Chapter 28 Tallulah
Tallulah
"Ilike edgy comedy, but the second guy was too much," Jamison said as we walked up the steps of my front porch. "He wasn't edgy. He was being offensive for the shock value."
We had just returned from dinner and a comedy show. I wore a light sweater over my blouse to guard against the cool night air. "Some of the jokes landed. The bit about his cousins was funny."
"The first part, maybe. But then he kept going on and on and crossed the line, in my opinion."
I enjoyed our back-and-forth, disagreeing without being argumentative. Quite a difference from the first time we met.
"What did you think about the opening act? She was hilarious," I said. "When she talked about explaining cryptocurrency to her grandfather, I almost passed out from laughing."
"She was genuinely funny," Jamison conceded, his mouth quirking into the smile I'd come to adore. "When her grandfather scolded her about imaginary money..."
We broke into laughter, the sound floating on the air into the night.
It was after eleven, later than we had planned to stay out, but the show had started late, and after a standing ovation, the third comedian did an encore we didn't want to miss.
Jamison moved closer, his hand finding the small of my back. "Going to the show was a good idea."
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself, even with the offensive comedian."
"He gave us something to argue about on the drive here."
His head dipped to mine, and I placed my hands on his shoulders, lifting onto my toes to meet him halfway.
Our kiss was soft and unhurried, suggesting we had all the time in the world.
When he slipped a hand up my spine and into my loose hair, I tightened my arms around his neck and leaned into him.
The headlights of a vehicle swept over us, and we pulled apart, turning our attention to the driveway where a black sedan was rolling to a stop. Blossom climbed out. I immediately smiled, but when she stepped into the porch light, I saw her face, and the smile died on my lips.
Her cheeks were tear-stained, and her eyes were red and swollen.
"Blossom?" I asked sharply, confused and worried by her appearance.
She glanced at me and Jamison, and her face crumpled, fresh tears spilling from her eyes.
"Blossom, what's wrong?" I moved toward her, my heart racing with the horror of knowing my child was hurting. I was ready to do battle with whomever or whatever was making her cry.
But she just shook her head and pushed past us. Fumbling with her keys at the front door, her hands shook so badly that she dropped them on the porch.
I bent to pick them up, but she snatched them before I could and unlocked the door, not once turning her head in my direction. She disappeared inside, leaving me and Jamison standing outside in shocked silence.
"What do you think happened?"
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." I gently touched his arm. "I'll call you later."
His expression tightened with worry, as if she were his own daughter. "Do you think this is related to Manuel? I'll try to reach him on the way home. Give me an update as soon as you can."
"I will."
He kissed my forehead and squeezed my hand before heading to his vehicle. Inside was quiet, but as I went down the hall, I heard muffled sobbing coming from Blossom's room.
Dread knotted my stomach as I knocked softly on her door. "Blossom? May I come in?"
She didn't answer. I heard continued sobbing, so I didn't know if she heard me.
I opened the door anyway and found her curled on her side, facing the wall with her back to the door, her body shaking from the force of her tears. The sight of her like this—my engaging, funny daughter reduced to raw anguish—made my chest ache.
I crossed the room. Sitting on the edge of the mattress, I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Blossom, my love, what happened?"
Her sobs intensified.
"Talk to me. Please." I rubbed gentle circles on her back, the way I used to when she was little and had nightmares. "Whatever is wrong, we can figure out the solution together."
"There's nothing to figure out." She choked out the words between sobs. "It's over. The wedding is off."
The words crashed into me with the force of a physical blow. "What do you mean the wedding is off?"
What could possibly have happened? They were supposed to get married next week. The rehearsal dinner was planned, friends and family coming to town, and her dress was hanging in the closet.
"Exactly what I said." Her voice was muffled against her pillow. She sniffed. "I can't marry him, Mom. I won't."
"But... why not?" I struggled to process what was happening.
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Blossom—"
"Please." She curled tighter into herself. "I can't. Not right now."
Concerned and feeling completely helpless, I kept my hand on her back. The problem wasn't wedding jitters or cold feet. A deeper issue had emerged and shattered their relationship.
"Did Manuel do something? Did he say something to hurt you?
" The protective mother in me prepared to give Manuel the tongue-lashing of his life for hurting her.
Was there another woman, perhaps? I couldn't imagine him cheating after seeing them together and hearing her talk about him, but anything was possible.
"No. Yes. I don't know." Her voice broke. "It's complicated."
Her vague answer didn't tell me much. I didn't know if I should be angry at Manuel or not.
"Help me understand. Let me help you."
"You can't help." The words came out in a defeated voice. "No one can help. We were stupid to think we could make this work." She sniffled, rubbing a rough hand across her eyes.
"The two of you seemed perfect for each other."
She rolled over to face me, the devastation in her eyes making my breath catch. "Seemed. You and Mr. Harris might have been right. Manuel and I were rushing and don't know each other as well as we thought we did."
"But what happened?" I asked again.
Fresh tears spilled from the corners of her eyes. "I can't marry him. I just can't."
The finality in her voice worried me. It seemed there was no coming back from this.
"All right," I said, because what else could I say? I didn't want to keep pushing. "We don't have to talk about what happened right now."
I kicked off my shoes and lay down, wrapping my arms around her. She squeezed me tight, burying her face against my shoulder and sobbing like her heart was breaking. Which clearly it was.
I smoothed my hand over her short curls and murmured words of comfort.
"It's going to be okay," I whispered, though I had no idea if that was true. "We'll get through this."
Blossom continued crying, and I wished I could take away the pain like I used to when she was little and had a scraped knee or had bumped her elbow. No band-aid or kiss could chase away this pain.
All I could do was hold her and let her know she wasn't alone. So that's what I did until her tears stopped, her sobbing quieted, and she finally fell asleep. My poor baby.
I kissed her forehead and then carefully extracted myself from her arms. I placed a blanket over her and stood there for a moment, looking at her tear-streaked face.
Tears blurred my eyes. My baby was hurting, and I didn't know how to take away the pain.
I left her bedroom and closed the door softly behind me. In my own room, I checked my phone and saw multiple missed calls from Jamison. He had also sent three texts.
Jamison: Is she okay?
Jamison: Please call when you can.
Jamison: I'm worried.
I sank onto the side of the bed and called him, and he answered on the first ring.
"What happened?" he asked without greeting, his voice tight with concern.
"The wedding's off," I said, my voice breaking on the words. "She won't tell me why, but she's devastated, Jamison. I've never seen my daughter like this."
He didn't respond right away. Then he sighed. "Manuel isn't answering my calls."
Suddenly exhausted, I lay back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling fan.
"She said she can't marry him and that you and I were right about them rushing.
I have no idea what could possibly have happened to make her change her mind and suddenly listen to us.
What if the problem—whatever it is—can't be fixed? Surely it can be fixed—right?"
"I wish I knew." He sounded as tired as I was. "We need to figure out what happened before we can help them. If Manuel screwed up..." He trailed off, muttering a curse under his breath.
"Look, it's late. We can touch base tomorrow.
I want to spend as much time as possible with Blossom and find out what happened, so I probably won't see you tomorrow.
" Jamison and I usually saw each other on the weekend, but I couldn't leave Blossom alone in her state.
"I'll call you when I can. Hopefully, you'll have a chance to talk to Manuel, and we can put our heads together about how to proceed. "
"I'm going by his apartment tomorrow morning," Jamison said in a determined voice. "To make him tell me what happened. Call if you need me. Anytime."
"I will. I promise. We'll figure this out."
We hung up, and I remained on my back, staring up at the ceiling, my mind spinning with worry and questions.
The wedding was off, and I was devastated.
I had gone through a complete mental shift since the night Blossom told me she was engaged.
Manuel made my daughter happy, and because of my own deep feelings for Jamison, I understood how the two of them could have fallen in love and wanted to make a life together.
But there were no rules with love, and sometimes it wasn’t destroyed by betrayal or outside forces. Sometimes it simply buckled under the weight of fear and doubt.