One Way Ticket

by Melissa Baldwin

  “Addi!” Leonardo called over to me, making me almost jump out of my skin.

  I looked up at him, plastering on as innocent a look as I could manage—flushed with guilt as I was.

  “Look at who’s here to see you,” Leonardo said, his eyes wide and sparkling with mischief.

  I just knew he was loving this. The boss’s ex, here to see the new girl.

  Ooh, the scandal!

  As the self-confessed Leonardo Dicatrio, I was quite certain he would be dining out on this tonight.

  I softened my features the way I’d seen someone do once on a YouTube video on how to look cool in the face of adversity and smiled. “Oh, Todd. Hello. How lovely to see you again,” I said, putting on my professional, “you can only be here on business” voice.

  I suspected I sounded a little too much like Mrs. Thornhill, though, with her over-the-top airs and graces.

  Todd’s smile teased me as he moved closer. “As it is to see you, too, Addison,” he said, imitating me with a cheeky smile.

  I swear my heart skipped a beat.

  I stayed behind the counter, needing it for stability—and protection. Not that it could do anything to stop those body tingles Todd’s presence elicited.

  I was wearing The Flower Girl light green-and-white striped apron over my floral dress. I wiped my clammy hands on it and said a silent apology to Sabrina.

  “What can I do for you this fine day?”

  I did an internal eye roll at myself for using such polite and proper language. I was desperate, and he’d caught me totally off guard.

  I placed my hands on the counter, lacing my fingers together. A warm flush crept up my neck, and I could feel it blooming in my cheeks.

  Dammit! I was such a teenage girl around this guy.

  Todd raised his eyebrows at me, biting back a smile as he took a step closer. “It certainly is a fine day, Addison.”

  I glanced at Leonardo, standing behind Todd. He had crossed his arms over his chest and was shooting me a look that was both judgmental and enthralled at the same time.

  Oh yeah, he was loving this bizarre little interaction.

  I cleared my throat. “Why, yes, Todd. Yes, it is. Quite a fine day.”

  This really had to stop. We sounded like we were in a black-and-white film from the forties. Any moment now, we would break into a song and dance routine about the weather.

  My tone still professional to the point of sounding like I was reading the news on TV, I asked, “Can I help you with a nice floral arrangement? We have some lovely flowers in today, as you can see. Maybe something nice for your mother?”

  I instantly thought of Sabrina’s mother, Prickle, pacing the living room floor, and almost giggled. I wondered if Todd knew I’d had a run-in with her?

  “Ah, no. I—” he began, leaning his elbow on the counter and speaking in a quieter voice.

  He paused, and we both looked over at Leonardo. He was making no effort whatsoever to hide his fascination with us. I raised my eyebrows at him and shot him a look I hoped he would read as “this is private, now get on with some work!”

  Instead, he waved his hand in the air. “Oh, don’t mind me.” He batted his eyelids—no, really—and smiled at us both.

  Todd turned back to face me, and we shared a look.

  “Wha-what were you going to say?” I asked.

  “I wanted to ask if you’d like to go out with me so I can show you some of the sights. You know, as friends.” He cleared his throat, looking distinctly uncomfortable. “Just as friends.”

  I swallowed. “That sounds great. Going somewhere as friends would be nice. What did you have in mind?”

  “How about you leave that up to the local? I have some ideas.”

  I couldn’t help but wonder whether any of those ideas involved us kissing the lips off one another. I mean, kissing was friendly, right? I forcibly pushed the thought from my mind.

  “That sounds awesome!” I replied, doing my Mickey Mouse impersonation once more. I lowered my voice back to human range. “I mean, that would be nice. Thank you.”

  We arranged a date and time and agreed to meet right here, outside The Flower Girl.

  “Bring a warm jacket, okay?” he said.

  “Got it.”

  “Great. See you then.” He turned to leave. “See you later, Leonardo.”

  “Oh, bye, Todd. I totally forgot you were here.”

  I watched as Todd exited the shop and turned to face Leonardo. I shook my head at him, pursing my lips.

  “What?” he said, his hands facing palm up.

  Yeah, like he hadn’t been trying to listen in on everything we’d said.

  I put my hands on my hips. “You know exactly what.”

  “Come on, babe. If you have something for Todd and he has something for you, then go for it. Sabrina literally ran out on him, like literally. The guy could use some attention. And he’s hotter than a habanero chili. You get in there, girl!”

  “Oh, no,” I replied, vehemently shaking my head. “It’s not like that at all.”

  He arched one eyebrow at me, like Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers movies. I had always wanted to be able to do that, going so far as taping one of my brows down to train it to stay put. It was an abject failure, of course, and I even managed to pull a few eyebrow hairs out on the tape.

  “It’s not,” I said with conviction, even though not even I believed it.

  “Whatever you say, princess.” His one eyebrow was still arched as his eyes danced with mischief.

  I shook my head at him. I knew it was obvious, so I decided to come clean. “Okay, you got me. I . . . like him.”

  “I knew it!” He was so excited, you’d think he’d just solved one of those old mysteries no one knew the answer to, not just worked out I had a thing for some guy.

  “But you have to know, it can’t go anywhere.”

  “Honey, if Todd weren’t straight, he could go anywhere he liked with me.”

  I let out a laugh. “Good to know. But for him and me? It can only ever be friendship.”

  “Why?”

  “He was engaged to Sabrina! I couldn’t do that to her.”

  “I love Sabrina, but she’s not here. And if you ask me, things were not perfect in ‘Sabrina-and-Todd Land’ long before she left him on their wedding day. My bet is she’s moved on, and Todd’s not far from doing the same.”

  I knitted my brows together. Sabrina had said she’d been unsure about marrying Todd, that in the end it felt like they were getting married more because everyone expected them to than because they actually wanted to.

  Maybe Todd felt the same way.

  A man dressed in a business suit approached the counter and cleared his throat, interrupting our conversation. He was looking for a bouquet of roses for his wife, and I set about helping him.

  But for the rest of the day, I couldn’t get Leonardo’s words out of my mind.

  Chapter 16

  Sabrina

  Everything looks set for the Thornhill wedding. I hope I’m going to make you proud!

  “Sabrina? Hello, Sabrina?”

  I shook my head to force myself out of my daydream. In my mind, I was envisioning every detail of my next evening out with Ethan. We made plans to go out on Friday night, and he was taking me to the Orlando Eye, one of the places I hadn’t visited yet. I was busy imagining the two of us looking out over the lights of the city and maybe catching some fireworks from one of the theme parks.

  I was secretly hoping for some kind of romantic gesture, maybe his arms around my waist with this chin resting on my shoulder? Obviously, I had put a lot of thought into the upcoming evening, especially after he kissed me on the cheek at the end of our coffee date. It had taken everything in my power to stay on my feet, because when his lips touched my face, my legs turned to Jell-O.

  I was actually proud of myself I’d managed to stay upright.

  After being out of the dating world for many years, I didn’t know what to expect. It made me f
eel good knowing Ethan respected my situation and the fact that I just got out of a long-term relationship. He didn’t even try to bust a move, other than putting his hand on mine when we were sitting at the table, which was probably just him being nice, anyway.

  I didn’t consider it to be a big deal, especially by today’s standards. Naomi and a few of our single friends had profiles on those online dating websites and apps. The idea of meeting some random guy online just didn’t appeal to me, but to each their own.

  Not to mention, my mother would probably lose her mind if I joined one of those sites.

  Huh, in that case, maybe it was something to consider?

  “Sabrina?” Isabella called again.

  Hmm . . . I wondered if Isabella was on those dating websites.

  “Sorry. I zoned out for a second.”

  Okay, so maybe it was more than a second. I was doing a lot of daydreaming lately, but today wasn’t the day to act like a silly teenager with a crush. I was supposed to be focused on the flower arrangements for Christina’s bridal shower.

  Although, according to Kiki with the lavender hair, sitting across the table from me, there was already trouble in paradise.

  “Christina and her mother had a huge fight about the menu and some other stuff,” Kiki said as she smacked her gum. “It was so bad Christina told her mother not to come to the wedding! But, the next day she realized she needed mommy’s credit card for all the expenses that were coming up, so she retracted her statement. She claimed the stress was getting to her, and now she says a spa day’s needed to ‘calm her nerves.’” Kiki rolled her eyes as she began to play with the tulip petals.

  Judging by her reaction, I couldn’t help but think Kiki was more than a little annoyed by Christina’s behavior.

  “And then there’s the situation with Ben and another one of our sorority sisters.”

  What the hell? Did I suddenly walk onto the set of The Young and the Restless?

  “Ben, as in her fiancé? What do you mean a situation?” I asked.

  I was completely intrigued. And it was refreshing to be reminded that I wasn’t the only one who had relationship drama.

  “It’s not what you’re thinking, he didn’t sleep with her or anything. At least, I don’t think so.” Kiki paused. “Anyway, the story goes like this: Ben dated Whitney for about a minute before he and Christina got together. The three of them started out as really good friends, only Ben dated both girls. I know it totally sounds like something on TV.”

  I knew exactly what she was talking about. Naomi, Todd, and I had a similar relationship. Other people would call us Brenda, Kelly, and Dylan, just like the famous friendship-slash-love triangle on Beverly Hills, 90210. And, of course, Todd eventually had to choose someone, and he chose me.

  Naomi moved on after that, and we hardly talked about it again. Although, every now and again, I would get a weird feeling Naomi was more upset about it than she let on. I never confronted her about it, and then, when we announced our engagement, she happily stepped right into the role of maid of honor, and the rest is history.

  Looking back on it now, maybe we should have addressed it, but it was never anything serious. I always thought Naomi liked her freedom. She never wanted to be tied down.

  “Is there something still going on with Ben and this Whitney girl?” Isabella asked, bringing me back to the present.

  Kiki shook her head. “Not that I know of. If you ask me, I think Christina is just looking for reasons to call off the engagement. It’s been ages since she mentioned the Ben and Whitney thing, and now all of a sudden, she brings it up and is acting like it’s a big deal. And she keeps putting important things off. She’s all about the shower, the parties, and the gifts, so much more so than the actual wedding planning.”

  “About that, has Christina chosen her wedding flowers yet?” I tried to look indifferent, but I really wanted the business.

  Kiki looked confused. “What do you mean? She said she was meeting with you to do that.”

  I looked at Isabella and she shrugged her shoulders. “I haven’t heard from her.”

  I wasn’t trying to cause this poor girl any grief, but by the sound of it, Kiki was right: Christina was stalling.

  It didn’t sound like she wanted to get married.

  And if anyone knew about that, I did.

  “See what I mean? She hasn’t even selected flowers for the wedding. She was all over us to plan the shower, but when it comes to the big day, she acts like she doesn’t care.” Kiki gave me a confused look. “Of course, every time we bring up the possibility of them waiting a little longer, she freaks out on us. Danielle has given up on the whole thing, so she doesn’t say anything anymore.”

  “Planning a wedding is stressful,” I replied, pushing my feelings about my own wedding planning away. “She could just be feeling a little overwhelmed. I’m sure we’ll hear from her soon.”

  I was trying to cut the poor girl so slack. I knew what it was like to have family and friends constantly on your back. I watched as Kiki picked up her phone. I knew what was about to go down.

  Poor Christina.

  “Hey. I’m at the florist’s right now. When are you planning to meet with the owner?”

  I opened my mouth to explain that I wasn’t the owner of Blooms, but really, what was the point?

  Kiki was quiet, picking at her gel nail polish.

  “She did? Are you sure? I’m at Blooms on Valencia right now, and Sabrina said she hadn’t heard from you.” She paused. “Fuchsia Flowers? I don’t know what that is.”

  Oh, no! My heart sank at the mention of Bloom’s rival. I looked at Isabella in horror. Her eyes grew wide; we were both thinking the same thing.

  We had to do some damage control, and fast!

  Kiki got off the phone a few seconds later. “Sorry about that. Christina says her mother made an appointment at some place called Fuchsia Flowers. Have you heard of that?”

  I took a deep breath. I needed to steer these girls away from Blooms’s competition, even if this wedding was on shaky ground.

  I chose my words carefully. “Yes, I have. They’re actually more of a gift shop. They do some floral design, but that’s not their main focus. I would love to meet with Christina and her mother. Would you mind giving me her number so I can get in touch with her? Maybe they can meet with both of us before making a final decision?”

  Good job, Sabrina.

  Thankfully, Kiki didn’t have a problem giving me both Christina’s and her mother’s information. I knew Jackie was Ethan’s sister-in-law, and me trying to take business away from her could complicate things, but Blooms on Valencia was Addi’s shop. I was here to take care of it for her, the same way she was taking care of The Flower Girl for me.

  And that was exactly what I was going to do.

  * * *

  I had never been an overly competitive type of person. Sure, I liked to win—who didn’t?—but first Mrs. Watson and now this wedding, I was becoming obsessed with Fuchsia Flowers taking business away from Blooms.

  I toyed with telling Addi about it, but from the sound of her texts and phone calls, she was fitting in very well in San Francisco. And aside from having to deal with my mother that one time, she seemed to be really enjoying herself.

  I wanted to surprise Addi with some big new business as a way to thank her for all she’d done for me.

  It wasn’t like Blooms didn’t have any customers. Things had been moving along smoothly, despite Mrs. Watson clearly hating me. And as far as I knew, Fuchsia Flowers hadn’t taken anything away from us—yet.

  But, I knew it would only take one hugely successful event to put them on the map.

  I tried calling both Christina and her mother, Rhonda. I knew they would see the arrangements we were doing for the shower and fall in love. I didn’t mean to be cocky, but I was pretty good at what I did.

  Unfortunately, it could be too late by then. My father was very successful in copier and office equipment sales, and one thing
I learned from him was to go after potential business as soon as you could. Time was of the essence with this, and I had to move now before they agreed to do business with Fuchsia Flowers.

  I let out a sigh. At least I wasn’t daydreaming about Ethan and his blue eyes anymore.

  Ethan. I couldn’t help but smile as I thought of him. Since he had asked me about my impending return to San Francisco on our coffee date, it had been on my mind.

  I had to admit I’d been struggling with the decision. There was a big part of me that didn’t want to go back—ever. I knew it sounded crazy. I couldn’t live someone else’s life forever, and I knew avoiding my problems would never make them go away.

  But it was so tempting.

  The sound of my phone ringing made me jump. I looked at the screen. It was Christina’s mother, returning my call.

  It was time to work my magic.

  “Thank you for calling Blooms on Valencia. This is Sabrina Monroe,” I answered in my most professional voice.

  “Hi, Sabrina, this is Rhonda Milton, I’m Christina’s mother. I just received your message.”

  “Yes, hello, Rhonda. I wanted to reach out to you because I’ve been working with Kiki and Danielle on the flowers for Christina’s bridal shower. I was hoping we could meet up to discuss the wedding arrangements. Blooms on Valencia would love the opportunity to be a part of this special day. I have quite the portfolio from my shop in San Francisco as well as here in Orlando. I think you will be quite impressed.”

  Wow, that sounded really good. I even impressed myself a little.

  “Yes, well, we have an appointment with Fuchsia Flowers and Gifts on Thursday. I was referred to them by a friend.”

  Hmm . . . it had to be a personal friend of Jackie or Aubrey, because they’ve only been in business for five seconds.

  “I completely understand. But it’s always good to take a look at all options. And this is the most important day in your daughter’s life. Our prices are very competitive, and we have several references who would give us a glowing recommendation.”