Too Many Blooms (9 page)

“I promise,” I said.

“I think you need to … lighten up a little bit. Just because your family isn’t doing things exactly the way you want them to be done doesn’t mean it’s wrong.”

I felt my face get warm. I’d lied. Now I was mad at Becky, too. Did
no one
understand me?

“Whatever,” I said shortly. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“But …” Becky started.

I stood up. “I better go.”

Becky looked upset. The two of us hardly ever fought, and I knew she expected me to apologize. But I was too
disgruntled
to be good company. I’d be better off alone.

Things were tense in my house. Aster spoke even less than usual. And whenever Rose started telling a story about the play, she clammed up when I walked into the room. Even
little Poppy was giving me the cold shoulder. “I’m feeling angry, Del,” she told me seriously. “That means I am not happy,” she explained.

I couldn’t argue with her there.

At dinner on Sunday night my sisters and I ignored Mom and Dad’s attempts to get us to talk to one another. I went straight to my room afterward and shut the door.

When I brushed my teeth before bed, I could hear Rose and Aster in their room, practicing Rose’s lines for the play.
Well, I blew that one,
I thought. I hadn’t run through a single scene with her. Then I shrugged. Who cared, anyway? Not me!

But I
did
care. I hated being at odds with my family, annoying as they might be. I decided it was time to make a call. I needed advice from someone who understood the entire situation. Who knew how I felt about the store and what it meant to me. I promised myself that I would take whatever advice this person had to share.

“Delphinium!” boomed Gramps. “We just got back from the sunset at Mallory Square. It was so much fun! There are all these performers — fire-eaters and musicians. A guy was making balloon animals! And there was a man
who blew bubbles and played music while his dog collected money in her mouth! While wearing boxers! And then the sun set and we all applauded! It was great!”

“The dog collects money while wearing boxers?” I asked, giggling. My grandparents were certainly embracing the Key West life with open arms. “Sounds great, Gramps.” I could hear my grandmother in the background. “What did Gran say?” I asked.

“She says she thinks she saw that flash of green when the sun went down that everyone talks about.” He lowered his voice. “But I think she’s making it up!”

“Tell Gran I miss her,” I said, feeling a little choked up.

“I will,” he said. “So what’s going on, Del? You sound down.”

So I filled him in. I told him everything. That the store wasn’t being run properly and my sisters were making a mess. About the dancing. The petals on the floor. The dead flower arrangements. And the complete disregard for the way things should be done.

There was silence after I finished. “Gramps?” I said.

“I was afraid of this,” he finally answered. “You got too used to having the store to yourself. And I guess that’s our fault.”

“But Gramps,” I protested. “They do things all wrong!”

“The flower shop is a family business and your sisters have every right to help out, too,” he said gently. “And it’s okay that they don’t do things the same way we did. It reminds me of when your mom first started working in the store when she was in high school. She drove Aunt Lily crazy with all her ideas.”

“So what happened?” I asked.

“Your aunt drove her crazy right back, criticizing everything she did. Your mom finally quit and went to work at the ice-cream shop.” He sighed. “I’ve always regretted not intervening. Just because someone does things differently doesn’t mean they’re wrong.”

I was disappointed. And I was officially tired of being compared to Aunt Lily. But maybe Gramps had a point.
Maybe.

“And here’s another thing. Even though your mom might not be running the store the way you like, I bet you anything she’s been doing some really nice arrangements.”

I thought about the bouquet with the strawberries. The “Happy Birthday” arrangement with the multicolored candles. Mom really
was
creative.

“She has,” I admitted. “Oh, I don’t know, Gramps, it’s just so hard without you and Gran here.” Then I brightened. “Well, at least you’ll be home in two months,” I said. “Right?”

“Yeah, about that …” Gramps started to say. Then he changed the subject. “So how are the Movie Nights going?” he asked.

“Um, they’re not,” I admitted. “It just didn’t feel right. I like things the way they used to be.”

Gramps sighed. “You’re a little young to be so set in your ways, Del.”

We said our good-byes and then I sat in my room, thinking. Maybe Gramps was right. Maybe there was more than one way to do things. After all, it’s not like I was perfect, or even close. I had done some dumb things in the past couple of weeks. I had shot down my family’s ideas just because they were different. I had been judgmental and selfish. I had wanted the store all to myself, but that wasn’t a possibility anymore.

I hated to admit it, but maybe it was time to make some changes.

The question was —
how?

The first person I wanted to set things right with was Becky. On Monday morning, I waited for her at her locker.

“Hi there,” she said, dropping her backpack to the floor and peeling off her jacket. She sounded a little aloof, and I could understand why.

I plunged right in. “I’m sorry I was such a jerk at your house this weekend,” I said, looking her right in the eye. “I hope you’re not too mad at me.”

She laughed. “You’re my best friend, Del. I can’t stay mad at you for long. I know things have been hard with the flower store.”

I was so relieved. I gave her a big hug and then we went to the cafeteria, where I bought her a hot chocolate. With extra whipped cream.

Making up with my sisters was not going to be so easy. I had to come up with a plan.

It took me all week to figure it out, but I finally did, and right in time, too.

It was the day before the wedding, and the opening night of Rose’s play. I skipped out of school after second-to-last period. Mom had written a note to get me out of gym class so I could head to the store early and help her and Dad assemble the centerpieces and bouquets. I wasn’t sad to miss gym, even though, thankfully, we’d stopped our square-dance lessons and had moved on to basketball. But Ashley was still talking to Hamilton all the time. And I’d see more than enough of Ashley on Saturday at the wedding.

I met my parents at the store and we worked steadily, creating piece after piece. As the sun started to set, I glanced up at the clock — one hour to curtain! Mom was putting the finishing touches on Olivia’s bouquet.

She yawned. “Almost done — can you believe it? We’ll actually make it to the play on time!”

I went into the back room with some flowers, ribbon, and cellophane. I had some making up to do with my sisters. And I was going to say it with flowers.

I stashed the bouquets under my seat and looked around the auditorium. I waved to my friend Jessica, who sat a couple of rows behind us with her parents. Her brother was in the fourth grade and in the chorus. She waved back and made the “call me” sign, her hand to her ear. I nodded and smiled. Then I glanced over at Aster. She deliberately hadn’t sat next to me and that made me feel bad. She looked paler than usual. She always gets nervous before Rose’s plays. Rose says that she never gets butterflies because Aster does it for her. Dad patted Aster’s hand reassuringly. On my other side, Mom folded up her coat for Poppy to sit on. The orchestra began to play and the curtain rose. Showtime!

It turned out that
Bye Bye Birdie
is a really funny play, with catchy songs that had most of the audience dancing in their seats, my family included. Of course, we all paid closest attention whenever Rose was onstage. Rose was really convincing as a starstruck teenager. At one point
Mom leaned over me to whisper to Dad, “I can see what’s ahead for us!”

Rose also looked very cute in Aunt Lily’s blue pedal pushers, which, with Aunt Lily’s permission, of course, she’d had tailored at the dry cleaners so that they fit perfectly.

I was really proud of my sister, but felt bad that I hadn’t helped her with the lines. Next play, for sure. I kept reaching under my seat to make sure that the shopping bag of flowers was still there.

After the curtain calls (two!), we pushed our way backstage with the other beaming families. Rose was surrounded by cast members, all congratulating her.

“Everyone ready to go to Oscar’s for dinner?” asked Dad after he and Mom had hugged and complimented Rose.

We all nodded excitedly. “Do they have hot dogs at Oscar’s?” asked Poppy. We all laughed.

“I can’t wait to see how my arrangements look!” said Mom. I couldn’t wait to get to Oscar’s, either, but for a different reason. I was planning to present the flowers to my sisters during dinner. I’d make a short, heartfelt speech, Mom (and possibly Dad) would cry, and we’d all make up.

We arrived at the restaurant at 7:00 on the dot. We hadn’t been to Oscar’s in a long time — not since Mom and Dad’s anniversary dinner last year — and I’d forgotten how fancy it was: full of flickering candles and tables covered in crisp white cloths. I always feel kind of self-conscious in such formal places. I clutched my paper bag to my chest as Aster, Rose, Poppy, and Mom gabbed excitedly about the play. Meanwhile, Dad told the hostess, “We have a reservation for seven o’clock. The name is Bloom.”

“We’ll seat you in a moment,” said the hostess.

Just then a waiter walked by, carrying a large arrangement of flowers.

“Hey!” said Mom. “I made that!”

“And it’s beautiful,” said the hostess. She lowered her voice. “But we had to remove it. You see, there’s going to be a rehearsal dinner in our banquet room at eight o’clock tonight. The mayor’s son is getting married tomorrow,” she added. “And it turns out that the mayor is deathly allergic to lilacs!”

It took a minute for her words to sink in.

Then I pictured fifty carefully arranged centerpieces of hydrangeas, roses, ivy, lily of the valley, and
lilacs.

“Olivia knows that there are lilacs in the centerpieces,” I said slowly. “She would have told us!”

“Maybe she doesn’t know he’s allergic!” Mom exclaimed, looking panicked. “And you know how Olivia is — she got so wrapped up in what
she
wanted for the wedding …”

“It could have slipped her mind,” I filled in, my worry growing.

“This is bad, right?” Aster spoke up, and Mom nodded.

“Uh, we need to cancel our reservation,” Dad told the hostess. “Family emergency!”

The worktable at the store was littered with piles of lilacs, half-eaten half-sour pickles, cans of Dr. Brown’s soda, and the remnants of our hot-dog dinner. Not exactly the gourmet feast we had been anticipating, but delicious just the same. Luckily, the local deli was good, and it delivered.

In between eating and the lilac removal, we had a lot of fun. At first I was going to say something about waiting to enjoy ourselves until after we were done fixing the
flowers, but I kept my mouth shut. And I was glad I did. Mom cranked up the music and we took turns dancing. Then Rose suggested a game of charades and we guessed movie titles.

I suppose you
can
mix fun with work,
I thought, laughing as I watched Dad try to act out my suggestion, chosen for its humor potential and level of difficulty:
Die Hard 2: Die Harder.

This would have been one boring evening if my family hadn’t been there to join in. And the best part was that my sisters were all in good moods and were actually talking to me again.

But I knew I still needed to say something to them. I turned off the music and cleared my throat.

“Speech! Speech!” called Dad.

I nodded at him. “I just wanted to apologize to you all,” I began, feeling a little nervous. I cleared my throat. “I’ve been a jerk.”

“Here, here!” said Aster, toasting me with a Cel-Ray. Rose laughed and clinked cans with her. Who in their right mind drinks Cel-Ray? That’s
celery
soda. Yuck. I made a face at both of them.

“Well,” I continued. “I’m sorry. I know I haven’t been very good at sharing this place with any of you. But I also know that Gran and Gramps left it with all of us, and that we all have a right to be a part of Flowers on Fairfield. And actually, we all
need
to be a part of it. Tonight proves that. We all need to work together to make this place a success.”

Mom spoke up. “I’ve been thinking, too, Del,” she said. “And if you girls are in agreement,” she added, looking at my sisters, “I think it would be great if Del taught you all she knows about the store and how things work.”

“Really?” I said, feeling hopeful.

Mom smiled. “Really,” she answered. “You just have to be open to other ways of doing things.”

I looked at Rose, Aster, and Poppy. “Are you guys okay with that?” I asked them.

Aster nodded. Rose dramatically threw her arms around my neck and kissed my cheek. And Poppy wrapped her arms around my legs in a sticky hug — her hands were very mustardy, but I didn’t even mind that she got some on my skirt.

“Wait, I almost forgot something!” I cried. I ran over to the shopping bag I had been carting all over town. I reached in and pulled out the first bouquet.

“Rose,” I began. “You were truly a star tonight and I am really proud of you. I made an arrangement of some very special roses — called Broadway Blooms. Because this Bloom is going to star on Broadway someday.”

Rose took the bouquet and inhaled. “They smell amazing!” she said. “And look, they’re yellow and pink — my favorite colors!”

“I think you are going to be the best greeter the store has ever seen. You’re so friendly and so good with the customers.”

Rose blushed. “Thank you, Del,” she said.

I reached into the bag and pulled out a slightly squashed bouquet of big red flowers. “Poppies for my little sister Poppy,” I said. Poppy let out a squeal of delight. “Poppy, I promise to be more patient with you from now on,” I said solemnly. “And I will come up with fun things for us to do around the store together.”

“That sounds good, Del,” said Poppy, clutching her flowers. “And now I feel very happy.”

“And for you, Aster …” I reached into the bag one last time.

“Let me guess,” she said with a grin.

I shook my head. “I promise to listen to your ideas. In fact, I think you should start a line of goth flowers. There are plenty of cool,
live
flowers you can use,” I said, handing her the arrangement. “Black hollyhocks,” I told her. “Note that they are tied with black ribbon.”

“They’re amazing,” she said.

I looked at my sisters. “I’ve missed you guys.”

“Well, you’ll be seeing plenty of us now!” Rose said.

“My girls are friends again!” said Mom, wiping her eyes with the black bandanna she uses for special occasions.

Dad, always the goofball, stood up and wrapped his arms around all four of us in a huge hug. “Daddy! My poppies!” Poppy cried.

He let go of us with a grin. “‘After a good dinner’,” he quoted, pointing to the deli remnants, “‘one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations’!” He paused. “Oscar Wilde.”

As we began cleaning up, I had a thought. I grabbed an assortment of flowers, floral tape, and ribbon.

“What are you doing?” Mom asked, holding an armful of lilacs.

“Better safe than sorry,” I said. “I’m going to make one more bridesmaid’s bouquet.”

Rose yawned. “You’re crazy.”

“It does seem unnecessary, Del,” said my mom. Then she saw the serious look on my face.

“If there’s one thing I learned tonight,” I said, “it’s to expect the unexpected.”

Mom grinned. “You do have a point there!”

Everyone cleaned up around me and left me to work.

It didn’t take me long, but I was exhausted by the time I finished wrapping bright pink ribbon around the stems of my bouquet. I looked around. The place was clean, and Mom had finished replacing the very last centerpiece in the cooler. Poppy lay curled in the corner, sleeping on a pile of coats. It was late, we were tired, but we were done.

“Time to go home,” said Mom.

We drove back to the house, and Dad carried the still sleeping Poppy up the stairs to her room. “See you tomorrow, bright and early,” he said.

I looked down at my watch. Yikes! Mere hours till the mother of all weddings. I needed to fall asleep, and fast!