Dennis pursed his lips. “Whatever.”
Elly straightened up her back and uneasily rested her hand on Dennis’s shoulder. He looked appalled.
“I’m going to take off. We have the closing on the new store tomorrow and then I have a two-year-old’s birthday party to deliver flowers to.”
Dennis went to close the door and Elly stuck her arms out in an attempt to hug him. It was an uncomfortable sort of hug, with Dennis standing perfectly still and Elly hugging around his forearms. He coughed. “Okay. Bye.”
Dennis shut the hotel door in her face. Elly, pushing her fingers against her temples, walked all the way to the lobby, mumbling quietly to herself. She stopped at the reception desk and turned around. “Crap.” She had left behind her pink polka-dot umbrella—almost her favorite thing. She walked back to his room, and found the umbrella propping the door open. She popped her head in to say thank you. “Dennis … thanks for putting this out, it’s my favorite.” She pushed the door open.
Dennis was lying on the bed, already stripped down to his tighty-whities, a bag of Doritos on his chest, and watching some sort of monster movie. “Run. It’s Godzilla….”
Elly shielded her eyes. “Oh, um, sorry … I just needed …,” she grabbed her umbrella, “this. So, yeah.”
Dennis looked completely unfazed. “No problem. See ya.”
Elly backed out of the hotel room, hitting her behind on the door frame before slipping out completely. She leaned against the closed door, resting the umbrella on her forehead. What have I done? What have I done?
Inside the room, she heard Dennis start cheering on Godzilla.
Chapter Eleven
“Look at her! Oh, look at her! Look at that little fist! She is so precious. Oh Brad, get the camera!”
Elly tried to grin as Genevieve, an adorable two-year-old, tugged at Elly’s hair with tiny chubby hands. “Oh, ow, wow, she’s surprisingly strong!” Elly struggled to free her hair from the petite tyrant’s grasp. Genevieve, in turn, yanked back.
Her mother held a camcorder inches from Elly’s face. “Happy birthday, Ginny! Look at our baby darling go! You are so strong, aren’t you, Ginny? Aren’t you? You’re my perfect girl! Look how strong you are! Look how you love her hair!”
“Uh … she’s so sweet … oh yeah … wow!” Elly carefully untangled her hair out of Genevieve’s iron grip. “What a cutie. You guys are so lucky.” The toddler gave Elly a distressed look before dissolving into a flurry of hysterical tears.
“Now she’s crying on her birthday. Great. Brad! Turn the flippin’ camera off!” Victoria, her mother, looked over at Elly with a frown.
Elly gave a thin smile. “She’s adorable. So, I think maybe you should try to get the halo on her. She’ll probably feel more comfortable with her mom in her face than me.”
The mother shrugged. “I’m not sure why you can’t get it to stay on. Is it … broken?”
Elly bit her lip angrily. No, it’s just that a two-year-old can’t keep on a flower crown, like I told you at the consultation. Tilting her head with a sympathetic nod, Elly placed the gorgeous ring of pink waxflower on the table. “Why don’t we try in a little bit, when she has calmed down?”
The mother gave a huff and turned back to the cherub-faced terrorist. “Who is my Ginny-doo? Who is my baby girl?” Genevieve cackled through her tears as Elly turned back to the impressive (and somewhat ridiculous) party. She was in Ladue, one of St. Louis’s wealthiest areas, at the lavish home of Brad and Victoria Ames. A huge pink tent consumed their rather modest yard, and in the middle of it all was Genevieve, dwarfed by her pink and lavender tutu, sitting like a queen atop a bedazzled high chair. Giant pink giraffe balloons hovered in the trees, their vacant eyes peeking through cherry blossoms. Cute and terrifying at the same time. Twenty tables, all set with pink and yellow linens, rocked unsteadily in the wind. Elly sped toward the van, where Anthony was already waiting for her, an amused look on his face. “Cute kid.”
Elly stuck her tongue out at him. “Cute, yes. Angelic, not so much. But the parents seem to think so.”
Anthony chuckled as he unloaded a huge cardboard box of orchid centerpieces: bright-pink dendrobium mixed with bright-yellow oncidium in a gigantic Eiffel Tower vase. A giraffe-print ribbon circled the bottom. “What about you guys?”
Elly brushed a damp piece of hair out of her face. It was hot today. “What about who?”
“You and Keith—you two gonna have kids?”
Elly looked over at him with amusement. “I don’t know if you are aware of this, but we have been dating for all of like four months.”