Chapter 3
Jamison
Thanks to a cancellation at Knife & Fork, Mindy was able to get us a reservation. We arrived at the restaurant fifteen minutes early, which annoyed my son, but since I was driving, he had no choice but to come along.
I didn't like to rush and believed arriving early gave me the upper hand.
With clients, it worked well, establishing right away that I was trustworthy and reliable, and it subtly gave them the impression they were stepping into an environment I controlled.
In the case of Blossom and her mother, arriving early wasn't about leverage so much as preparation.
I had time to settle, observe, and brace myself.
The dining room was packed, and though I hadn't been hungry before I arrived, the scent of sizzling meat and spices made my mouth water.
I'd never had a bad meal here, so I was looking forward to dinner.
The hostess led us to a well-appointed table toward the back, round and covered in a white tablecloth.
We weren't near a window, but thankfully, we weren't in the middle of the dining room, either.
Manuel and I were browsing the menus when my son said, "There she is." His voice had taken on a hushed quality.
I followed his line of sight to the two women coming our way, and I was immediately struck by how clearly they resembled each other. Both were striking, with beautiful eyes and a confident bearing, but the similarities ended there.
Blossom was lighter, her curls cropped close to her head.
Her mother, on the other hand, was several shades darker, with a chestnut-brown complexion.
While Blossom's style leaned toward polished and modern, her mother's was unapologetically bohemian.
She was so colorful that the rest of the room seemed gray in comparison.
Her waist-length dreadlocks were pulled back from her face with a red-and-gold scarf, the silk fabric knotted with casual precision.
She wore a clay-colored blouse that was loose and flowing, the kind that skimmed rather than clung, with a modest neckline allowing several long necklaces to rest against her chest, layered and mismatched.
A full skirt in vibrant colors swayed and whispered around her ankles as she walked, with flat leather sandals peeking out from beneath the hem.
I vaguely remembered Manuel mentioning she owned an herbal store and had a yoga studio, and she looked exactly like the kind of woman who did.
A cloth crossbody bag patterned with oversized sunflowers hung diagonally across her torso, and bangles—too many to count—circled her wrists, chiming softly as they approached the table.
Her gaze boldly met mine, and my stomach tensed in an unusual way. I had the uncomfortable sense that, despite my early arrival, I didn't necessarily have the upper hand.
As I rose to my feet, my son rushed over to his fiancée and greeted her with a hug.
I suspected if I and Blossom's mother weren't present, their greeting would have been more amorous.
Manuel slipped an arm around his fiancée, his face lighting up with a smile bigger than the one he had worn when I bought him the bike he wanted many Christmases ago.
"Dad, this is my fiancée, Blossom Nabors."
Manuel's face beamed with pride and expectation, but I saw the moment he held his breath. I hated to see him so nervous and decided I would do my best not to spoil the night for him.
I put on my most gregarious smile, the one I used when meeting clients or having to smooth over a particularly thorny deal.
"Very nice to meet you, Blossom."
She had a good, strong handshake.
Green flag.
I turned my attention to her mother and noticed the diamond stud twinkling in her left nostril. Before me was a forty-something-year-old woman dressed like a carefree twenty-year-old, right down to the ring in her nose. I was mildly intrigued.
I extended my hand. "Jamison Harris. Nice to meet you, Ms. Nabors."
The clasp of her hand wasn't particularly strong, but it was surprisingly soft. Unexpectedly, I wanted to hold onto her longer and had to remind myself to let go.
"It's Washington. I dropped my ex-husband's last name years ago, but you can call me Tallulah."
Divorced, like me, which explained why Blossom's father was living in Georgia now.
"And you can call me Jamison," I said.
I reclaimed my seat, with Manuel sitting to my right. He and Blossom leaned toward each other and started talking quietly.
Tallulah sat to my left, and she smelled amazing. I couldn't place the scent because it wasn't a combination I had smelled before. The fragrance was unique and earthy. A little bit enticing, if I were being honest.
The waiter appeared at the table, a young man with a slicked-back ponytail. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Can I start you off with a drink while you decide on your dinner?" he asked with practiced enthusiasm.
"Water for me, please," Blossom said.
"Me, too," Manuel said.
"I'll take a glass of cranberry juice, no ice," Tallulah said.
Interesting choice.
I ordered a glass of red wine. When the waiter left, an uneasy silence settled over the table. Manuel and Blossom remained wrapped up in each other, leaving Tallulah and me to fill the conversational void.
I cleared my throat. "Manuel mentioned that you own an herbal store?"
"I do, but it's a little more than an herbal store. Simply Well is the name, and it's in the arts district downtown, in a building that was recently bought."
"Are you talking about the Freedom Capital Building?" I asked. My role as a commercial banker meant I stayed abreast of all the major business moves in our city.
She nodded, adjusting one of her necklaces. The pendant looked like raw rose quartz. "That's the one. My center is on the ground floor, and we offer yoga classes, reiki and reflexology, herbal consultations, and meditation workshops, that sort of thing."
"Interesting." I kept my tone neutral. I didn't want to let on that I was skeptical about alternative medicine and wellness as a viable business. "How long have you been in business?"
"Ten years this fall."
Shocking. The industry seemed oversaturated, the margins were slim, and startups had a high failure rate. "Impressive. Congratulations."
"Thank you." There was a slight edge to her voice, as if she'd heard the surprise in mine and didn't appreciate it. "I love the work I do and have managed to find loyal, regular customers."
Blossom glanced up from her menu. "Mom's being modest. Her workshops always sell out within days, and she has a great reputation in the community, which is why she has so many repeat customers. People trust her and know she's not one of those fakes offering generic solutions that don't work."
Tallulah waved a hand dismissively, her bangles knocking against each other like wind chimes. "She's making me sound much grander than I am."
"Doubtful," I said thoughtfully. "Your business has survived a decade in a tough industry. You must be doing something right."
She smiled briefly at the compliment. "You're in banking, is that right?"
"Commercial banking. In a nutshell, I finance deals for businesses of all sizes."
"Sounds..." She paused, searching for the right word. "Rigid."
Was that a compliment or an insult?
"It can be," I admitted. "Though we're allowed to color outside the lines on occasion. Helping a business owner secure the right financing solution is very satisfying work."
"I'm sure it is, but in all honesty, numbers and spreadsheets have never been my strong suit. I do what I have to and leave the rest to my accountant." She let out a little laugh, but her dark eyes studied me with curious intensity.
"What do you consider your strength?" I asked.
"My intuition. Being able to trust my gut and go with the flow, to see which direction the universe guides me in. It's the reason I took a leap of faith and opened my wellness center, despite the people closest to me trying to talk me out of it."
"I see," I said, though I didn't see at all.
I was a planner and analyzed problems from all angles to find solutions and determine how to proceed. Going with the flow had never been part of my vocabulary, and I'd never once relied on the universe to guide my steps. I didn't even know what that meant.
Tallulah seemed nice enough, but I was beginning to suspect she was too woo-woo for my taste. If Blossom was anything like her, I had concerns because I'd raised Manuel to be sensible and practical.
"Different people have different approaches," I added.
The waiter returned, placing our beverages beside us. "Ready to order?" he asked.
"Order anything you like. Dinner is on me," I announced to the table.
My son shot an appreciative smile in my direction.
Tallulah lifted her gaze from her menu, surprise on her face. "You don't have to do that."
"I insist. After all, we're about to be family."
"That's very generous of you."
"May I have two more minutes?" Blossom asked.
"Sure. I'll be back in a little bit." The waiter left again.
I relaxed into my chair. As far as I was concerned, the night was off to a good start. My son was the most important person in the world to me, and if he loved this young lady, I wanted to make sure she was comfortable joining our family despite her mother's unconventional style of decision-making.
I still wasn't completely on board with my son getting married so soon out of college to a young woman he'd only known a short time. But tonight could be a successful meeting of the families.
I would do my part to make that happen.