Chapter 23: Closed

The flower shop was full on Friday.

A hand-lettered sign in the window said EVERYTHING MUST GO, and under it, in smaller letters, 50% OFF.

I stood on the sidewalk with Lila's spare key in my coat pocket.

I had carried it for six years, and I had never once thought about why.

Tony had offered to come.

I'd said no, and he'd kissed me goodbye at the door of my own house, and I had not been afraid.

The bell chimed over the door.

The air smelled of eucalyptus and wet stems, and for a second my chest tightened.

About a dozen people moved through the aisles with buckets and paper.

An older woman held a bunch of hydrangeas and watched me come in.

A young man by the register stopped talking.

I understood that they all knew my face.

Lila stood at the long steel table in a gray sweater with her hair tied back.

She had lost weight in four days.

Her stomach showed under the sweater, and she kept her hand off it.

"Valeria," she said. "You came."

"You asked."

She wiped her hands on her apron.

"Can we talk in the back?"

"We can talk here."

The older woman set down her hydrangeas.

"I've lost eleven wedding orders," Lila said, low. "Everyone saw the video. People are calling to cancel."

She swallowed.

"The landlord wants me out by the first. My parents won't speak to me."

"I'm sorry for the baby," I said. "I mean that."