My Heart is Yours (20 page)

Sam scrunched up her nose. “I don’t really want
wintery flowers.” She said.

“Alright.” Juliana said slowly. Sam thought a minute
longer.

“Oh!” She blurted out. “What are those daisies that
come in light pinks and oranges and yellows?”

“From the grocery store?” Juliana asked.

Sam ignored her statement. “Gerber daisies! Those!
We could do those with regular white daisies scattered throughout
it. It’ll be summery and cheery in the middle of winter. It’ll put
a smile on my face anyway.”
Also because we can afford them
,
she thought.

“Then it puts a smile on mine too.” Jason said. He
waved a hand at Juliana’s note pad. “Go on, write it down.” He told
her.

Sam laughed at Juliana’s raised eyebrows as she
wrote down what they’d decided. Jason didn’t usually talk to people
like that. It was funny to see him letting go a little.

“Okay. Bouquet is done. Do you want Gerber Daisies
on the tables at the reception as the center pieces?”

Sam and Jason’s shoulders went slowly up and down.
They hadn’t thought about center pieces. Juliana rolled her eyes
and began to move on.

“Wait.” Sam said. “Why don’t we just do pictures of
the two of us together? With the table numbers on them? We could
keep it simple.” Sam said.

Jason would agree to anything that Sam thought was
best. The center pieces were done. Except for making them.

“I need the guest list. A list of who you want as
bridesmaids, Sam. Jason, who you want as your groomsmen. Who you
want as your best man. We need to talk about the food.” She paused.
“And the wedding dress.”

The wedding dress. Where would they get a wedding
dress?

“How’s the wedding planning going?” Craig walked
into the kitchen. He was met with silence. “What’s wrong?”

“We’re just thinking about the wedding dress.”
Juliana said.

“Why don’t you just wear mom’s?” Craig said as he
took a bite of an apple he’d grabbed from the green bowl on the
kitchen counter.

‘What? We have mom’s?” Sam asked.

“Yeah. It’s up in the attic. I’ll bring it down and
you try it on.” He turned on his heel and left.

Sam spun around in front of the mirror in her room.
The skirt flew out around her. It was a light tulle material. The
dress was pure white. The flowing skirt went a few inches below her
knees. The top part of the dress had a spaghetti strap of a satin
material with a lace long-sleeved top over it. It truly was
beautiful; pure timeless beauty. Sam felt it was missing something
though. Something around her waist. She really wanted a pop of
color to match her bouquet. Should she feel guilty for wanting to
add that since the dress was once her mother’s?

A bang resounded on the door. “Come in.” She called
as she stared at the dress in the mirror.

“You look beautiful.” Craig said.

Sam shuffled her feet. “What’s wrong?” Juliana
asked. Jason wasn’t with them; he couldn’t see the bride in her
wedding dress.

“The dress is amazing. I just would like to add a
ribbon around my waist?” She worded it as a question.

The room burst into laughter. Laughter.

“Aw Sam, that’s what you’re worried about?” Craig
said.

“Yes.” She said. “This was mom’s dress at one point.
Do I have the right to change it?”

Craig’s icy blue eyes softened. “Sammie.” He said,
using his childhood nickname for her. “You’re hardly changing a
thing. And I know mom wouldn’t mind. She’s so happy for you. Adding
a ribbon won’t change that.” He threw an arm around her and pulled
her to him, messing up her hair.

“The ribbon’s fine?” Sam asked.

“The ribbon’s fine.” Juliana (the final voice on
these matters) confirmed.

Sam smiled as Craig kissed the top of her head and
then messed up her hair again. “Alright.” Juliana said. “Let’s let
her take off that dress before something happens. We’ll pick out
the ribbon color later. To match your bouquet, yes?”

***

T
he girls were gathered
in Juliana’s gigantic house. It stood, almost loomed, over a wide
green lawn. The house was white and there was a wraparound porch.
It was a classic Southern plantation house. Juliana’s father had
the new on in the background. Sam wasn’t there, but the girls still
used hushed voices. Sam just walked into Juliana’s house the same
way Juliana walked into hers.

“Okay.” Juliana whispered as if they were secret
agents planning a mission.

The few girls who were gathered stared at her
eagerly. The time had come. Her maid of honor duties.

“The bridal shower.” She revealed their secret
mission (though they all knew it). The girls beamed. Juliana began
doling out tasks.

“I can’t cook. Christina, you’ll do food?”

Christina nodded quickly. She loved to cook.

“We’ll have it here?” Juliana asked as she looked as
she looked around at the girls. Everyone agreed easily.

“The guest list is done. It’s just us. What other
girls is Sam friends with?” They all laughed. It was true. Juliana,
Christina, Trisha, and Linda were really Sam’s only female friends.
They had all met her through Juliana. The girls would bring their
mothers, though.

“Alright. I think that’s it.” Juliana announced with
an elaborate flourish.

“W
hy are we rushing?
We’re just going to your house.” Sam said as Juliana dragged her
down the sparkling sidewalk.

“My mom’s waiting with dinner. It’s getting cold.
Come on.”

They opened the light oak door with the golden
rimmed window and old door knocker to darkness.

“Surprise!” The girls and their mothers jumped out
from behind the pristine white sofa. They were all sporting solid
colored dresses corresponding to the color theme of Sam’s wedding.
Pinks, oranges, reds, whites.

“What is this?” Sam exclaimed with a smile.

She was bombarded with hugs and kisses. Everyone was
congratulating her and talking at once. “Your bridal shower!”
Juliana said over the commotion.

Sam couldn’t believe she forgot about a bridal
shower. She didn’t expect one at all. The chatter died down and
everyone moved into the dining room to see what Christina had
prepared. Sam was very open about food. The other girls weren’t. So
the menu was mostly “normal stuff”, but there was a little
something “different” there for Sam. The spread included deviled
eggs, mini spinach and feta quiche, spinach and artichoke dip, mini
cucumber and cream cheese sandwiches, and for Sam, Asian garlic and
soy flavored chicken wings with scallion soy dipping sauce.

The girls chatted and devoured the menu. “The food
was delicious. You’re an amazing cook, Christina. You’ll have to
give me your recipes. Especially that Asian wing one.” Sam said as
she took another bite of chicken.

“You got it.” She smiled.

Games such as “Purse Scavenger Hunt”, “How Well Do
You Know the Bride”, and “How Well Do You Know the Couple”
followed. “Gifts!” Trisha squealed. Everyone shuffled over to the
couch. Sam sat in the arm chair in the living room to take center
stage. Juliana pulled out a paper plate.

“What’s that?” Sam asked.

“We staple all the ribbons to it and you use a
ribbon to tie it on your head. It’s a bridal shower tradition.”
Juliana said as she taped on the first bow. A sparkly white one.
Sam obliged. It might be fun.

Sam only had a few girlfriends so the gift session
would be brief, but that didn’t matter to her.

“Here.” Juliana said. “Open mine first.” She pushed
a large pink flowered bag with a hot pink bow in front of Sam. Sam
knew that some of the gerber daisies in her bouquet would probably
be pink but the amount of pink here seemed like overkill. She
glanced up at Juliana with raised eyebrows.

“What?” Juliana shrugged. “Too much pink?”

“Smart ass.” Sam muttered, but the grin was clear on
her radiant face. Juliana grinned back and winked as she leaned
forward, her red hair falling over her shoulders.

Sam took off the ribbon and handed it to Juliana.
Rifling inside she found a card. The front was muted pink and there
was a bride and groom staring into each other’s eyes. Tearing the
matching hot pink paper she gasped aloud. “It’s the blender I
wanted!”

“I know!” Juliana said. “There’s one more
thing.”

Sam dug in the bag and pulled out the second part of
her gift. Her eyebrows rose. It was a floor length sheer red
nightgown with black lace trim and black satin spaghetti straps
with a little black bow in the middle.

“More for Jason than for you.” Juliana winked. Sam’s
face turned red.

Trisha pushed a small orange bag in front of her.
Sam revealed another nightgown. This one was white lace. The gift
from Christina was her favorite cookbook that Sam had also been
eyeing,
The Joy of Cooking
. Linda gave her a black lace
nightgown and a gift card to a kitchen store. The last one from
Sarah was another cookbook, a gift card to a home store and a sheer
blue, black lace trimmed floor length nightgown.