Elly in Love. Colleen Oakes

into thin air.

      Forget it. Elly was not moving any farther. Flowers in hand, she sank down onto a cement ledge in front of Ada’s coffee house. She needed water. On second thought, hot chocolate didn’t sound so bad right about now. “Shoot.” She threw the flowers down in frustration.

      A shadow covered the sidewalk in front of her. “May I ask why you appear to be throwing perfectly good flowers on the ground? Have you had it with your ridiculous boyfriend?” Keith sat down beside her, resting his hand lightly on her knee. “I saw you run by my shop window looking crazy.”

      Oh Lord. He’s seen me run. Elly had a humiliating vision of her chest bouncing every direction as she ran up the street, and not in a good way.

      He gave a deep laugh. “I’ve never seen you run before. I’m not going to lie—it’s pretty great.”

      Elly felt embarrassment stirring deep in her chest. “As you may have noticed, my days in cross-country have long passed.”

      Keith ran the back of his finger lightly down her cheek. “Elly. Don’t be so hard on yourself. You were never in cross-country.”

      She leaned against his solid shoulder and inhaled. He smelled like pepperoni and garlic today. Heavenly. “Why were you running?”

      Her mouth twisted into a frown. “It was the weirdest thing. This kid—well, he was like eighteen, not really a kid—came into the store and just acted so bizarre. He didn’t seem like he wanted flowers—I’m not sure he knew what he was doing there—and he kept staring at me. I mean, really staring. Wouldn’t stop.” She shivered. “He gave me the creeps. There was something oddly familiar about him. When I gave him the flowers, he left them on the table, threw down a ten, and ran out the door. I tried to chase him, but he must have been faster than me. I wanted to make sure he didn’t have a reason to come back.”

      Keith grinned, trying to make her feel better. “Well, it wouldn’t be hard to be faster than you.”

      She rolled her eyes. “Will you stop?” Keith acquiesced. “Honestly,” Elly whispered, “it was kind of unnerving.”

      Concern crossed Keith’s face and his tone immediately went from playful to protective. “Do you really think he was dangerous?”

      Elly remembered the intense stare he had given her as she bent over the cooler. The way his icy-blue gaze had furrowed into the side of her face. “I don’t get the feeling that he wanted to harm me. But he seemed very …,” she searched for the right word, “curious. And careful.” She pushed her curly hair back from her face. “He was probably just some kid on drugs. I heard there is a growing drug problem in Clayton.”

      Keith and Elly both looked up the street, where two socialite women walked arm in arm, their handbags held loftily as their tiny Yorkies peed on a fire hydrant. They both burst out laughing. “Yes, this seems like a place with a drug problem.”

      “Probably a prescription-drug problem.” Keith shook his head.

      “Or a Botox problem.”

      “They’ve got a lot of problems around here.” Keith pulled Elly toward him, wrapping his meaty arms around her waist. He spoke into the top of her hair. “I’ll keep an eye out. I would never let anything happen to you, not ever.”

      Elly’s heart seemed to dissolve in her chest, fizzing up to her brain. She was a little dizzy. Every woman loves a hero, she thought.

      “What do you want to do this weekend?” he asked.

      Elly looked up at him. “We could go to your place if you want to. I’d love some truly homemade cooking. And to see where you live.”

      Keith pulled his head back from her and stared awkwardly at the sky. “Nah, it’s so messy there. I need fair warning before you come over. Plus, I want to see Cadbury.”

      “You like the dog more than me.”

      He ran his hand down her chin. “Only a little bit. And also, you have cable. Although, I can think of some other things we could do.” His dark-azure eyes sparked mischievously and then he blushed. “Like take Cadbury for a walk. You know, things like that.”

      Elly kissed him softly on the lips, feeling the blush rise up in his face as her hand trailed down his rough cheek. “I love that you love my dog.”

      “Elly?”

      She kissed him harder. “Mmm … yes?”

      “Who is watching your store right now?”

      “No one!” groaned Elly. “A certain high-maintenance worker stomped out while screaming at me first thing this morning. Would you like to guess which one? Two hints: it isn’t Kim or Anthony.”

      Keith grimaced. “You are having quite the day.”

      She bit her lip and looked to the side. Pulling herself away from Keith was getting harder each time. “And it just barely started. I should get back to work. At least Anthony will be in at noon. What am I going to do with these flowers?”

      Keith grabbed the bunch. “I can always use them on the counter. These are pretty—what are these alien-pod-looking things?”

      Elly smiled. “Chocolate artichokes. Don’t try and cook them.”

      Keith smiled. “Actually, you should probably put them back in the cooler, so that when he remembers, you can give them back to him and get him out.”

      The thought of being in the store alone with him made Elly ill at ease. “I might call you if he does show up. Is that ridiculous?”

      “I’ll be there in half a second. And if he does anything weird, I’ll tackle him.”

      The thought of Keith tackling a teenager made Elly snicker. “I would pay to see that.”

      Keith stood up and retied his apron around his waist. “I played college ball, you know. Almost went professional bench warmer. I’ll have to tell you about it sometime.” He leaned in and gave her a slow, lingering kiss. With a groan, he pulled back. “Work. We have to go to work.”

      Elly smiled. “My place, tonight? Six?”

      Keith gave her a thumbs-up. “I’ll be there. And call me if your stalker shows up.”

      Elly nodded and practically floated back to her shop. Her thoughts lingered on Keith—his eyes, so kind and smart, the kind of eyes that gave you confidence from just a single, focused gaze, his adorable bald head, and how he always wanted his apartment spotless for her. Or house. Did he have an apartment or a house? Either way, he was the man she had been waiting for all this time. Elly shut the shop door behind her and started setting the table for her afternoon consultation. She began thinking back on the strange teenage kid, admonishing herself for being so paranoid. He was just a weird kid, that’s all. Still, she felt an urge to lock the shop door. She ignored that urge because she didn’t want to go out of business. Bending over, wedding floral books in hand, she heard the clank of the door bells, and felt a shove from behind her knees. Elly gave a shriek.

      “Oops, sorry dear!” The two older ladies that she had seen with Keith on the street stood in front of her, their Coach bags clasped in hand, Yorkshire puppies sleeping inside their cozy leather homes. “Oh, lovely! I’m so sorry, we must have scared you. Are you alright? That door clipped you pretty hard.”

      Elly gave a sigh of relief. “Sorry about that. I’m unnecessarily jumpy today. Welcome to Posies! What can I help you with?”

      The women smiled and looked around. “Well, we came in because of your delightful window display. That was so interesting and modern, but I’m glad to see that the inside is more our style, don’t you agree, Gladys?”

      “Why, it reminds me of my dear Aunt Sylvia’s house, you know, the one outside of Provence?”

      Elly felt a twinge of annoyance. This store was for middle-age women. She was a middle-aged