“It can easily go that route, so I thought less formal vases, shorter, and longer, will make it look more like it belongs on a table without the height of centerpieces that are typical to a wedding. On the flower wall, we can change the colors, but I went with this ombre-type effect, so if they want to take a picture with the whole wall in the background it looks nice, but they can also choose a picture in front of a specific color. I admit I don’t know what kids these days take pictures of or what they like…even saying that out loud makes me feel like I’m a hundred years old.”
Jasmine laughed. Her deep brown eyes filled with warmth and the two gold bangles on her wrist jingled as she laughed, patting me on the knee. “Honey, you are thirty years old. You’re hardly old.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Thirty-one. I feel closer to the old man screaming at the rascally neighborhood kids to get off his lawn than I do to other thirty-year-olds.” I shook my head. “Anyway, we can do any combination of colors or keep it a solid color.”
“Do you mind if I take these, show them to Michelle?”
“Of course. These are your copies. I have my own at the shop. Get back to me any time.”
“How about I send you back to Sweet Stems with some lunch. We have your mom’s favorite soup on the menu today.”
I smiled. “That sounds perfect. I’m going to wait outside. It’s too pretty a day to be inside all day.”
I stepped out onto Main Street, taking a deep breath. The sweet and light floral scent of the magnolia trees that stood at every street corner floated on the light breeze. I closed my eyes for a moment, breathing in the fragrance that always reminded me of champagne. I sat on the bench outside the bistro and scanned the block. Main Street’s crepe myrtles were in full bloom and vibrantly pink. Before too long, the pink would fade as the flowers floated away, but the green leaves would remain through the harsh summer before going bare for the winter. But, even bare, the mostly vertical branches and cool wood tone looked beautiful in the Christmas lights every season.
“Chase,” I said as he passed me. He had on a Hawk Valley Fire Department ball cap, tugged down low over his eyes, and a deep scowl on his face. His attention turned toward me for a moment before darting over his shoulder, his mouth falling open.
“Makenna,” he said, his tone a little off. I didn’t know him well enough to place exactly what it meant, but he almost sounded worried. Hesitant? I wasn’t sure if it was because of our open-ended conversation the week before or something else.
I’d done a lot of thinking over the last several days. The fact of the matter was this decision didn’t only involve me. Even if I took his side of the family out of it, my brother and mother would be affected if I decided to get to know my half-brother. “What are you doing out here?” Chase asked, glancing over his shoulder again.
“Waiting for some lunch.”
He nodded, lifting the hat from his head and running a hand through his hair. He blew out a breath. “Look—”
I held up a hand. “I’ve thought a lot about our conversation. I don’t want to make any promises, but I think…”
My voice slowly trailed off as an older man strode across the street with a confident and sure gait. His head was held high, dark blond hair styled off his forehead. I swallowed as I stared at my father walking toward me. Toward Chase. It’d been years since I’d seen him. At first, that was his choice; then it was a mutual decision. He’d been my father for nineteen years when he walked away without so much as a glance back. There weren’t even birthday or Christmas cards with a measly from dad. One day he was my dad. The one that had been at dance recitals and snapped pictures of me and my mom working in the garden with soil smeared across my cheek. He tucked me in and read me stories. He held me as I cried for Declan. He held me in the hospital while I mourned… I shook my head, refusing to let my brain trail down that road. I shut those thoughts away.
He was the greatest man in the world.
Or so I thought. He was until he wasn’t.
He disappeared so fast and so effectively, he may as well have been dead.
A week ago, Chase had told me that their relationship wasn’t on good terms, but it was good enough to bring him into my town. How dare he show his face here? Couldn’t Chase go see him? Keep him away from here?
Time slowed as my father took the last few steps toward us. “Makenna,” Chase whispered. “I didn’t—”
“Makky girl,” my father said. My spine went ramrod straight. I curled my hands into fists on my lap. I wanted to lash out and scream for him not to call me that. The nickname that only he called me was like a rose thorn through the heart. “How are you doing?”
I squinted up at him, his jovial smile blinding me as much as the sun. How could he stand there and act as if he hadn’t ripped apart our family? As if we still had a relationship? We were as good as strangers, and he smiled at me like he knew me, but he didn’t. Not anymore. I hoped my mom wouldn’t step out of Sweet Stems for anything, because we were only a few doors down and she’d definitely spot us. I hoped she was in the back and Faith, one of our shop assistants, was working in the front. I hoped the man standing in front of me didn’t pass by Sweet Stems’ windows.
I cleared my throat. “Fine,” I finally answered.
“That’s great to hear. You look wonderful, Makky girl.” Another scrape and puncture against my heart. A small noise came from the back of my throat, but he didn’t seem to notice. Chase did though. His brows furrowed and he stepped closer to me, partially blocking me from our father’s view. “You’re all grown up now.”
The battle not to scream and rage at him was slowly slipping from my control. I wanted to lash out. My ears rang as blood rushed to my head.
“Dad, I’ll meet you at the café. I’ll be right in,” Chase said.
My dad opened his mouth to say something else, but he simply nodded once and strolled at a leisurely pace down Main Street, toward the café, as if he’d never left. It was so easy to picture him in this exact spot years ago as he took a walk down Main Street to go visit his “best girl.” That’s what he always called my mother. I thought it was sweet and funny, just a little joke. Little did I know, he had more than one “best girl.” And turns out my mother wasn’t the best in his eyes.
“I didn’t know he was coming, Makenna. He showed up a little while ago. If I’d known, I would’ve warned you, but really I’d have told him I’d come to him.”
Jasmine came out of the bistro just then with a large carry-out bag in one hand. I stood from the bench, smiling as brightly as I could manage. “Thank you so much.”
“Of course. I’ll call you after I speak with Michelle.”
“Sounds great,” I said. “Remember, we can still change things if she decides she doesn’t like this old lady’s ideas.”
Jasmine laughed and walked back inside. I faced Chase again, back to being unsure what the right decision was. I did believe him about not knowing that our father was coming. He looked wrecked while staring at me. “I really didn’t know and he wouldn’t leave. He…well, when he has his mind made up about something, there’s little anybody can do to change it.”