~CHAPTER ONE: RYE~
It’s good to be home. I’ve missed Chicago. After spending the past seven years in Wisconsin, I’m ready to be back in the city I love.
The car rolls up to the brick townhouse with the black door. We moved in when I was in sixth grade. Mom and Dad were going to downsize, but after Mom passed away my second year of college, Dad hasn’t had the heart to let go of it. I’m glad for it.
I get out of the car and thank the driver as he fetches my bags. There’s a chill in the air. March in Chicago is still practically the depths of winter. But I don’t care. Standing before the house, I can’t help but smile. Although, it’s bittersweet.
On one hand, I’m moving back home to get a grip on my life. The flower shop I have been working at since college finally closed down. A mom-and-pop place, the best in the region. I was apprenticing with them and cut my teeth arranging flowers for weddings and events. I’d come to love the store as my own and even asked the owners, Aggy and Tim, if I could buy the business off of them. But no. “All good things must come to an end,” Aggy had said with a crinkling smile.
Too bad it doesn’t even feel like my good things have gotten started.
On the other, though, my dad is getting married. I know for most kids, this sounds like a nightmare. But he’s been alone so long, what with me going to college and then losing Mom… Giselle is good for both of us. They met in a group for people grieving loved ones who passed away from cancer. She’d just lost her sister. It’s funny how loss brings people together like that.
I don’t understand what Giselle sees in my dad when she’s so gorgeous: tall and lithe with a dark complexion. My dad’s… well, he’s my dad. Ten years her senior, with graying hair, softening around the jaw.
But man, they really love each other.
The front door flies open and Giselle appears, her broad smile sparkling. “Clay! My favorite person is here!”
Giselle has always treated me more like a best friend than a new mother. She rushes down the stairs and meets me at the gate before I can even take a step forward, throwing her arms around me. I laugh and hug her back, taking in a big inhale of the coconut oil in her braids.
“Show me the ring, show me the ring!” I squeal and grab her by the hand. Dad did a nice job. Simple, clean. A sapphire. Bright blue.
Giselle laughs at my gawking and wraps her hands around my face, brown eyes examining every bit of me. “I’m so happy you’re here.”
“We’re so happy,” Dad calls out from the top of the steps.
I leave Giselle’s embrace and go to hug my dad, just as I did as a child. Excitedly and fully. “Hi, Daddy.”
“Hi, kiddo.”
We all make our way inside where lunch is waiting for me. Giselle and Dad are always cooking new recipes, obsessed with cooking shows and collecting cookbooks. “This looks amazing,” I say as we sit. I eat nonstop for ten minutes. Something about eating food cooked for you by loved ones is so much better than cooking for yourself. “So, tell me everything.”
Giselle folds her hands under her chin and regards my dad with loving eyes. “Well… we want to get married as soon as possible.”
“But we have to have a wedding,” Dad says firmly.
Giselle rolls her eyes. “I want to elope, but your father is traditional, apparently.”
“We have to have a wedding. I’m sorry, baby.”
“You’re probably the only woman in the world not interested in having a wedding, Giselle.”
She swipes her hand through the air. “I don’t understand all the to do. It’s just compulsory.”
I giggle. Giselle is an anthropologist. She’s always indicting frivolous cultural traditions.
“In an effort to appease Giselle, though, I’ve agreed to a shotgun wedding.”
Giselle glowers. “Six months is not a ‘shotgun wedding’, Clay.”
“Most engagements last years these days!”
“Which is ridiculous given the state of health insurance,” I remark.
Giselle points at me. “Exactly.”
“Ganging up on me already, I see,” Dad mumbles. I know he secretly loves it, though.
“Anyway, since your father’s insisting this be a big white wedding, I was wondering if maybe you would be willing to take up the wedding planning. I don’t much care about all the details other than the fact he shows up.”
Dad laughs. “Oh, I’ll be there.” He looks at me with a smile. “I just thought since you’ll have a bit of free time before we start really getting your flower shop up and running… ”
I roll my eyes. My dad is adamant about giving me the capital to start up my own florist here in the city. It means the world to me, really. I just can’t help but feel a little embarrassed. Not everyone has the means to follow their dreams like I do. I’m very blessed.
“Plus, we’re obviously going to have you design the flower arrangements. That way you can make some connections and—“
I stop eating and regard them both with big eyes. “Really?”
“Of course!” he replies. “Who else would we ask?”
“You really want me to… ” I touch my heart. I shouldn’t be as surprised as I am, but I’m completely taken aback.
Dad nods toward his fiancée. “It was Giselle’s idea.”
I look at her. I love this woman. Really. If I can’t have my Mom with me… this is the next best thing. “You’re the best, Elle.”
She shrugs, but her lips are smug. “I thought it was only natural to ask my maid of honor to show off her talents for all to see.”
Now, I drop my fork. “Maid of honor?!!” This is too much.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Rye,” Dad scolds lightly.
I seal up my mouth and chew as quick as possible, my eyes betraying every emotion I’m having inside. Tears streaming down my face, smile on my mouth. I’m so fucking honored. I swallow and then grab both of their hands. “I won’t let you down. I promise.”
They both laugh. They know there’s no way I ever could.
