“I said, we’ll take it.”
Zachary blinked again. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
“Wow, you guys are easy!”
Elly glanced over at Snarky Teenager, who was rubbing glittery lotion on her arms in slow massaging circles, and laughed. Store B’s roots were planted.
The rest of the day sped by in a blur of signing documents, touring the rest of the office building and the delivery dock, and taking Cadbury on the world’s longest walk. Five p.m. came rather quickly, and Elly suddenly found herself at a loss of what to wear for dinner with Dennis. What does one wear for a first conversation with her brother? She asked herself. A dress would be too formal, but jeans might say we are comfortable with each other already, which we aren’t. A skirt was lame, and khaki pants implied she was some sort of teacher.
Frustrated, she called Kim. She could hear an intense wailing in the background. Oh, Hadley. “What do I wear on my first date with Dennis?”
She heard Kim call Sean loudly, followed by a “Here, take him!” Kim took a deep breath. “Okay, first of all, don’t call it a date. It’s not. That’s weird.” Oh. “Second of all, why do you care what you wear? Just grab the first thing that comes to mind.”
Elly frowned. “Yoga pants and my Cardinals T-shirt?”
Elly heard a loud sigh. “How do you live without me? Never mind, don’t answer, I don’t want to know. Wear jeans, a nice shirt, and a cute pair of flats with dangly earrings.”
Elly grinned. “Okay, thanks. Give Hads a kiss for me.”
“Don’t call my kid Hads.”
“Okay, Kimmy.”
“Arrgghh.” Elly felt her heart warm as she hung up the phone. She was so blessed to call Kim her best friend. And now she had something to wear.
Elly wrung her hands together nervously as the elevator chugged up to the third floor of the Holiday Inn Express. Elly had promised Keith that she would text him through the night to keep him up to speed on what was happening. Keith was suspicious of Dennis’s vague intentions, and it brought Elly some comfort to know that she wasn’t navigating this minefield alone. The elevator doors drew open, revealing a long beige hallway dotted with small lanterns. It was pretty nice, this place. She should know, it would have cost her about seven hundred dollars if Keith hadn’t insisted on paying. Thank you Keith, she thought. He was such a generous man, even though she imagined that he only made about as much as she did from Posies. Which wasn’t much.
She arrived at room 237 and took a deep breath. I can do this, I can do this, he’s been through so much, just try to be cool…. Elly knocked on the door. “Hello? Dennis, it’s me, Elly.”
He opened the door, blocking the entrance. Dennis was wearing a similar outfit to the one she had seen him in the first time she had met him—but this time he had on a Star Wars T-shirt with acid-washed jeans. With a start, Elly realized that they hadn’t offered to buy him clothing. Maybe tonight, after dinner, they could run by Target.
Dennis stared at the floor. “How’s it going?”
“Good, good, good.” Why did I say that three times? What is wrong with me? She tried to change the subject. “How is your hotel room?”
A smile cracked on his weary face. “Uh, it’s pretty awesome. Did you know they have free breakfast here? And cable? And a bathtub? I’ve been watching this show called The Sopranos—have you seen it? It’s pretty awesome. There’s this mob boss, and he kills all these people and he’s like ‘It’s for the family! Bam!’” Dennis chortled and then fell silent. “I mean, whatever. The hotel works. It’ll do.”
Elly suppressed the urge to push his long blond hair out of his eyes. “Well, I’m glad that you like it. It was nice of Keith to get this for you.”
Dennis shrugged. “I don’t like that guy.”
There was an awkward silence as Elly gazed past Dennis into his room. It looked like a disaster—towels everywhere, the bed linens stretched to the side of the bed, and breakfast trays and pillows littered on the floor. Also, there was a noticeable body odor lurking around. Ugh. She tightened her hand on her purse. “Hey, could I leave my umbrella here? I think the rain has stopped.”
“Sure,” Dennis mumbled, without inflection.
Elly brightened her voice as she put her umbrella down, taking a better look into the room. Was he a hoarder? “Shall we go? Do you like burgers?”