She woke up alone the last two mornings, as Jon had warned her he
would be busy. Much of his time was spent in meetings, including several with Dorothea and lawyers to rewrite divorce details for the New Jersey house.
He kept in touch with Delaney via several texts throughout the
day and a bedtime phone call from Red Bank, where he spent the night.
The younger boys had gone over with Dorothea to pick up some things, and
when they found Jon there in the studio, decided to stay with Dad. A nostalgia tour, Jon called it.
On Wednesday morning, he and Jesse left for Chicago about the
time Delaney unlocked the doors on Dandelion Dreams. She had no idea what their itinerary was, other
than an anticipated return to New York on Friday, but they must be staying busy. She didn’t hear from him yesterday, last
night or this morning.
Sleepovers never became a habit after her divorce, making it strange that she found herself a little lonely waking up
without Jon’s head on the other pillow. Yes,
they’d undeniably spent a lot of time together as of late, but they’d only shared a bed once in
the last week. That made this gnawing
emptiness all the more peculiar.
Then again, maybe the emptiness wasn’t all because of
Jon.
She was hyper-aware of it being her daughters' birthday, and the traditional gray
cloud that accompanied it was hovering nearby.
It wasn’t actually hanging over her
this year, but with the recent stirring of memories, there was no escaping its
presence in the room.
Stephanie called the shop a little while ago, as a matter
of fact, with thanks for the cute carnation puppy that Jesse commissioned.
There would come a day when her name or voice didn’t
bring Violet to mind. Delaney knew
that. It was already easier to breathe,
because she’d done as Jon suggested and spent some time on Sunday getting to
know Stephanie the person instead of Stephanie the story. Soon, there would be more to associate with
the girl than tragedy. For now, it was
still a reminder – no matter how faint – of loss.
That’s part of the reason why, although Violet and Poppy
might not physically be here, both daughters lurked at the edges of her
consciousness and had been all day. Violet’s
flowers were the first arrangement Delaney did this morning, in preparation for
a birthday trip to the cemetery.
Fortunately, there was plenty going on at the shop today
that needed attention so that she wasn’t tempted to invite the hovering cloud
to smother her.
Jake’s prom was this weekend, and there was a stack of
last-minute orders for bouquets, corsages and boutonnieres. Each mother placing an order mentioned
that her child went to school with Jake.
Delaney didn’t know if that meant Jon's son was selling her work to his
friends, or if these mothers had seen the TMZ photos and just wanted to check
out Jake’s dad’s new woman.
The money went in Delaney’s pocket either way, so it didn’t
much matter to her. She’d thank Jake as
a safeguard and be grateful that she might profit from celebrity
curiosity.
The project she and Ireland were putting together now was
more pressing, and she knew without a doubt that a Bongiovi child was
responsible for this one. The
administrative assistant placing the corporate event order said she was
referred by the “Pink Bottle Boys” at Hampton Water. Technically, that could mean Ali, too, but
her money was on Jesse.
“Laney.”
Looking up from the massive palm fronds she was putting together
with her junior designer, Delaney found Marilee’s expression solemn.
That in itself was bothersome.
Marilee didn’t do solemn. Sarcastic,
yes. Deprecating, yes. Indifferent, yes. Those
made up the woman’s entire somber rainbow. The concern dancing
behind those God-awful leopard print reading glasses didn’t mean they’d just
scored a multi-thousand dollar order.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” her shop manager denied with a lifted
hand meant to console. “There’s just this thing. A little
thing, but a thing you'll want to be aware of.”
Delaney put the fronds down with a sense of foreboding
that cloud was making its move.
Marilee should be someplace drinking her lunch or getting
a mani/pedi on her scheduled day off, but she was already helping customers when
Delaney arrived with her Flower District haul. Katya evidently texted
her late last night with the message that she wouldn’t be at work. No reason why. Just that she wouldn’t be there.
When Marilee read it this morning and sent that question
back, there was no reply. The lack of
justification annoyed Delaney, but it was only the first time the new girl had
called off. Since Marilee swore she didn’t mind covering the shift,
Delaney resigned herself to reviewing time off etiquette when Katya returned.
“What’s the thing, Marilee?”
“This.”
She held up her phone so that
the screen was visible, and Delaney’s mouth tugged down at the corners. The
picture displayed was of a smiling Jon with his arm around the beaming blonde
beauty tucked into his side. Both held glasses of wine, indicating a
party of some sort, and Delaney wouldn’t have batted an eye – except that the
blonde was Katya.
Taking in the accompanying
headline of, “Jon Bon Jovi Enjoying the Single Life”, she tamped down her anger
to quietly inquire, “Where and when?”
Marilee hesitated before taking
a resigned breath and relaying, “The article says last night in Chicago.”
“So, basically, Katya couldn’t
come to work because she was partying with Jon in Chicago.”
“I don’t know that for a fact,
but it sure looks that way.”
Her mind was blank. Delaney
couldn’t even form a real thought through the anger that bubbled inside her
veins. She couldn’t even distinguish the real source of the anger. She just knew it was irrationally there along
with a vague acknowledgement that there was probably some kind of logical
explanation.
Logic wasn’t high on the
priority list right now.
“What else does the article
say?”
“Just… stuff.”
“Give me the freeping phone,”
she muttered, snatching it away and scrolling to read what was in the smaller
print.
“When asked about their relationship, she looked toward
Bon Jovi with a coquettish smile and revealed, ‘I know it seems sudden, but the
divorce was a long time coming. He’s really sweet and thoughtful, and calls
me his ‘beautiful fighter.’”
Delaney turned cold eyes on her friend and returned the
phone. “She’s fired. I don’t give a flying freep what
happened, who did what or didn’t do what. I don’t want her in my
shop ever again. Start looking for another assistant manager. Today.”
“Whatever you say, but are you okay? I didn’t
really want you to see that fighter thing, but at the same time…”
The thought dangled there much like Delaney’s own. She
and Jon were the only ones who knew about that endearment except for Marilee. Pile
that on top of the insider information that the divorce wasn’t as sudden as it
appeared, and the whole thing was pretty damning.
“I’m fine.”
“Hey, Delaney?” Macie popped through the
curtain only to retreat a step when she caught sight of her boss’s stony
expression. “Uh. Sorry to interrupt, but there’s someone
on the phone asking for you.”
Deep breaths. Macie didn’t make a public move on your
boyfriend. Katya did. This is no one’s fault except Katya’s.
Possibly Jon’s, too, but the jury on that was out until
he had a chance to explain.
There was no
explanation that would absolve Katya.
The woman witnessed Jon coming into this shop on multiple
occasions to see Delaney. Two days ago, she even mentioned the cute TMZ
beach pictures. She knew there
was more than friendship at play. Nothing she said would excuse this
biyotchery.
Delaney drew a deep breath and tried to smile at her
part-time employee. “It’s okay, Macie. I’ll pick it up
back here.”
The girl returned to the front of the store, but Marilee
put a hand on Delaney’s arm when she turned to reach for the wall phone. “Are
you sure you’re okay?”
Her anger had found a source. It was undeniably Katya, and she was focusing
on that until hearing Jon’s side of the story.
It had better be good, though.
She got that this, as much as the travel, was part of his
life. There would be photos with women cuddled up to him. If it was just the picture, she would deal
with the pang of envy and work on managing her reactions better in the future.
It was going to take a hot minute to get past that whole
“beautiful fighter” thing. If he’d truly referred to Kaya using
those exact words and shared the details of his divorce with her, it would take
more than five hot minutes.
“I’m sure I’ll be fine once I talk to him.”
Dorothea is divorcing him because he lied to her. Are
you really going to believe him?
Dorothea had also told her to look for the truth in his
eyes, but there were some truths Delaney didn’t need to see in his eyes.
Jon cared about her. She knew that without a
doubt, and their relationship was too new for him to be bored already. There was some kind of misunderstanding here,
and she would sort it out when they talked.
“Delaney…”
Both women turned to Ireland, the pretty redhead who had
been listening while continuing to work on the tropical display. Now
she laid down her hands and brushed a thumb over the stem of a red dahlia while
indecisively biting her lip.
“What is it?”
“Maybe this is nothing. It’s definitely none
of my business, but I saw them in the store last week – the day you opened and
then went out of town. I came in the back door, and when I stuck my
head into the shop to let somebody know I was here, they were alone in the shop. It
looked like Katya was holding his hand. She was definitely coming
onto him.”
“But what about Jon?” Marilee demanded.
The girl lifted an uncertain shoulder. “He was
smiling and slow to take his hand away. He kind of let his wave
linger in the air when he walked out.”
Delaney’s heart constricted with hurt, and then thumped
with his share of anger.
No, her brain reasoned.
That was not possible.
Jon had pursued her. Before his divorce. This shop
was the first place he came after news of the divorce broke. They’d
spent the entire week together. He took her to meet his kids. She
helped him pick out an apartment. Her entire yesterday was consumed
with furniture shopping for that apartment.
He knew her, for freep’s sake. He knew her!
He made love to her when he could’ve screwed her. When
she’d very specifically asked him to screw her.
But he wouldn’t say
the words.
That’s because he found it more meaningful to prove
them.
What you have proof
of isn’t love.
There was no clear proof of anything.
Marilee’s pixie blonde head snapped to
Delaney. “That fucker is playing games with the wrong girl.”
“We don’t know that he’s playing games at all,” Delaney
countered logically, although her anger agreed with Marilee. “Thank you for telling me,
Ireland. Now, I need to take this call.”
Her mouth puckering into an ugly frown of disgust,
Marilee turned to join Macie in the shop while Ireland went back to
work. That left Delaney to snatch up the wall receiver and
cheerfully chirp, “Dandelion Dreams. Delaney speaking.”
“Delaney.” The male voice sounded
relieved. “Delaney Gardener of the purple hair and beautiful gray
eyes?”
Her hair would be espresso brown tomorrow but for now,
the caller had his colors correct. “Beauty is in the eye of the
beholder, but yes. Who is this?”
There was a slight cough before he laughed. “I’ve
practiced this moment so many times, that it should come naturally, but it’s
not. Forgive me for being awkward. You may not remember
me, but we met a couple weeks ago.”
“Are you the man who keeps coming by the
shop? The paramedic?”
“Guilty. Name’s Hugo.” This time
she could detect nerves in his laughter. “For what it’s worth, this
was going to be the last time I reached out to you. I figured if you
didn’t respond this time that I should just walk away. But here you
are.”
“Here I am,” she agreed, turning to lean against the wall
and watch Ireland put the rest of the exotic stems in place. “I
apologize for not returning your call sooner. I’ve just been so busy
lately.”
There was a good chance she never would’ve called this man,
but his timing today would eliminate the need to worry about it
anymore. She was just ticked off enough with recent events
that a perverse part of her was glad he called. If she had to remain
calm in the face of Jon with other women, he would freeping well do the same.
“No worries. Life happens, and I get
it. I hope you’ve fully recovered from your accident?”
“Yes, thanks for asking. I have to say I’m
curious. I can’t imagine why you’re so anxious to talk to
me. The only thing I could think of is that you have something of
mine.” When her speculation was met with nothing but silence,
Delaney speculated, “Did I lose a ring in the ambulance or something?”
There was another moment of dead air before Hugo blew out
a quiet breath. “I have been anxious. In fact, you’ve
been on my mind every day. I would really like to take you out for
coffee and… talk. What do you say?”
Pearl had been right. Hugo wanted to ask her
out, and Delaney knew nothing about this guy. The only things she
knew for certain was that she was in a relationship, she was irritated with her
boyfriend and coffee sounded pretty innocent in the grand scheme of
things.
Hugo’s timing was impeccable, and she didn’t even have to
deliberate before answering.
“Sure. I’m covered up with work today and
tomorrow, but how about Saturday afternoon?”
By then, this corporate event and prom would be done, and
she’d have a minute to breathe. She had no idea what Jon’s schedule
looked like, nor did she care at the moment.
“If that’s the soonest you can fit it in, then
sure. One o’clock at the Tick Tock Diner? That’s not too
far from your shop.”
Delaney’s spine took on a chill that sent shivers
trickling along the vertebrae, but she ignored it. There was nothing
wrong with going out for coffee.
“Sounds good. I’ll see you then.”
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