Too Many Blooms (11 page)

Poppy looked at me. I paused for a long moment. And then, with a sigh, I reached over and gave her skirt a yank, pulling it back into place. My dreams of Ashley’s complete and total humiliation were dashed before they even began. It would have been the perfect YouTube moment.

“What are you doing?” Ashley yelped. Then her eyes widened. “You mean I almost …”

I nodded silently.

She gulped. But before she could say anything, it was her turn to go down the aisle. Ashley nearly stumbled as
she set off. I watched her go, smiling. I knew I had done the right thing, tempting though it had been not to.

I sent Poppy down the aisle next, Louis Vuitton at her side, and a huge grin on her face. I watched her as she scattered the flowers just as if she had been practicing for weeks. Which she had. She made it to the end, scooped up Louis, and sat down next to Ashley. The maid of honor was next. I breathed a sigh of relief before I headed over to Olivia to see how she was doing.

She was clutching her father’s arm nervously as Corinne adjusted her veil.

“Everything’s fine,” I said reassuringly. “You look beautiful.”

“I know I forgot something,” she said.

“What could you have …”

Her eyes flew open. “Something old, something new, something borrowed. Oh no, I forgot something blue!” she wailed.

She looked at her dad. “Do you have anything blue on you?” she asked in a panicky voice. He shook his head.

She grabbed Corinne’s arm. “Blue? Do you have anything blue?”

The wedding planner reached into her purse and pulled out a blue Bic pen.

“I can’t carry a
pen
!” Olivia said.

If only I had something blue!
I thought. And then I remembered. I reached into my pocket and pulled out — the blue-haired troll doll.

“I know this isn’t what you had in mind,” I told Olivia. “But we can put it into your bouquet for good luck.”

Olivia looked skeptical at first, but when I tucked the little creature into her bouquet, only a tiny bit of bright blue hair showed. She laughed. “Actually, it’s kind of cute,” she said.

The organist began playing “Here Comes the Bride.” The guests all stood and pivoted to face the back of the church. I could see Olivia’s handsome husband-to-be at the end of the aisle, smiling nervously.

Her father squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Olivia, my dear,” he said. “It’s time.”

Olivia smiled and they took off down the aisle. I sighed with relief. Corinne and I gave each other tired smiles. This wedding business was stressful!

Mom rushed up to me after the ceremony.

“I almost died when Poppy came down the aisle!” she said.

“Yeah,” said Aster. “I thought she mugged the flower girl!”

Lucky Poppy got to ride in one of the limos with the rest of the wedding party. But Mom, Aster, Rose, and I piled into the car to go to the Country Club. When we arrived, we saw the guests heading into the part of the club that was hosting the cocktail hour. But we went straight into the ballroom, looking for Dad.

He grinned and waved from across the dance floor. “Doesn’t it look great?” he asked, gesturing around the huge room.

And it did. The ivory linens cascaded to the floor. The silver, china, and crystal sparkled. The centerpieces were tall and elegant, yet fun and cheerful with all the pinks and purples and reds and the glistening sugar-coated purple grapes. The lights were dimmed and candles were ready to be lit by the waitstaff before the guests arrived. We helped with some last-minute adjustments to the centerpieces in the ballroom, but there really wasn’t much left
to do. I watched as the band set up and did a sound check. “One, two, three …”

“Hey, where’s Poppy?” Dad asked.

“She left in a limo,” said Mom with a laugh. “Maybe we should go find her!”

Uh-oh.
“She must still be with the wedding party,” I said. I could only imagine what my little sister could be up to. I rushed to the cocktail hour, where people were sipping champagne from delicate flutes and balancing small plates in their hands as they chatted with one another. I looked around in amazement. There was a sushi station, a man in a tall paper hat carving up big hunks of delicious-smelling meats, huge piles of crab claws, lobster tails, and more shrimp than I had ever seen in my life. I spotted an ice sculpture of the bride and groom’s entwined initials. But I couldn’t find one small substitute flower girl anywhere.

“Where is the bridal party?” I asked a man in an expensive-looking suit with a pencil-thin mustache. He told me they were in the greenhouse taking pictures. Sure enough, when I made it out to the greenhouse, there was Poppy, front and center, grinning away for the camera.

I looked at Corinne. She shrugged. “Olivia said she wanted the flower girl to be a part of the pictures!”

When the photographer was done, I took a still-grinning Poppy by the hand. The cocktail hour was over and the guests began filing inside the ballroom. I joined my family in the hallway just outside the doors and we watched everyone parade by in their wedding finery.

“There’s the mayor!” whispered Dad. I looked over; his tuxedo shirt looked a little snug, but he was laughing and looked very happy. And not, thankfully, having a deathly allergic reaction to lilacs!

As the bridesmaids and groomsmen lined up in the hallway outside the ballroom, waiting for the bandleader to call their names, Olivia left her new husband’s side and headed over to us. She gave each of us a hug and a kiss. “I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful wedding,” she said. “You Blooms really outdid yourselves.” She turned to Ashley, who stood nearby. “Don’t you think so?”

“Yes,” Ashley said sweetly. While Mom and Olivia chatted, she turned to me, her face serious. “You saved me back there.”

“I know,” I said lightly. “It would have been totally awk,” I couldn’t help adding.

She nodded. “Def.” She smiled. “You guys did a really great job.” She took a deep breath. “You know, at first I was happy when that wedding planner suggested that Olivia go to that other florist. But now I’m really glad you guys did it.”

“Huh?” I said. Then it hit me — Ashley had had nothing to do with us almost losing Olivia’s wedding! And I had been blaming her the whole time. I gave her a grateful smile. Maybe she wasn’t as bad as I had —

Then Ashley spoke again. “But don’t think I’ll be nice to you at school because of this,” she added snippily.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I retorted.

Just then the wedding planner rushed up to Olivia and whispered in her ear. “That’s a great idea!” Olivia said, then turned to us, a smile on her face. “Turns out an entire table full of Todd’s cousins are fogged in in DC and weren’t able to make it. Would you guys like to come to the reception?”

“Yes!” shouted Poppy. We all laughed.

“But Rose’s show tonight …” Mom said.

“We have plenty of time,” Rose insisted, her eyes glowing.

Mom smiled. “Sure,” she said, “we’d love to.”

And that was how we ended up as guests at the wedding of the year. We were seated just in time to see Olivia and Todd make their entrance.

“Introducing, for the first time as husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Todd Worthington!” announced the bandleader. The crowd cheered. Then their song began to play for their first dance. “Edelweiss.” I grinned, and Mom squeezed my hand.

Then I realized — all that hard work, all the craziness, was all for this moment. The beautiful bride and the handsome groom, dancing together. I got choked up as I saw Todd gently wipe a tear off Olivia’s cheek. (Mom, of course, was wiping her face with her matching bandanna!) They were so happy together — and so much in love. Suddenly, I found myself thinking of Hamilton. A deep blush spread over my face.

Then the food started coming. Course after course of delicious food. My glass of ginger ale was never empty. Our work was done, so my family and I just relaxed and
enjoyed ourselves. We laughed at the best man’s funny speech. We gasped as an overenthusiastic bridesmaid tripped and slid across the floor in a mad attempt to catch the bouquet. We oohed and ahhed over the chocolate fountain with strawberries and pound cake for dipping. We danced and danced between courses. And then, at the end, we all got teary as the wedding party serenaded the couple with “So Long, Farewell,” the good-bye song from the play that had brought them together,
The Sound of Music.

And just before
we
left, my family took a moment to raise our glasses.

“To the Blooms,” said Mom. “And the best family business in town!”

We clinked glasses and grinned at one another. We had pulled off the impossible — a demanding bride, a crazy schedule, and a whole lot of unexpected competition. And we had done it together.

When we got home late that night, after Rose’s play, we discovered that the message light on our answering machine was blinking.

“Now who could that be?” Mom wondered aloud as she pressed
PLAY.

“Hello!” Aunt Lily’s voice rang through the room. “Congratulations! I heard you did a wonderful job at the wedding. I am very proud of all of you.” Slightly shocked, we all grinned at one another again. But then she added: “You do realize that prom season starts in two weeks? Just a reminder! Have a good night.”

The smiles left our faces. I could feel my heart sink. What was one bride compared to a hundred girls in fancy dresses?

No one said a word. Then Aster broke the silence with a low whistle. “Holy corsages!” she said, and we all burst out laughing. Poppy, who’d been fast asleep in Dad’s arms, woke with a start, and miraculously started laughing, too.

I smiled at my family. My often crazy, sometimes annoying, and always there-for-one-another family. Together, we would figure this next challenge out.

“You said it, sister!” I replied.

We were all gathered in front of the computer screen, elbowing one another to make sure we were in sight of the video camera. It was our very first iChat with Gran and Gramps.

Suddenly, they appeared on the screen. “Oh!” said Mom. “There they are!” Seeing their familiar faces after all these weeks filled me with instant joy.

“Oh, it’s so lovely to see you all!” Gran said. “Lily told us the wedding was a smashing success!”

“Yes, congratulations!” said Gramps.

“And how was Rose’s play?” Gran wanted to know.

“It was great!” Rose said eagerly. “I’ll send you the DVD really soon!” As she jabbered on about the show, I studied Gran and Gramps. They looked so tan and healthy. Gran had a big pair of sunglasses perched on top of her head and Gramps was wearing a very bright Hawaiian shirt.

“We wanted to talk to you in person.” Gramps laughed. “Or as close to in person as possible. We have some news.”

I took a deep breath. I had a feeling about what was coming next.

“We’ve made a decision,” said Gran slowly. “We can’t handle another New Hampshire winter. We love it down here so much …” Her voice trailed off.

“You’re not coming back,” I said.

Everyone looked at me, silent. “And that’s okay,” I went on. “You guys deserve to have fun. We can handle the store — as long as we do it together.”

Everyone smiled at me. Poppy even patted my hand.

Dad nodded. “And now we have a great place to visit!”

Mom swallowed, then spoke. “I have a suggestion,” she said. “It has to do with the store’s name. Customers have been saying that Flowers on Fairfield sounds so old-fashioned.” She bit her lip. “I know it’s been in the family for years but I wonder if we could …” Her voice trailed off.

“Change the name!” boomed Gramps. “It’s your store now; name it whatever you want!”

“I never really liked it, anyway,” Gran confessed. “It
is
a mouthful!”

We started tossing names around.

“Flower Power!” said Rose.

“Bloodflowers!” said Aster. We all gave her a funny look. “It’s the name of a Cure album,” she said with a shrug.

“Blossoms?” suggested Mom.

“Blooms?” offered Dad.

“How about … something with Petals in it?” I asked, thinking of the rose petals Poppy had tossed onto the aisle at the wedding.

“I know, I know!” shouted Poppy. “Petal Pushers!”

We all were silent for a moment as we considered it. Then we all grinned. “That’s it!” Mom said. “Great idea, Poppy!”

We said our good-byes to Gran and Gramps. It was a bittersweet moment. It was exciting to have the store all to ourselves. But it would be hard with Gran and Gramps so far away. Everyone looked so sad. I had an idea.

“You know how I feel about continuing with our Friday Movie Nights,” I said.

“Yes,” Dad said warily.

“But how about
Sunday
Movie Nights instead?” I said. “We can start tonight! We can eat an early dinner and watch a movie. It can be a new Bloom tradition!”

“It
is
a nice way to start out the week,” said Mom.

“I like it!” Dad added.

“I love it!” said Rose, and even Aster beamed.

“I vote for cake batter ice cream!” said Poppy.

“No, peanut butter brickle!” Aster and Rose said together.

Mom and I were chosen to go out and pick up the supplies. We stopped off at the video store first. My friend Amy had told me about this funny old movie called
Galaxy Quest,
so I found it and handed it to Mom. She got in line.

I was checking out the new releases when I bumped into someone. I looked up. Yikes! It was Hamilton!

“Hey, Del!” he said. He held a DVD in his hands, but he angled it so I couldn’t see the cover.

“Movie Night at your house, too?” I asked.

He nodded.

“Hamilton!” called a voice. “Did you find
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
?”

Hamilton blushed. “It’s my mom’s turn to choose,” he explained.

I turned around — and there was a tall blonde lady waving to us from across the store. I squinted at her. She
looked so familiar … And then I suddenly realized who it was. The lady from Fleur!

“Hey, how do you …” I started to say.

“Just a minute, Mom!” Hamilton called back.

Mom?
I thought, bewildered. Then it hit me: Hamilton’s mom was the owner of our rival flower shop! So
that
was how he knew that delphinium was a flower.

I was speechless. Could it really be?

Hamilton’s mom started heading over to us. Luckily, my mother had just paid for our movie and came over.

“We’re all set,” she said, smiling at Hamilton.

“Great,” I said. I grabbed Mom’s arm and dragged her toward the door. “See you on Monday!” I called to Hamilton.

When we were safely out the door Mom said, “What was that all about?” She grinned at me. “And who was that cute boy?”

“It’s a long story,” I said, feeling dazed. “I’ll tell you about it sometime, I promise.” My stomach rumbled. “Let’s make it quick at the grocery store. I’m starving.” Then I had a scary thought. “Just promise me that
you’re
cooking tonight!”

Mom laughed. “I promise!”