Chapter 30 Tallulah
Tallulah
"Your mother is a hero," Mrs. Chen said to Blossom.
My daughter and I were at the counter of Far East Market. Chips for Blossom and drinks for both of us were on the counter.
"Stop," I said, slightly embarrassed.
"Do not be modest," my friend said, ringing up the purchases. "You saved all of our businesses. You should be proud. Have you already signed your new lease?"
"I did. How about you?"
"We did, and my husband is working on a frequent customer card for the partnership program. He is taking it very seriously."
"As he should. If planned right, it'll mean more business for the store. I'm working on my ideas. Julie wants to be included, and so does LaVon," I said, referring to the man who did reiki and reflexology in my center.
After chatting a bit more, we left. Mrs. Chen knew Manuel and Blossom had broken up, so she didn't mention the wedding, as she normally would have.
I unlocked the door to my store. "I really appreciate you helping me with this," I said. I let my daughter go ahead of me and closed the door without locking it again.
"It's fine, Mom. Not like I have anything else to do."
I placed the snacks on the counter, my heart hurting at her despondent tone.
She had been like this for the past four days, ever since she and Manuel called off the wedding. Hollow and simply going through the motions, her normally vibrant light had dimmed. Each time I looked at her, my heart broke a little bit more.
Which was exactly why Jamison and I had planned an intervention.
"The items are back here," I said.
I had told Blossom I needed her help with inventory that had been placed in the yoga room. I said I needed to go through everything so Julie could have the space.
When we walked in, Blossom looked around at the empty room with its polished bamboo floors. She frowned in confusion. "Where's the inventory? There's nothing here but mats."
"How odd. I should—"
"Hello?" a male voice called from the front.
Blossom's frown deepened.
"Sounds like Jamison," I said, pretending to be surprised. "Wait here. I'll be right back."
I escaped before she could respond, my heart hammering as I rushed to the front of the wellness center. Manuel and his father waited by the register.
"Hi Jamison, Manuel," I said.
"Hi, Ms. Washington."
"Are you doing okay?" I asked.
"Yeah." He gave a tight and brief fake smile.
"You said you needed help moving some boxes?" Jamison asked.
"I do, and I appreciate the two of you coming by to help. They're in the back."
They followed me, and as we approached the yoga room, I hung back and allowed Manuel to go ahead.
"In there," I said.
He stepped forward, and at the same time, Blossom looked up from her phone. Her entire body went rigid.
"Blossom."
Manuel's voice cracked on her name, and the longing in both of their faces was so obvious that I was confident Jamison and I had made the right decision. They loved each other. No doubt they loved each other.
"Mom, what's going on?"
Though she asked me the question, Blossom never took her eyes off Manuel. He hadn't taken his eyes off her, either.
"We brought you here to talk to each other," Jamison said. He moved to stand beside me, a couple of inches inside the room.
Blossom finally dragged her eyes from the man she loved. "We already said everything we needed to say days ago."
"Breaking up is not what you want," I said.
"You don't know what we want," Blossom said, but her voice wobbled.
"From where I'm standing, I see two people who are miserable without each other and are too afraid to admit they made a mistake."
The room fell silent. Blossom and Manuel made a point of not looking at one another.
I took a breath. "Jamison and I need a few minutes of your time, and we need you to listen to what we have to say."
Blossom folded her arms protectively across her torso, and Manuel shoved his hands into his pockets, his jaw tight, eyes trained on the floor.
I exchanged a glance with Jamison. This was it. We had to bring our A-game.
"The two of you are making a mistake by splitting up. You believe you're going to fail because of comments we made, but you're not."
"How can you be so sure?" Blossom asked.
"Because you love each other, and the fight you had is not really about money. The fight you had is about fear. Fear of pain. Fear of failure."
Jamison cleared his throat. "Love is terrifying, and it's risky, and there's no guarantee that things will work out.
But I one hundred percent believe it's worth the risk and worth taking the leap because the alternative is moving through life and never finding out how much joy you can experience.
" When he finished talking, he looked at me.
Those words were meant for me. "You can't plan love.
It just happens on its own, whether or not you're ready.
But that doesn't mean it's easy. When you love someone, you don't give up when the going gets tough. You work through your issues."
"Our marriages failed," I said, "but we both learned from our mistakes and realized we should've communicated instead of shutting down and avoiding the uncomfortable conversations.
Instead of arguing, we should have listened.
You have to talk to each other. You have to be honest with each other.
You have to listen to each other. And for goodness' sake, don't throw away something real because you're afraid of what might happen. Fear should not dictate your choices."
"Here's the plan," Jamison began. "Tallulah and I are going to leave, and you're going to stay here and talk."
"What?" Blossom sounded panicked.
"We're not forcing you to do this,” I said.
“We're simply asking you to give yourselves a shot without distractions and emotions clouding the conversation.
Decide together if you really want to end your relationship or if you want to work for your happiness.
Jamison and I intervened and halted the cancellations.
If you still want to call off the wedding after tonight, we'll give everyone a call in the morning and make the cancellations permanent. "
Manuel turned to Blossom. "I'd like to stay and talk. How about you?"
She shrugged. "If you want to, I will."
I breathed easier. Progress.
"Sounds like we have a plan," Jamison said. He stepped through the open door, and I followed.
Before closing it, I looked at Manuel and Blossom. "We love you both, and whatever you decide, we'll support you. But we couldn't let you give up so easily."
"Thanks, Mom," Blossom said softly. A faint smile touched her lips. "For caring enough to poke your nose into my business."
"Yeah, thanks, Dad," Manuel added.
Jamison nodded. "Take all the time you need."
I closed the door, and Jamison and I walked to the front of the center in silence.
"What do you think?" I asked.
"I don't know." He rested against the counter and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his slacks. "We either nudged them in the right direction, or we made everything worse."
"Or we gave them permission to choose love instead of fear."
"Or that."
We stared at each other, hoping we had done right by our kids. All we could do was wait and trust we had truly seen love in their faces. Trust that the past few days of seeing them moping and despondent meant they needed each other.
"I appreciate you going along with my shenanigans," I said, stepping closer.
Jamison opened his arms, and I melted into him, wrapping my arms around his waist.
"You had a good idea. They needed to talk to each other before they threw away their future happiness."
"So what now?" I tilted my head back to look up at him.
"We wait." He paused, his gray eyes connecting with my brown ones in a speculative way. "And maybe we take our own advice."
"Isn't that what we've been doing?" I asked tentatively.
"Yes and no. What have you told Blossom about us?"
"She knows we care about each other."
"That's what you told her?"
"Yes. Because we do, right?"
"We do," he said in a careful voice, "but my feelings are deeper than simply caring for you. I've fallen in love with you, Tallulah, and if you haven't fallen in love with me yet, I plan to do everything I can to make sure you do."
My heart warmed at his words. "I have news for you. You don't have to do anything more. I'm already madly in love with you, for some odd reason."
He chuckled softly and kissed my forehead.
I closed my eyes and then placed my cheek against his chest. Being so close to him, being held in his embrace, was the highlight of my day. Unexpectedly, I had fallen for the kind of man I was certain I should avoid.
But love had a funny way of steamrolling over caution and proving fear was never wisdom to begin with.