Best Buds (6 page)

I returned the smile. When we were little, we had thought that’s what BFF meant. “Big Fat Friendship,” I replied, hugging her back. And then I headed off to make up with my family.

Everyone was still there when I got back to the store, so I apologized for yelling and running off. Dad apologized for messing up the dates. For the rest of the weekend, though, my family seemed to tiptoe around me, as though they feared I might explode again — but I didn’t. Yes, I was still mad about everything, but I realized there was really nothing I could do. By Monday morning, when Mom and I were at the store again, things felt back to
normal, or at least as normal as things can get among the Blooms.

“I hate to say this, Del,” said Mom as she put the finishing touches on a “Happy Birthday” arrangement and I dusted the vase display. “But I’m kind of excited about doing the flowers for Ashley’s birthday party.”

The phrase “Ashley’s birthday party” still sent a shudder down my spine, but I managed to shake it off. I put down the feather duster. “You’re excited?” I asked incredulously. “You’re joking, right?”

Mom shook her head. “No, I’m totally serious! I’m sure it’s going to be a big event. I could go all out. I’d like to find some interesting containers at the flea market or, depending on the theme, maybe she’d want to do some sweet add-ins like fake butterflies or ladybugs, or seashells and seaweed …” Her voice trailed off as she thought about all the fun things she could do with the centerpieces.

I looked at Mom worriedly. I didn’t think that working with Ashley and her mom was going to be fun at all. And I wasn’t sure they’d be open to Mom’s creative suggestions. I was fairly certain Ashley would ask for
something super fancy and over-the-top. Not fun and quirky like Mom was famous for.

We’d find out soon enough. I was on store duty that day. Dad was supposed to fill in for me, but the night before he had realized he’d been driving with an expired license for a while now and had to make an emergency trip to the DMV. My sisters would have to go along with him. Day two of Camp Dad was off to an exciting start.

So my worst nightmare was coming true. I would actually have to help Ashley plan her birthday party. As a result, I had put a lot of thought into my work outfit that morning. I was going for cute, yet professional, and after much trial and error settled on white denim shorts, a sleeveless pink and white gingham shirt and pink ballet flats. I twisted my hair into two pigtail buns. Supercute, if I do say so myself. I checked my reflection out in the flower cooler and gave myself a nod of approval.

We had two appointments that day. The McGillicuddys would be coming in at noon. After they left, we’d have time to wolf down a quick lunch and then Ashley and her mom would be in at two o’clock.

At five to twelve the McGillicuddys arrived. They had
both been in the store before and I recognized them as soon as they walked in. Mrs. McGillicuddy was a short, older woman and he was equally small and elderly. She had close-cropped, snow-white hair that made her look like a cute little elf and blue eyes that crinkled around the edges when she smiled, which was a lot. Her husband was bald and wore these funny, black-rimmed glasses.

“Welcome to Petal Pushers, Mr. and Mrs. McGillicuddy!” Mom said warmly. “You remember my daughter Del?”

“Of course,” said Mrs. McGillicuddy.

“Please, call us Geraldine and Jerome,” insisted Mr. McGillicuddy.

“We’re excited to plan our anniversary party,” Mrs. McGillicuddy said, giving her husband’s arm a gentle squeeze.

“Our fiftieth, can you believe it?” he said, patting her hand. “Imagine, she changed her last name from Smith to McGillicuddy just for me. If that isn’t love, I don’t know what is.”

“Oh, Jerome,” Mrs. McGillicuddy said with a laugh, though I’m sure she’d heard that one a thousand times. I couldn’t help grinning as I showed them to the table.

But being around them made me a little sad, too. It made me miss my grandparents even more.

“And how are your parents doing down in Florida?” Mrs. McGillicuddy asked my mom, as if she were reading my mind.

As Mom filled them in on Gran and Gramps’s latest adventures, I took a closer look at Geraldine and Jerome. Fifty years! They sat close to each other and finished each other’s sentences and made each other smile. They certainly had a lot to celebrate. I also wondered what these harmless-looking people had done to incur the wrath of Great-aunt Lily. Perhaps appearances were deceiving.

As Mom took down the details of the party — in their backyard, under a tent, a catered lunch, fifty people (including their five kids, their spouses, and fifteen grandchildren). She determined that they needed five centerpieces, plus a large arrangement for the refreshment table.

“And what kind of arrangements are you thinking of? High? Low? Simple? Fancy?” Mom asked them.

“Maybe low arrangements, on the simple side,” said Mrs. McGillicuddy slowly. Her husband nodded in agreement.

“And do you know what kind of flowers you like?” Mom asked. “Or would you like to take a look in the cooler and pick out some favorites?”

Mrs. McGillicuddy looked a little bashful. “Well, I love pink roses. They were the first flowers Jerome ever gave to me.”

He smiled at the memory. “It was at the homecoming dance,” he said. “You wore a white dress and your hair was up.”

Mom and I exchanged glances. Mr. McGillicuddy certainly had a good memory!

He confirmed that with his next statement. “And you carried dahlias in your wedding bouquet.”

She gave him a surprised look. “You remembered!”

“Of course!” he said.

“And when Charles was born you gave me a big bouquet of lisianthus,” she said. She looked at us. “Our first child,” she explained.

He nodded. “And we had the loveliest hydrangea bush in the backyard of our first house….”

Mom was scribbling notes down quickly. She looked up. “You’ve given me some wonderful flowers to work
with,” she said. “And I just love that each one says something about your lives together.”

Suddenly, I had an idea. “Hey!” I said. “What if we print up a special document that explains the meaning of each flower to your lives? We could put it in a beautiful frame and put it on a display table.”

Mrs. McGillicuddy beamed at me. “That’s a great idea!” she said.

Mom nodded approvingly, and I felt a flush of pride.

Mr. McGillicuddy raised a hand. “Just in case you need any extra flowers to fill out the centerpieces, I think you should know that there’s one flower we don’t like at all….”

“They’re these white-and-pink lilies that are very … um … fragrant,” Mrs. McGillicuddy said, clearly not wanting to offend Mom in case they were her personal favorites.

“You mean stargazers,” said Mom. “Can’t stand ‘em myself. Fragrant is a nice word for it. They stink!”

“And they’re dangerous, too,” I piped up, remembering one of the many pieces of flower trivia I’d learned from Gramps and Gran. “You have to remove the
pollen as the flowers start to open. If any of it gets on your clothes, it totally stains them a hideous shade of orange.”

“No stargazer lilies,” Mom wrote down. She looked up and smiled at the McGillicuddys. “It just happens that all the other flowers you’ve mentioned will look gorgeous together. We’re going to make sure you have a simply lovely anniversary party.”

Mr. and Mrs. McGillicuddy stood to leave. They were shaking hands with me and Mom and exchanging thank-yous when the bell over the front door rang.

I stood to greet the customer. “Welcome to Petal —”

“Hello, Delphinium,” Aunt Lily said coolly. “I’m on my way to Kitty Dalrymple’s garden tea and I thought I would bring her a bouquet of …” Her voice trailed off as she noticed our customers. “Oh, excuse me,” she said. “Hello, Geraldine, Jerome,” she said coolly.

“Hello, Lily,” said Mrs. McGillicuddy in a grim tone. I stared at her. The sweet tone and smiling face were gone. Mrs. McGillicuddy was not looking very friendly at all.

“How have you been?” Mr. McGillicuddy asked Aunt Lily.

“Fine, thank you,” replied Aunt Lily. “I hear congratulations are in order. For your golden anniversary.”

“Thank you, Lily,” said Mrs. McGillicuddy stiffly.

“We’re looking forward to the party,” Mr. McGillicuddy said, and his wife gave him a quick look, as if to remind him that Aunt Lily was
not
invited.

Aunt Lily seemed very uncomfortable. She pulled her ancient but gleaming alligator purse closer to her and turned away. “I’ll just wait over here until you’re ready,” she said quietly to my mom.

I stared at Aunt Lily’s retreating back. I knew exactly how she felt, being left out of a big party. But it was totally weird, feeling bad for my frosty great-aunt.

After the McGillicuddys left, neither Mom nor Aunt Lily said anything about the incident. Aunt Lily got her bouquet and left, and then I ran down to the Corner Café to pick up a couple of sandwiches before the Evil Edwardses arrived.

To be fair, Ashley’s mom really isn’t all that bad. She only raised the thorn in my side that is Ashley, no big deal, right? But Mrs. Edwards and my mom get along just fine. Plus, I was fairly certain Ashley wasn’t any nicer to her
mom than she was to me, so I kind of felt sorry for her. My stomach was so full of dread I could barely finish my sandwich.

When I heard the bell jangle, I looked up and took a deep breath to steady my nerves. As Ashley and her mom walked inside, I heard Ashley say, “Just let me do the talking.”

Ashley wore a beaded, pale-yellow and green sarong skirt, green tank top, and dangly earrings with multicolored stones. Metallic sandals laced up her legs. It was more an outfit for a tropical vacation than downtown New Hampshire. But even I had to admit she looked good. I thought about how much time I had put into choosing
my
outfit and laughed to myself. Foiled again!

I gave the two of them my best professional smile. Ashley ignored me, but Mrs. Edwards gave me a quick hug, leaving me smelling like fragrant French perfume.

“So nice to see you, Del,” Mrs. Edwards said. She turned to Mom and air kissed her. “Daisy! Our little girls are turning thirteen! Can you believe it?” I rolled my eyes at the “little girls” part, but stopped as soon as I realized Ashley was doing the same thing.

Mrs. Edwards tugged at the hem of her short, crisp, white tennis dress as she sat in the chair Mom offered her. Her hair was an expensive-looking shade of blonde, held back with a pink headband. She wore a ring with a large diamond on her left hand. I knew she was about the same age as my mom, but looked a bit older because of all the time she spent in the sun, playing tennis and golf. Rumor had it that she had had some Botox injections to appear youthful, so I hoped she might frown so I could see if her forehead creased. Perhaps I could say something perplexing before the meeting was through. Mrs. Edwards smiled down at her attire. “Excuse my tennis whites,” she said. “But I’ve got a four o’clock court time!”

For a second I thought she was going to dispute a parking ticket. Or maybe she had been caught jaywalking. Then I realized what she meant. Silly me. The Blooms are so not the Country Club types!

“So tell us about your event,” Mom said, her purple pen poised above her notebook. “Is it at the Country Club?”

“No way,” said Ashley snottily. “That’s for weddings and anniversary parties. Lame. My party is going to be at Society Sisters!”

I clenched and unclenched my fists. I hated how rude Ashley was being to my mom and I hated how her mom was letting her get away with it. But mostly I hated sitting there listening to Ashley plan her stupid party that was ruining
my
actual birthday.

Mom let it all roll off her back. “Is that the new place on Old Country Road?” she asked pleasantly.

“Yes,” said Ashley proudly. “And my party is going to be their very first event.”

Mom bit her lip, unsure how to phrase what she had to say. “Sometimes with new venues, it isn’t the best idea to be the very first party,” she said carefully. “They need time to iron out the kinks….”

Mrs. Edwards leaned toward Ashley. “Honey, she does have a point,” she said. “Maybe we could consider another place before we give them the down payment….”

But Ashley held up a hand. I glanced over to Mrs. Edwards to see if she was perturbed by her daughter’s rude behavior, but her forehead was wrinkle free. “They’ve assured us that the party will be perfect,” Ashley said smugly. “I’m not worried.”

Mom gave a tiny shrug. “All righty then. Let’s talk about the theme.”

Ashley smiled. “One Thousand and One Nights,” she said dreamily. “With jewel tones for the tablecloths and linens, brass genie lamps on the tables, burning incense. We’ll eat sitting on the floor, surrounded by luxurious pillows. The lighting will be dim with flickering candles everywhere….”

I couldn’t help smiling. Exactly as I had suspected — over the top and totally inappropriate to the season. But I was glad she had the whole thing planned out. At least I didn’t have to help her come up with ideas for her dumb party. Thank goodness for small favors.

Mom frowned. “So your party is going to be inside in the dark on what will probably be a gorgeous summer evening?”

Ashley looked crossly at Mom.

“I was thinking the same thing,” said Mrs. Edwards. “Wouldn’t a poolside party at the Country Club be more fun?”

“Mom!” Ashley shouted. “I’ve got it all figured out. And it’s MY birthday. Will you PLEASE butt out?”

Mrs. Edwards sighed and shook her head. She gave Mom a look. “Well, it isn’t every day a girl turns thirteen.” She patted Ashley’s hand. “You can have whatever you want, dear.”

Mrs. Edwards looked over at me as if seeing me for the first time. “Hey, Del, isn’t your birthday coming up, too? What are you doing for your big day?”

Working two stupid parties,
I wanted to say. Instead, I answered, “We’re going on vacation to Maine.”

“Oh!” Mrs. Edwards said, clearly not impressed. “Well, won’t that be fun for you.”

Mom steered the conversation back to the subject at hand. “So I gather we’re talking exotics,” she guessed. “I have some fun thoughts to share. We could do blood lilies and hanging amaranthus with …”