She opened her eyes. Sunny was slowly removing tan leather gloves. She was immaculate as always in a matching pink suede jacket with a pale sage scarf tied around her neck. Her eyes, however, played sadly over Elly’s face. “Dear, go get yourself a glass of water. You look like you are about to faint, and we don’t want that to happen again.” Elly nodded, grabbed a bottle of water out of the cooler and sat back down gingerly, as not to set off Sunny.
Sunny took a deep breath. “I want to start by telling you that I hope that you will forgive an old woman for her best laid plans. Sometimes I can be a little too…well, let’s just say too reaching for my own good.”
Elly frowned. “I don’t follow. Why are you apologizing to me? I should be apologizing to you. Sunny…”
Sunny raised up her hand. “I know what you’re about to say, but let me go first. I know about you and Aaron, Elly. I’ve known for awhile.”
The silence in the store was deafening. Elly’s mouth hung open, and then it seemed there were too many words to fit inside of it.
“How did you – wait, you knew? You knew that and you still hired me?” Elly’s voice was rising steadily.
“No darling, you have the details mixed up. There was no deception at the beginning. I had no idea that you were Aaron’s ex-wife when I hired you. It was exactly like I told you: I had received some arrangements from you and loved them. There was nothing more than that.” Sunny wiped her forehead and it occurred to Elly that she was also nervous. “You should know that I love my daughter. I love Lucia. She is my last born, my baby, my only girl. She was always a wild child, precocious and demanding, but I love her more than I love anything else in the world. I would do anything for her, even look the other way when I sensed that something wasn’t quite right with her fiancé.
“From the very beginning, it seemed that there was a large piece missing in their relationship. Oh sure, they were infatuated with each other, all lusty-eyed and brilliant, and yet there was a heart of sadness about the whole affair. I tried talking to Lucia about it, but she defended it so passionately that I immediately picked up on an underlying panic. It all seemed…off. Lucia had mentioned that Aaron had an ex-wife in passing, but never delved into the subject. I had decided to ignore it until the day you fainted, right here in this shop. I knew that the painting had upset you, and I needed to figure out why. I casually dropped your name in front of Aaron – and well, it was like his heart stopped. He’s very bad at hiding his feelings, that one, and I could tell that the mention of you shook him to his core. He never mentioned it to my daughter, which further convinced me that he – and she – had something to hide. Why did he care so much about YOU, a florist he had never met? So, I did what any old woman with too much money does…and I hired a private investigator.”
Elly leaned back in her chair, feeling awash in paranoia. Did he know everything about her? Her bank accounts? Her history? She clenched her fists tightly. Her weight?
“He told me everything I needed to know. That Aaron had an affair with Lucia while you were still married. That you left everything behind, came here and started a new life. That you were dating an attractive, albeit poor, musician. I figured, with everything that you had been through, it could be my gift to you, this wedding. I’m sure you could use the…” she paused, then continued delicately, “the business, if you will, and I didn’t want to punish you for what Aaron did. I knew that you could reject it at anytime, and you didn’t, which showed your true character.”
Elly bit her lip. “I wanted to, Sunny. I wanted to every single day. But I had good people who steadied my hand, and my will. I also had a lot of wine, and that helped.”
Sunny gave a weak smile. “Oh Elly, you really are a delight. I had thought that everything was going smoothly, and that’s why I brought Lucia to you. I thought it would help bring you closure, bring you peace, to face her. Lucia needs discipline. She gives no thought to her actions, never has. I thought seeing you would show her what she had done to you, to Aaron, to everyone involved. I should have known better. Lucia has always been ridiculously arrogant, and aggressive. The hell she put you through that day will be on my conscience forever. I felt it was too late to step in, and she was like a wolverine, tearing into you again and again…although your co-worker did put up a good fight. Brave girl.”