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Riley
Song: “Amazing Grace” by Carrie Underwood
AFTER RHYS KISSED me goodnight on my momma and daddy’s front porch and left, I joined my parents in the living room and told them about my plan to go to church. They both smiled.
“I’m guessing Rhys is taking you,” my daddy said.
“He is.
“Good.”
“After church, you two should eat lunch with us and your grandpa.”
“I talked to Rhys about that because I knew y’all would be going somewhere and would probably ask us to come along, but I need to get back to Fort Worth after church. I need time to settle into being there again, sans Chad.”
My momma nodded. “We understand, honey. Are you nervous about going back?”
“A little. At some point, I will have to meet with Chad and return my engagement ring.”
“You could mail it to him, insured. That way, you wouldn’t have to see him.”
“But I want to because I want to talk to him. I want to tell him exactly how his treatment of me has impacted me as a woman. I’m also going to thank him.”
My momma frowned. “What on earth for?”
“Opening the door for Rhys and me to get back together.”
Upstairs in my bed, I set my cellphone alarm for 8:30 a.m. and went to sleep. I didn’t stay that way, though. I woke up in the middle of the night after dreaming about an onyx and a sapphire sitting on the palms of my hands. It was precisely as Ms. Lenora had described her vision of me, and so was my wrapping my fingers around the sapphire.
It all made sense to me now. The onyx symbolized Chad’s dark brown eyes and the darkness inside him. The sapphire symbolized Rhys’s beautiful blue eyes and all the beauty inside his heart and soul. He was who Ms. Lenora saw me choose. She was spot-on about it, although neither of us knew it at the time.
Rhys arrived at my momma and daddy’s house at 10:30 a.m. to pick me up for church. When I opened the door, he was smiling from cheek to cheek and wearing his Sunday best: a collared, short-sleeve white button-up shirt, starched black denim jeans, a black belt, and his dressy black cowboy boots.
“You look like my boy again,” I said, returning his smile. “You’re so handsome.”
“You look like my girl again, Riley. You’re gorgeous from head to toe.”
“Thank you. I obviously didn’t know I’d be going to church when I packed for this trip, so this maxi dress and my blingy flip-flops will have to do.”
“They’re perfect. I like those monarch butterflies on your dress.”
“My spirit animal is a butterfly, so…”
“They’ve always been drawn to you like I am.” Rhys glanced behind me. “Are your parents already gone?”
“Yes, they went to Sunday school.”
When I revealed that fact, Rhys cupped my face in his hands. “I really want to smear your lipstick, but I’ll hold back,” he said, looking down at my mouth.
“Smear it later.”
“You can count it.”
Walking toward the entrance of Cypress Hills First Methodist Church and holding hands with Rhys, we spotted my grandpa standing at the foot of the steps, greeting his parishioners. When he saw us, he raised his arms excitedly.
“What a blessing to have my eldest granddaughter and you, fine young man, here today!” he said when Rhys and I reached him. Then he hugged us.
“It’s good to see you, sir,” Rhys told him.
