Even though Elly was crying, she managed to look excited. “Free sandwich for a broken heart? I’ll take you up on that.”
“It’s a plan,” said Keith, and walked out of the store, stopping to grab his baseball bat on the way out.
Kim lifted Elly’s face to look at her. “Oh, my sweet friend.” She wiped a tear off Elly’s face with her pinky. Then she turned bewildered and looked around the store. “Hell hath no fury…”
Elly moaned. “I can’t believe I did this to my store.”
Kim stood up carefully. “Well, I can’t bend over very far, but I’m sure that you and I can get this mostly cleaned up in an hour or so.” She tiptoed over the broken glass. “Did you have to throw the table? I mean, wasn’t it enough to throw everything else?”
Elly sighed. “I guess not.”
“I noticed that nothing hit the cooler.”
“I’m devastated, not stupid,” she countered. “That cooler was expensive!”
Kim tilted her head sympathetically. “Let’s clean up and then find you some wine.”
Elly looked at her best friend with intense gratitude. “Thank God I have you,” she said and reached for the broom, to clean up the mess she created.
Later that evening, Elly held out her wine glass. “More please, more please! Por favor!”
Kim wagged her finger at her. “No more for you. Depressed and drunk is a very bad combination. Also, if Isaac comes over, he will try a full-on attack. Linen pants, guitars AND candles.”
Elly moaned. “Isaac. What am I going to tell him about this? The last thing he needs is to hear about my ex-husband. One minute I’m the sexy florist next door…” Kim rolled her eyes at this. “And then I tell him about Aaron and then I’m the crazy woman with tons of emotional baggage and lots of feelings.”
“So you’re just going to pretend that this isn’t happening?” Kim asked incredulously.
“I’m not going to pretend. I’m just not going to share this with him. He’s not the kind of guy that I could unload this on. At least, he’s not yet. We just aren’t at that point where this would be acceptable date conversation.”
“Understandable.” Kim paused. “How are you doing?”
Elly looked up at the stars. She and Kim were sitting on her roof deck, bundled up in sweatshirts and blankets. Kim sipped her tea as Elly finished a cracker topped with feta.
“It’s a good thing your appetite hasn’t suffered in all this,” Kim commented.
“No, it didn’t the first time around either.” There was a long silence as the cool air whistled around them. Elly could make out the buildings in downtown St. Louis, their tiny windows filled with light.
“How did you not know?” Kim finally asked. The silence settled around them, heavy with meaning.
Elly pulled her blanket over her toes. “Do you know I’ve been asking myself all night? Did I know? On some sub-conscious level, did I know that this was Aaron’s wedding?” She thought for a second. “I have to say that I really didn’t. I very rarely know the name of the groom. I never asked. I knew that Sunny’s daughter was named Lucia. But I never knew the name of the woman who slept with Aaron, so how would I have made the connection?” Elly looked into the dusky sky above her. “Kim, I’ve never been quite honest about how I left Georgia. I’ve let people think that it was a quick resolve.”
She moved Cadbury’s heavy paw from her leg. He sighed deeply, drool pooling on Kim’s lap. “The truth is, there was no resolve. I never knew her name because I left before I could learn it. Aaron and I have not spoken since that day I found them together,” Elly choked back a sob, “in MY bed. I left him the house – I wanted no part of it. I mailed the divorce papers from a Post Office Box. I never looked back.” Kim leaned over and rubbed her shoulders as she shook. “He took EVERYTHING from me. And I let him. I let him take my friends, my house, my…dreams.” She paused. “We were trying for a baby. He said he wanted to have a baby with ME while he was sleeping with her. Who does that? I never knew I was weak. I thought that I was a strong person, until he took my life away from me. And I made it easy for him to walk out the door with it. I let him take it all, because I loved him too much to stop him. And I would have given even more.” Elly gasped for air.
Kim pulled her against her side. “Slow down, it’s okay. I’m here. I’m listening.”
Elly wiped her eyes, embarrassed. “Kim, I’ve been waiting for this. Aaron was always there, inside of my dark places, waiting. Every day and every minute. He’s every unfulfilled thought, lurking in the back of my mind. All this time, I figured he would find me. It wouldn’t have been hard. I thought I would open the door one day, Aaron would be there and he would beg me to come back. Then I could slam the door in his face.”