Chapter 21
“These have to be the cutest wedding favors ever.” Kelsey held up a chubby, handblown glass honey pot, admiring it in the sunlight streaming onto Ida’s covered front porch.
Kelsey had just finished using raffia to tie on a wooden dipper and handmade paper tag that read Sweet Beginnings.
On the tag’s other side were Megan’s and Craig’s names and their wedding date, now just two days away.
The four-ounce honey pot was small and squat-bottomed, and thanks to the honey inside, it shone with an amber glow in the afternoon light.
“Would it be bad luck if I took mine home today? Maybe I should wait until after you text me beachside pictures of the big moment.”
From her spot at the end of the eight-foot-long folding table that had been set up for this afternoon’s craft project, Megan waved her hand dismissively.
“Take one now. I’m not letting in any room for superstition or worry or anything else.
And after you endure all this sticky mess with me, you deserve a giant pot, not a tiny one. ”
“These are perfect. I’m going to put mine where I see it all the time.”
Megan had purchased three gallons of honey from a sustainable farm in the Missouri wine country not far from where they were hosting the reception next weekend, and now their job was to get the honey into the small pots.
“They are cute, aren’t they? Only I’m worried we won’t have enough honey.
I didn’t really account for the spills in my calculations. ”
The front door pulled open, and Ida rejoined them on the porch. She held a glass measuring cup with a spouted rim and a plastic funnel. “These could help keep the outsides of the pots from getting so messy. What else can I get you?”
Kelsey had mentioned to Ida during their dinner that she’d volunteered to help assemble Megan’s wedding favors.
Ida had been so excited by the idea that she’d offered for the assembly to take place at her house and to provide lunch as well.
Megan had been eager to meet her ever since she’d learned Sabrina’s sister was living next door, and she was deeply touched by the offer.
Megan’s wedding was approaching with lightning speed.
Kelsey was impressed with how her friend was handling everything.
Things were nearly as busy at the shelter as they were here, from all the recent publicity and with the construction in progress.
On top of coordinating everything there, Megan was still settling into her new life, preparing for the baby that was on the way, and planning her wedding.
Thankfully, the favors were the last big item on Megan’s wedding to-do list. Kelsey suspected Megan had to feel like she was sliding into home base in the nick of time.
She and Craig were flying out tonight to have a full day to relax on the island before the ceremony on Sunday.
Megan wouldn’t return from her short honeymoon until a week from today, which would be the day before the reception.
“These will help for sure,” Megan said as she took the measuring cup and funnel from Ida. A honeybee, drawn in by the sweet smell, buzzed in a circle around her. “We should be good to go now.”
“Yell if you need something. I’ve got a chicken pot pie in the oven, and I’m finishing the salad. And will tea do, or would you like lemonade?”
Kelsey and Megan exchanged looks of agreement. The sticky honey on their fingers and the pleasant scent in the air would be all the sweet they’d need. “Tea’s fine,” they said in unison.
“Kels,” Megan said after Ida had headed back inside, “I want you to know that if I was having a traditional wedding, you’d be a bridesmaid for sure.
Honestly, it’d just be you and Ashley, and Sophie and Tess for the little ones.
I never wanted a big wedding, though I never considered whisking away to a private island either. It still feels a bit surreal.”
“Everything about your life is surreal.” Kelsey couldn’t help but shoot a wistful glance next door. Kurt and his grandfather were inside, and an electric saw and a drill pierced the quiet afternoon at sporadic intervals.
Prior to this rehab, she’d have sworn her life was close to perfect, even if she wasn’t sharing it with a committed partner.
But then Kurt had shown up and stirred up a wild mess of emotions, and one thing had become clear.
Despite any lingering insecurities or uncertainties, she wanted him in her life.
And not only in her life. She wanted him to comprise a giant, integral, life-wouldn’t-be-the-same-without-you part of her life.
Lately, he’d been really reserved. Worse than reserved.
Withdrawn. Then this morning while they were working with the dogs, she’d closed her hand over the back of his arm, and it had seemed as if he’d stiffened at her touch.
She put it off to his level of focus when working with the dogs.
Immediately after all the animals were taken care of, his grandfather arrived and the two of them dove into ceiling repairs on the second floor of the house.
She wished she’d had a few minutes with Kurt first, minutes where something else wasn’t demanding his attention. Last night, he’d scarcely seemed interested in their good-night kiss. She’d put it down to exhaustion, but added to what had happened this morning, she wasn’t sure.
“What’s up, Kels?” Megan was suddenly all attention. Kelsey’s thoughts must have been readable on her face.
She gave a one-shoulder shrug. “I wish I could say. Kurt’s been a little weird lately, but I think he’s just tired.
All he does is work. And I’m not kidding when I say that.
I’ve never met anyone with his drive. In between one tiring chore to the next, sometimes he even sneaks into the attic to do pull-ups with the rafters. ”
Megan laughed at the last part. “Well, considering the work you and everybody around puts into the shelter, that’s saying something.
Maybe he needs some guidance from you on how to relax.
I’m glad you’re bringing him to the reception.
I can’t say my short trips here have helped me get to know him.
As long as you believe in him though, that’s what matters.
That and he truly gets what an amazing person he’s hooking up with. ”
“I certainly won’t tell you he’s easy to get to know, but he’s a really good guy, Megan. His softer side is cinnamon-roll soft. It’s just covered by prickly pear cactus.”
“There’s a good visual.” From her purse stowed underneath the table, Megan’s phone rang out with its fun, chirpy beat. “Good thing I cleaned my hands.” She leaned sideways a bit less fluidly than pre-pregnant Megan. It’s Patrick, she mouthed before saying hello.
Kelsey was getting the next pot ready when, after a bit of silence, Megan interjected with “That’s horrible. How sad. Where did you hear this?”
Kelsey waited, watching Megan’s expression for the level of tension lining her face—which expressed deep concern—until she hung up a few minutes later.
“You won’t believe this, Kels.” Megan dropped her phone on the table and let out a sigh.
“Patrick heard on the radio that Mason Redding was in a car wreck last night. They announced he wouldn’t be able to play in the playoffs if the Red Birds win tomorrow’s last game.
He’s got a broken collarbone and a concussion. ”
Kelsey’s jaw fell open in disbelief. After his wonderful donation, he wasn’t only a high-profile baseball player that the shelter staff had had a brush of fame with.
He was a great guy. Having met him and been moved by his sincerity and kindness, Kelsey felt this news much more personally than she would have otherwise.
She suspected Megan and Patrick did too.
“That’s so sad.” She pulled out her phone and read the story that Channel 3 had posted.
She gasped at the picture of an overturned, mangled SUV that had been tossed up on a grassy hillside by Highway 40.
In the background were flares, several police cars, ambulances, and fire trucks.
It had clearly been a serious crash. Kelsey skimmed the article and saw that Mason had been in the backseat.
The article stated that while all passengers had been treated at a nearby hospital, two remained, and one was in critical condition.
“That’s so, so horrible. It doesn’t say who the other people are. I hope they’re okay.”
She was sure the whole city would be abuzz.
The Red Birds were currently neck and neck with the Voyagers, their biggest rival, and only one more game—tomorrow’s—would decide who went to the playoffs.
Without this season’s best hitter, it would be a harder game to win.
But Mason wasn’t just a Red Birds player. He was a real person.
“We have his address,” Megan said, probably thinking the same thing. “Do you think we should send flowers? Or a card at least?”
Kelsey nodded. “Yeah, definitely.”
Megan closed her hands over her stomach absentmindedly and let out a long, slow breath. “Don’t you wish there were no accidents?”
Megan’s father had died in a highway crash when she was a kid.
This was the kind of news she always took personally.
Kelsey agreed as they resumed the honey pot assembly in a subdued mood.
They’d known each other long enough that neither one tried to fill the silence with empty chatter as they absorbed the news.
As a single bee became four, all buzzing around them, Mr. Longtail hopped over the porch railing and onto the table. He planted himself in an open spot near the center. His tail twitched periodically, and his head moved in circles as he watched the bees.