Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Georgia Rhodes married Roger Scotland on a blissfully warm spring day just a few months later.
In her arms, she carried the most brilliant bouquet that Ivy had ever crafted: one of tulips and hydrangeas and roses, one that drifted gently and organically to the ground but never threatened to trip the bride.
As the music soared to the rafters of the First Presbyterian Church in downtown Bluebell Cove, Ivy watched, filled with wonder, from the second pew, her fingers laced through Elliot’s, and she wept openly when Georgia and Roger kissed to seal the deal.
She couldn’t believe she was at the wedding of Daniel’s affair partner.
She couldn’t believe how thrilled she was for Georgia and all Georgia had overcome.
As Georgia headed past their pew, Georgia caught Ivy’s eye and mouthed, “Thank you!”
Ivy blew her a kiss and watched as she headed down the aisle and out into the glorious sunshine. Roger looked like the happiest man she’d ever seen.
Once outside, Elliot and Ivy were ushered into countless photographs with Georgia and Roger, Elliot’s and Georgia’s mother, and cousins, aunts, and uncles.
At first, Ivy insisted that it wasn’t appropriate for her to appear in so many photographs.
But they soon insisted. It seemed that everyone was sure that Elliot and Ivy were “the real deal.”
Ivy got more news of that at the wedding reception. One of his cousins, Cheryl, pulled her over to the bar counter and peppered her with whispered facts about his ex-girlfriends and ex-wife and how nobody in their family had ever liked one of them.
“Seriously,” Cheryl said, “you’re the best woman he’s ever brought home, bar none.
And Elliot’s mom is so thrilled that he’s finally with someone who lives for Bluebell Cove.
You never left, and she thinks that’s brilliant.
I know that Elliot sometimes regrets going with Shelly to MIT, but I think it just showed him what he really wanted in life.
It’s the same with Georgia and her trip out to Washington.
They both had experiences that told them that Bluebell Cove is the way. ”
Ivy smiled, catching Elliot’s eye from behind Cheryl’s shoulder. “He’s certainly a dream man to me,” she said.
“Is it true that he drove you to the hospital to have your first baby?” Cheryl demanded, narrowing her eyes.
Ivy threw her head back. “It sounds scandalous, doesn’t it?”
“It sounds like the most romantic thing,” Cheryl said solemnly. “My husband hasn’t done anything romantic for me since 2011.”
“Maybe there’s still time for him to fix that,” Ivy suggested. “Have you tried doing anything romantic for him? Maybe you should buy him flowers for a change.”
Cheryl raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I never considered that he might want a romantic gesture from me, actually. Maybe it’s wrong to always assume the woman needs to be wooed?”
“Don’t get me wrong,” Ivy said, “I’d be lost at the flower shop if men stopped buying women flowers.
But I think women should buy men flowers, too!
I think they should buy flowers for each other and for themselves.
I know I probably sound like a terrible marketer for my own product, but it’s really a thing of beauty, buying flowers and giving them out.
I think it stops time for a moment. It forces you to recognize true beauty. ”
Cheryl said she’d consider it. She hugged Ivy and said, “You’re full of surprises.”
Overwhelmed by the conversation, Ivy took a break at her dinner table, where she sipped champagne and watched the other wedding revelers.
Dinner was to be in twenty minutes, followed by cake, speeches, and dancing.
From where she sat, she saw that Georgia and Roger were inseparable, and that Elliot seemed to try to be with everyone at once, his mother, his forever friends, and back to her again.
He was always conscious of her and her needs, always peppering her with kisses and bringing her snacks.
“I’m just thoughtful right now,” she told him, offering him a smile to make sure he knew she was all right.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, dropping into the chair beside her and sipping his champagne.
How could she begin to answer that question?
She considered the previous few months of their brand-new relationship, how they’d finished the redesign of the flower shop and opened it up to incredible acclaim.
It had felt like a symbol for their union.
For Valentine’s Day, she’d received more orders than she ever had, including back when she’d been called one of the best new business owners in Bluebell Cove.
Most notably, that first week of their relationship, she’d shown him the bills, piled up in her desk drawer. “These have been haunting me,” she explained timidly. “And it’s getting worse all the time.”
That day, Elliot sat with her and went through every bill.
His face was stoic and without panic. He told her the situation wasn’t as bad as she’d thought it was, and there was still time to make it right.
She felt all the air returning to her lungs again.
Together, they made an Excel spreadsheet the likes of which she hadn’t bothered with in years, and they wrote down everything that she still owed and what she needed to earn weekly at the flower shop to make it right.
“And,” he told her, careful to keep his tone firm, “if you can’t make it work this spring, I will loan you the money to pay off your bills.”
“I can’t accept that,” Ivy said.
“It’s just a loan,” Elliot assured her, taking her hands in his. “This is your flower shop. This is your life’s work. You can’t throw it away when things get a little rocky. Remember what your kids keep telling you. You need to accept help every once in a while. I know you hate it.”
Now, as Elliot gazed at her at his sister’s wedding reception and asked her what was on her mind, Ivy’s vision swam with tears.
“I’m really happy,” she explained. “One of your cousins asked me to do the flowers at her wedding next year, and I have about a dozen more orders for the rest of the year. I’m doing the work I love, and I get to see you almost every day of the week.
More than that, I’m working with Celia nearly every day on little things at the eco-lodge, perfecting a space that I genuinely thought we’d never be able to share.
All in all, I can’t believe how well everything has worked out. ”
Elliot laughed. “Is that all? You’re really happy?” He kissed her forehead, her cheek.
“I’m really happy. And I don’t know if that’s ever been true,” she said.
That night, after the reception petered out and sent everyone on their merry way home, Elliot and Ivy walked the few blocks back to the Harper House.
It was a little past midnight, and Tyler’s room glowed with a blue light that meant he was playing video games.
A funny thing was that Elliot had really taken to Tyler the past two months.
They’d played hours of video games so far, bonding in a way that felt entirely beyond Ivy.
Ivy had asked Tyler whether he was comfortable with Elliot sleeping over sometimes, and Tyler had said, “Duh.”
Now, Ivy and Elliot took glasses of wine onto the back porch, where they sat wrapped in blankets and watched the moonlight over the Cove.
Ivy checked her phone to see numerous photographs from Lily, who’d attended a biology conference in Boston and met all kinds of scientists who excited her about creating a better world.
Ivy showed the pictures to Elliot, who beamed and said, “She’s already making her mark in the world. ”
Sometimes Ivy wondered if Elliot ever regretted not having children. It felt too early in their relationship to bring it up, maybe. But then again, they weren’t exactly getting any younger.
Instead, she asked, “Do you think your sister wants kids?”
“She wants them terribly,” Elliot said, reaching for her hand.
Ivy’s heart pumped. A strange voice in the back of her mind told her, It’s not too late to have a new story with Elliot. It’s not too late to have a baby, with all a baby’s complications and wonders.
“She tried with her ex-husband,” Elliot explained. “And she’s grateful it didn’t work. But it worries her about whether she can do it or not.”
Ivy nodded sagely. She knew, too, that at forty, getting pregnant wasn’t exactly the easiest thing. But it happened, and it surprised women out of nowhere.
Was it what Elliot wanted?
“I think she’s going to be happy regardless,” Elliot said—maybe speaking of his sister, but maybe speaking of himself, too. Sometimes Ivy had the sense that they could hold multiple conversations at once, that they could speak in codes. It was because they were so close, so in love.
“You’re right,” Ivy echoed, her heart jumping as she rose to kiss him. “She’s going to be happy regardless.” And so will we. Forever. She knew it deep in her heart.