Searching for Yesterday by Valerie Sherrard

I was working at the dry cleaners back then. I hated that job, but the guy I was going out with ran the place, and I liked being around him.”
    She paused and made a face. “Of course, things changed when he fired me.”
    â€œYour boyfriend
fired
you?” Annie said.
    â€œYup. Not the most romantic thing a boyfriend can do to you, I must say.”
    â€œBe careful!” Kayla had apparently come back in through a rear entrance. She came around the corner as she spoke. “Madison loves to tell that story — especially if she can get someone to say mean things about Kenny.”
    â€œWho’s Kenny?” I asked.
    â€œHer husband.”
    â€œBut ... what does he have to do with the guy who fired her?”
    â€œHe
is
the guy who fired her.”

    Our mouths must have been hanging open at that. Madison laughed. “He fired me right after he proposed to me,” she said.
    â€œHe wouldn’t have fired her,” Kayla commented, “if she hadn’t burnt so many shirts and things. It was either let her go or see his business go bankrupt.”
    â€œI wasn’t very good at that job,” Madison admitted.
    â€œAnd you guys got married!” I said.
    â€œWe sure did,” Madison agreed, a smile spreading across her face. “And I don’t even have to do the ironing at our place.”
    â€œI wonder why,” Kayla said. She rolled her eyes and then turned them to us. “So, what’s up?”
    â€œI had another question,” Annie told her.
    â€œOkay. But I can’t really leave right now. It’s time for Madison’s break, and she meets her
ex-employer
for coffee every day. We can talk here, though. It shouldn’t be too busy.”
    Madison was already in her jacket and on her way out the door. She smiled at us as the bell tinkled overhead, and then she was outside and hurrying along the sidewalk.
    Kayla nodded toward the back room, indicating that we should follow her. “I’ve got some orders to fill that have to go to the hospital when Brandon gets here. That only gives me about half an hour, so I’m afraid I’ll have to do that first. Then we can talk.”

    â€œCan we do anything to help?” I asked. Ever since our unfortunate first meeting I’d been trying to show Kayla that I wasn’t really a mouthy brat. I couldn’t tell if her opinion of me had changed, because she mostly talked to Annie. She wasn’t rude to me, but she didn’t go out of her way to be friendly, either.
    â€œUh,” she glanced around, “you can bring me stems from those four buckets — the ones on the left. A couple dozen from each should do it.”
    I did as she asked, being careful not to break the stems as I drew them out of the water. Kayla worked quickly, building the arrangements with the ease of practice. They were gorgeous when she was finished.
    Annie had been put to work cutting various widths and colours of ribbon and I watched amazed as Kayla turned them into elaborate-looking bows in only seconds.
    â€œWow!” I said. “How do you do that — so fast?”
    â€œIt’s easier than it looks,” she said, giving me a smile for the first time. “Most things are, once you get onto them.”
    She turned to Annie. “So, you had some more questions?”
    Annie had just opened her mouth to answer when the door opened and in came Madison, returning from her break. Almost right behind her was a tall man who was jangling a set of keys. He looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him.

    â€œWhat have you got for me today?” he asked Kayla.
    â€œHey, Brandon. Just some deliveries to the hospital. They’re ready to go out back.”
    â€œThat’s
it
?” He sounded surprised. “No wakes or “sorry I forgot our anniversary’ deliveries today?”
    Kayla smiled. “Nope. Oh, Brandon, you remember Gina Berkley, don’t