By some miracle we got the order done and to the funeral home on time, but after paying the other florist and driving all the way to Carlsbad to pick up the arrangements, I didn’t make any money. If I counted the cost of gas, I lost money. Plus I still had a stack of other orders to fill when I got back to the shop, which were already late. Those I could do alone, but I wouldn’t be closing by five o’clock. First, though, I had a harder job to do.
When I walked into the shop Hailey was cleaning up the backroom. I should have been happy about it, but it’s something I never did until the end of the day when all my orders were done. I’d have to get everything back out that she’d just put away.
“I know you have to fire me, so I’m going to quit so you don’t have to,” she said before I’d even put my purse away. I appreciated her making things easier for me, but I also saw hope in her eyes. She didn’t think I’d really do it, but I knew I had to. If this had been her first mistake, I could let it slide. But even after months of training, she still couldn’t arrange flowers without damaging so many it cost me more to have her do them than I could make selling them. And, obviously, she still didn’t know how to work with our ordering system. I may not have been in the flower business to make loads of money, but I also wasn’t in it to lose money.
“I’m sorry, Hailey.” I didn’t know what else to say. Her whole body deflated like one of those giant jump houses kids have at birthday parties. They’re the happiest things in the world when they’re filled with kids bouncing and laughing, but as soon as they’re all crumpled up on the ground, they’re a depressing reminder that everything good has to come to an end.
“It’s really okay.” She wiped her thumb under her eye. “You’ve been the best boss I’ve ever had—”
“I’m the only boss you’ve ever had.” I walked to her and wrapped her in my arms. “We’re still friends, right? You may not be cut out for the flower business, but you’re definitely cut out to be a bestie. I don’t know what I’d do without you and Xander.”
“Obvs.” She pulled away and rubbed the bottom of her nose, keeping her eyes pointed at the ground. “I’m gonna need some time to get over feeling so dumb. I tried so hard to do this job right, and I messed a million things up.”
“You messed a few things up, not a million.” I walked to the front counter and pulled out a box of tissues from under it. “The thing is, you don’t have a passion for flowers, and that’s okay. I’m good at this because I love it.” I handed her a tissue, and she blew her nose.
“I wanted to love it because you do, but I still can’t figure out what the big deal is about flowers.” She reached for another tissue, and I noticed her nails. They were hard to miss with their electric-blue polish. But on the ring finger of each hand the nails had an intricate beach scene painted on them.
I grabbed her hand for a closer look. “Hailey, these are your best yet.”
The sun on both nails wasn’t just orange. It had shades of red in it. And the umbrella on the beach had something written on it. I held her hand closer to see what it said. “How did you write Tommy Bahama so small?”
The pride in her eyes moved to her smile, and her tears were gone. “I was going to write Corona, but Tommy Bahama was more of a challenge, so I tried that.”
“Well, you nailed it, girl. No pun intended.” I let go of her hand and looked at her. For the first time I saw who she was and not what I thought she should be. “You love doing this, don’t you?”
“Nails?” She shrugged and walked to the playpen to pick up Xander even though he was perfectly happy. “I mean, yeah, I like it. I love helping people feel pretty. Everyone can have smokin’ nails. But it’s not like a real job I could do for the rest of my life.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know.” She shrugged again. “That’s just what you told me. You said I’d need my own salon to make any money.”
“You need to forget what I told you. It was probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever said.”
“Really?”
“Really. You should do what you have a passion for. Quit wasting your time here and in college classes you hate. Go do what you love. Life is too short not to.”
She didn’t answer right away, but a light turned on. For the first time she had this air of confidence around her. Super weird, because she’d just been fired.
“I think I should finish college,” she said finally. “I want to keep taking business classes. But maybe I could do nail school too. Then I could open my own shop, like you said.” She moved Xander to her hip and picked up her diaper bag.
“I think that’s a great idea.” I wanted to hug her, but I touched her arm instead. “I’ll send the brides who hire me to you for their nails. You’re going to be the hottest thing in town.”
“You really think so?”
“As long as you quit taking my advice, I know so.”
I helped her pack up her things and walked her to the back door. I pushed it open, and someone yelled, “Whoa!” from the other side, sending my pulse racing.
Parker stepped from behind the open door, and my heart slowed to a flutter. An annoying flutter that had nothing to do with the shock of seeing him. If he and Hailey had something going on, my heart had no business acting like a kid on Christmas morning.
“Hi!” Hailey squeezed past me through the doorway and stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “What are you doing here?”
“Trying not to get crushed.” He pulled Hailey out of my way.
“Sorry, I didn’t know you were out here,” I said and brushed by him to get to Hailey’s car. I was carrying the playpen, and it was heavy. Everything felt heavy at the moment.
“Let me take that.” He reached for the playpen’s nylon handle, his hand touching mine.
“I’m fine.” I jerked away, nearly knocking myself over with the force.
His forehead creased with a question he didn’t ask, but I guessed it had something to do with why I was being so rude.
“Hailey’s car is right there,” I said more gently and jutted my chin toward the rusted Honda Civic with mismatched doors. She shouldn’t have been driving a hazard like that, especially not with a baby in it. But I reminded myself it was the best she could do.
“What’s with all the stuff?” he asked as he opened Hailey’s trunk for me.
I dropped the playpen into the trunk, and Parker took the diaper bag off Hailey’s shoulder and set it next to the playpen.
“She’ll need that up front,” I said.
“I’m going to find a new job,” Hailey answered the question I’d avoided.
“Why?” Parker’s concern brought the same burning to my cheeks I’d felt the night before when we talked on the phone. How could I defend letting Hailey go after he’d basically told me to be nicer?
I looked to Hailey to answer. She stared back at me.
“We decided she should pursue what she loves,” I answered finally.
“That, and I totally screwed up an order.” Hailey grabbed the fist Xander was beating against her chest and kissed it as though he were the one who needed comforting.
“You got fired?” Parker asked.
Hailey nodded at the same time I shook my head. Parker’s eyes bored into me. I could feel them trying to see through my skull into my brain, looking for the sensitivity chip that must have come dislodged.
“I’m sure it wasn’t bad enough to be fired.” He stepped closer to Hailey, blocking my view of her.
“I didn’t fire her. I let her go,” I said.
“What’s the difference?” he asked in a voice more gentle than I expected.
“We both decided she should use her creative talents doing nails.” I peeked around him at Hailey, who still held Xander’s fist close to her mouth as she rocked him on her hip. “That’s what she loves.”
Parker moved closer to me but looked back at Hailey. “Really?”
She nodded, but her red-rimmed eyes made her nodding less convincing and my decision less certain. I thought I’d done the right thing, but maybe I’d let my jealousy over Parker’s feelings for her influence me. Maybe I’d made a bigger deal of her mistakes than I should have.
Except, I reminded myself, my Yelp reviews had gone from excellent to good since she’d started, and a lot of the negative comments were about Hailey’s customer service.
“Are you okay?” Parker directed the question to Hailey but then looked back at me. He stood close enough to gently put his hand on my elbow, and Hailey’s eyes followed Parker’s touch then went back to his face. He would have noticed the tears that sprang to her eyes had he been looking at her instead of me, but he didn’t.
“You know what?” Hailey’s voice trembled. “I’m fine.” She turned her back to Parker and me and swung the passenger car door open. “I’ve been on my own my entire life, and I don’t need charity from anyone. Especially not from some snob who’s had a perfect life or a guy who thinks he’s too good for me.” She jerked the front seat forward and shoved Xander into the car seat in the back.
“Hailey!” I didn’t know what to say beyond that. Not that she could have heard anything over Xander’s wails or the hollow clang of the door being slammed shut. She hurried past us, bumping me out of her way.
“Wait, Hailey—” I grabbed her arm, but she twisted away from me.
“No, seriously. I don’t need you or Parker.” She yanked her car door open. “Just leave me alone,” she added before slamming the door shut and starting the engine.
“Let her go.” Parker moved me out of the way as she backed up the car.
“She was fine ten minutes ago.”
She drove down the alley, and tears welled up in my own eyes. Every relationship in my life was officially a mess. Caroline and Taylor didn’t have time for me, Parker thought I was oblivious, and Hailey hated me. The only person I could count on was my dad.
“What got her so mad?” Parker asked and led me into the store.
“I have no idea. She seemed excited about making a new start until you showed up.” My eyes were drawn to the spot where Xander’s playpen had been for the past eight months. I felt as empty as it looked. Then it hit me why she freaked out.
“Did you come here to see her or me?” I asked him.
“You.” He bit his lip. “I’ve got something to tell you.”
He loves me. The thought flickered through my head, but then I remembered our conversation from the night before. He couldn’t love me when I treated people the way I’d treated Nancy. And now he had Hailey to add to that list. She’d be at the top of his People-Eliza-Is-Mean-To list if he felt the same way about her that she did about him.
I took a deep breath to gear up for what he had to tell me. “Is it about Hailey?”
“No.” He shook his head slowly. “Why would it be about Hailey?”
He looked genuinely confused. I opened my mouth to tell him how she felt but then changed my mind and shook my head instead. “I don’t know.”
“I thought Hailey might be here but figured I could text her later,” he said. “You’re the one I have to apologize to before I go.”
He’d come to apologize? That was a surprise. But then the rest of his sentence hit me. “Go where?”
“I found a place in L.A., which is where I need to be to grow my nonprofit.” He rubbed the back of his neck. He always had a knot there. I kept telling him yoga would help, but he never listened. “I’ve taken advantage of your dad’s charity for too long.”
“You’re moving?” I didn’t care about the apology anymore. He’d been right about everything he’d said, so there wasn’t a reason for him to apologize.
He nodded.
“When?” I almost would have preferred the news that he had feelings for Hailey. At least then I’d still get to see him. L.A. wasn’t far, but it may as well have been a million miles away as often as I got there between taking care of Daddy and my shop.
“This weekend.” He stuck his hands in his pockets and stared at the floor. “There’s not really a reason to wait.”
“You’re not going to Taylor’s wedding?”
He shook his head, a slow, almost imperceptible movement. “She’s more your friend than mine, and I don’t have the money to spend on tickets to Hawaii.”
“I can get you tickets!” He’d been gone for years and I’d been fine without him, but now I didn’t know how that had even been possible. And I didn’t know how I’d face all the emotions I knew Taylor’s wedding would bring up without him by my side.
“Eliza, you can’t keep throwing money at every problem that needs to be solved.” Parker looked as surprised by what he said as I felt. He took a step toward me, but I turned around and began pulling ribbon from the shelf. His words stung as much as the tears I fought back.
“I’m sorry. That was too harsh,” he said softly.
“It’s fine. I’m used to you telling me what I’m doing wrong.” I kept my back to him and unwound ribbon to make a bow, but I could no more make a bow right then than I could solve a calculus problem.
“Listen, Eliza . . .” He touched my arm then stepped in front of me and tried to make me meet his gaze, but I kept my eyes on the floor. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I say things that make you feel like what you’re doing or who you are is wrong. I think you’re pretty close to perfect.”
My eyes darted up. “You do?” There was a softness in his eyes I hadn’t seen in months, and it gave me the overwhelming urge to tell him I loved him. So many things in my life were changing and uncertain, but that’s the thing I knew without a doubt. I loved him.
Even with that certainty I didn’t know for sure that he felt the same. If he didn’t, everything about us would change. We would never again have the easy friendship we enjoyed. We might not even be friends. I couldn’t risk that, so I didn’t. I didn’t say anything about how I felt.
“Of course I do.” He moved the hand he had on my arm to my fingertips. “I’m sorry I said all those things last night. I know you were upset about Blake, and I should have been nicer about it.”
“I was upset, but that wasn’t an excuse to treat Nancy the way I did.” I took a chance and moved my fingers so they were firmly in his palm. “You said everything I needed to hear.” Everything I needed to be a better person.
“But it’s not my job to . . .” He squeezed my hand, triggering a jolt of hope that ran the length of my arm to my heart. “It’s not my job to lecture you. You’re not a kid anymore. I didn’t mean to treat you like you were my little sister or something.”
“True. I’m not your sister.” I moved closer to him, and our eyes locked.
“No, you’re not.” Parker leaned toward me, and heat rippled through me. He must have felt it too, but his reaction was the exact opposite of what I wanted. “But you are practically family.” He let go of my hand and stepped back. “I should treat you better, especially when you’ve been going through a hard time.”
There was my answer. He still thought of me like a sister, not like a grown woman he could fall in love with. I didn’t know if he was in love with Hailey or not, but I knew for sure he wasn’t in love with me.
“Thanks for coming to say goodbye,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. Normally I would have hugged him, but I couldn’t do it then. Instead I stepped around him to walk to the cooler. “I’ve got a couple arrangements to get done.”
“Okay.” He followed me to the cooler where I opened the door but didn’t step in, hoping for some kind of encouragement before he left. “I’m sorry about missing the wedding.”
“You should probably tell Taylor, not me.”
“I will.”
“Okay.” I turned my head toward the inside of the cooler. “I should get back to work. Good luck in L.A.”
“Thanks.”
That’s all he said before he walked out the door, leaving me to wonder if I’d just made the biggest mistake of my life for letting him.