Page 75 of The Last Dance

‘I will take that as a compliment.’

‘As you should.’ He smiles.

‘OK, then, you think you know me so well, what kind of flower did you picture as my favorite?’

He walks down the path, his hand on his chin as if really in deep thought about flowers. ‘Well…’ he finally turns to me with a smile ‘… you are someone who makes me smile whenever you walk into a room, most of the time.’ He winks, a growing grin on his face. ‘What flower could make everyone else smile too?’

‘Um… any flowers could make any woman smile if they’re delivered.’

‘Perfect. Then it’s not even the kind of flower that’s important, it’s how it’s received. Your flowers are a delivered bouquet of the finest Mandarin Sunblaze roses.’

I laugh out loud, nudging him with my shoulder as I walk past him. ‘Why do I hang out with you still?’

‘Who knows?’ He laughs.

*

Freaking Mandarin Sunblaze roses,delivered. Of course, it was Henry.

The card wasn’t signed. Just assumed they were from you. They’re probably from Claire.

No!I silently scream to myself after I hit send. Why is there no text retraction button? God, what is wrong with me? Now I’m lying to my boyfriend? Things just keep building up here. I can only imagine a nightmarish implosion coming my way soon.

‘Ambri, no phone at the table.’

‘Sorry.’ I tuck it into my pocket.

‘Everyone sit. We made turkey and Swiss croissants and a broccoli raisin salad. Ambri’s favorite.’

‘Yum,’ I say, forcing enthusiasm to match hers.

This is one of my favorite meals but not because it’s some glorious food masterpiece. More because it reminds me of a time when my family was truly happy. I remember eating this exact meal as a teenager with Rory by my side. I love it because it reminds me of her.

I sit in the chair deemed as mine and look to Rory’s empty seat to my right. It’s unavoidable when I’m here. Mom leans over, lighting the white candle sitting on her place mat, moving her free hand from her head to her chest and tapping each shoulder in the Catholic cross. We’re not Catholic. Never have been. She took it up while we sat in the hospital with Rory when the chaplain would come visit. He was Catholic. If it helps her, I’m glad.

She lights a candle at every single meal. Once she told me it made her feel Rory’s presence and I can’t argue that. If nothing else, it plants the seed that our family is still broken and will never be quite as complete as it should be.

‘Now… let’s talk shop.’ She opens a notebook to her left, scribbled with writing on the first page. ‘We’ve made a list, because you know how much we love lists.’

I nod. ‘Yes, I certainly do.’

She passed this same list trait down to me, but I’m not quite as organized with it as she is. I don’t have a kitchen drawer full of nothing but different colored sticky notes like she does. My version of list-making includes the note app on my phone and five hundred different snippets of thoughts I’ve had. None complete, none labeled, and it’s an unorganized mess. I wouldn’t be surprised if most notes were repeats of previous ones. It’s no wonder I can never come home from the store with whatever it is I went for.

‘How do you feel about becoming a chef? We know how much you love food and we’d be happy to sign you up for lessons.’

‘Mom, the last time I tried my hand at baking I had to call 911. Is that really something we want to relive?’

She crosses the word chef off the list.

‘Well, we are thankful that Noah came to your rescue.’

‘How is Noah?’ my dad asks.

‘He’s great. Actually, we kind of made a big decision this week.’

‘Oh! Wynne! She’s engaged!’ She grabs my left hand, knocking the sandwich I was in the process of picking up back onto my plate. She frowns when she sees no ring.

‘No! Mom, we’renotengaged! We’re moving in together.’

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