Elly In Bloom by Colleen Oakes Read Free Book Online Page B

wondering, for the grandfather’s bouts, could we maybe use something that just has a HINT of wisteria, instead of the actual color?”
    Elly could feel her palms digging into the chair for a confrontation. Instead, she forced herself to smile, which made her sound nicer than she actually was.
    “Brooke. I know that we have talked before about how flowers aren’t paint colors. We can try and get as close as possible to wisteria, but it’s not something we can match 100%. And the grandfather’s bout is not something you should be worrying about. I will put down that you want a pale blue or lavender accent. Is that it?”
    Brooke paused. Lord, please let this be it , Elly prayed.
    “On last thing. I read on the internet that peonies might not be available in late July…is that true?”
    “No, Brooke it’s not true. Remember, we talked about not believing every single thing we see online. We will be fine to get peonies then.”
    “Are you sure? Because this wedding website said…”
    “Yes. I’m sure. Okay! Brooke, good to talk with you, I will note the changes on your contract.”
    The bride sounded defeated. “Okay, thanks.”
    Elly hung up the phone with a sigh. Brooke called every single day, with minute changes to her contract. She did not work, and had a very rich and distant fiancée who was paying for their large wedding, but left her alone most of the time. Planning their wedding had become Brooke’s job. She had changed her colors three times already, deciding that yellow was too bright and pink was too cliché. Now they were on to cool shades, purples and blues. Elly fully expected her to make another two or three color changes before the wedding in July. Brooke drove her nuts – she was definitely one of her bridezillas – but she also sensed loneliness in her desperation. That alone gave her more patience than she would have thought possible. She quickly noted her contract on the computer: “ Crazy wants lavender for grandfather’s bouts .”
    Elly wheeled her chair around.
    “Kiiiiim!” she hollered.
    Kim strolled in, drinking greedily from a water bottle and sat down across from Elly.
    “It is SO hot out there. Ugh.” She pushed back her bangs from her eyes. Elly looked at her, exasperated.
    “You don’t even look hot. You never sweat. You just glow. I want to hit you. In a nice way.”
    Kim grinned. Her olive skin had a shining line that ran down her arms and legs. Her long legs were tucked under her light coral sundress, accented with a pearl shell necklace and black flip flops. Knowing Kim as well as she did, Elly knew that this gorgeous ensemble had taken her two seconds to put together, and she probably hadn’t even showered. Elly, on the other hand, had taken an hour to get ready. She showered, carefully chose a cute outfit, applied her make-up and attempted to curl her unruly hair. She was wearing khaki shorts and a yellow scoop neck tank, and she already had sweated off all her make-up, pulled her hair up into a ponytail and swapped her cute clip flops for unattractive but comfy Crocs. It was 11 am and she was already experiencing what she liked to call the “afternoon stink”. Awesome.
    “What do you want for lunch? I was thinking Keith’s,” Elly suggested.
    Bald headed, charming and stocky, Keith Carcelo owned the deli next door to their studio. They had fantastic sandwiches: warm Italian breads were covered with every veggie, meat and cheese a person could imagine. The yeasty smells from the sandwich shop wafted through Posies, mixing with the fresh, light aroma of various flowers. The result was Elly’s favorite smell in the world. Besides knowing Elly’s favorite sandwich down to cucumber count, Keith was the best neighbor a girl could ask for. He was always helping out, whether with tossing out the trash, washing down her sidewalk or even taking Cadbury for walks occasionally when Elly was under the weather. Keith was wonderful, and Elly was glad to call him a