Page 29 of Dear Ripley

It wasn’t as bad as if Alicia had been here herself, but that didn’t mean I had any idea how to handle myself around Harlow. Especially not after I’d sent Alicia what was, frankly, a scathing reply to her note.

I’d wondered over the last couple of days whether it was too much. I doubted Alicia would remember what yellow carnations meant, but it wasn’t difficult to look them up and figure it out.

Not that she’d need to. Even without knowing, the note accompanying the flower was pretty clear in its message.

I wasn’t entirely sure what had gotten into me. I’d just been so furious that she’d sent a note like we barely knew each other, and like I was something diseased and decaying, that I’d lashed out. I knew it was wrong, but I’d done it anyway. It said a lot that I hadn’t mentioned it to Morgan. But, there I’d been, having all of these complicated feelings about her being back, our divorce, the last eight years, all of it. And there she was, talking aboutsteering clearof me like none of it really mattered. I might have overreacted, but she was in the wrong too.

“Hey, Ripley,” Harlow said, friendly, smiling, just a little cautious.

Behind me, Morgan choked, obviously catching on to who had entered the store.

“Harlow,” I replied, much too slowly.

“How’ve you been?” She took one step further into the store, more comfortable than Alicia had been here, but not entirely relaxed.

Though, of course, of the two of them, she was the one who’d received a beautiful bouquet from me recently, and Alicia… was not.

“Since the last time you were in town, or for the last eight years?” I cringed internally when my own words registered. What was it about Alicia and Harlow that made me snappy and impulsive and willing to poke at things that needed leaving well alone?

She breathed a laugh. Morgan might have too. It was hard to tell through the sounds of her still trying to properly clear her throat. Not enough to be alarming, just enough that I knew something was still messing with her.

“I guess that’s a fair question,” Harlow said, taking another step into the store and closer to me.

“I’m fine, thank you,” I rushed to say. Anything to avoid the awkwardness. “How are you?”

She softened, grinning more gently. One hand twitched towards her stomach and I could see just how much Harlow had waited for this, just how hard she’d been trying for her baby. “I’m good. Pregnant. Happy to be home again.”

“Congratulations,” I replied, genuinely. Whatever was happening between Alicia and me, it wasn’t Harlow’s fight, and I truly was happy for her. We had been friends once, after all. Alicia had just gotten her in the custody agreement.

“Thank you.”

I might not have spent much time around her in the last eight years, but even I could see the light inside of her eyes that had switched back on. Even at a distance, there’d been something missing lately. I’d foolishly assumed it was just when she looked at me and didn’t know how to deal with me. Now, I wasn’t so sure that was it. I could only imagine how happy Edith must be—how happy Alicia must be. Harlow was why she was back here after all, and that was huge. Seeing her come back to life, well, that made it easy to understand Alicia’s choice.

I nodded. “So, what can I do for you?” I swung my body awkwardly from side to side, somewhat indicating the flowers around us.

“Oh. Um…”

It hadn’t occurred to me that she wasn’t here for the flowers, but, as the fact dawned on me, my heart beat faster.

She chewed her lip for a moment before asking, “What do yellow carnations mean?”

I wasn’t drinking coffee and eating cookies, but the way I choked on my own breath sounded worse than Morgan’s coughing.

My head spun slightly as I took a steadying breath. “Uh… I probably wouldn’t recommend sending those to anybody you want to remain friends with.”

“And sending them to an ex?” She started wandering in the store, clearly more than a little amused.

“Depends on how badly the breakup went.”

“Okay. So, say I sent them with a scathing note to my ex. Do you think I’d be interested in reading a note from said ex in return?”

Morgan appeared in my peripheral vision, still wrapped in the blanket, but coming into the space between me and Harlow. “Hold up. Did you send Aliciayellow carnations?”

Harlow watched me curiously as I winced, sighed, and said, “I might have.”

Morgan gasped. “You sent heryellow carnationsand you didn’t even tell me?”

I looked from Harlow to Morgan. “Ten minutes ago you couldn’t differentiate between twigs, greenery, and flowers. Now you’re telling me you know the deal with yellow carnations?”

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