by Lucy Score
He was watching her, eyes squinting in the sun. She liked the crinkles by his eyes.
“I’m leaving in a week,” he began.
Gloria felt her face fall. It was stupid to be attached to him. They’d spent a handful of hours together. They weren’t even friends. But that didn’t change the fact that she was bitterly disappointed that he was leaving.
“Do you need someone to water your plants?” she offered lamely.
“I don’t—Actually that would be really great. If you wouldn’t mind.”
Great. Something to add to her resume. Plant babysitter. Awesome. Oh, God. What if she killed all his plants?
“Sure.” There was more enthusiasm in summer school attendees than she put in that one word.
“But that’s not what I was going to talk to you about. I’d like to date you, Gloria.”
The glug of water she’d just taken to wash down the bitterness of disappointment came back out on a cough and ran down her chin. Gently, he mopped her face with a napkin.
She swallowed what was left in her mouth. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I heard you correctly.”
He grinned. “That’s not the reaction I was expecting. It’ll be a fun story to tell our grandkids, though.”
Gloria’s head was spinning. “Back up a minute?”
He nodded amiably. “Sure. See, I’ve had a crush on you for a touch over a decade. And I didn’t make my move for a variety of reasons. But I’ve never stopped crushing on you. So, when I get back in six months, I’d like to take you out.”
“You want to go on a date with me in six months?” She couldn’t date someone! She couldn’t date Aldo. She didn’t even know how to be attracted to a man let alone date, be in a relationship.
“I can see I’ve swept you off your feet.” He reached for her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “The choice is yours. If you think I’m a hideous beast with no redeeming qualities, say the word, and I promise to go back to admiring you from afar.”
What was there to admire? Was there some kind of victim fetish that existed out there in the dark corners of the internet? Gloria made a mental note to check.
“I don’t think you’re a hideous beast,” she assured him. “But I’m not sure why you’d want to date damaged goods.”
He squeezed her hand tighter. Not so that it hurt or made her give in but so that she could feel his strength and take comfort in it. It was nice. “I know why you think that, sweetheart, but I hope you know I could never think of you that way,” he said softly. The gentleness in his tone, his touch, brought the burn of tears to the backs of her eyes. “That’s why I’m not begging for a date now. You just got your freedom back. You need to build a life that works for you. And when I come home—if you’ll have me—I’m going to fit myself into that life.”
“Did you forget to take some kind of medication today? Maybe hit your head?”
With his free hand, Aldo cupped her cheek. The touch was so tender, so sweet, that Gloria felt her heart do a belly flop right into her stomach. “Here’s the thing. I don’t want to terrify you, but you’re stronger than you think, Glo. You can handle the truth. I think you might be the girl I’ve been waiting my whole life for. But I want you to see who I see. I want you to remember what it’s like to be you.”
She closed her eyes and leaned into that big, warm palm. “I don’t know if I can,” she confessed.
“I believe in you, Gloria.”
“What if I’m different than you think?” she whispered.
He shifted closer to her. “Then be different. Be you. There’s so much good inside you. No one can take that away from you.”
“I can’t just fall into another relationship, Aldo,” she breathed. “I can’t get carried away and lose myself again.”
“I know. I also know you don’t believe me when I say I know you won’t. But it’s the truth. You’re never going back there, Gloria. You’re stronger than that.”
He believed that. He honestly believed she wouldn’t make another mistake that had already cost her so much of her life. She could see it in his eyes, so earnest. He was so careful with her. But that didn’t mean he would always be. And it didn’t mean that she was as strong as he thought she was.
“One date when I come home,” he pressed. “I couldn’t leave next week without telling you how I feel. Without asking you.”
He was pressuring her. But in a way so different from Glenn.
“What do you want me to do while you’re gone?” she asked.
He shook his head. It was the wrong question. It was the question of someone accustomed to not mattering.
“Do what you want. Whatever you need. Find a job. Go to school. Travel. Date. I’m coming back, and I’m coming back to ask you out. But you need that time to yourself. Take it. Find yourself. Be yourself.”
She nodded. Wondering how he could be so sure, why he wasn’t demanding a promise to him right here and now. Because he was Aldo. He had faith.
“One date?” she repeated.
“It’s all your decision, Gloria. Your choice. I won’t pressure you. I don’t want you like that. I’m not going to step on you making a life for yourself. I want to be a part of what you build. Okay?”
She nodded tentatively. In six months, she would have a first date with Aldo Moretta. She would be different than she was today.
“Okay. And I’ll still water your plants.”
13
“You look great,” Harper said with enthusiasm.
“Thanks,” Gloria replied automatically. Her friend had reported that same fact four times now, and she wondered if Harper were even more nervous than she was. She’d dipped into her slim stash of cash for the outfit. Red espadrilles, navy cropped pants with white blooms everywhere, and a white short-sleeved sweater. An investment in her future. If she had one.
Harper chattered on about floral designs and the industry, waving her hands in excitement.
Gloria thought about the Gloria Who Left Glenn After the First Time. Where would she work? She wouldn’t be terrified of job interviews. She’d sweep into them, utterly fashionable and perfectly poised, with a confidence that convinced everyone she was the best fit for the job. Other Gloria would be important. She’d fill an essential role. Indispensable, her annual reviews would say when they were delivered with a hefty bonus.
“Claire says that Della and Fred are the nicest people in the world, and they’re not necessarily looking for experience but someone with enthusiasm,” Harper continued, bringing Gloria back to her current reality.
“Enthusiasm,” Gloria repeated. Her thoughts had been a blur set on repeat since lunch with Aldo two days before. The man wanted to date her. But not the her now. The six months into the future her. What if six months into the future Gloria was no different than the current “poor little Gloria Parker?” What if she were a cabaret singer in Reno? What if—
“I have a good feeling about this,” Harper insisted, drawing her from her thoughts.
The owners at Blooms had reached out to Gloria at the behest of Luke Garrison’s mother, a part-time florist, about a job managing the flower shop. Both Fred and Della were looking to free up more of their time to start traveling. The RV was waxed and gassed up, ready to go for the summer. But they needed someone who could handle the day-to-day of the business.
“Do you really think I can manage a business?” Gloria asked. There was no way she was getting this job. They would have to be insane to hire her.
“Do I look like an office manager to you?” Harper teased. “Every job is the same. You learn the people, and you learn one task at a time. Boom. You’re a vital, contributing employee.”
Gloria wasn’t quite as confident as Harper.
The interview request had come when she was minutes away from applying for a job at a fast food drive-thru. To be fair, Gloria didn’t have any experience there either. She would rather surround herself with flowers than hurried people throwing orders and money at her through a greasy w
indow. But she’d do either and be damned grateful.
Physically, she was healed. And she wasn’t going to get anywhere emotionally until she could become a productive member of society.
Blooms was housed in a cheery glass and wood-shingled building on the outskirts of town. A riot of colorful flowers crowded the front windows, giving the place the look of an exotic forest. It even smelled beautiful.
Gloria’s espadrilles froze on the sidewalk. “I don’t think I can do this.” It was too pretty, too busy, too much. She had no experience. Two weeks ago, her goal in life had been not to take another punch. What the hell did she know about lilies and…hell. She couldn’t even name another flower off the top of her head. She was going to vomit on the sidewalk. That would be a stellar first impression.
Harper snapped her fingers in front of Gloria’s face. “Hey! You tell that voice to shut the hell up.”
“What voice?” Gloria asked, turning her back on Blooms, not able to bear the disappointment.
“The voice that is telling you you’re worthless, you’re nothing, you’ll never make anything of yourself. Blah blah blah.”
“How did you know?” Gloria asked. She’d started talking to herself a while ago for company. Pathetic. She knew it. But if she’d suddenly lost the ability to keep her thoughts to herself in the company of others, she needed more than one appointment with a therapist.
“I’ve had those voices,” Harper said simply. “Spoiler alert: they only tell lies.”
Gloria clenched her hands into fists and crossed her arms. “How do you get them to stop?”
“What would you do if someone came up to me right now and told me I had a stupid, ugly face?” Harper asked.
Gloria couldn’t imagine anyone telling Harper that…and living to tell the tale.
“You’d defend me or tell me it wasn’t true,” Harper steamrolled on. “Talk to yourself like you’re your own best friend and those other voices will leave you alone.”
Huh. Easier said than done.
“Just try it,” Harper insisted, sensing her reluctance.
“Do you really think I can do this?” Gloria asked, watching a man in jeans and flannel struggle through the door under a massive pink and ivory bouquet.
“We’re having a baby girl,” he announced to them and practically skipped to his car in the parking lot.
“Congratulations,” Gloria called after him.
Harper laid a hand on Gloria’s shoulder. “You’re asking the wrong question. Do you want this? Do you want to know who’s having a baby girl and who got in trouble for forgetting a birthday? Do you want to be part of every graduation, anniversary, and funeral in this town? Do you want to make beautiful things and help people give beautiful gifts?”
She didn’t have to think about it. “Yes.”
“Then get your tiny ass in there.” Harper steered her toward the door. “I’ll wait for you out here, and we’ll go to lunch to celebrate.”
“What if I don’t get it?”
“Then you had your first job interview of your life, and the second one will go even better.”
With a small nod, Gloria straightened her shoulders and marched up to the front door. “I’m getting a milkshake,” she told Harper.
“That’s my girl!”
Inside it was cool and fragrant. There was music, soft and spa-like, filtering through speakers tucked away in corners. Natural wood shelves lined one wall, filled to the brim with greenery, vases, and knickknacks. There were ready-made wildflower bouquets in buckets next to the register, the perfect impulse purchase. Larger, more impressive arrangements were on display in a cooler against the wall. Tall houseplants made up a jungle of sorts in the middle of the tile floor.
A buxom woman wearing reading glasses on a chain tottered out of the back with a clipboard in one hand and an iPad in the other. Her blonde hair was streaked gray, and she wore chunky silver earrings.
“Gloria! So great to meet you officially. I’m Della.”
Gloria recognized her in the way that one small town resident recognizes another resident they’ve never actually met.
Mechanically, Gloria extended her hand. “Thank you for having me, Della.”
“Let me show you around,” Della said. “This is the sales floor,” she said, waving her arm grandly at the colorful chaos around them. “We do a lot of spontaneous foot traffic business with the ready-made bouquets. But most of our business is special orders, birthdays, funerals, weddings, apologies, etc.”
She waved to the register. “You’d be responsible for answering the phone, ringing up sales, updating SKU information in the POS. How are you at social media?”
“Oh. Um. I have Pinterest.”
“You’d need to learn Facebook and Instagram. Screw Twitter. Buncha whiners. My nephew told me I can run ads based on geographical location through Facebook, so I want that to start ASAP.”
Ads? Geographical location? Instagram? Gloria was starting to hyperventilate.
Della led the way past the register and into the back room. If it was chaotic in the front, it was tornado aftermath back here. Work surfaces were littered with cut stems, chunks of green Styrofoam, pieces of ribbon. Bruised petals were carelessly strewn in and around the two trash cans. Shelves held a clutter of supplies, shears, and greeting cards.
“This is where we assemble most of our arrangements,” Della explained. “We had a wedding this weekend, and we’re still cleaning up.”
“In there”—she gestured toward a big metal door— “is our cooler where all the fresh blooms are kept. Deliveries come in the back and go straight into the cooler. Sometimes you might need to whip up an arrangement if none of our floral designers are available.”
Gloria nodded. Not sure if she should be taking notes.
“For this position, you’d be doing a little bit of everything. We need someone who will coordinate deliveries, handle orders, potentially yell at suppliers when the orders come in wrong.” Della led the way into a narrow hallway off of which were a small bathroom, an equally sparse kitchen, and an office in the midst of what looked like a purge. “We use QuickBooks. Willing to train, of course.”
Gloria wasn’t one hundred percent sure what QuickBooks was. And she was pretty sure the only thing she was qualified for was sweeping the floors here.
“Let’s grab some coffee,” Della decided, leading the way back to the kitchen. She poured from the pot into floral mugs and gestured at the rickety table in the corner.
Gloria hesitated and then grabbed two sugars. She was more of a tea person, but she could manage a coffee if it made a better first impression. She took the seat opposite Della. The woman measured her with cool green eyes. Gloria sipped. Della nodded as if she’d decided.
“So the job is yours if you want it.”
Gloria blinked. “But you haven’t even asked me any questions.”
“Look, I don’t like the whole ‘show me your resume’ song and dance. None of our employees came from a flower background. I hire people, not experience.”
Score one for Gloria.
“I’ve never had a job, and I don’t know what QuickBooks is,” Gloria said. It was suddenly imperative that she be completely honest.
“Let me tell you a story, Gloria. I was married before. Twenty-two. An idiot. Married the first guy who made eyes at me. That guy turned out to be an ass. Took me two years to get out with a black eye, a broken arm, and a baby on my hip. I drove all night, heading east, and I landed in this Podunk town in Indiana. I dug out change from the floormats of my third-hand car just to get a cup of coffee at a diner.”
Della paused, staring down at her mug fondly.
“Mabel, the blue-haired, pack-a-day smoking owner, took one look at me and gave me a job on the spot and a room to rent. She changed my life. And I promised myself that someday I’d be in the same position to do something for someone.”
Gloria looked down at the worn table top. Shame flushed her cheeks. “I don’t want charity,�
� she said quietly.
“Good. You shouldn’t.” She nodded briskly. “This is a chance to learn, to work really damn hard, to earn your way. So if you’re not up for that, then no hard feelings. But if you do say yes, you’ll start tomorrow, and I promise you we’ll teach you everything you need to know and someday you’ll be in the position to give someone else a chance.”
Gloria pursed her lips, feeling emotion tighten her throat.
“Are you ready to work your ass off? Be proud of yourself? Learn a daisy from a daylily?”
Gloria nodded. “Yes. Yes, I am.”
Della cracked a smile that lit up her whole face. “Good. I’ll see you at seven tomorrow morning.”
“Really? Are you sure? I mean I don’t know half of the things you want me to know.”
“You can learn them, can’t you? And I can be patient until you get your feet wet.”
Gloria was out of her chair and hugging Della in a show of spontaneous affection. “Thank you! Thank you! I’m going to try really hard to make sure you never regret this,” she promised.
Della chuckled. “Don’t be late. Oh, and wear comfortable shoes.”
Harper was sunning herself on a stack of mulch bags in the parking lot when Gloria skipped over to her.
Gloria nudged her friend’s foot, and Harper peered lazily over her sunglasses. “Well?”
“Let’s get lunch. My treat!”
She’d worry about how the hell she was going to learn it all and make sure Della never regretted her decision later. For now, she was going to drink a milkshake and figure out what to wear to work tomorrow.
14
Gloria: Who’s got two thumbs and a job at Blooms? This girl!
Aldo re-read the text for the 700th time and clicked on the picture she sent with it. She was grinning and pointing at herself with both thumbs. He doubted Gloria saw anything special in the picture, but it was there. That joy radiating out of her, reached out and grabbed him by the throat every time he looked at it.
