Elton walked into the shop again a few days later when Hailey was at school. He waved then walked behind the counter and planted himself across the worktable from me. He eyed the flowers I had laying on the table, and I wondered how I could subtly move them out of his reach before he touched the petals.
“How’s it going?” I asked to distract him from my peonies.
“That’s what I came to talk to you about.” He rushed to my side of the table, taking me by surprise as he stopped inches from the stool I sat on. “I haven’t been sure how to say this, but I’ve got something to tell you.”
“O-kay.” I set my clippers down and turned to face him, faking a calm I didn’t feel. I did not have a good feeling about what he wanted to tell me. Not with the half-starved look in his eyes.
“I’ve wanted to say this for so long, but you’re never alone.” He set his hand on top of the one I had resting on the edge of the table. “When Hailey said she wouldn’t be here this afternoon, I knew I had to come over.”
I slipped my hand away and stood. “What do you mean? I thought you liked Hailey.”
A crease formed between his eyebrows. “Of course I like her. She’s a nice kid, but I don’t feel about her the way I feel about you.” He reached for my hand again, and I stuck it behind my back.
“Elton—”
“Roshan.”
“Whatever.” I rolled my eyes. “I think you’ve got the wrong idea. It’s Hailey who has feelings for you, not me.”
“I know she does. I’m not interested in her.” He took a tentative step forward, and I took a very deliberate step back, putting the stool I’d been sitting on between us.
“You know she does?” I took another step back. “Then why do you keep coming in to see her here?” The fact he didn’t feel the same way about Hailey that she felt about him wasn’t a complete shock, but his feelings toward me were. The whole situation was even worse than I could have imagined. I’d never be able to explain it to her.
“I come here to see you, not her.” He laughed and touched the tip of my nose. “Why would I possibly want to get involved with a nineteen-year-old kid who already has a kid herself? I’m not looking to be some baby’s daddy.” He stepped around the stool, and I put my hand on his chest to stop him.
“Look, Elt—Roshan, I’m flattered, but I don’t feel the same.” With each word, I exerted more pressure on his chest to keep him away.
“Liza, I’ve charted our auras and mapped our energies.” He reminded me of my fourth-grade teacher who had thought by speaking very, very slowly I would understand long division. “We’re a perfect pair. Our auras complement each other.”
I dropped my hand and stood straighter. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about, and I don’t care. The two of us as a thing? That’s not happening.”
He stopped his advance and stared at me. “But our signs—”
“No.”
Long seconds passed before he spoke again.
“You don’t know what you’re missing,” he said finally before storming out. As soon as the door swung shut behind him, I flipped the lock shut and turned over the Closed sign. I didn’t care how many customers I lost; I had to think through what had happened. More importantly, I had to figure out how to tell Hailey.
For that, I needed Taylor.
Help! I texted, followed by 911 and a string of ambulance emojis. Within thirty seconds my phone was ringing.
“Are you hurt?” she asked before I finished saying hello.
“No. I’ve been really stupid, and I’m afraid Hailey is going to be hurt.”
“Whew.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “Tell me what happened, but for future reference, 911 should be reserved for medical emergencies.”
“Fine.” I told her the whole story about Elton hitting on me and waited for her advice.
“Oh, that sucks,” she said. Which already seemed pretty obvious. “Can I think this over and call you later? Weston just got here.”
“Sure,” I answered slowly. Weston always seemed to be showing up right when I needed Taylor most. I tried not to be jealous that he got a lot more time with her than I did, but it was hard. I never realized how much I relied on her until I didn’t have her anymore.
I hung up even more miserable than I’d been when I called Taylor. The thing with not having a mom is I had to find other women to turn to for advice. Taylor’s mom had been that person when I was young, but then she remarried and moved. Taylor and Caroline had taken her spot, but now they were both ditching me for married life too.
I had no one to turn to, and I worried Hailey would hate me once I told her about Elton. The only option I had was to curl up on the sofa next to Xander’s playpen and throw myself a pity party.
I tucked my legs under me and was about to bury my head in a cushion when my phone dinged. I held it up to see a text from Parker.
World Series on tonight, but meatloaf is on the menu.
You’re back! I texted. Watching game one with Daddy and Parker would cheer me up, but meatloaf was not going to make the day better.
I’ll pick up some burgers for us, I added and hit Send, already feeling a little better.
If Parker wasn’t mad at me anymore—and it didn’t sound like he was—I had someone I could talk to about my Hailey problem. If there’s one thing Parker didn’t mind, it was dishing out advice. Sometimes, it was even good advice.
I swung by A’s Burgers on my way home, hoping the smell of fries would cover the smell of humiliation seeping from my pores. By the time I walked into my kitchen, though, I still reeked of overexuberant stupidity, an odor on the spectrum of embarrassing smells somewhere between a fourteen-year-old boy doused in body spray and a substitute teacher’s nervous toots.
Parker got a whiff of it almost immediately. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I looked past him to the TV, where the game was already on. “Who’s ahead?” I needed food and baseball before I’d be ready to talk about Elton.
“Indians.”
I kissed Daddy’s cheek and then sank down next to Parker on the sofa.
“You sure everything’s okay?” he asked. “You’re not your usual cheerful self.”
That’s all it took for me to spill. “Elton asked me out today.”
“Elton? Is that the yoga guy?” Daddy asked without taking his eyes from the game.
“Did you tell Hailey?” Parker asked.
I shook my head. “You were right about him. He thinks he’s too good for her. I can’t believe I didn’t see what a tool he is.”
“If it makes you feel any better, I wish I hadn’t been right.” He pulled me into a side hug and squeezed my shoulder.
“Me too.” I rested my head on his chest. “I don’t know how I’m going to tell Hailey. She’s going to hate me.”
“Why would anyone hate you?” Daddy asked, still more interested in the game than the conversation, but at least he tried. “There’s no one more lovable than you.”
“Thanks, Daddy,” I said. “Except your opinion may be a little biased.”
He tore his eyes away from the game long enough to give me a stern look. “It’s not an opinion. It’s a fact.”
“Listen to your dad,” Parker said and waved his head in Daddy’s direction. “Tell Hailey the truth. You’re a good friend to her, and it’s impossible to hate you. She’ll get over him.”
“I hope so.”
I sat up and ate my burgers and fries. After I’d finished, he motioned me back into his arm where I nestled my head on his shoulder and stayed there. Everything looked better from that angle. Even the World Series without my Angels.
After the game ended, I walked Parker to the door and said goodbye.
“Hey.” He paused in the doorway. “Maybe this will cheer you up. I’m starting a legal defense fund for garment workers, so I’m throwing a charity party kind of thing around Christmas to fundraise for it. Can I hire you to do it for me?”
“Really?” I loved my flowers, but I missed the excitement of planning events. “I’d love to!” I shouted and threw my arms around him.
“See? I knew that would make you feel better.” He stepped back with a conqueror’s smile and his hands still on my waist.
“Is that the only reason you asked me? To cheer me up?” I stepped out of his embrace and back into all the humiliation I’d been feeling before. I didn’t need his pity; I needed his confidence.
“Of course not. I’m hiring you because, first of all, I don’t want to do it . . .” He moved closer and stared down his nose at me with an intensity I hadn’t seen before. “Second, I trust you to do it.” He brought his hand close to my face, and my breath caught as I waited for him to touch me. His fingertips brushed my cheek, and time stopped.
Then he tugged the curls hanging in my eyes and asked, “Are you ever going to tame these things?”
The earth started turning again in the same way it always had.
“You’d still find a way to pull them even if I did.” I pushed him out the door and went back upstairs.
“You and Parker were pretty cozy,” Daddy said when I walked into the room.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked and helped him up from his chair. “We’re just friends.”
“Hmm.” A gentle smile spread across his face. “Your mom and I started as friends too.” He kissed me on the cheek and walked down the hall to his bedroom, leaving me to think about what he’d implied.
That was the closest Daddy had ever come to encouraging me to date someone. He’d never had much to say about boys I’d dated, other than that he wouldn’t give me up to anyone who couldn’t take care of me as well as he did (I was fine with him thinking he was the one doing the taking-care-of). Daddy had missed my mom every day since she’d died. It would kill him if I ever left.
But he had me thinking. I always thought Daddy meant he’d only give me up to someone who had as much money as he did, but Parker barely had any money at all. Maybe Daddy meant someone who loved me as much as he did. If any man came close to how much Daddy loved me, I guess it might be Parker, if I was looking for a brotherly kind of love.
Of course, I’d be devastated if Parker really fell in love with someone. I’d already lost most of my support system to marriage. I didn’t want to lose him too. That was the problem with people falling in love: they gave up everything for one person. Daddy had pretty much given up his whole life after Mom died. I didn’t ever want to love like that.