CH 11 - #magic
Riley
Me:What are you doing for lunch?
Macie:Grabbing some street tacos from Don Juan’s and eating them in my car at the park.
Me:How many do you want?
Macie:3
Me:Meet me at my parents’ house. I’ll have the tacos waiting for you.
Macie:Don’t forget the green sauce.
Me:I know!
Macie:See you in half an hour.
After texting Macie, I messaged my sister and went through a similar text thread with her. She wanted two street tacos with red sauce and would be at our momma and daddy’s house in half an hour. My girls arrived at the same time, and I didn’t miss the curiosity in their eyes.
“Sit down and start eating,” I told them. “Y’all are on the clock. I’m not.” They joined me at the kitchen table and started prepping their lunches.
“You know, you can start talking while we’re doing this,” Macie said.
“I went to see Rhys at his house earlier. We had another wonderful talk.”
Macie and Rachel both grinned. Then my sister asked, “And?”
“And it was just nice to finally clear all the air between us. We talked about when I ended our relationship, about Rhys asking for Momma and Daddy’s permission to marry me and then showing them the engagement ring he bought. I had no idea he’d done any of that until Daddy told me about it this morning.”
“I knew you didn’t because you never mentioned it. I thought about telling you several times, but as the months went by, I finally decided against it. I didn’t think knowing what Rhys had done would benefit you. It would’ve only upset you.”
“That’s why I didn’t tell you,” Macie added.
“I understand why neither of you said anything. And you were right about me getting upset from finding out what Rhys had done. The pain that I’m still feeling, though, doesn’t compare to what he felt last year and still feels even now. When he and I talked about all of this, he cried. It was so hard to see tears falling from his beautiful blue eyes again.”
“Okay, you’re about to make me cry,” Rachel said.
Macie covered her mouth. “Shit! Me too. I’m not wearing waterproof mascara, so let’s talk about something happy before I look like a damn raccoon.”
“Rhys made omelets for us. Is that happy enough?”
Both my girls smiled and nodded.
“So what comes next?” my sister asked.
“Between Rhys and me?”
“Duh.”
“No plans. After we ate, he walked me out to my car and opened the driver-side door for me. We hugged, and then he said he’d talk to me later. I left his house after that and came straight here.”
“Do you want him to talk to you later?”
“Yes. Am I wrong to feel that way?”
“Nope!” Rachel and Macie said together.
Then someone rang the doorbell.
“I’ll be back in a minute. Y’all keep eating,” I said, getting up from the table.
When I opened the front door, Mrs. Campbell greeted me, saying, “Hi, Riley!”
“How are you doing, ma’am?”
“I’m fine. What about you?”
“Hanging in there.”
“This gorgeous bouquet of white tulips is for you, sweetheart. Maybe it’ll make the hanging a little easier.”
She handed me the vase, told me to take care of myself, and left.
Before I rejoined my girls, I opened the card attached to the bouquet and read it. Chad had sent the flowers. He said he was sorry for everything and asked me to forgive him. He also asked me to give him a third and last chance.
When I returned to the kitchen, my girls’ faces lit up.
“Those are from Rhys, aren’t they?” Macie asked.
“No, they’re from Chad.”
“Motherfucker!”
“Here’s his card.”
I tossed it onto the table for Macie and my sister to read. Once they had, they looked back up at me.
“Riley, don’t you dare!” Macie said.
“I’m not, so don’t worry.”
“I told you that Chad was going to contact you. He just did it in this way.”
“I didn’t want to believe he was going do anything, but what he’s done today just reopened my wound,” I choked out.
“Dammit,” Macie growled.
Seconds later, she and Rachel were standing beside me.
“I’ll be okay,” I assured them. “Chad doing this just makes me angrier at him. Like he really thinks I’m going to fall for his bullshit this time.”
“He’s used to people falling for it, BFF. Especially women, I’m sure.”
“I don’t want his flowers.”
“Then let’s get them the hell out of Momma and Daddy’s house,” my sister said.
“Yes, let’s!”
My girls scarfed down what was left of their street tacos, and then the three of us jumped into my car. Macie held the bouquet in her lap while I drove over to the bayou and parked.
“Y’all stay here. I need to do this alone,” I said.
After walking over to the water, I tossed the vase into it and stood on the bank, watching the white tulips float away. Macie was right about me feeling other emotions as the days passed. The one that I was feeling at this moment was sadness. I’d started feeling it before but had pushed it away. I would have to do that again because I didn’t want Macie or my sister to see how upset I really was about Chad and me being over.
When I returned to my car, Macie asked, “How did that feel?”
“Good.”
“Um, you have company,” she continued, peering out my driver-side window.
When I turned my head and saw who it was, butterflies filled my stomach. Rhys was parked next to me and getting out of his truck. I kept my eyes on him as I lowered my window and didn’t miss the concern on his face when he rounded the front of Black Betty.
“Hi,” I said when he reached me.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes. Why?”
“I was on my way to the hardware store and saw you driving down to the bayou. I can count the number of times you’ve done that on one hand, and it worried me.”
“I didn’t mean to worry you. I just came here to do a little ritual of sorts to get rid of some negativity. That’s all.”
Rhys flashed his dimpled smile at me. “Doing a little Ms. Lenora-kind-of-stuff, working some magic?”
“Something along those lines. I appreciate you checking on me.”
“You’re welcome.”
“I hate to end this conversation, but I’ve got to get my girls back to their cars at my momma and daddy’s so they can return to work.”
“I understand. Hi, girls,” he said, dipping his head to see them.
“Hey!” they both replied.
“I’ll talk to you later, Riley.”
“I’d like that.”
Rhys’s eyes gravitated down to my lips. Then he looked back up at me and said, “So would I.”
After giving me a wave, he returned to his truck and drove off. I looked back at Macie and Rachel to see shit-eating grins on their faces.
“What?” I asked.
“I felt that between you and Rhys. Now that was magical,” Macie teased.
“Shut up.”
“No way. I speak the truth.”
I looked at my sister in the backseat. She wiggled her eyebrows at me.
Sitting here, I felt like I was in high school again. My stomach was still filled with butterflies, and their wings had Rhys’s name written all over them. I hadn’t expected to see him again today, but I was thankful that I had. The second occasion lightened the heaviness of my mixed emotions about Chad.
My girls returned to work, and I went inside my parents’ house to make a cup of coffee. I had just taken the first sip when I received a text that made me smile. It was from Rhys. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so happy to hear from him, but I was. And maybe my thoughts should’ve been on Chad more. They weren’t, though.
Rhys:I have a question.
Me:So ask it.
Rhys:Would you like to kayak with me on the lake later today?
Me:I would love to go, even though I’ve never done that.
Rhys:It’s easy to do and loads of fun.
Me:I bet it is.
Rhys:Would you mind if I picked you up?
Me:That’s fine.
Rhys:Does 6:00 work for you?
Me:It’s perfect.
Rhys:See you then.
Me:Can’t wait.
I went into the living room and grabbed my high school yearbooks off the bookshelf. Sitting on the couch with them, I began flipping to the pages with pictures of Rhys on them and pictures of us together. There were so many. Looking at them, I was transported back in time to what Rhys and I once shared. I’d missed it but hadn’t realized exactly how much until now.