t believe she is finally marrying someone.”

Sunny frowned and Elly saw a flash of internal struggle on her green eyes. “Between you and me, I’m so relieved that my youngest, my wild-child has finally found a man to pin her in place. She has given her father and me a run for our money. My ex-husband and I don’t agree on much, but we both agree that she needs a firm hand and large amounts of discipline.” A hint of displeasure flitted across her elegant face. “Truth be told, her fiancé is very aesthetic as well. He doesn’t seem like a good provider. I hope that they’ll be able to take care of each other.”

Anthony brought out a tray of tea and set it on the table. Elly took a sip and winced as it burned her tongue. “Ouch. Hot. Well, I have done many weddings and I know that it will be beautiful, despite any fears you might have about awkward family dynamics.”

“Thank you my dear, that’s very reassuring. You’ve been wonderful to work with.”

Elly clamped the papers together. “Well, I have just a few more questions for you to wrap things up, and then we should be pretty set until I meet with you and Lucia. First, I need the ceremony and reception start times.”

“The ceremony will be in the hotel garden at four-thirty in the afternoon, and the cocktail hour starts at six, with the reception beginning promptly at seven.”

“Great.” Elly made notes on her paper. “Does anyone have any floral allergies?”

“No, I asked my daughter and she couldn’t think of any.”

“Wonderful. Your wedding coordinator?”

“Lizette Kobul.”

Elly clenched her jaw. She hated Lizette with her big beehive hair and fake accent and the way she always managed to sneak in a comment about Elly’s weight. She was demanding, unrealistic and irrepressibly snide. Lizette being in charge was going to make Elly’s job that day all the more difficult. However, she refused to convey these thoughts to Sunny, reminding herself that she must remain professional even though the thought of Lizette hovering over her made her want to scream.

“I’ve worked with Lizette many times. She has a great way of getting everything done.”

Sunny smiled as she patted her mouth with her napkin. “She’s a little scary and very neurotic, but I trust in her to execute.”

Elly cleared her throat. “Next question – in our email correspondence you had said that the monograms should read ASL, correct?”

“That’s correct, my darling.” Elly smiled at being called a darling – it reminded her of her mother. She loved when sweet older ladies doted on her. Who didn’t? She exhaled happily and thought of the warm chicken enchilada casserole waiting for her upstairs, along with a glass of moscato.

Time to wrap this up
, she thought. Besides, Snarky Teenager was acting ridiculous. Eyes on the ceiling, twisting her hair around her finger, she was horrible at hiding her utter boredom. Elly was going to kill her. She stood.

“Thank you so much for coming in, Sunny. I have all my notes and will send you an updated contract tomorrow.”

Sunny pushed her chair out from under her and pulled on her gloves. “Thank you again Elly,” she said warmly. Elly motioned to Snarky Teenager, who ran to the cooler, grabbing a vase of explosive pink heather. She handed it to Sunny.

“This is for you, Sunny, for coming in to work with me today. I appreciate it.”

Sunny purred at the vase. “This is beautiful - perfect for my bedside table. Thank you.”

As she turned to walk out the door, Elly remembered one last thing.

“Sunny! Would you like us to do table numbers for you? They’re the pretty little cards with numbers. I have some extras laying around here, and if you want we can nestle them among the flowers…”

Sunny snapped her fingers. “I knew I forgot something! No dear, actually, my daughter’s fiancée is an artist, and we will be using his small prints for the table numbers. I brought one to show you.”

Elly reached out her hand and took the small card. Before she even saw it fully, she knew it was his. The bright splashes of color, the texture, the women woven in between the flowers. This particular work of his was called “Evening Ghosts,” for the grey shades that surrounded the petals. The whole painting looked like it was dripping water. Long smears cascaded down the canvas, pooling a swirl of colors at the bottom of the print. She heard muted voices around her, and felt Sunny’s hand grip her shoulder. Everything swayed in front of her, and Elly felt her knees melting. Her vision tunneled and she thought a single word: Aaron. Her head hit the ground first, but not before she felt her heart break all over again.

CHAPTER

FIFTEEN

–
Two Years Ago

It had been an ordinary Wednesday morning in Peachtree, Georgia. At 6:15, Elly’s alarm went off, blaring loudly. She groaned and buried herself deeper in the covers. Soon she felt Aaron’s warm fingers close on her soft hip and his breath on her ear.

“Honey, you need to get up. Turn off the alarm,” he murmured.

Elly flung her arm out of the covers and found the snooze button. She wiggled her body around so that she was facing him.

“I don’t want to go work. Let’s stay in bed all day.”

Aaron kissed her. “I would like that. Of course, we would probably be homeless. But, as long as we had a mattress in our cardboard box, and maybe some granola bars we would be okay.”

Elly ran her fingers through his thick dirty blond hair. “I could live on sex and granola bars, but I’m not sure you could live without your painting supplies,” she pointed out.

Aaron sighed. “True. But then you would get to stay in bed longer this morning. Maybe long enough…” He flipped her over and Elly screamed with laughter.