Chapter Eighteen
AARON
The work onFrankie’s grandmother’s house had wrapped up, and even I couldn’t believe how nice the renovations had come out. Frankie and I had taken his parents for the grand tour, and we congregated in the kitchen, of course, to have coffee.
“Aaron, I can’t believe how you redid the kitchen. It looks so modern now.” Jeannie ran her hand over the quartz countertops. “My mother woulda killed for an island. Can I ask you why you made it marble?”
I set my coffee cup on the counter. “Sure. I asked Austin, and he said marble is best for people who like to bake. With a kitchen this big and now so modern, anyone who buys it will probably love to cook and bake. It’s all the rage in the fancy apartments they’re constructing.”
She nodded, smiling her approval. “It’s gorgeous. I can see a family making their Christmas cookies here.” Her smile faded. “I hate the thought of selling it.” Her eyes dimmed, and she blinked rapidly. It had to be bittersweet for her. Seeing the house so beautiful, knowing that she’d only be selling it to a stranger. “Everything is perfect. You saved the old-world charm—like the crown molding, chair rails, and even the original parquet flooring.” Recovered a bit, she sniffed and walked out into the formal dining room. “Mama put carpeting down, and we never knew these gorgeous floors were underneath.”
“A good thing she did, in the long run, ’cause it saved them. I barely needed to fix anything.” The wood floors shone throughout the house. Austin had picked out light, neutral colors for me to paint the walls, and as usual, he was right. The sunlight pouring in through the big bay windows brightened the pale lemon he’d chosen for the dining room and front parlor.
“Are you sure you don’t wanna work in construction? You really did a gorgeous job, top to bottom. This don’t even look like the same house. If I didn’t know the address, I’d say we was in the wrong place.”
Coming from Carmine, who usually spoke one or two sentences, that was a huge compliment.
“Nah. I mean, I wouldn’t mind doin’ it as a hobby and a way to pick up some extra cash, ya know? But I love working at the garden center. Rose is the best boss, and she’s gonna use some of my ideas.”
Jeannie sat on the sofa and gestured to the chairs. “Sit. Tell me what you’re talkin’ about.”
These were the only two pieces of furniture left in the house. Jeannie had kept a few others, thinking her brother might want them, but when her sister-in-law, Angie, had come by, she looked around and, with her nose in the air, stated she’d redecorated all modern and didn’t need any of“this old stuff.”
I understood why Jeannie couldn’t stand her.
“Well, I thought it would be good to do like a Flower of the Month special. Not only put the flowers that bloom in the particular month we’re in on sale, but also give some ideas of other plants they go well with in the garden in terms of sunlight or shade and watering.”
“Ohh, smart. That way they can also buy more plants.”
“You got it. That was Frankie’s idea. He’s the marketing genius, after all.”
“You stupid.” Frankie elbowed me in the side, but I could see happiness in his wide smile and bright eyes as he put his arm around me. “It makes sense, though, don’t it?”
Everything Frankie said made sense when it came to business. Whether he wanted me to say it or not, he was damn smart. At night when we ate dinner, we’d talk about how to help each other grow, instead of tearing ourselves apart. More bricks in the wall of the future we were building.
“But you didn’t say the best part yet. Tell ’em.” Frankie nudged me. “Wait until you hear. Rose was so excited, and I’m helping her make flyers.”
I picked up on Frankie’s enthusiasm and could hear the excitement in my voice. “I thought about Roberto from next door and how there must be lotsa kids like him who love to plant and stuff but may not get the chance. Maybe they live in an apartment or maybe they don’t got money to buy seeds ’n stuff. So I suggested to Rose that we start a children’s planting program. After school, two days a week, the kids would come to the store, and I’d help them plant little mini gardens in flowerpots. Start with the kids in the neighborhood, and if it works out, then maybe get the kids in the schools around here interested.”
As I spoke, Jeannie nodded vigorously, her smile growing brighter. “That’s amazing. I bet Rose went wild for it. She loves kids.”
“Oh, she did. And she put me in charge. We figured fifteen kids to start with, and hopefully word-of-mouth will build.”
“With Rose’s mouth, I got no doubt.”
We all laughed, and then Jeannie turned serious. “I gotta say, Aaron, I still can’t believe the change in you.”
My stomach did a flip, and all the joy and laughter drained from me. “You can’t? Why not?”
“No, silly, I don’t mean it that way. I mean, I remember how you was. Always angry-looking and yet sad at the same time. The only time you ever seemed happy was when you was in the garden, helping me.”
Breathing a sigh of relief, I looked Jeannie straight in the eye. “I wasn’t. I was a miserable, unhappy person. And don’t get me wrong. I loved Frankie even back then. But I hated myself. It’d be like I’d listen to myself saying these terrible things, and the voice inside me would yell, ‘What’s wrong with you? You can’t talk to Frankie like that. He’s the best thing to ever happen to you.’ But I couldn’t control myself. I couldn’t stop. I didn’t know how. My unhappiness ate away at me. It made me bitter, angry, ugly.”
Frankie took my shaking hand. “Now we talk about everything. And Aaron’s doctor hasn’t only helped him. She’s helped me too.”
“How so?” Carmine had been engrossed, as usual, in theDaily Newsbut now peered over the top of the paper.
“By getting me to focus on one thing instead of jumping from place to place. To see that I deserved a man who would treat me as an equal. That the best me I can be is myself. Not another’s image of who they want me to be. The reason I let Aaron push me around is that I didn’t know who I was.”
