One Way Ticket

by Melissa Baldwin

* * *

  I was up before the birds the following morning after a fitful night’s sleep, tossing and turning, a myriad of thoughts running through my brain. I had finally checked my messages last night after Geoff had gone back to his hotel and was one hundred percent convinced Naomi had told Sabrina about me and Todd.

  I knew I needed to fix things with Sabrina, but today, I had wedding flowers to install, even if I knew the woman paying the check was going to pull her business from Sabrina’s shop and never speak to either of us again.

  I arrived before eight and took the opportunity to wander around the beautiful neo-Gothic church, with its soaring pillars and stained glass windows. It was so peaceful, so serene—the exact opposite of my life.

  “Morning, babe!” Leonardo exclaimed, popping his head around the door. His voice bounced around the church. “The delivery van’s here.”

  “Great! Let’s get to it.”

  We worked hard placing the flowers around the altar and draping ribbons and posies at the end of each aisle. By the time we were finished, we had transformed it into a church befitting a society wedding.

  “Right, now on to the reception venue,” I instructed as we exited the church.

  The reception was due to be held at The Wainwright, one of the swankiest hotels in San Francisco. The Thornhills had booked one of the largest reception rooms in the hotel, and we had thirty-one tables to provide centerpieces for, as well as floral decorations throughout.

  We placed the final arrangements where Mrs. Thornhill instructed just as the first guests began to arrive. I spotted Mrs. Thornhill and what I assumed was her husband, greeting people by the entry.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Leonardo suggested as I gave the room one final check. “Before the Wicked Witch of the West puts us in a pot and boils us alive.”

  “Actually, you go ahead. I’m going to try one more thing with Mrs. Thornhill.”

  It was my last-ditch attempt to keep her business.

  Leonardo arched one of his eyebrows. “Try not to get stabbed. Those eyes of hers are like daggers, already dripping in her victim’s blood.”

  I hung in the balance, waiting for her to come free from greeting her guests. “Excuse me, Mrs. Thornhill? May I please have a word?”

  Dressed to the nines in a chic pale yellow skirt and jacket, dripping in diamonds, she looked at me in irritation. “What’s gone wrong now, Sabrina?”

  I ignored the jibe, my smile staying firmly in place. “I just wanted to let you know that I will be leaving The Flower Girl soon.”

  “And what does that have to do with me?”

  “I . . . err, well, I thought that if I wasn’t there, you might give your business back to Sabrina? The original one, that is.” I held my breath.

  She paused, her eyes narrowed. “No. My mind is made up. Goodbye, Sabrina.” She flicked her hand at me and turned her head away.

  My jaw dropped open, and I stood, gawping at her.

  That was that? Game over?

  When I didn’t move, she turned and glared at me. “I said goodbye, Sabrina.”

  I squared my shoulders. “Actually, Mrs. Thornhill, my name is not Sabrina. It’s Addison, Addison Bloom.”

  She looked down her nose at me as though I were a bad smell before returning her attention to her guests.

  I turned and walked out of the room, my head held high—well, as high as I could, knowing I’d lost Sabrina her best customer.

  Outside the hotel, I spotted Lucy getting out of her wedding car, her handsome groom helping her as he stood on the sidewalk, dressed in his tux. Lucy’s dress was big and white and frilly, but somehow, she pulled it off, managing to look graceful and elegant. Not the least bit like a giant meringue.

  I smiled at her as I beat a hasty retreat, but she called out my name—my real name.

  “Addison!”

  I walked over to her and congratulated both her and her husband on their marriage. They looked truly happy, and I felt a pang of unexpected sadness.

  I wanted what they had. Could Geoff be the one to give me this?

  “Thank you for what you did with the flowers.”

  “Thank you?” I questioned, my eyes like saucers. “I messed them up. Your mother is not happy.”

  She nodded, a small grin on her pretty face. “You knew I liked the peach-colored tulips. I thought maybe you got the same colored roses for me?”

  I had wondered the same, although it would have been entirely subconscious if I had.

  “As long as you like them, right now, that’s all that matters to me.”

  “I love them!” She paused, before adding, “And I know my mother can be forceful.”

  I had to suppress a scoff. “Forceful” was a gross understatement.

  “But you don’t need to worry about her and all her friends.” She pulled a face. “Sometimes it’s just easier to give her what she wants.” She gestured at her dress.

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “You mean . . . ?”

  She nodded. “The flowers, this dress, everything. It was all for her. It was like it was her wedding.” She glanced at her new husband. “Steven and I decided we’d let her have it, and in return, we’d get our life together.”

  Steven leaned down and kissed her. “That’s right.” He looked at me. “Now, when she starts demanding something, we’ll tell her she got what she wanted at the wedding, but our marriage is off-limits.”

  I clapped my hands together, grinning. It was brilliant!

  “Addison, I have to go, but I wanted to ask you something,” Lucy said.

  “Anything for the beautiful bride,” I replied with a happy—and impressed—smile.

  “Part of my job is to provide floral arrangements to the Wainwright Hotel each week. I’d love to talk to you about The Flower Girl taking on the business. I think you’d do a wonderful job.”

  “Are you serious?” I asked, my eyes wide.

  I’d noticed the large, impressive floral designs in the hotel’s lobby as I’d walked through on my way out. They took a huge amount of flowers!

  “Totally. It’d be a lot of work, but I have a feeling it would be worth a lot more to you than any San Francisco Grand Dame’s business would be.” She winked at me, and I knew in an instant the Grand Dame she was referring to was Mrs. Thornhill herself.

  “Thank you, Lucy. You don’t know how much this means to me,” I gushed, taking her hand in mine. I felt something on her finger and looked down. It was a diamond the size of a grape. “Nice job!” I said, turning to Steven.

  He grinned at me, and I warmed to him immediately. “She deserves it.”

  They shared another look, and this time my heart swelled for them. “Well, I’ll let you two get upstairs. There are a lot of people waiting for you.”

  “I think there’s someone waiting for you, too,” Lucy said, nodding at someone behind me.

  I turned around, fully excepting it to be Geoff. We had arranged to meet for lunch, but he was meant to wait for me to text him to say I was free first.

  It wasn’t Geoff.

  It was Todd.

  I blinked rapidly as my brain scrambled to work out what he was doing here. Before I had the chance to speak, Lucy and Steven disappeared into the hotel.

  Todd stepped closer to me, a nervous smile on his face. “Hey, Kiwi.”

  “How . . . how did you know I was going to be here?” My heart was beating so loudly, I would have sworn he could hear it.

  He shrugged, shamefaced. “A little birdie named Leonardo.”

  Naturally.

  “I wanted to see you. You haven’t been returning my messages.”

  I chewed on the inside of my lip. “No, I . . . I’ve had a lot going on.”

  Which was true—I just omitted the part about how I’d been totally avoiding him at all costs.

  “Look, about what happened that night,” he began, and in an instant, I was back in that car with him, feeling his lips on mine, his hands cupping my face. I had to steady myself for fear
of stumbling.

  I put my hand up to stop him. “Todd, I know what you’re going to say. Naomi has already ripped into me about it. And she’s right. It should never have happened.”

  “Naomi?” he questioned. His expression changed. “Oh, that explains it.”

  He’d lost me.

  “That explains what?”

  “She’s been telling me a bunch of stuff about you, like how you’re really an ex-con and how you’ve been stealing from Sabrina’s business.”

  “What?!” I shrieked.

  Several passersby looked at me, startled, and one woman grabbed her child’s hand and pulled her in the opposite direction as quickly as she could.

  Todd shook his head. “I wouldn’t worry about what Naomi says. She’s . . . well, she’s had feelings for me for a while now.” I raised my eyebrows. “Quite a while. Since high school, in fact.”

  “I knew it! She’s Kelly,” I replied, pursing my lips, thinking of 90210.

  He scrunched up his face. “She’s who?”

  “It doesn’t matter.”

  “Anyway, can we forget about Naomi for a while?”

  I smiled at him, feeling foolish. “Sure.”

  “I’d like to go somewhere to talk. Is that okay?”

  “Oh, I’m, ah . . . I’m meant to be meeting someone for lunch.”

  I thought of Geoff. Safe, kind, traveled-across-the-world-to-win-me-back Geoff.

  “Five minutes? There’s a coffee shop just inside the hotel.” His eyes were full of hope, and it got me, right in the heart.

  Knowing I was once again flirting with disaster, I nodded. Although I was firm in my belief we could never be together, I should at least give him the chance to speak.

  We walked through the hotel lobby and into a stylish French-inspired café with a view out onto the street.

  We ordered some coffee and took a seat at one of the spare tables in the window.

  “So, you were here doing a wedding?” Todd asked.

  “Yes, for one of Sabrina’s clients.”

  I explained how Mrs. Thornhill had told me she was going to take her business elsewhere thanks to me ordering the wrong colored roses and how the cloud’s silver lining was going to give The Flower Girl a huge cash injection.

  “So, I think Sabrina will be very happy when she gets back. I mean, if she comes back.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “You haven’t talked to her?”

  I pressed my lips together and shook my head. “No, I . . . I didn’t know quite what to say after . . . you know.” I looked down at my hands.

  He nodded. “Kiwi, I—”

  He was interrupted by a waiter delivering our coffees. We thanked him and then we were back to just us, and what we both knew was between us, hovering over our heads.

  “I know what you’re going to say,” I began, playing with a sugar packet, avoiding looking him in the eye. “We just can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “If I have to tell you, you’re as dumb as you are hot.”

  He let out a short laugh. “Sabrina?”

  “Sabrina,” I confirmed.

  “But, if there was no Sabrina?”

  I thought of her wedding dress, boxed up and sitting on the table back at the apartment. And here I was, sitting across the table from her would-be husband, discussing why we couldn’t be together.

  “If there was no Sabrina, we would never have met.”

  He looked down at his coffee cup for a moment, then back up at me. His eyes were sparkling. “I don’t care. Sabrina made her choice. And I want to be with you, Addi.”

  My breath caught in my throat. Todd wanted me, Addison Bloom, lost girl from New Zealand, living someone else’s life in the big city.

  And I wanted to be with him. I knew it as well as I knew myself.

  Before I could respond, I heard a tap at the large window and snapped my head in surprise to see what—or who—it was.

  Geoff.

  Guilt tore through me. Why was he here? I hadn’t texted him.

  I smiled and waved at him, pretending I wasn’t sitting with another man who had just professed his feelings for me.

  Because this kind of thing happened to me all the time. Ah, no.

  “Do you know that guy?” Todd asked, pointing at Geoff.

  “Ah, yes. He’s, um . . . he’s a friend.”

  A friend? How about coming clean and calling him the ex who you’re considering going back to New Zealand with, Addi?

  “Looks like he’s coming in to see us,” Todd commented.

  No!! This could not be happening!

  I watched in horror as Geoff sauntered away from the window and in through the hotel’s front doors.

  I had about eleven seconds to work out what to do.

  I pushed myself up from my seat. Standing on shaking legs, I said, “Todd. Thank you for the coffee.”

  We both looked at my coffee cup, sitting untouched on the table.

  “You’re leaving?” Todd asked, standing up himself.

  “Yes, I—” I stopped. I had no idea what to say.

  But I knew one thing for certain, Geoff and Todd could not meet.

  Two worlds colliding would result in my world being destroyed.

  I pushed my chair out from behind myself and stepped out from the table. “I’ll . . . I’ll see you later.”

  I turned to leave, bumping straight into Geoff.

  What is he, a ninja? How did he get in here so fast?

  He steadied me with his hands. “Whoa, there, Addi!”

  I looked up into his face, smiling down at me, confident in his love for me. And mine for him.

  I tried to collect myself. I pushed gently away from him, pretending I needed to adjust my shoe. When I looked back up, both men were still standing in front of me.

  “Gidday, mate. I’m Geoff,” Geoff said, extending his hand to Todd.

  “Hey. I’m Todd.” He took his hand and they shook. “You’re a New Zealander, too?”

  I watched them both in shock. It was like everything had gone into slow motion, and I was powerless to do anything about it.

  “Yeah, that’s right,” Geoff replied.

  “What brings you to San Francisco?”

  This couldn’t be happening. I needed to stop this. Now!

  “I’m here to get my girl,” he said, slinking his arm around my middle.

  I scrunched my eyes shut. This could not be happening! When I opened them again, Todd was giving me a questioning look.

  “That’s funny. I’m here to do the same thing,” Todd said, his eyes not leaving my face.

  My mouth dropped open as I looked at them both. Still in slow motion, the realization Todd meant me inched across Geoff’s face.

  “Kiwi?” Todd questioned, his brows knitted together. “This guy is here for you, too?”

  I swallowed down the almost overwhelming desire to laugh. This was crazy! Here I was, standing in a swanky café in San Francisco, the choice of two amazing guys in front of me.

  As I looked into their faces, I knew what I had to do. I had to make a choice.

  And I had to do it now.

  Chapter 24

  Sabrina

  I couldn’t believe I was here, home, in San Francisco. It happened faster than I had planned, but it was time.

  I stepped out of the San Francisco International Airport and immediately began to shiver. I pulled my sweater tightly around me. I had forgotten how cold it was here compared with my last few weeks in hot and humid Orlando.

  Was that all it had been, a few weeks? It felt like a lifetime.

  The few days leading up to my return were interesting. I had a very brief and odd conversation with Addi, who seemed utterly shocked I was returning so soon. I could tell she’d really fallen in love with this city.

  Perhaps she wasn’t ready to leave just yet? Or maybe ever?

  I told her she could continue to stay with me as long as she wanted, but she’d hesitated. We had a lot to talk about, so we m
ade plans to meet at The Flower Girl later this afternoon.

  First, I had a stop to make.

  The cab driver helped me upload my bags from his trunk and carried them to my parents’ front porch. I could have gone to my apartment first, but I knew I needed to get this over with—and the sooner the better.

  I found my keys, buried at the bottom of my handbag. I took a few deep breaths before slipping the key in the lock and entering my parents’ grand foyer.

  “Mother? Daddy?” I called. My heart was racing, and I felt like I was going to throw up.

  “Who’s there?” my mother called from the study.

  Crap! I was hoping I would see my father first, so he could help me handle my mother—or “Prickle,” as Naomi aptly called her.

  I swallowed and smoothed down my hair as I headed into the lion’s den, otherwise known as my mother’s study. I peeked my head into the room to see my mother, sitting at her desk. She was wearing a black pantsuit, probably Chanel, and her favorite Mikimoto pearl necklace.

  “Hello, Mother,” I said, my voice breathless.

  She looked up from her desk and gasped. But, after a beat, her expression quickly twisted into disappointment.

  The expression I knew all too well.

  “So, you’ve finally decided to return?”

  I lingered in the doorway. “Yes. I’m here.”

  She leaned back in her chair as she studied me from head to toe. I was wearing a plain black, long-sleeved T-shirt and skinny jeans. Not my typical attire for a visit with my mother, but I was a changed woman these days.

  Pleasing my mother was no longer as important as it once was.

  Without standing up, she asked, “When did you arrive?”

  I took another deep breath and finally walked into the room. I sat down in one of the chairs across from her. I couldn’t help but notice two of the photographs on her desk. One photo was of me when I was in a pageant at seven, and the other was one of Todd and my engagement pictures. Why did she still have that photo?

  I dragged my attention away from the photographs and locked my eyes on my mother.

  “I just landed. I wanted to come and talk to you first, before I go to meet Addison at The Flower Girl.”

  She frowned. “I still can’t believe you would let a complete stranger into your home and your business. I just don’t understand what was going through your head that day.”