AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Are they still at it back there?” Abby asks from her perch atop the barstool behind the counter, her face full of mortification.
“For the love of all things holy, what is wrong with them?” I ask before hugging my youngest sister.
“Nothing, I suppose. I guess if I were in their shoes, I’d pray my husband looked at me and wanted me the way they still do after almost sixty years.”
I concede her point, though that kind of fairytale happily ever after isn’t in my deck of cards. Believe it or not, I’m not a hearts and flowers kinda girl, even though that’s the nature of my business. I enjoy watching a woman’s face light up when she receives a big bouquet from someone special. I relish turning a pile of blooms and greenery into something respectable to honor the memory of someone past. I love the feeling I get when a man comes in and personally picks out something magnificent and then handwrites the card.
But is that for me? No. I learned that life is messy and unfair, and there’s no point in glossing over that fact with beautiful flowers. The problems will still be there long after the flowers die, patiently waiting for the next opportunity to rear its ugly head.
I never used to be this cynical. Back when I was in my early twenties, I believed in the fairytale, the happy ending, the forever love. But life doesn’t work that way. Sometimes, things happen. Things that are out of your control but dictate the rest of your life the same.
“How was today?” I ask, steering the conversation away from the cause of my anxiety.
“You had a great afternoon. I came in after lunch and helped man the front while Rachel made bouquets.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate you all stepping in and helping while I was gone.”
“It’s no problem. I had flextime I needed to use so I took the afternoon off.”
“Well, I still appreciate it. Let me run to the office and do a few things and then we can go. Do you have ideas for dinner?” I ask, grabbing the receipts below the counter.
“Actually, Lexi wants to go too. Chris has a thing again tonight.”
My eyebrows shoot straight skyward and her pretty face shows her concern. “A thing?”
“Something with work. Again. She wants to go eat Chicago dogs down at the Bay. Since she seemed a little gloomy, I told her that was fine. I hope you don’t mind,” she says.
“Of course not. That sounds great, actually. Let me finish a few things up and we’ll head out.”
But when I get to my office, my head is elsewhere. It’s on Abby and the kindness I see pouring from her soul, and the fact that someone uses that kindness without really seeing her. It’s on Lexi and the sadness she tries to hide from everyone. It’s on Dean and the fact that he wants more when I originally said no. And more so, the fact that I changed my mind and told him yes. Why? I know this can’t go any further than the occasional dates, but I can’t deny that I’m drawn to him. He’s like a magnetic charge, slowly drawing me towards him. I just pray I don’t get smacked when we’re slammed together and try to pull apart.
It takes me twice as long as it should have to finish my work, and when I finally glance at the clock, it’s almost six. Shutting down my computer, I throw the rest of the papers on my desk in a bin to file tomorrow. I never got to the order forms, but that’s something I can do tomorrow after I close and take a quick inventory. Rachel’s on point when it comes to numbers, but I always like to look everything over with my own eyes before I order supplies.
My sisters call it a trait of being the oldest. I’m bossy–rightfully so. I’m always right–I am older and wiser. I’m probably a pain in the ass–hey, aren’t we all? Even though I trust my employees with my business, I still have to appease my own stupid curiosity and just verify everything. It’s vital to my mental health. Otherwise, I’d be wondering and stewing all night, and the next thing you’d know I’d be coming in at nearly midnight just to verify that everything is, in fact, fine.
Been there, done that. Have the t-shirt.
Heading out of my office, I hear the harmonic sounds of my sisters giggling, and it brings a smile to my face. “What are you two hens snickering about out here?” I ask, stepping around the corner and finding Abby and Lexi with their heads in one of their phones.
“Grandma’s Twitter page,” Lexi says with a big grin and tears brimming in her green eyes.
“Grandma has a Twitter page?”
“Yep. Of course, no one knew until she mentioned yesterday that she was off to Twit.”
“Twit?”
“Tweet. I didn’t realize she had one until she started following me yesterday.”
“Why on earth does she have a Twitter page? Who does she follow?” I ask, shutting off the front lights.
“Who doesn’t she follow?” Lexi replies with another giggle. “She follows all of us now and a few locals in town. But mostly she follows male movie stars, models, and porn stars. And there’s this guy who takes dick pics and dresses it up and draws faces on them. She actually tweets him directly, complimenting him on his mad hard-on skills.”
“My God! The woman has no shame,” I groan.
“True, but we’ve always known that. You ready? I’m starving for hotdogs.” Lexi grabs her jacket and follows us towards the back door.
We pile into Abby’s little hybrid car and make our way to the vendor along the Bay who sells the best hotdogs and cheese fries. Lexi talks about everyone other than Chris, and Abby talks about everything other than Levi. And I’m not ready to talk about Dean, so what does that make us?
