Page 24 of A Winter's Wedding

Now, standing in what was practically a refrigerator, sweet aromas bombarded her senses. Thousands of tightly packed bundles of flowers sat in rows arranged by color. The whitest whites gave way to creams and yellows. Harsh artificial colors, like neon blue and lime green, dotted the otherwise breathtaking array of saturated jewel tones and soft pastels.

“And you know what all of these types are?” Carol asked, overwhelmed by the choices. “How do you know what to pick?”

“Well, Miss Carol, that’s why you’re here,” Thandie took her by the crook of her elbow. “You know America better than anyone else in town, save for Leo and her parents, so I need you to be her eyes and ears.”

Carol nodded. She was happy to help out, but this should really have been America and her mother’s experience to have together. With America somewhere in the middle of the country, and her parents on that last minute cruise that they won in a scratch off, it was now up to the B-team to pull the wedding together without the principal party. And Carol did love being in other people’s business.

“Where do we start? I’m sure you have some kind of an idea.”

Thandie nodded and directed them to a section of lavenders. “I like this one.” She pulled a light purple rose bursting from the top of a dark green stem. Though it was beautiful, the choice surprised Carol.

She leaned in and sniffed the fragrant petals. “It’s nice, but doesn’t America want pink and white? Or red? It’s her favorite color.”

“Yep,” Thandie grinned, and one brow raised like she was up to something. “Now watch this trick.” Thandie walked the long narrow space between overflowing buckets and plucked one stem after another until she had a whole bouquet in her hand. She returned with a makeshift bouquet and presented it to Carol. “Look at this, what do you see?”

“I see ten different shades of red and pink.”

“And the lavender? See how it acts like a soft neutral foundation, allowing the reds to shine through?” Thandie replaced the purple with white and Carol instantly caught on to the ruse. “Now what do you think?”

“The white is too stark of a difference. It looks… Cheap. Can I say that?” Carol grimaced at her own harsh criticism.

In an effort to comfort her, Thandie placed a hand on Carol’s shoulder. “Absolutely. This is the feedback I need.” Thandie did one more pass around the buckets of flowers and returned with her own bucket filled with stems. “Let’s go to the office and play around with some options. Plus, it’s a bit warmer in there.”

At a round banquet table set up in the front offices, Thandie laid out the various flowers and filler foliage she had already selected before Carol’s arrival. Carol’s eyes went straight to the branches with sage green leaves and dark fruit. “Olives?”

Thandie took the branch and paired it with a branch covered in tiny white blossoms. In the center of the table, she placed the branches in a tall vase with a wide mouth. The blossoms seemed to drip off of the brown bark, and the sage green leaves had an organic natural feel that would complement the luxurious natural setting of The Foundry.

“So, I was thinking for centerpieces, we could do something like this—” Thandie asked but kept her eyes and attention on fiddling with the various greenery. Carol could see how seriously Thandie was taking this task and how much her face lit up at working the process.

“Can we add some pinks to the vase too?” Carol interrupted. “Sorry, I’m just so thrilled about being able to help with all this. I never got married, so this is the closest thing I can get to it.”

“Well, what kind of flowers would you have?” Thandie asked and tried a couple different pink options.

“Sun flowers. Or anything yellow. Yellow is such a happy color, isn’t it?” Carol pictured herself putting a golden flower in her hair the way she used to do when she was younger. She instinctively touched the side of her head where one would go and felt her wiry silver hair instead of the wavy, sun-kissed locks she remembered having once. “I’m too old for such imaginings.”

“You’re not that old, Carol.”

“Old enough to know what’s past is past,” she said and handed Thandie a third pink option.

“None of these are working. How about I work on America’s bouquet, and you can take a turn around the warehouse. Just grab whatever you think America will like best,” Thandie said as she swirled the tips of a cotton candy colored carnation to open the petals more.

Back in the icebox, Carol headed straight for the pink section, and remembered what Thandie had shown her about how to complement the colors. A bright, almost retro pink flower stood out against the others. Its wide petals surrounded a coral center with little specks of yellow that looked like golden glitter. She plucked one stem and inventoried the other pink options.

As she pulled a pale ballet pink rose from a bucket, her phone rang. She dug the device out of her coat pocket and answered. “America, I’m so glad you called right now. I’m with Thandie at the flower place. Calling to check up on me?”

America chuckled. “Not at all. I have complete confidence in you. How’s it going there?”

“It’s snowing, just like you said it would. But the flowers are coming along nicely. As a matter of fact, I’m holding some spectacular looking pink flowers right now. That is what you wanted, right?”

“Pinks, reds, anything romantic and dreamy.”

Carol looked through the partially fogged windows into the office where Thandie was plucking petals from a rose. The centerpiece definitely had a dreamy, romantic feel the way the blossoms hung from the delicate branches. “I think you’ll love what Thandie is working on. She really has an eye for flowers.”

“I’m happy to hear it’s going well. We just stopped for lunch, and I thought it would be a good time to check in.”

“Are you going to make it back for the dress fitting tomorrow?” Carol asked. She was nervous about going by herself and really wanted America to be there.

“That’s the plan. We’re in some little town in Ohio right now and I’m eating something called Chili Five-way. It’s so good,” America said, though it sounded like she was talking with her mouth full. “Anyway, the plan is to get to Buffalo tonight and come on home tomorrow.”

---