Elly in Love (The Elly Series)

by Colleen Oakes

  Elly rolled her eyes. Holy hideous. “Wow, that sounds really inspired,” Elly lied. “We’re pretty busy this week, but we can definitely come up with something incredible. What is her budget?”

  Elly heard a hard laugh, a sound like screeching fingernails. “Are you kidding me? This is….” Then there was a silence and Elly heard the shuffling of papers. “Never mind. We can’t reveal the celebrity until she has officially chosen you as her vendor. Let’s just say that there are some interesting taste levels at work here.” Gemma cleared her throat. “Okay, Elly, well, I will be there on Tuesday around three p.m. for the interview. Please dress appropriately.”

  What is that, thought Elly. A track suit? A dress? Work clothing? “Thank you SO much for your time,” Elly said.

  “Uh-huh,” tartly replied Gemma, and Elly heard a soft click.

  She dropped the receiver onto the desk and turned to Anthony and let out a loud scream. “Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh!” She grabbed his hands, crushing the snapdragon stems. “That was BlissBride and they might want us to be on their show!”

  Anthony let out a squeal. “Whose wedding is it?”

  “I don’t know!” screamed Elly, and suddenly they were jumping up and down. Elly stopped. “You have really soft hands! What kind of lotion do you use?”

  “Apricot!” he yelled back. They jumped and screeched some more. Anthony threw his arms around Elly. “We can do this, right?”

  “Heck, yes, of course we can! We are awesome! I wonder who it is.”

  Anthony stepped back. “I hope it’s Lisel Jones. She’s all kinds of crazy. Oh my gawd, I love when she throws chairs at people.”

  Elly nodded. “I hope we get a soap star. They are so glamorous.” Elly sighed happily. “Or maybe we’ll get a sports star! The Olympics are on soon! Did you know that it was always my dream to be in the Olympics? A figure skater.”

  Anthony gave her a sad look. “Darling, I don’t see that being in the cards for you. I think that ship has sailed.”

  Elly danced in a small circle. “I can’t believe this is happening! That BlissBride chose our little store! That Posies might be on TV!”

  Anthony sat down at the consultation table. “Honestly, I’m not surprised; your designs have no competition in this city and you have such a good way with your brides. It’s a no-brainer in my opinion. What was she like, the lady on the phone?”

  “She had the weirdest name … it was like Jima or something, and she was kind of, I don’t know, mean and British.”

  “You poor thing. Want me to treat you to an apple indso from Ada’s?”

  Elly turned her head. “Hold on—I mean yes, but—what is that noise?” There was a tiny voice echoing through the store. Elly could hear random sharp beeps. “What is that? Is that an alarm somewhere?” She paused. “Oh, no.” She picked up the phone, which was halfway off the receiver. Fearing the worst, she tentatively lifted it to her ear. “Hello?”

  “Yes, hello, dear. You didn’t quite hang up the phone,” said Gemma Reynolds.

  Elly felt her throat close up. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “Did you hear everything?”

  “How could I not listen to such stimulating conversation? Of course I heard,” replied Gemma. “It’s not Lisel Jones. But that’s not a bad guess. And you spell my name G-E-M-M-A. It’s really not that hard to say.” She paused. “Good luck on Tuesday.” And then she hung up the phone.

  Anthony and Elly sat in silence. “Are they still coming?” he asked.

  She gave a silent nod and buried her head in her hands.

  He cleared his throat. “Do you need a hug?”

  Later that evening, circling her glass of sangria under the stars, Elly found herself going over that hideous moment on the phone again. And again. She had invited Kim over, and now they were sitting together at a small Mexican restaurant in downtown Kirkwood. Large hanging lightbulbs buzzed in the warm night as they laughed and talked. Kim languidly leaned back against her chair, her long hands spread on the cranberry tablecloth, her toffee-colored hair falling over her shoulders in a long braid. “This is too much. It has been way too long since I’ve had a night out. Thanks for getting me out of the house. Hadley is teething, and while I love my little boy, I need a break. Sean’s on call, so if I have to run suddenly, I’m sorry in advance.”

  Elly shook her head. “Ah, the life of a urologist’s wife, so terrible.”

  “Hey! It’s been intense lately. The hospital is expanding so Sean’s stressed, Hadley’s teeth are coming in, and some days I am so enraptured with love for this baby that I cry, and then other days I am so lonely and I just want to kill everyone, so yeah—good times at the Creeden house.”

  Elly smiled. “I think that sounds pretty normal for a new mom. I’ll take Hadley off your hands sometime soon. We can go to the zoo. Would that help?” Elly patted Kim’s hand. “You are a great mom. I know you don’t think so, but you are, absolutely. I’m so glad you came tonight. Who else am I going to talk to about BlissBride? Keith?” The thought of Keith talking in depth about divas and garters and diamond-encrusted wedding cakes made Elly laugh. Kim’s sea-glass eyes glittered in the rosy dusk light. “Really, Elly?”

  Elly gave a sigh. “Okay, I did tell him. But you are much more fun to talk to about this.”

  “I still can’t believe they called you! This is huge!”

  “Kim, I could not have been taken more off-guard. Seriously. You’ve seen the show—they usually do weddings in only New York or LA—I don’t think I’ve ever seen a show set in any other city!”

  “That’s where most of them live. The movie stars live in LA, and the music and Broadway stars live in New York.”

  Elly twisted her hair around her pinky. “Why would anyone choose to live in LA?”

  Kim shrugged. “I like California, I love visiting there. Sean had an interview there recently. I could see myself living there, growing heirloom tomatoes, and playing in the sand with Hadley.”

  “You could see yourself living there because you look great in bikinis and surfer shorts,” laughed Elly. “Hefty girls do not belong in areas with beaches. Besides, I visited LA once with Aaron and I absolutely hated it. It was like a concrete jungle. Also, In-N-Out Burger? Totally overrated.”

  Kim gave her a gentle smile, the kind of sad smile that said, I’ve never eaten a burger in my life. “So, are you nervous?”

  Elly shrugged. “Yes, but I also know they probably won’t pick us, especially after the phone incident with Gemma. Anthony and I were really excited at first, but now I’m leaning more to the practical side. Posies is a lot smaller than the other floral shops in our area. We don’t have the size or status of Clayton Florist, or Babylon, or Sisters. They have more money and a bigger staff, and are probably going to throw their elite social status at the interviewer.”

  Kim made a face. “Ugh, you are so negative. Maybe they will pick you because you’re smaller. Perhaps this celebrity is looking for a more intimate experience, with vendors who will really care about them.”

  Elly loudly crunched a tortilla chip and pointed at Kim. “You know, I’ve been thinking about that. Here’s the thing: I think that once you’re famous, everyone treats you like you’re special. This woman has probably never had anything but the utmost stellar service from every single person who has ever helped her. I mean, look how far we went for Sunny Kepke, just because she had a ton of money to burn! It’s not wrong, it’s just the way things are.”

  Kim nodded. “She was also the mother of your husband’s mistress, so in many ways you treated her way better than she deserved. But maybe your secret celebrity doesn’t want that. Maybe she just wants someone honest who will give her gorgeous flowers.”

  “No way. I’m sure rose petals fall at this woman’s feet wherever she walks. And we have to top that. Somehow. Arghhh!!!”

  “What?”

  “Nothing. I just dropped a chip down my bra and now it is stabbing me. Ugh, I hate chip bra!”

  Kim laughed. “Tha
t happens to you every time we come here.” Elly’s best friend looked stunning, as always in a striped nautical dress, her wrists dangling with a million gold bracelets. Elly had been feeling daring, and so she was wearing khaki pants and sandals with a teal and black tank top, topped with a long gold necklace. Her arms felt naked and exposed, but at least she was dressing a hair out of her comfort zone. I wore earrings today. That’s a big thing for me.

  Suddenly, Elly sat up straight in her chair, alarmed at her own genius. “Kim … what if we actually did that?”

  Kim had a quesadilla halfway into her mouth. “Um, did, uh—what?”

  “Oh my gosh, I’m amazing! What if we laid rose petals down at her feet? For the interview!”

  Kim nodded excitedly and kept chewing. “I see the cogs in your head turning. Tell me more.”

  Elly continued, her grin stretching wide. “What if we laid out rose petals, enough to cover the floor of the studio? I mean, how beautiful would that look on camera? As soon as the viewers saw that, the choice would be obvious!” Elly leapt out of her chair and started circling the table. “This is it! The idea to win this thing! Her colors are hot pink and navy and pinstripes.”

  Kim made a disgusted face. “Seriously?”

  Elly grimaced. “I know, right? Oh, famous people….”

  “You say that like you know so many.”

  Elly ignored her and began scribbling on a napkin. “We cover the floor with pale-pink rose petals and then make a gorgeous table to match. It will blow them away. Sure, the other florists will do gorgeous work as well, but if we put ourselves forward as a company that will make our celebrity feel like she is walking on rose petals, they will pick us, right? It’s almost too over the top—it teeters on the edge of ridiculous. For a normal bride, it would be. But not a famous one.”

  Kim snapped her fingers. “And that is how you will distinguish yourself from the other two florists. It will be such a big impact, color-wise, that they won’t be able to shake the vision from their minds.”

  Elly then drew a giant happy face over the entire drawing. “And then we will be on BlissBride!”

  “Next up, world domination.” Both women started clapping. Annoyed restaurant patrons looked over at them.

  “My friend is going to be on TV!” Kim smiled, showing her perfectly white teeth. The elderly couple smiled back, won over by Kim’s radiant beauty. Elly rolled her eyes before sitting back down and taking a long sip of water. “Kim, I can do this. I can get us onto BlissBride. I know it.”

  Kim grabbed her hand. “Absolutely. I’m afraid I won’t be much help, but I’ll keep my schedule as open as I can. I have a baby who keeps me pretty busy with things like poop schedules. Depressing, but true.”

  “Oh, right. I forgot you have a baby. Poor Hadley. Two drinks in and we forget about him.” Elly raised her glass and Kim followed. “To walking on rose petals. And to Hadley. May we never forget about him again.” They both giggled.

  “Hey, how’s Keith?” Kim asked, slyly changing the subject while wiggling her eyebrows. “Did you guys say the big ‘I love you’ yet?”

  Elly blushed. “No, not yet. It might be soon, though. Oh Kim, I’m so over the moon about him.”

  Kim smiled. “Well, it doesn’t have to be him that says it. This is the twenty-first century, you know. I’m sure it won’t be long. You are so deep into each other that it makes Sean and me feel like we are the most-boring people on Earth.”

  Elly shot Kim an exasperated look. “Right. Tell me, when is he whisking you off to Paris again?”

  “I know, I know. But you and Keith are made for each other. Every time he looks at you, I can see his heart growing larger.”

  Elly took a bite of her enchilada, tomatillo salsa spilling out from the sides. So good. Everything, so good. She took a deep breath. “Is it weird that I bounce between being extremely happy and worrying that it will all fade? Everything seems so perfect right now.” She felt a familiar twinge in her heart, a deep hurt. There was a bruise there that would never go away.

  Kim frowned. “No, I guess I don’t understand.”

  Elly took a breath and wiped her mouth, methodically folding her napkin. “The last time I felt that life was perfect, I came home and found my husband being straddled.” She shook her head, hoping to rattle the image lose. “I could care less about Aaron now, but this feeling of things being so sure, so steady, it’s nerve-racking. Whenever I really feel ready to go all in with Keith, I get anxious, as if I can’t fully enjoy it because I’m just waiting for the chips to fall. Its neurotic and it’s ridiculous, and it is all me, letting a healed wound infect my body. I have to work on it. I don’t know that I’m completely ready to give myself over to this….” She smiled and sighed. “This totally amazing man. Am I crazy?”

  Kim’s face said yes.

  “And I know it’s Keith, Keith in all his perfection. He would never hurt me. I shouldn’t be afraid.” Was she already in love with him? Did he love her?

  “Elly, that’s totally okay. You should only say it when you’re ready, completely ready. I don’t see Keith being a man who would push you into that. You’ve been through a lot with men and in a relationship this important, you want to take it slow. Keep your heart light and unjaded. I have a feeling that bitterness grows when you are pushed too fast into something.”

  Elly bit her lip. She didn’t feel jaded. She felt only joy with Keith, a lightness of spirit. There was a freedom with him, an abandonment of all the fears and insecurities that she felt about herself. For the first time in a relationship, she felt honored. Yet, in all this bliss, when “I love you” was on the tip on her tongue, a thorn twisted in her heart and made her words fall away into a whirling vortex, a vortex made up of past memories that had no bearing on her current life. She was afraid. She might love Keith, yes, but she was nowhere near being able to say it. Her eyes watered a bit. “So I have trust issues. That’s not anything new. I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” Elly mumbled, before taking a bite of Kim’s flan.

  “That’s what I thought,” Kim replied. “You have no idea how to handle this, do you?”

  Elly wiped her eyes. “You’re super nosy, you know that, right?”

  Kim put her hand on Elly’s. “Only about people that I love.”

  Elly’s eyes narrowed as they filled with tears. “I get your point. Now, can we please talk more about Hadley? I’m dying to know. Tell me about my godson.”

  Kim’s eyes widened with unabashed obsession. “Well, if you must know, he’s developed a habit of putting his toes in his mouth. I want to think it’s disgusting every single time, but when he does it I just grab the camera and take a million pictures, and then I can’t help but cover him with kisses….”

  The night ended earlier than it should have.

  Elly slowly walked up the dark stairwell to her apartment, humming happily to herself, visions of pink rose petals dancing in her head. She couldn’t believe this was really happening. Chubby little Elly from Peachtree, Georgia might be appearing on BlissBride, on national television! She couldn’t wait to call Keith when she got in. Something about her conversation with Kim made her long to press her lips against his. Maybe he could come over for tea and kissing. That sounded pretty fabulous. At the top of the stairs, Elly fumbled with her keys in the dark, dropping them on the ground. Groaning, she bent over to pick them up and stopped short, her breath catching in her throat. There was something in the doorway. Had Keith left her something? Man, he was impressive. Elly grabbed the keys and flipped on the hallway light, the sterile light washing over her. Then she stood frozen, cold fingers trailing up her arm and rippling up her suddenly tight spine. In front of her door was a dirty backpack. It was neon orange, covered with stains, and a ripped zipper showed the frayed seaming on the inside. It wasn’t the backpack itself that made her hyperventilate and lean against the door. It was that she had seen that backpack earlier that day—on the strange teenager who had so unnerved her and forgotten his flower
s. The one who had stared at her with such fervent, deep curiosity. He had been here, at her door, at her home. Was he watching her right now? From inside her apartment, Cadbury began to bark frantically and adrenaline mixed with fear shot through her veins. She silently reached for the phone inside her pocket and began dialing Keith’s number.

  Chapter Six

  Elly woke up the next morning, tangled in her sheets. Her eyes were sore, and she felt them sinking back into her skull with a lack of sleep. After pulling on her comfy reindeer PJ pants and checking her appearance in the mirror (which brought a thoroughly disappointed sigh), she wandered into the living room, Cadbury trotting at her heels. Elly paused in the living room, a half smile on her face. Keith slept on the floor near the door, a bright-red baseball bat clutched loosely in his hand. Elly found herself delighted at the loud snoring that shook his entire body, and eyed the way his shoulders stretched out his thin white T-shirt. As she watched him, lying there on her hard, chilly floor, her heart clutched and released. Just the sight of him, of his gentle and chivalrous soul, touched Elly somewhere deep and vulnerable. She felt an “I love you” dance lightly on her tongue. Then, for no discernible reason, she swallowed it quickly. Cadbury took a running jump and landed with his heavy paws square on Keith’s chest, covering his face with wet kisses, his drool intermingling with Keith’s.

  “Gaaaahhhh!” Keith leapt up from the floor, flinging Cadbury off his chest. “Why is the dog molesting me?” He wiped his mouth. “Ugh, he tastes like fish biscuits….”

  Elly made her way into the kitchen, picking up her stainless steel kettle and filling it with water. “What can I say? You’re pretty good-looking. Very molestable. Tea?”