Chapter 31 - Olivia
T he next morning, Olivia went to Jill’s to meet Ellen and plan her wedding flowers. Olivia arrived early to have some coffee and work on her weekly farm plan. She had her computer open to the spreadsheet detailing her crop production and what she expected to produce and distribute each week, along with the actual numbers. She’d drastically underestimated her zucchini production and made a note for her future self to plant one-quarter as many the next year.
After an hour of transferring notebook scribbles and email notes into her document, the bell above the door chimed as Ellen arrived.
“Hey!” Ellen gave her a friendly wave as she walked past several booths.
Olivia stood to give Ellen a hug.
“Hello! You look great! And look, you’re starting to get a bump,” Olivia said excitedly .
Ellen was undoubtedly a Wescott, but her pretty features were much softer than her brothers’. She also had a handful of gray hairs weaving through her dark brown shoulder-length cut.
Ellen smiled proudly and gave her stomach a tender pat. “Thanks! We just found out yesterday we’re having a little girl.”
Ellen’s joy brightened her eyes, and Olivia understood what people meant when they said pregnant women radiated beauty. It was a soul-deep glow as much as a physical one.
“That is fantastic! I’m so excited for you!”
Jill stopped by their table to ask Ellen what she’d like to drink. “Coffee and water, please.”
“So,” Ellen said, focusing their attention. “Thank you so much for meeting me here. I’ve been meaning to text you, but work has been crazy, and between doctor’s appointments, wedding plans, and a lot of napping, I haven’t gotten to it. But I’m hoping you can still do our flowers?” Ellen looked hopefully at Olivia with a hint of nervousness.
“Yes! Of course I will! So long as you’re still okay with me having absolutely zero wedding flower experience.”
“Yay, yay, yay!” Ellen bounced in her booth seat and clapped her hands. “That is perfect. And yes, like I said at dinner, this is going to be very laid back.”
Olivia pulled open her notebook and picked up her pen.
“So what did you have in mind?”
“Ooooh, look at you! This is so official. I’m impressed. Okay, so, I’m going to need a larger bridal bouquet, obviously. I have four bridesmaids, and it would be great if they could each have a smaller bouquet that looks kind of like mine. And then…” She paused, thinking, “We’re going to have fifteen tables at dinner, and I’d love to have a little centerpiece bouquet for each one of those, but nothing too fancy, just a simple arrangement of mixed dahlias.”
“Okay, great! Yeah, I think I can do that. Anything else?”
“Well,” Ellen said hesitantly. “Would you be willing to decorate an arch for the ceremony backdrop?”
An arch would certainly push Olivia out of her comfort zone. But that’s what YouTube was for.
“I’m willing to try.” She smiled cautiously. “Can you remind me of the exact wedding date and time?”
From there, they moved into the finer details of the wedding schedule, budget, and color scheme. Ellen showed Olivia several pictures of her dress and the bridesmaid dresses for reference as she planned the bouquets.
They knocked out the details, and Olivia made a final request for Ellen to create a small Pinterest board with bridal bouquet designs she liked. That way, Olivia could practice a few before the big day. For the first time, she realized it was going to be a big day for herself as well.
Olivia was about to transition their conversation into small talk before they said goodbye, but Ellen’s face turned serious.
“Is everything okay?” Olivia asked, suddenly unsure if Ellen had changed her mind about hiring her.
“Sorry, yes,” Ellen said. “I’m just having an argument with myself about whether I should talk to you about Aiden.”
“Oh? What about Aiden? Is he secretly still married or something?” She awkwardly laughed too hard at her own joke.
Ellen chuckled and shook her head.
“Obviously not, but it is related to Rebecca. ”
Olivia’s stomach clenched with low-level anxiety. “ Okay… ?”
“Screw it,” Ellen said with an air of big sisterly resignation. “I’m going to say it because I don’t know if Aiden will, and I think you need to know.”
Olivia’s body froze, and she held her breath.
“So, Rebecca really hurt Aiden.”
“Of course,” Olivia said breathlessly, relieved Ellen’s statement wasn’t anything she didn’t already know, but Olivia was still wary. She quieted, waiting for more.
Ellen said, “I think we were all surprised at what she did to him. I think he was completely blindsided when she cheated on him.”
Olivia nodded, having heard this from Aiden.
“He went through a rough patch. He ended up taking a month off medical school. When he went back, he went back with an intense, I’d say borderline unhealthy, perfectionism. It felt like he kind of stopped living life outside work. And now he’s doing so well, but I guess I worry about him getting hurt again.”
To this, Olivia could relate. Hadn’t she done the same thing with her CSA farm? Other than that past weekend in the Cities and her birthday party, she had barely come up for air or made time for fun.
“Well, I can’t promise anything with regard to where this thing between Aiden and me is headed. It’s complicated with us living two hours apart, but I can promise you I would never cheat on Aiden.”
“Thanks for saying that. For what it’s worth, I hope it works out between you two.”
Ellen smiled kindly, which Olivia appreciated, but she also wondered how Aiden would feel if he knew they’d had this conversation. For some reason, Olivia felt guilty, like she had crossed a line, even though Ellen had instigated the conversation. Should she have stopped Ellen from sharing?
Olivia returned Ellen’s friendly smile. “I guess time will tell.”
“Indeed. Anyway, I should get going. My shift at the hospital starts at noon today, and I have a few more errands I need to run before then.”
They stood, hugged, and said goodbye. Olivia didn’t immediately follow her out. Instead, she sat and took a moment to consider what Ellen had told her.
Aiden had been hurt badly. Would he be able to love again? Or had he been scarred too badly by Rebecca? How long had it been since their divorce was final? Was Olivia still in his rebound territory? Was he banking on the distance to keep their relationship from turning into something more serious?
On the one hand, everything Ellen said created a more comprehensive picture of Aiden and why he’d made some of the decisions he had, but it also felt like a burden. It created an onslaught of new worries and dulled some of the shine off Olivia’s joy, which she’d been carrying since the previous weekend in Saint Paul. She resented Ellen a little for telling her, but she also wondered if she should be grateful to Ellen for pulling Olivia’s head out of the clouds.
Her phone vibrated. Of course it was Aiden.
Aiden: How did everything go with my sister?
Olivia: Good! I think we have a plan (smiley face emoji)
Aiden: I’ve been meaning to ask, I know you’ll be busy with all of the flowers and stuff, but would you be my date to the wedding ?
With that one simple text, Olivia’s emotional coin was flipped, and once again, her chest and stomach felt buzzy with joy.
Good lord, I feel like a hormonal teenager, riding a rollercoaster of emotions from one Aiden interaction to the next.
Olivia: Of course! That would be fun!
Aiden: (two silly dancing emojis)
Staring at her phone, Olivia didn’t notice Jill next to her table.
“Who's got you grinning, girly?” Jill asked with her own knowing grin.
“Say what?” Olivia asked, all innocence.
“Mm-hmm.” Jill clearly wasn’t fooled. “I get it. Mind my own business. I’ll go find someone else to bug.”
The next day, Olivia replayed her conversation with Ellen so many times she eventually called Grace to sort through her feelings. Olivia was fixated on the piece about Aiden returning to work obsessively after his breakup. Was that what she’d done after breaking up with Sam?
But Grace reassured Olivia it took a lot of hard work to start a business. From her perspective, Grace didn’t think Olivia was running from anything.
It also opened up a door to talk about Sam. Olivia hadn’t yet discussed the breakup in detail. Laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, she told Grace everything .
Grace had always been the best listener. She listened to Olivia talk for an hour about all the things that had gone wrong between Sam and her. Olivia cried hard, snotty tears. It was therapeutic, and she released some of the shame she’d had about staying with Sam for so long. She also let go of the guilt for not walking away sooner, despite knowing in her heart of hearts she hadn’t wanted to end up with him.
An hour later, they’d moved on from crying to laughing as Olivia told Grace about the insane moment when Amber took a drink of Aiden’s beer.
“ Who does that?” Grace yelled.
“ I know! ” Olivia shouted back. “It was so weird!”
“Well, from what his other friend said, you don't have anything to worry about. He’s super into you. So…was this a long play so you could tell me how much your boyfriend is totally obsessed with you?”
“Ha ha,” Olivia said dryly.
Is he my boyfriend? Add that to the list of things to obsess over during my endless alone time in the field.
“No, but really, Olivia,” Grace said reassuringly. “It sounds like you’re in a good place, and everything you’re doing and experiencing is normal. I wouldn’t worry so much. Maybe just try to enjoy it.”
“I will try ,” Olivia moaned reluctantly, then added in a whiny voice, “but it’s hard when I don’t know when I’m going to see him next.”
“Oh my gawd ,” Grace said in a stereotypical Southern California accent, “you’re sooo into him!”
“Yeah, yeah.” Olivia laughed along with Grace .
When they hung up, Olivia realized she should just text Aiden to ask when they would see each other next. She did some calculations in her head. The next day was Friday, so she would be busy with harvest, and Saturday was the farmers market. Maybe she could drive down to the Cities on Sunday and stay for a night or two if he wasn't too busy.
Shit . Grace is right. I’m totally into him. She pulled out her phone and pulled up Aiden’s contact, which was now a picture of him dancing at the Yard Tunes concert.
Olivia: So when will I see you next?