AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So good, Pops,” Melanie said. “I need the recipe.”
Luther only shook his head. Reid figured he’d need to give it up eventually. Until then, she and Mel would have to be patient.
“What’s the wedding talk we need to have?” Luther asked in between bites. Reid looked at her dad and saw him scrunch his nose. She couldn’t tell if there was something wrong with his lunch, which she doubted, or if he thought there was something wrong with her wedding plans.
“We went dress shopping today,” Reid told him. Luther’s spoon paused midair before he set it down.
“What store? I’ll write you a check before you leave.”
“No store. At least not yet,” she told him as she placed her hand on top of his. “The thing is, every dress I look at, I don’t like. Not even enough to try on.”
“I saw onExtrathat women are getting married in pantsuits these days,” he told her. Melanie choked on her chili and began coughing.
“Sorry,” she wheezed out. “You caught me off guard, Pops.”
“Daddy, I’d like to get married in Mom’s dress.”
The words soaked in, and Luther’s eyes went from quizzical to happy as a smile spread across his face. “Are you sure?”
Tears clouded Reid’s vision. “Yes, I am. When I think about wearing her dress, it brings me such joy. It’s what I want.”
Luther nodded, wiped his mouth on his napkin, and pushed his chair back. He left the dining room and returned minutes later with a large white box. He presented it to Reid. The clear plastic cover gave her a glimpse of her mother’s dress. It would need to be cleaned, possibly hemmed, but it was in mint condition. It was the one thing Luther had never let Reid play with when she was younger.
“It’s perfect.”
Melanie came over to look at the dress. “You’re going to be stunning in this dress, Reid. This is the right dress for you.”
As Reid stared into the box, she imagined herself walking down the cherry blossom–covered aisle, carrying a bouquet of dahlias and roses from her mother’s garden. She looked at her dad. “I have one more favor to ask.”
“Anything,” he said, visibly holding back his emotions.
“My bouquet,” she started. “I know I already ordered it from the florist, but I’d like the flowers to come from Mom’s garden. Her dahlias are always so pretty, and I’d like them in my bouquet. The roses, the florist can get from wherever, but I want a majority of my flowers to come from the garden.”
“Honey, I think that’s a great idea, but it’s going to depend on a number of things,” he told her. “We would need an early spring in order for them to be ready by your wedding date.”
Reid’s excitement plunged. By this time next year, she and Grayson would be married. So much of their ceremony depended on spring.
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
“Pops, what if you propagate and start them in the bedroom—turn it into a makeshift greenhouse or something?” Melanie asked with a shrug.
“That’s a possibility. I’ll ask one of the gals at work and see if they’ve done something like that before.”
“Would one of these ladies be a date to the wedding?” Reid waggled her eyebrows at her dad, who turned a deep crimson.
“Eat your lunch, Reid.” Luther picked up his spoon and shoveled a heap of chili into his mouth, avoiding all eye contact with the girls as they oohed him. Reid intended to send her father an invitation to the wedding, even though he was paying for everything, and would make sure it included a plus-one. All she wanted was for her father to be happy.
TWENTY-NINE
GRAYSON
As soon as theREMOVE SEAT BELTlight came on, Grayson was out of his seat and heading toward the bathroom.
He closed the door, slid the lock into place, and then broke down. The tears he’d been holding ever since he’d met Gemma and Lynnea came rushing forward tenfold. He could no longer stop them and was thankful for the roar of the airplane’s engines for drowning out his gut-wrenching sobs.
From the moment he’d laid eyes on the girls, he knew they were the reason for the constant ache in his chest. Rafe loved those girls beyond measure, and that love had stayed with his heart, and now Grayson was suffering because of it.
He glanced at himself in the cloudy mirror. Tears streamed down his cheeks. Some created a trail over his jaw and trickled down his neck, while some went straight to his shirt, wetting the fabric.
