Elly in Love (The Elly Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

bouquet plus a bottle of wine for everyone and surprised Kim with tickets for a weekend in Paris. Seriously , a weekend in Paris? Who does that? Sean Creeden, that’s who . What a tool. She knew she shouldn’t be jealous, but she was. The rest of the day, Elly had been in a designing delirium, putting together one order after another until they all blended together in her mind—a giant mass of red and pink roses, mixed tulips, gerbera daisies, and blooming plants.
    Kim poked her head around towering buckets of pink gladioli. “I just got an email order, can you do one more?”
    Elly gave a weak protest. “Honestly, I’m very busy with this moss sculpture. He wants it in the shape of Cupid and I’m pretty sure this looks like a dinosaur.” She lowered her head onto the table and looked sadly at her best friend. “Kill me now.”
    Kim raised the Post-it note to shield herself from Elly’s glare. “It’s designer’s choice.”
    Elly raised an eyebrow. “Really? It’s never my choice. Ever. The only arrangements that I ever do that are designer’s choice are for … um, you.”
    Kim grinned and raised her arms mockingly. “Perhaps someone has realized your genius at last! The glory of it all! How about I’ll finish the cupid and you do the designer choice? Go nuts! You have two hundred and fifty bucks to play with.”
    Snarky Teenager walked into the room and plopped down a beautiful garden arrangement—pink ranunculus draped over the sides of a green ceramic pot, and a heather heart floated flawlessly above it. She looked a bit, er, mature, as always, with a tight pink miniskirt and loose white shirt over red striped leggings. “You get to do designer’s choice? That’s freaking sweet.” She pointed to the cupid, “Ugh, what the hell is that? It looks like a velociraptor that ate the rest of the dinosaurs. That must be where they all went.”
    Elly took a breath while ignoring her youngest co-worker. “That would be really nice, Kim. I’m so tired. Are you sure that you don’t want to do the designer’s choice?”
    Kim shook her head. “Uh-uh. They requested you by name.”
    Elly gave a nod, left the dinosaur behind, and went to the cooler, leaning her head against the humid glass. Designer’s choice. What would she pick for herself? She reached in the cooler . I’ll make what I would make for my mother if she were here today. Losing herself in the flowers, Elly began pulling, assembling a loose bouquet in her hand, something only a skilled florist could do with ease. Antique green and pink hydrangea. Vibrant pink Maria Theresa roses, the expensive kind. White lisianthus. Dahlias, in rich dark plums. Coral minicallas. White phalaenopsis orchids. Red wine cockscomb. Blackberry brambles. Viburnum. Green berries. She arranged them quickly in a gorgeous copper watering can that she had for sale on the shelf, letting them fall naturally. She stood back. It was opulent and yet, so natural looking. The money was in the flowers. This was her choice. An hour had gone by and she didn’t even know it. She walked over and handed it to Kim, stepping over Cadbury, who was loudly chewing on a rose stem. “Here, put this in the cooler.”
    Kim cooed at the arrangement. “Oh, Elly, this is gorgeous. Want to make one for me?”
    Elly patted her cheek. “Nope. You get to go to Paris; I’d say you’re good.”
    Four hours later, after all the arrangements had been picked up by thoroughly stressed-out men, she flipped the sign over to CLOSED with a grateful whimper . One more Valentine’s Day done, thank you, Lord. She walked up to her apartment and unlocked the door slowly, the turning of her key exerting massive force. After pulling on her PJ pants, she took Cadbury out for the world’s quickest potty with the moon as her only light. She was vaguely aware that all around her, lovers were falling into each other, proclaiming love where it hadn’t been before. “ Bah-humbug, ” she grumbled out loud as