Page 63 - It Ends with Us

“Are you bring ing thi s girl to my birthd ay party Friday?” Allysa asks

hi m.
I watch hi s rea ction closel y. He just sha kes hi s hea d and witho ut
looking up he says, “No. Are you going , Lily?”
I can’t tel l by his voice alone if he’s ho ping I’ll be there or hoping I
won’t. Cons ideri ng the stres s I seem to cause hi m, I’m gues sing it’s
the latter.

“I ha ven’t dec ided yet .”
“She’l l be there, ” Allysa says, ans weri ng for me. She looks at me
and na rro ws her ey es . “You’re coming to my party whet her you like it
or no t. If you don’t sho w up, I’ll quit.”
When R yle is fini shed writing , he tucks the card int o the env el ope
attached to the flowers . Allysa ring s up hi s total and he pays in cash.
He looks at me whi le he’s count ing out hi s money. “Lily, do you kno w

tha t it’s custom for a new busines s to frame the firs t dollar they
make?”
I no d. Of course I kno w tha t. He knows I kno w tha t. He’s just
rubbing it in my face tha t hi s dollar will be the one framed on my wall
for the life of thi s store. I almost enc ourage Allysa to give hi m a
ref und , but thi s is busines s. I ha ve to lea ve my wound ed pride out of

it.
Onc e he ha s his rec ei pt in ha nd , he taps hi s fis t on the count er to
get my attent ion. He dips hi s hea d a little and , with a genu ine smile,
he says, “Cong ratulations , Lily.”
He turns and walks out of the store. As soon as the door closes
behi nd hi m, Allysa is grabbing for the env el ope. “Who in the hel l is
he send ing flowers to?” she says as she pulls the card out. “R yle

does n’t send flowers .”
She rea ds the front of the card out loud. “Make it stop.”
Holy shi t.
She stares at it for a moment , rep ea ting the phra se. “Mak e it stop?
Wha t in the hel l does tha t ev en mean ?” she asks.
I can’t take it ano ther sec ond . I grab the card from her and flip it

over. She lea ns over and rea ds the back of it with me.
“He is such an idiot,” she says with a laugh. “He wrote the addres s
to our floral sho p on the back.” She takes the card out of my ha nd s.
Wow.