"Oh, but I can."
"Well, I can't!" He had been wanting her to know that for a long while.
"Why not?" She asked him.
He could not bring himself to tell her why not.
"Throw them away!"
She let the lilies sift through her fingers one by one. And then the last fell to the ground.
"Are you satisfied?"
"No," he said. "What good does it do, anyway? The next time it'll be the same again. It always is."
She reached out a hand and touched his arm.
"But I never know when you're coming. If I knew I wouldn't be picking flowers. I can't help having them in my hands when you come, if I don't know, can I?"