The flight attendant nodded and Elly looked away from Keith. “You didn’t need to do that. I’m perfectly content.”
“Elly, you hate flying.”
She took a deep breath. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Keith leaned over the seat and reached for her hand. Elly pulled hers away, an action that felt about as natural as flying. Her phone buzzed and Elly wrestled it out of her pocket. It was Snarky Teenager. “Hello! Yes, hi. Tell me what you’ve got.” In the background, she could hear the loud sounds of Florist Row: carts, men yelling, the rustling of plastic.
“Okay! I was able to secure about forty bunches of roses in different shades of pink and champagne. I bought out the pink Victoria water-lilies, all the delphinium, and every white, cream, and pink dahlia that I could find.”
“That sounds great.” Elly cringed. While those flowers were gorgeous, they were most definitely common flowers, run-of-the-mill for every florist. Definitely not celebrity wedding flowers. “Tell me that you got some peonies.”
There was a long pause. “There were only eight bunches. And they are small.”
“And the nerine lilies?”
“None.”
The plane stirred under Elly and her heart began pounding in her chest. “Tell me something good.”
“One of the Baisch and Skinner checkout guys has amazing hair.”
Elly breathed out loudly.
“I can hear your rolling your eyes from here. Okay, some good news: Anthony was able to get a ton of white- and pink-striped cymbidium orchids from the tropical shipment that came in this morning. Also, we were able to get most of the greenery we need. Bad news: the ranunculus is tiny, and we were only able to get about sixteen bunches of it.”
Elly rubbed her forehead as the safety demonstration began. The flight attendant leaned over their row. “Ma’am? I’m going to need to you turn off your phone. Now, please.”
“I just need a minute, please, just a minute.”
“Ma’am. There are no special rules for special people. You will have to hang up this phone right now. Ma’am.” If she calls me ma’am again, I will strangle her with her lanyard, thought Elly meanly. She turned her head. “Lola Plumb is getting married tomorrow night in St. Louis, and I’m doing her wedding flowers. If you let me finish this phone conversation, I will have someone get you in the door.”
The flight attendant widened her big green eyes. “Yes!” she whispered before leaving their row. “But hurry up!”
Elly turned back to the phone, where Snarky Teenager was telling Elly to say things to the flight attendant that Elly would never say to another human being. “Okay. Do you have a pen? No? You never have a pen. Okay. Look for coral, in any flower, and black and white anemones. I know, it’s not in the scheme, but trust me. Uh, and see if they have any gray berries. Dust them if you have to. Mmm-hmm…. Okay, talk to you soon.” She snapped the phone shut and took a deep breath. The phone buzzed again with a text message. It was Gemma, yelling at Elly in all caps: I HEARD FROM GREG THAT ALL THE FLOWERS ARE DEAD. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? DO I NEED TO CALL ANOTHER FLORIST?
Elly simply typed back: No. We have it under control. It was such a big lie that she felt instantly guilty. Nothing was under control. The flowers were dead, Dennis was gone, and she was on a plane headed to Ohio instead of designing the biggest wedding of her career.
Her phone beeped again. From Gemma: I HOPE SO OTHERWISE THE WEDDING WILL BE RUINED AND I WILL GET FIRED AND THEN I WILL DESTROY YOUR LIFE AND YOUR SILLY LITTLE SHOP. The phone buzzed again. THAT SOUNDED EXTREME BUT SERIOUSLY I WILL TAKE YOU DOWN WITH ME.
Another text. This one from Lola: Can’t wait to see my wedding flowers! It’s going to be my favorite thing, aside from Joe in a tux! XXXOO Love, Lola.
Then Gemma again: OKAY HAD SOME CAFFEINE AND TALKED TO THE PRETTY GIRL IN THE SHOP. CALMER NOW. LOCAL FLOWERS? REALLY? I GUESS YOU HAVE NO CHOICE.
With a sigh, Elly snapped her phone shut. The feeling of being watched came over her and she turned to Keith, who was simply staring at her, his gorgeous dark-blue eyes taking in every inch of her. She pulled at the neck of her maroon shirt. “Why are you staring at me?”
“Because I can’t not stare. Why did you have to wear that shirt? You know how I like that shirt?”
“This shirt? This shirt?” She looked down at the thin maroon top with a hole in the elbow. “This shirt?”
Keith nodded. “That shirt. It makes your hair glow.”
Elly’s heart did a tiny, hopeful leap in her chest, and it was more painful than encouraging. “Thanks, but I look terrible. I was up at four a.m. this morning to process a ton of dead flowers. I haven’t showered, I was soaked through with rain, and then handled thousands of dead flower stems. You don’t have to compliment me just to make me feel better.”
He didn’t flinch. “I see your famous compliment deflector is still intact. But it doesn’t change what I said.” He settled back into his seat with a sigh. “But if it makes you uncomfortable, then I’ll stop. But I’m glad you called.”
Elly felt a shiver climb up her spine. It was almost pleasurable, sitting so close to him now, but then she remembered why she was on this plane. Dennis’s note and the foreboding drum that she was feeling in her heart. She looked out the window. “I just hope Dennis is okay.”
“I hope so, Elly. I really do. I’m worried too, but hopeful. He’s a good kid.”
Elly shook her head. “He’s not a good kid. He’s a sad kid. And we did everything wrong with him.”
“That’s not true. We did everything we could to help him.”
“Everything but truly accept him as family.”
“You don’t even know for sure that he is family.”
“Yes, which is why I let your ridiculous voice piping in my ear convince me to order that stupid DNA kit, and now he’s gone and who knows what he’s doing. What if he’s hurting himself? Dennis truly believes that the world is better off without him.”
“He’s wrong.”
“I know. But I see how I made him feel that way. God, I’m so selfish. We were selfish. We were too wrapped up in each other to see him.” She felt a sob rising in her throat. “And that’s why it’s better that we aren’t together. It was never meant to be.”
She looked straight at Keith, who looked absolutely devastated by her words. “Do you really believe that?”
Elly shook her head. “Can we please not talk about this right now? I might lose my brother and my career in the same day, and I really just need … not this. Not right now. I’m thankful that you are here with me, but … it’s better if we don’t talk. About us. Or your secrets. Or anything.”
Keith looked at her as he shook his head with disappointment. “Always the great communicator,” he murmured.
“What was that?” asked Elly, her tiredness overcoming her.
“Nothing.” They both settled back into the uncomfortable leather as the plane’s engines roared to life. Elly gripped the armrest. “Oh Jesus….” She closed her eyes and began mumbling out a frantic Lord’s Prayer. The plane pitched to the right during takeoff, and she uttered a little cry, trying not to imagine the plane smashing into a thousand pieces on the runway. What would happen to Dennis then? No, it couldn’t happen. She could not die here, in this metal bird of fiery death. A warm hand slid across hers, its thick fingers wrapping around hers and gently rubbing the skin of her palm. Her hand and Keith’s joined together in a dance that they had done so many times, feeling as natural as breathing. Some light turbulence jostled the plane about, and Elly felt her breath catch in her chest, but she couldn’t be sure if it was the adrenaline or the rapture of holding Keith’s hand, so very right. Frayed wires of electricity were traveling up her arm, and Elly felt for a moment the swirling blackness of a faint. Fear, lack of oxygen, or the presence of Keith? She opened her mouth to tell him that she loved him, that she needed him.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached our cruising altitude.”
/> His hand pulled away and Elly felt all her hopes fall away like leaves. When she closed her eyes, all she could see was Dennis. Dennis, with his head slouched between his knees. Dennis, staring at his imaginary world all day long, the screen lighting up his world-weary face. Dennis, staring at Snarky Teenager with wide eyes, Elly always mistaking his stare for lust when it was so clearly a hunger for companionship. And human touch. She buried her head in her hands. Oh, Dennis, please forgive me. Elly continued to pray, feeling Keith’s eyes burning a hole in her side as the plane continued to glide through the blue sky. The fear that something could happen to Dennis covered her like a weighted blanket and she was unable to shake it.
About an hour and a half later, the plane skidded to a stop in front of Pittsburgh International. Elly found herself standing alone in a massive terminal topped with spinning metallic works of art. What on Earth am I doing? Have I just signed the death certificate for Posies? Still, it was better than signing one for Dennis. She looked down at her phone: one hundred and six text messages, two voicemails, and one free song download. She began browsing the text messages from Snarky Teenager: Found pink Asiatic lilies! Where is the contract? Never mind, found contract. Buying lunch for all designers, getting expensive paninis since you abandoned us. Tussie-mussies DONE. Kim had sent her a long stream about Dennis, and Anthony had just sent a few encouraging words and Bible verses.
Keith jogged over, looking extremely attractive in his aqua-and-white plaid shirt. “I rented a car. Sewell is only about a thirty-minute drive away.”
“Good.” There was an awkward silence as they made their way to the rental car parking lot.
“So, how’s Cadbury?”
“Really? You’re going to ask about the dog?”
“Yes. I miss him.”
Keith squinted at her from beyond a sharp pair of aviator sunglasses that were really way too cool for him to be wearing. “Let’s see, how is Cadbury doing? Well, for starters, he’s depressed. He spends his days meandering around the house, trying not to feel sorry for himself and stalking you online. He isn’t eating very well, or sleeping very well. He likes to smell things that smell like you. You know, because he’s a dog. Sometimes he just stares at the phone wanting to call you, but he can’t, because he has paws.”
Elly looked over at Keith and saw a glimmer of pain cross his face, disguised as humor. “Then why doesn’t Cadbury just call me and tell me the truth? Why does Cadbury have secrets?”
“Cadbury isn’t ready.”
Elly lowered her eyes. “Then Cadbury can’t come home anytime soon.”
Keith paused. “Are we still talking about the dog, because I certainly hope Cadbury can go back to your house. He’s cute, but….”
“Yes. No. I don’t know. Sorry. I just need to find Dennis and then I need a giant glass of wine, and then I need to be back in my shop, dealing with the Lola Plumb’s wedding of the century.” Elly moaned. “I can’t believe this is happening.”
“It will be okay. You always come through things with a certain grace.”
Elly watched a plane take off from the tarmac and roar overhead. “I don’t think this is going to turn out that way. Lola was counting on me. Gemma was counting on me. The business from this wedding was going to fund the new store. Everything is crumbling, but all I really care about is finding Dennis alive and okay.” That was the reason she had presented to Keith for his coming—she didn’t want to find Dennis swinging at the end of a rope, such a horrible thought. The truth was that no matter the situation, she was better with Keith beside her, a fact that she was just beginning to admit to herself. She wouldn’t be his mistress, but maybe, even though it broke her heart to look at him, she could be his friend. Maybe he would let her. If that’s all the love that they were allowed, she would take every ounce of it.
As the car approached Sewell, Elly was struck by how many abandoned buildings loomed overhead. “They’re all so empty.”
“This was once a steel town,” Keith said quietly. “Then the steel left.”
There were abandoned cars on the road. The streets were patchy at best. Here and there, she spotted nice homes or manicured parks, but they were few and far between the vast abandoned industrial parks and graffitied vacant homes. “What would it be like to grow up here?” murmured Keith.
Elly watched sadly as yellow papers blew down a street, swirled by the humid air. She was sweaty, as always. “It would be without hope.” She realized that those words defined Dennis completely. He was without hope. Even when he had lived with Elly, he was without hope. They approached Lincoln Street. “Turn here.”
“How do you know where he lived?”
“I just looked up his father’s name online, and then used the yellow pages to find the address.”
“Thank God for the Internet.” They continued to weave down a street that was overgrown with tall, mossy trees. The pavement ended and a dirt road began twisting away from the main thoroughfare. The car bumped and lurched over dozens of potholes. “Hurry,” murmured Elly. “Hurry, Keith.”
Keith looked like he was driving an ATV. “I’m trying.” He gripped the wheel. “You’re so bossy.”
“I’m not the one keeping secrets.” A bump launched them both upwards. “Just get there. Then we can find him, and we can go home.”
“Elly, I need you to know….”
“Stop!” The sign for the development appeared above an out-of-control azalea bush. “Southern Valley.”
“Sounds nice.”
“It’s not,” said Elly as they rounded the corner. This neighborhood was even worse than the rest of the town. Small, dilapidated houses with tons of trash in the yard rose out of overgrown weeds and wild grasses. Barefoot children ran wild in front of the homes, staring at the car with suspicion. There was one nice house on the block, and a handsome man in his sixties was mowing the lawn as they drove past. Keith pulled the car up next to his house. Elly leaned out the window. “Excuse me, sir?”
The man looked out from below his camouflage hat. “Can I help you folks?”
“Yes, I am looking for Dennis Trager? Do you know him?”
The man jerked his head. “Oh yeah, I know Dennis. Saw him come this way early this morning, looking pretty weary. I tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t even look my way. His house is gone, so I’m not sure where he was going—the train yard, maybe?” The man turned off his mower. “Musta had a bad day. He’s such a good kid, Dennis. When my wife was dying of cancer, Dennis would come over every day after school to bring in the mail for her, and sometimes even read the articles for her.”
This should have surprised Elly, but it didn’t. Dennis had a solid heart, it was just hidden away under layers of bitterness and insecurity. The man wiped off a thick layer of sweat with a bandana. “I don’t know what’s going on with him, but if he didn’t stop in to say hello, he’s in a right bad place.”
“And he lived just down the road?”
The man squinted. “Did live, yeah. That nasty house was torn down when it was foreclosed. It’s the last lot, the one that backs up to the yard.” He looked at the sky. “Best hurry. It’s gonna rain something wicked in a few minutes here. Best of luck to y’all. Tell him he can stop by for lemonade whenever he would like.”
“Thanks.” Keith drove the car slowly forward, where the houses became fewer, and the empty lots grew until it seemed they were just driving into a field.
“There!” shouted Elly. “Pull over!” A huge clap of thunder rolled overhead and Elly ducked her head. She jumped out of the car, her adrenaline racing as the wind whipped around her body. “Dennis? Dennis?” She was screaming out over an empty lot. Crumpled magazines, large pieces of wood, a stained toilet seat, and a disgusting floral couch that was currently occupied by a coiled queen snake were all that remained of Dennis’s home. Elly felt a tear make its way down her face. There was truly nothing left for Dennis. She thought she had understood, but she didn’t. She thought that she understood struggle, but sh
e didn’t. Elly felt a light, hot rain on her face. “Dennis! Dennis!” Her voice rose in pitch as she walked around the empty lot, her heart pounding, her voice rising. “Dennis!”
She heard a car door slam. Keith was pointing to something. “There! Elly, I bet he’s in there!”
She followed his finger to the train yard, where the gate bucked in the wind, its broken lock rocking on a rusty hinge. Elly forgot everything—the wedding, Lola Plumb, Gemma Reynolds, BlissBride, the new store, the crumpled note in her mother’s handwriting, and even Keith, her mind shedding everything else like an old, flaky skin. One thing mattered. “Dennis! Dennis!”
She pushed her way through the gate. The train yard was everything that Elly loathed: humid, wet, sticky, dirty, all rolled into one depressing landscape that seemed to suck the very joy out of her. Rain hammered down on the sidewalk, the thick plip-plop sound echoed through the dilapidated yard and out through its gates. Elly leaned against the iron fence posts, wrapping her fingers between the sharp slots. She looked up at the gigantic empty cargo containers in front of her, stacked as though a drunken toddler had assembled them, rain dripping down her nose and over her lips. Warm rain and the hot wind lashed the damp curls around her face. She was unable to move, her fear paralyzing her from the ground up. What if he never comes back? What if …? She had another thought—this one much worse. Her fears welled up within her chest, drenching her along with the rain. How did they get here? Elly clamped her lips together to keep from crying. Do not cry. Be the strength. Find him. Find him and tell him. He’s all you have.
The thunder rumbled overhead, cracking the air with its loud roar. She walked past container after container, each one coated in mud and bright-yellow spray paint, sporting tags and obscure cartoons characters. The open door of an empty cab groaned in the wind and Elly heard a rustling. Something darted out from the red train car in front of her. It was trying to move fast, but was ultimately unsuccessful and was more like a shuffle. All the air was pushed out of her lungs and Elly began running toward the shadow. He tried to outrun her, but it didn’t matter. For once in her chubby life, Elly Jordan was fast.