Chapter 9 Koren
nine
Koren
I lay awake all night, imagining how puffy my eyes will be in the morning. Of all the days to reunite with Elijah, of course it had to be right before my sister’s wedding. My whole family is in town.
Professional photos will be taken.
I can’t stop crying.
How am I supposed to stand up in front of a church congregation and be happy tomorrow?
The sun hasn't fully committed to rising, but I drag myself out of bed and drive twenty minutes back into town to the flower shop, determined to triple-check that everything is perfect. I’m happy to have something to do as it keeps my mind busy.
I’m bringing the last of the bouquets out of the back cooler when the bell above the door jingles. Kaci, bride-to-be, walks in wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt with two to-go coffee cups in her hands.
“I brought coffee, and an open ear.” She sets the coffee on the counter.
“I’ll pass on the ear.” Keeping my focus on my bouquets, I recount the blooms to make sure each bouquet has the same number.
Something’s off. Three bouquets are missing the Fire and Ice roses.
They are empty bundles of lilacs and ribbon.
Lu, the part-time gal who closed last night, was supposed to finish these.
Clearly, she didn’t.
I hated leaving them for her, but we’d had so many wedding activities yesterday, and I wanted the flowers to be as fresh as possible.
I should have skipped that stupid bonfire and done them myself.
Sighing, I spin on my heel toward the cooler for more roses.
This is why I got up early. Pulling my phone from my apron pocket, I shoot off a text to Lu.
Me: Morning! Just curious what happened with those bouquets. You never texted you had issues with them, but I found them unfinished. In the future, don’t leave without finishing. It worked out this time because I came early, but that was really not cool.
I press send before I lose my nerve. When I look up, Kaci’s pinching her lips together, eyes wide. “Sooo ... I heard everything last night,” she says with a prying tone. “The whole house did. You kissed him.”
Ice floods my veins, and I hiss, “I didn’t kiss him. That was a him-kissing-me situation.”
“Okay, if that’s how you want to explain it.” She pretends to examine her manicure.
“It was clearly a mistake.” My defensive tone takes over. “I was overly emotional with all the wedding planning and seeing you and Jackson so happy." I hold my breath, unwilling to say another word. I’d said enough. He’s not worth another word.
“He said he loves you.” She doesn’t look up as she adds, “his voice was literally cracking with emotion when he said that.”
“Too bad!” I snap. “If you’d paid closer attention, you’d have heard the part where I walked away.
” I spin on my heel to head back to the cooler for more Fire and Ice roses.
Apparently, I can’t trust anyone else to do anything right, and I mutter, “I have arrangements to finish and zero time to rehash the mistake that was last night.”
Just then, my phone beeps. It’s a message from Lu.
LU: Sorry, I didn’t finish the bouquets because the last bunch of roses were slightly wilted.
I knew you’d hate them and want them removed.
I put in a last-minute order for the truck.
They should arrive this morning. I didn’t know what color to sub, so I figured it was easier for you to pick what you wanted than to remove dead roses.
I read her text to Kaci, and her eyes almost bug out of head. “I’ll figure something out,” I say quickly, rattling off options before she has time to panic.
We’ve been over this a million times. She chose her favorite flower lilacs, and the Fire and Ice roses were for Jackson.
She’s talked about using them for her wedding since they got engaged.
The fact that she’s marrying a hockey player only made her obsession with Fire and Ice roses seem unhinged.
“What about those red dahlias? They have a little yellow in the center.”
“You can’t use dahlias, Koren. That’s like a hate crime."
The doorbell jingles again, startling us both. It’s hours before opening. No one should be here unless it’s the truck with our roses. I turn so fast I nearly drop the bouquet.
And there he is. Leaning in the doorway. My living, breathing mistake.
Ex-fiancé.
Jerk.
Jerk hole.
Jerk Hole Kisser.
My mind can’t stop making up names for him. Leave it to Elijah to make a stressful moment even worse.
“Elijah,” I pause, making sure I used his real name, not the ones in my head. “I don’t have time to deal with you today.” Tears prick my eyes. I whirl toward the cooler, hoping by some miracle there’s a hidden box of perfect roses that no one knew was back there. Fairy godmother roses.
Because that’s a real thing.
That I just made up.
But it should be a thing.
Elijah ignores Kaci standing there with her mouth hanging open and follows on my heels. “I waited all night for your car to leave your house. I knew you’d come here. We have to talk about last night before the wedding.”
“We already talked.” I yank open the cooler door, looking everywhere and doing everything possible to avoid looking at him. “Now is not the time. I found out the bouquets aren’t finished. I’m out of Fire and Ice roses, and I have to improvise fast.”
Unfazed, he steps inside the cooler, looking unfairly attractive in his casual shorts and hoodie. “Hmm, did you try Garrison’s Greenhouse? He always has roses. That’s where I used to get yours.” His voice dips, and I freeze.
“Don’t.” I flash my palm toward him.
“Don’t what? Help?”
“If that is what you call it. Don’t come here and remind me of things from our relationship.
I never invited you. You clearly look like a stalker.
And, in case you forgot, my sister is getting married today.
I don’t have time to drive all the way over there, grab flowers, and be back before my nine o’clock hair and makeup appointment. ”
“I can call him.” He’s already pulling out his phone. “I have his cell because he used to let me sneak in before opening to handpick your flowers. I bet he could meet us halfway.”
Gritting my teeth, I ignore how sweet that was of him. I’m about to growl out a hefty no, but Kaci sighs with relief. “That’s brilliant.” Her eyes sparkle at him like he cured cancer. “You can take the flower van because it has coolers. Both of you should go to make sure he gets the right ones.”
“I’m not going.” I cross my arms. “I have to help you get ready.”
Kaci grabs the van keys from the hook on the wall, and tosses them to Elijah, who catches them with one hand. “Don’t waste any time.”
I glare at her. This feels like a setup. I don’t do setups. Not with Jerk Hole ex-fiancés who I just kissed. “You actually want me to ditch you on your wedding morning?”
“It won’t take that long. Plus, Jackson’s sister is coming to grab Bella from Mom.
I need to run back to the lake house anyway to get Bella ready before she arrives.
We really don’t have anything else to do here.
” She hands me my coffee and waves me toward the door.
“You’ll need this but hurry or my wedding will be ruined without those flowers. ”
“Okay.” Stunned, I stare as she flies around the room, shutting off the lights since we had planned to be closed for the day.
Is this a setup?
Did she call Elijah and ask him to meet me here? How did this even happen?
Because there’s no way I’m getting in a van with him.
Except … that’s exactly what I’m about to do. To save my sister’s wedding.
We have flowers here, just not the ones she wants.
The whole thing feels off. I grab the box of bouquets to return them to the cooler. Elijah steps in and tries to take the box from me. “I’ll carry those.”
“Drop dead.”
“Okay. Maybe after we get back. First, I want to help.”
I shove the box inside the cooler, and he heads for the door, holding it open for me.
I march past him toward the van like the independent woman I am.
I certainly don’t need a man to help me do this.
“Since Kaci already gave you the keys, you get to drive.” Under my breath I mutter, “I’ll be taking the shortcut by sleeping the whole way, so I don’t have to hear you breathe. ”
The van groans to life like it also resents seeing Elijah. It makes me smile. The van and I have history. It knows my moods. It’s loyal.
I sit shotgun, only because there are no actual seats in the back since it’s set up for floral storage.
Elijah adjusts the seat like he owns it, scooting it all the way back and slouches with one hand on the wheel, and the other resting casually on the shared armrest. “You remember the last time we were in this van?” He shoots me a sideways glance.
A heated sideways glance at that.
“No. Sure don’t.” I practically talk over him, desperately wanting to avoid small talk.
Of course I remember the last time we were in here.
We were always in this van, making deliveries long before we were even dating.
He taught me to park with this thing so I could pass my driver’s test. It’s part of our history.
“You were sitting on a bucket of baby’s breath.” His smirk grows smug, and I know what’s coming. “We were kissing.”
“And you elbowed my rib.” I skip straight to the terrible part, because I can’t bear to think about the kissing part. Except, even the terrible part wasn’t that bad, because when we were together, nothing was truly terrible.
Well, until now. This togetherness is terrible.
“And you said, ‘When we get married, we can drive the van as our just-married car.’” He gives me another side-eye. “I always thought we’d make this van our family car once we had kids.”
I snort, half-stunned and fully blushing. Nothing worth saying comes to mind. After several failed attempts to shut down his flirting, I blurt out, “Why did you even bother coming to the flower shop this morning? It’s too late. You have to know that.”