Chapter 16 Francesca
nine
FRANCESCA
The bell above the door chimes as we enter the flower shop. The pungent aroma of flowers overwhelms me.
“That’ll knock you on your ass,” Britt says under her breath.
“Shh!” I hiss at her. “Be nice!”
“Are you not used to her by now?” CJ tsk-tsks me.
I just shake my head. “Nothing should surprise me anymore.” Britt pinches me as she walks by me to the back counter where the woman stands watching us.
“Hey, Aunt Shannon!”
“Britt, baby!” The woman comes rushing from around the side of the counter and envelopes Britt in a hug. “I’ve missed you! You need to grab that nephew of mine and come visit more.”
“I know, he’s always so busy. But yes, we will make it a point to come over soon.” She turns to me. “You remember Francesca, right?”
Shannon Gallagher is Bobby’s aunt and has been in this town for years.
She opened her shop well over ten years ago and has done well.
She’s the only florist Christmas has, but her arrangements have gained interest and she gets lot of business from surrounding towns.
She’s in charge of all the wreaths that line Main Street during the Christmas season and every year they’re a different theme.
She does amazing, one-of-a-kind work and I’m so excited that she’s able to do our flowers for the wedding in such a short amount of time.
“Yes! Oh, you look great! Congratulations!” I give her a hug and thank her.
“We are so happy you’re able to squeeze us in. I feel bad for the short notice but the less time to plan, the less time for trouble!” I laugh, really trying to feel those words.
“Oh nonsense, I wouldn’t miss doing your wedding for the world!” She ushers us to a long table on the side of the room that has buckets of flowers and ribbon laid out. “Come, come! I want to show you what I picked out. Then tell me if this is anything you like, and we will get right down to it!”
We all settle around the table oohing and aahing over the different flowers and colors. The girls are talking a mile a minute, throwing ideas, color schemes and flowers at me.
I take a calming breath and try to keep up. My heart is racing again, and I try to concentrate on what’s in front of me.
“I like this.” Touching the sunflowers in front of me.
Britt grabs a roll of light green ribbon and begins wrapping it around the base of the flowers. “We could cover the stems in this, then add a bow to the bouquet with the strings hanging low.”
I touch it, taking it from her hand. “That ribbon feels rough.”
“Ok,” she says and then Farrah jumps in. “What about this one? The blush pink will match our bridesmaid dresses.”
I scrunch up my nose. “I don’t like that shade of pink, it’s too light.” I reply picking up another roll of a darker pink ribbon.
I ignore the quiet of the room. I can have an opinion here and I shouldn’t be afraid to voice it. The colors have to be perfect otherwise everything will clash when we take pictures.
CJ grabs a filler, similar to baby’s breath but the larger leaves remind me of the ivy I saw at the gazebo at the Inn.
“No, those leaves look weird.” I shudder. “Like the ivy around the gazebo at the hall, it just looks fake.”
The girls exchange a look, that I don’t miss. I raise a brow at Britt.
“We’re just giving you options.”
“I see the options. They’re all over the table.” I reply in a short tone.
“Settle down, Breezy,” Britt says, as she reaches for another roll of ribbon. The other girls chuckle at her tone.
Aunt Shannon starts bunching different flowers together. “Tell me about your colors again.”
Farrah jumps in and gives her the details. I take a breath, roll my neck that is tight with stress and try to calm down. I know they’re just trying to help, but how can I make a decision when I don’t even know what I like. It’s all coming at me too fast. And Britt calling me names doesn’t help.
I catch her eye across the table. “What did you call me?”
“Breezy.” Britt says louder. “Like, bridezilla, but with a gangsta twist.” She eyes me, raising a brow daring me to shut her down.
“You’re not a thug.”
“No?”
“No, Britt.” I snicker, her crazy always bursting through at just the right time to help recenter me and make me focus. “I know you’d like to think that in a past life, you were once one of the members of RUN DMC, but I assure you, you were not.”
She cocks her head to the side, thinking. “Maybe TLC? I’d definitely fit in with those chicks. Especially that crazy one that burned her boyfriend’s house down.”
“Yea I could see it.” CJ answers.
I drop my head, shaking it while I pick at the flowers in front of me. Britt comes from around the other side of the table and bumps my hip lightly.
“Take a breath, beauty, we’re going to get through this.”
I scoff. “Thanks for not saying ‘lighten up’ like Jackson told me. He almost wound up sleeping at your house that night.”
She laughs. “Nope. Not it. He’s your problem now, absolutely no backsies!”
I smile and my eyes get glassy, the table and the flowers losing focus. Britt dips down putting her face in my line of sight. “Hey, what’s going on? Talk to me.”
I sniff and wipe the lone tear that has escaped. Shaking my head, I say “Nothing. I’m just overwhelmed. I feel, well, I don’t know what I feel. Scared but excited. Happy but worried. I need this day to be perfect and so far, things aren’t what I thought they would be.”
She scrunches her face. “You’re putting too much pressure on the day, Francesca.
” When I try to correct her, she continues.
“No, I get it. You’ve imagined what this day looks like for years, and pictured Jackson standing next to you.
” She grins. “You forget we’ve spent many nights dreaming of just this.
” She brushes the hair off my shoulder, “but you have to let go of any expectations of the day and focus on your marriage. Yes, the day is wonderful, and you guys are on top of the world, but guess what? You wake up the next day, and nothing is different. You’ll still run LPR.
He’s still going to go to practice. And then real life will throw things at you and how you handled the one day won’t matter, but how you handle the many days that follow, those are what matter. ”
I nod, letting her words sink in. She’s right but I can’t relent just yet.
“But I should still be allowed one perfect day.”
“And you’ll get it. But the ones that follow, and what you do with them, will be the most important ones.”
She kisses my cheek just as we hear, “How’s this?” Aunt Shannon turns around with a beautiful bouquet of a giant sunflower with babies breath wrapped around the center flower, and white roses filing in the remaining sections.
“It’s gorgeous.” My eyes well with tears once again and the girls all come rushing to my side. “I’m fine, I’m fine! I’m happy! Really!” We hug for a moment and then dive in and begin trying out different ribbon.
“Girl, we are here for you! We’re going to make this wedding your bitch!”
I laugh at her nonsense, but I can’t help the lingering thoughts. I’m pretending I’m fine when I’m not, and I know it. My friends are too caught up to know the difference.
And I’m too caught up in trying to make perfection a reality, that I’m missing making the memories which will linger for the rest of our lives.