The Boyfriend of the Month Club by Maria Geraci

Things looked perfectly fine to her, until she spotted her father in the Hemingway corner.
    Water dripped from the ceiling down into a large plastic bucket. The bookshelves that had previously made a faux wall were now pushed alongside the real wall. Other than her parents and Abuela, the place was empty.
    “Where are the cashiers? And Marty?” Penny asked. “He’s supposed to be cleaning out the stockroom.”
    “I closed the store and sent everyone home when we discovered the leak,” Pop said. “Good thing your mother and I decided to stop by today.”
    “Pop, please tell me you didn’t move those bookshelves yourself.”
    “It was either that or let the water ruin the books.”
    “What about your back?”
    “What about my back? I’m strong as a bull! You’re beginning to sound just like your mother.”
    Grace took a second to think. The leak was a setback, no doubt about it. But it wasn’t the disaster she’d been expecting. “Okay, the situation isn’t so bad. We don’t even have to close the store. I can rig up some sort of a barrier here until the roof gets fixed.”
    “That’s a no-go, Tomato. For one thing, we can’t have customers getting rained on. Florida Charlie’s has an image to live up to. Folks drive down on their vacation, see our billboards and get all excited about the store. Word of mouth is what made us what we are, and if we aren’t one hundred percent, then we shouldn’t open.” He winked at her. “This will be a good opportunity to get that alligator tooth display done up right.”
    Grace grit her teeth. Pop wasn’t going to be satisfied until the alligator tooth was done up in a gold-encrusted shrine. She studied the leak in the ceiling. “Pen, can you check the back storeroom and see if we have more buckets?”
    Penny came back a couple of minutes later with a large plastic tub. “This might be better than a bucket.”
    “Good choice,” Grace said, swapping out the tub for the nearly full bucket. If the rain didn’t stop soon, this was going to be an exhausting process.
    The bell on the front door chimed, signaling a customer.
    “Sorry, we’re closed,” Grace heard her mother say. After a minute or so, Abuela called out. “Gracielita! Come quick.”
    Now what?
    Grace, Penny, and her father all ran to the front of the store to find her mother holding a vase with what looked like at least a dozen red roses. “These were just delivered for you.” Mami thrust the vase in Grace’s hands.
    “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone,” Pop said. “Who’s the lucky fella?”
    “And why haven’t we met him yet?” Mami added.
    “I told you,” Abuela said. “It’s the man I saw in my dreams. He’s the one who sent them!”
    Ellen and Sarah chose that exact moment to walk through the door.
    “I thought the place was under water,” Ellen said, sounding put out to discover it wasn’t as bad as they’d first thought.
    “Forget about the roof. Look what Grace just got.” Penny counted each rose one by one under her breath. “Eighteen long-stemmed roses. From Benson’s!”
    Benson’s was a seriously overpriced flower shop located on the beach. Grace had never gotten anything from Benson’s before.
    “Why eighteen? Why not a dozen?” Ellen asked. “Does it mean something?” Everyone turned to look at her. “You know how different flowers signify different things? Like yellow roses mean friendship. Everyone knows red means romance, but what does the eighteen mean?”
    “That he’s not cheap?” Penny said.
    “How about we find out who the he in question is?” Sarah asked.
    Grace pulled the card from the plastic holder and read to herself.
Grace,
     
I know I can never make up for my reprehensible behavior Saturday night, but I wanted you to know how sorry I am. You’re a terrific girl and I’ll always regret that I blew it with you.
     
Brandon
    “So?” Penny asked. “Who are the roses from?”
    “Brandon Farrell.”
    “How romantic!” Abuela