The Language of Flowers

In the past, Victoria gets on the school bus, angry because it is the first day of harvest. Elizabeth is so preoccupied that Victoria feels abandoned. Victoria is offended by the driver’s disgust at her chewing and hits him with her backpack. The driver kicks her off the bus; Victoria doesn’t know Elizabeth’s number or address, so Perla tells the driver to call her father. Carlos comes for Victoria, driving her to Elizabeth. Elizabeth laughs when she hears the story and takes Victoria in her truck to meet her sister. When Victoria realizes that Elizabeth is not returning her to social services, she cries, and the latter says she also hit her bus driver as a child. Elizabeth apologizes for ignoring Victoria’s anger in the morning. When Victoria asks what Catherine did to hurt Elizabeth so badly, she says “‘She planted the yellow roses’” (100).

In the present, Victoria and Grant travel to his farm, and the latter angrily reveals that he has not seen Elizabeth for 10 years. At the farm, Victoria is overwhelmed by the fields of flowers, and Grant gives her time to explore alone. She later finds him on his porch with chocolate, milk, and the scroll. They briefly debate the meaning of hazel, but Grant concedes he will never win. He gives Victoria a camera, and she realizes he is helping her make her own dictionary. As they walk the property, Grant asks if she has ever given any love flowers, which she denies. They briefly talk about Catherine and Grant asks about Victoria’s birth mother, but she knows nothing about her. Grant shows Victoria how to use the manual camera and touches her hands to guide her. She feels confused, not knowing whether she likes his touch or not, and claims to be overwhelmed with information. She returns the camera, and he drives her back to the city, neither of them speaking. Grant stops in front of Bloom and Victoria walks home, where she cannot sleep.

In the past, Victoria and Elizabeth approach Catherine’s lifeless house. Elizabeth knocks and gets no answer, so she points out the attic window that Catherine converted into an art studio. She gently tosses rocks up to it, hoping to get Catherine’s attention. Victoria throws a rock hard enough to break the window. They watch a hand pull shades over the window and head back to the truck.

In the present, Victoria suffers from insomnia. At work, she makes bouquets and falls asleep while cleaning. The lovestruck woman whom Earl sent returns with her sister, introducing herself as Bethany and her sister as Annemarie. Bethany mentions Ray, a man from work whom she is now dating, and requests seductive flowers. Annemarie discusses romance problems in her own marriage. The women agree to come back the next day at noon. Victoria struggles to fulfill Annemarie’s request for intimacy as she is unfamiliar with the flowers associated with it. Although it makes her uncomfortable, she goes to the flower market to ask Grant for advice. He recommends jonquil and says that they can force it to bloom in his greenhouse; Annemarie agrees to wait a month for it to bloom. Grant and Victoria travel to his farm, where he gives her the camera again. She teaches herself how to use it, then joins Grant for tea in the water tower that he has turned into an apartment. Grant shares some of his past as they eat rice, then drives Victoria home with the promise to return next Saturday to check the jonquil.

In the past, Victoria is on a five-day suspension following the bus driver incident and spends this time learning about grapes. She asks Elizabeth why she does not have any friends, which makes the latter ask the same question of her. Elizabeth confesses that she once had her sister, her lover, and her farm, but the first two were taken from her and she devoted herself to growing grapes. Elizabeth asks Victoria if she is happy at the farm, and the latter admits she is, while pointing out how much she hates school and why. Elizabeth decides to homeschool Victoria, who is thrilled.

In the present, Victoria’s pictures develop poorly, and a woman at a photography store gives her tips. At work on Saturday, Renata gives Victoria a few weeks off because she has worked too many hours. Grant picks her up and they return to the farm, where Victoria continues to teach herself photography. The two eat dinner and Grant sits down to read, not offering to drive Victoria home. They talk about books, and Grant asks if she wants to go home. Reflecting on her apartment, she realizes she does not want to. Grant offers to let Victoria stay in his water tower apartment, while he stays in the main house. He gives her the keys to assure her that he will not return before she is ready. Victoria sleeps under the kitchen table. When Grant returns in the morning, they go to the farmer’s market to sell the last of his flowers, then to the drug store for more film. They wait for Victoria’s pictures to develop, eating candy bars for breakfast. Victoria finds the perfect photo and leaves the rest behind, having learned how to use the camera.

In the past, six months have passed for Victoria, who enjoys being homeschooled. She overhears Elizabeth “responding” to Catherine’s voicemail, and becomes distressed when she hears her say “‘You’re all the family I have’” (133). Elizabeth finds Victoria crying and holds her, telling her that she loves her.

In the present, it is Monday morning. Victoria wakes with Grant gone and the fields filled with workers. She takes pictures of orchids and makes notes for her dictionary. In the greenhouse, she finds the jonquil bulbs that Grant has been cultivating for her. Several weeks pass as Victoria stays in the water tower apartment; Grant always knows when she needs privacy. One night, Grant cooks an elaborate chicken dinner, the first to be made from scratch. He watches Victoria eat, which makes her uncomfortable. She tells him that they cannot be together romantically because she has never had a long-term relationship and ruins everything. Grant gets angry, thinking she is lying. As he leaves, he talks about his mother, saying, “‘You’re not the only one whose life she ruined’” (139).

In the past, Victoria and Elizabeth attend the farmer’s market in July after having spent all spring working the fields together. Victoria feels at home with Elizabeth and the farm, reflecting on her upcoming adoption hearing in August. The two go to a teenage Grant’s truck to buy roses, but he refuses to sell to them, ignoring Elizabeth. They have a brief argument that ends with Elizabeth inviting him to the house for blackberry cobbler.

In the present, Grant arrives the next morning to shower, then drives Victoria to the nearest bus stop. She goes to Bloom, where Renata is pleased to see her and tells her the work schedule for the coming week. With her paycheck, Victoria purchases items to make her dictionary; she uses cardstock to create two copies of her dictionary. At night, Victoria struggles to fall asleep as she thinks about having made a copy for Grant, believing that he no longer wants to see her.

In the past, Elizabeth tells Victoria that when she attended boarding school, she and her sister used to send flowers or flower drawings to each other to communicate secretly. She decides to send a bouquet to Catherine and formally teaches Victoria the language of flowers. She also shows Victoria how to use dictionaries and field guides to identify unfamiliar flowers.

In the present, Victoria meets Renata outside Bloom on Christmas to make arrangements for a wedding. Renata teases Victoria, asking her to work slower so she doesn’t have to spend as much time at a family Christmas party. She forces Victoria to accompany her to the party, where Renata’s large family fills the space. Marta Rubina, her mother, gives Victoria a hug and welcomes her to the family, insisting on being called Mother Ruby. Victoria eats her fill and falls asleep, only to wake to Mother Ruby showering in the bathroom with the door open. Renata takes Victoria home, and the two discuss Mother Ruby. In the following weeks, Grant does not return to the flower market, and Victoria is distracted. After a week off, Renata requests Victoria shower and come to the store. When she arrives, Grant is waiting with the bloomed jonquil. After burying her face in the flowers, Victoria initiates a kiss.

In the past, Elizabeth and Victoria make a rope of chamomile and place it in Catherine’s mailbox. They then go shopping to find something for Victoria to wear for her adoption hearing, which is in three days’ time. They find a brown and blue flower print dress that makes Victoria feel like a different person. Elizabeth tearfully hugs her.

In the present, Renata hires Victoria full-time for wedding season, giving her a bonus that she uses to purchase an old car. Grant tows it to the farm and teaches Victoria to drive. Victoria spends mornings at work and afternoons putting together her dictionary; on the weekends, she and Grant hike and spend time identifying plants. Grant cooks for her and gauges her need for intimacy based on her responses to his kisses. In late May, he begins sleeping in the water tower apartment again, while Victoria sleeps on the couch because of her fear of sleeping in the same room as him.

Annemarie and Bethany bring friends to Victoria, who listens to their relationship troubles and designs bouquets accordingly. She starts to notice the ways in which she keeps people at a distance and reflects on how much she wants to keep Grant in her life. She completes both copies of her dictionary, missing only the cherry blossom, and takes one to Grant. He admires her work and laughs when she asks for help finding the omission. He takes her to the main house, which is abandoned and dusty—bar a sleeping bag. He takes her upstairs to Catherine’s studio, filled with paintings of flowers. She takes pictures of the cherry blossom paintings, then of Grant. She initiates intercourse but does not enjoy it.

In the past, Elizabeth and Victoria leave flowers for Catherine for the three days leading up to the court hearing—but do not get a response.

In the present, Victoria gradually moves in with Grant but also keeps her rental room. She is unable to overcome the possibility that her happiness with him will end and harbors guilt over an aspect of her past. Still, Victoria becomes more comfortable with sex; Grant becomes a more impressive cook, inventing his own recipes. One night, Victoria becomes extremely ill, which she considers a side effect of intimacy.

In the past, it is the morning of Victoria’s adoption hearing. Victoria wakes up early, but Elizabeth is still in bed. Victoria gets ready and goes to her, finding her awake. She tries to get Elizabeth out of bed, but the latter refuses, claiming that they are not a family and “‘I can’t do this to you’” (180).

In the present, Victoria remains ill after several weeks; Renata confronts her about pregnancy. Victoria runs away and purchases pregnancy tests, returning to her rental room and using three of them. When the tests confirm her pregnancy, she climbs onto the roof and looks at the city, contemplating her baby. Victoria knows that Grant will want the baby as much as she does not, as she believes she is unfit to be a mother or part of a family.

In the past, it is four o’ clock on the day of Victoria’s adoption hearing. Victoria hides when Meredith arrives. Meredith wonders if Victoria should remain at the farm, suspecting she did something to interrupt the court hearing. Elizabeth emerges from her bedroom and tries to defend her claim on Victoria, but Meredith accuses her of neglect. The women move downstairs as Victoria hides in her bed, crying as she listens to snippets of their argument. She anticipates Meredith taking her away.

In the present, Victoria returns to Grant’s apartment while he is at the farmer’s market and packs her things and some of his. She leaves an enigmatic note on a picture of a white rose in his copy of the dictionary.