“Great!” Keith practically leapt out of the car. “I’ll be back in a flash, gorgeous! Did I tell you that you look incredible in that skirt? Seeing you in green really does something to me.”
Elly gave an acknowledging nod as Keith sped toward his car, parked in front of her apartment. She knew she should follow him as he pulled up the street, but instead her chest tightened, and suddenly her skin felt as if it were plunged into ice. She was frozen, clutching the wheel. She couldn’t follow him. This was Keith she was talking about. Keith. Steady, reliable, grown-up Keith. This can’t be happening. It … it can’t be. There was no reason for Keith to lie to her, was there? Why wouldn’t he want her to see his house? The logical explanations played out in her mind. It’s messy. It’s an embarrassing bachelor pad. It’s not as nice as her place. He doesn’t have a lot of money.
Elly repeated these things silently to herself. She willed herself not to think it, but the strongest suspicion in her mind overtook all logical thought. He has a woman there. Elly shook her head violently. That was crazy. That was old Elly, the Elly who wasn’t confident, the old Elly who was timid, the old Elly who had let her ex-husband take everything from her, including herself. No. She wouldn’t think that way. She turned off the car and sat in the aggressive heat. What could it be, then? What was possibly keeping her away from Keith’s place?
I’ll call Kim, she thought. She’ll tell me I’m nuts. Or better yet, maybe I’ll just go there. Maybe I’ll just show up and prove to myself that there is nothing to see. With a smile, she turned the car back on. The cool air hit her just as her sudden blast of conviction wilted. She didn’t even know where he lived and finding it would imply … something that she didn’t want to think about.
With a sigh, she climbed out of the car and looked up at her apartment. She saw Dennis looking down at her from her bay window. He raised his hand in a half wave. She glared up at him. He looked embarrassed and slunk backwards, most likely back to his latest quest for dragon gold. Elly swallowed back her tears as she allowed the nagging truth to creep into her brain, the truth she had held back for weeks. Something was wrong. And when something like this was wrong, everything was wrong.
The next day, Elly sat patiently in Posies while Snarky Teenager stalked around her, whining. “I don’t see why you can’t just let me be in charge right away. I don’t need a babysitter.”
“Because I said so,” snapped Elly. She buried her head in her hands. She was exhausted. She had only slept a few hours the night before. Her fears about Keith had crept into her brain, one by one. The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out…. She had reasoned, argued, and accused herself, all while trying desperately to go to sleep. Keith hadn’t even come back for the picnic—he had called Elly suddenly, saying there was something he had to do. Like your wife?, she had thought, before raking herself over the coals for being so crazy. She wanted to call Kim, but Kim had been visiting her mother, a sociopathic head case unto herself, and Elly didn’t want to add to her problems.
“Ridiculous.”
Elly lifted her head. “What?”
“I said,” repeated Snarky Teenager, “that the idea of you running both stores at once is ridiculous.”
Elly gave a sigh. “It’s just to start. I want to see how you handle things. This is my money we’re talking about. Who knows if we will even get clients? This is a huge gamble.”
“Just having a second store is a leg up on our competition,” Snarky Teenager replied. “Plus, you have a hottie like me working there. That’ll draw them in.”
Elly rubbed her eyes, leaving mascara smears on her fingers. “Yes, I’m sure that’s all we need for a successful business. A hot high school senior.”
“I graduate in, like, a month.”
“I know.”
“You’re cranky today.”
Elly rested her head against her palm. “I know.” I need chocolate. In IV form. “Make me a contemporary arrangement.” She mumbled. “Ugh.”
Snarky Teenager rolled her eyes but walked back to the design table. Elly was curious to see what she would do. She was an excellent designer, but not a self-starter. She was always following an order or directions. Could she stock a cooler based solely on her imagination? “I’ll give you three different containers. You are welcome to use anything in the cooler except the buckets marked wedding.”
Snarky Teenager blinked at Elly like she was an idiot. “Like, duh.”