I straightened and gave Javi a smile. “No problem. Rose was goin’ crazy in there, and you were surrounded. Figured I’d pitch in.”
He ran a hand over the top of his head. “Man, it was insane. Like, damn, where’d everyone come from?”
We shared a laugh. “Yeah. I know it. When I worked at the Terminal Market, they’d come in droves. It could get hairy there, especially on the weekends.”
“Aaron.” At the sound of my name, I turned to see Rose standing at the entrance to the store. “Can you come here for a minute?”
“Guess it’s time for me to pull Roberto away. He’d rather come here than go to school, I think.”
“He’s a cute kid. Well”—Javi stuck out his hand—“thanks again for your help. You saved my ass. I hate seeing a crowd of people waiting for me to help them. Makes me feel like I’m not doing my job.”
We shook hands, and I walked up to Rose, who stood waiting for me. Inside, the store had cleared out, and Roberto was stacking the seed packets in the baskets by the register.
“Can you watch the store for a second, honey? I’m gonna talk to Aaron in the back for a sec.”
“Sure. I’m putting all the flowers in alphabetical order.” He held up a basket. “See? I didAthroughFin here so far.”
“Great job.” She waved to me. “Come with me.”
Curious to see what she wanted, I followed. Rose might only reach to the middle of my chest, but she carried herself with an imposing presence. She opened the door marked Employees, tucked away in the side of the store.
“After you.”
I passed in front of her and stood waiting a bit awkwardly, not taking the chair in front of the desk. Was she mad that I helped Javi? It seemed like the decent thing to do.
“Sit, sit.” She pointed to the chair by me while she took the one behind the desk and settled into it. “I’m exhausted. I gotta tell you, today was the worst I’ve seen since Herb died.”
“Herb?”
“My husband.”
In her hand she held a picture of a thin, bald man with his arm around her waist. Both of them had wide smiles on their happy faces, leis around their necks, and were holding fruity-looking drinks.
“He died last year. Leukemia. He always wanted to go to Hawaii, and this was his farewell trip.” A heavy sigh escaped her, and she ran her fingers over the glass of the picture. “When we found out he was sick, I told him to pick the one place he wanted to go the most, and we’d make it happen. After we found out he wasn’t a candidate for bone-marrow transplant, I knew we had to do it quick.”
“I’m sorry.” Inadequate, I knew, but I couldn’t think of what else to say. I had no idea if my foster parents were alive or dead, but at the thought of losing Frankie, a wave of desolation and despair swept over me. I couldn’t imagine my life without him.
“We ran the store together. I always thought I’d have a flower shop and Herb would do the garden center, but the area didn’t really have a need for people wanting flower arrangements.”
“They’d rather grow their own, right?”
“Yeah.” Her kind eyes assessed me, and I gave her my most open expression, still not certain what she was after. “Tell me a little about yourself. Roberto loves you—that’s obvious.”
“He’s a great kid. It bugged me to see him standing by himself, watching the other kids play.”
“Children can be cruel.”
“Not only children.”
Her gaze sharpened, but when I didn’t offer anything further, she didn’t push. “You from Brooklyn?”
“I’ve lived in Brooklyn and Queens. Right now I live in Queens.”
“With Frankie.”
Not a question but a statement, and since I had nothing to hide, I lifted my chin. “Yeah. He’s my boyfriend.”
She nodded. “He’s a good boy. Good to his grandmother. Josephina adored him.”
