Elly stomped over to the labeled boxes on the other side of the ballroom. She ripped open the first one, giving herself a small paper cut in the process.
“Ow!” she yelped. A small drop of blood dripped into the box, and Elly dove after it. She came up with a large photo: Aaron and Lucia, looking healthy and tan in their bathing suits, smiling at each other on a boat. Elly grabbed the next photo. Aaron and Lucia, sitting in front of a fireplace, wearing big wooly sweaters. Her arm around his neck, his hand on her knee. White heat gripped Elly’s chest and she crumpled the photo in her hand. His face. Please…. She hadn’t seen his face since that day, years ago. He had barely aged. His long hair had been buzzed short and he was sporting a goatee, but his beauty was still the same. The hazel eyes, the playful smile, that roguish look that had captured her immediately…it was him, her love, her life.
This wasn’t worth it. The thought rattled Elly, but she knew it to be true. All the money in the world wasn’t worth looking at this picture, having to help in the celebration of their love. Not worth it. She dug in the box, pulling out the revolting prints and tucking them reluctantly into the photo holders. Small postcards of Aaron’s painting, Evening Ghosts, were put on the opposite side.
Elly felt a presence behind her. Ardelle was looking down with sympathy. “I’ll put those on ze table for you.”
Elly was grateful. “Thank you.” She pushed them toward Ardelle, who picked one up thoughtfully.
“She might be pretty, but she’ll never have what you do.”
“What? Size sixteen pants? A Sheepdog to sleep with every night? An addiction to chocolate and wine?”
“No.” Ardelle smiled, wise lines stretching across her face. “She is ze mistress, you know? The mistress who temporarily replaced ze wife, and she will forever have to worry about lovers just like her.” Ardelle’s face was etched with sadness. “Trust me.”
Elly looked at the picture of Lucia and Aaron, decked out in hiking gear and posing proudly on a mountainside. “I don’t think so. They look quite happy.”
“They always do.” Ardelle plucked the pictures up from the table. “I’ll finish zis.”
Elly looked at her gratefully. “Thank you,” she mouthed softly. Ardelle Buche may have belonged in a mental hospital, but at this moment Elly was very thankful for her.
Soon, they were all engaged in a frantic clean-up. Elly crawled around the floor on her hands and knees, picking up tiny flower petals that had gone astray. The hired laborers packed and carried all the supplies down through the service elevator. Chairs were brushed off, crystals were secured, and Ardelle walked slowly by each table, adjusting and cradling flowers in her skilled embrace.
Finally, half an hour before the ceremony was to begin, they were finished. Snarky Teenager snapped photos of each corner of the room and of each centerpiece.
“This is going to increase our business like crazy,” she whispered to Elly. “We should post these on the website.”
Elly pushed the camera down and shook her head. “I never want to see these pictures, do you understand?”
Snarky Teenager frowned. “Okay, but…”
“No buts. Take a couple of more pictures and then get the workers on their way. Drive the van back to the shop. Take any leftover flowers in and put them into the cooler. Don’t worry about clean-up. We’ll do all that tomorrow.” Elly pushed her fingers into her throbbing forehead. “I can’t even THINK about the clean-up.”
Snarky Teenager gave her a sympathetic look. “You look awful.”
Elly didn’t doubt it. Even under her apron, her beautiful ruffled black shirt was covered with soil and moss. Her hair, once so pretty, was frizzed out in every direction and pulled back into a loose bun. The knees of her khaki pants were brown from crawling on the floor, and dirt was caked under her fingernails and on her face. She had sweated off any hint of make-up while setting up the ceremony, and all in all, she had never been so exhausted.
“Get moving. All I have left to do is decorate the cake, and then I can go out to the van and head to the hospital.”
Snarky Teenager flung her supply bag over her shoulder. “This looks good Elly. We should be proud. I’ll see you back at the shop.”