1 Chapter 1: Flowers and Friendships

“Can you believe I’m getting married in six months?”

My best friend Heather draped herself across the sofa, sighing dramatically. All I could do was shake my head in response. I sipped my wine to avoid having to actually say anything.

“I mean, I feel like just yesterday I was thinking this day would never come,” she continued. “We were sitting in my room and I was stuffing my face with Golden Oreos and chugging wine.” She sighed again, as if she was being nostalgic about some long-ago memory.

I crinkled my nose and couldn’t help but mutter, “well, it was just last month that you met the guy. It really wasn’t that long ago.”

Heather’s wistful look disappeared as she turned to me. “Really, Evie? You couldn’t let me have one moment?”

My stomach flipped with guilt, but before I had a chance to respond, Heather shot up quickly. She straightened out her floral romper and flattened the frizz on the top of her head, careful to avoid the intricately constructed curls that fell to her shoulders. She took a deep breath, then put a smile on her face.

“You know what, it’s fine. I’m not going to get upset today. It’s my engagement party, and I still have a lot to do.” She pulled out her phone and scrolled through it, most likely finding her To-Do list on her notes page. “Scratch that, we have so much to do.”

Heather came over and took my wine glass out of my hand. I tried to protest, but she shook her head and yanked on my arm to get me to stand up.

“Come on, Miss Cynical. You can drink your sorrows away at the party later, but for now, I need you sober. We had our five-minute break, so let’s get back to it. The guys will be here any minute with the champagne, and I want to make sure all the tablecloths and flowers are set before that.”

“Yes, ma’am,” I saluted and followed her out of the living room.

As I stepped out onto the patio, I shielded my eyes in preparation for the Arizona sun. Once my sight had adjusted, I glanced around at the dozen or so tables that were covered in sky blue tablecloths. They were settled in between the porch and the pool.

I made my way over to the table that had the orchid centerpieces. They were each in a crystal vase, looking just as sophisticated and elegant as Heather had wanted. I grabbed as many as I could safely stuff between my arms and my chest, and began walking around, carefully placing them in the centers of the tables.

My mind couldn’t help but wander to what flowers I would have at my own wedding one day. Roses seemed too on-the-nose, but I’d have to carefully think of whatever color scheme I wanted before even considering the types of flowers. Money was also a part of that; how much would I be willing to spend on just an engagement party? Would I want to go all out like Heather, or keep it simple and small?

I caught myself smiling at the thought, and quickly shook my head to break out of my thoughts. There wasn’t even a point to thinking about my wedding right now. It would be so far in the future, and so much would have to happen before that even became a possibility.

As I set down the last orchid, I realized the sleeve of my casual dress had rolled up and was caught at the elbow. My eyes were drawn to the shimmering Mark that resided there. To the intricate lines and curves that were so unique, yet engraved into my memory. I frowned and tugged down my sleeve, covering it back up.

I went back to make my second round of depositing centerpieces, when one of the vases started to slip out of my hand.

“Sh*t,” I muttered, scrambling to keep my hold. Heather would absolutely kill me if I broke even one of these, and after my comment earlier, I didn’t need to give her a reason to be mad at me, especially today.

“Need some help?” a familiar voice said from behind me. I turned to find Finn, dressed in a white checkered button down and jeans, hovering near me. The edges of his lips twitched as he tried to hold back a smile as he watched me struggle.

I rolled my eyes, finally getting a firm hold on the vases. “No thanks, I got it.”

“Yeah, I could tell.” He finally smiled then, and he glanced down at my dress, a navy one that stopped just past my knees. He’d known me for over five years, so he understood very well that I only dressed up for special occasions. “You look really nice, Evie.”

I smiled back, then pushed past him to get to the last few tables. “Don’t get used to it.”

At that moment, Heather came over, sighing out of relief when she saw Finn.

“Oh, thank Fate you’re here,” she said to him. “Did you guys bring the champagne?”

Finn nodded. “Mason is taking the bottles into the kitchen as we speak. However…” he opened his mouth, then shut it quickly.

Heather stiffened. “No, don’t go silent like that. Something went wrong, I can tell. What happened?”

Finn held up his hands. “Look, don’t freak out, but the place you got them from didn’t read the order correctly. We’re missing about ten bottles.”

When I looked over at Heather, her face was pale, even with all the blush she’d applied earlier. I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Heather, it’ll be okay, I can run and grab some more off-brand stuff from the store, nobody will notice.”

“Actually,” Finn started, “Caleb is already on that. The minute we found out the numbers were off, he offered to go buy the other bottles. He should be back right around when the party starts, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

The color returned to Heather’s face as she nodded. “Okay,” she said. “Well, even with that minor hiccup, we still have more stuff to do.” She turned to me. “Evie, have you heard from your parents on when they’ll be here with the desserts?”

I nodded, grateful to give Heather some good news. “Yep. When I left, they were just finishing up the frosting on the cupcakes, so they should be here in no time.”

“Okay, good. Do you guys mind setting up the snack bar until they get here? I need to go check on my fiancé in the kitchen.” She smiled, giddy. “I still love saying that word.”

“Yeah, of course Heather,” I replied. “We’ve got you.”

Heather pulled Finn and I into a quick hug. “Thank you, thank you! You guys are the bestest friends ever!”

Finn and I watched Heather make her way back into the house, and started towards the snack bar.

“Who’s Caleb?” I asked Finn as I broke open a bag of pretzels to dump into one of the crystal dishes.

“Huh,” he asked while he did the same with a bag of potato chips.

“Caleb, the guy who you said was getting the champagne. Is he one of Mason’s friends?”

“Oh, yeah. He’s Mason’s cousin. We got to chat a little bit while helping Mason with wedding stuff. I guess he’s from the Midwest, but just moved down here a few days ago. Seems like a chill guy .”

I nodded, sneaking a few pretzels for myself before moving on to the M&Ms.

“So,” Finn started, “how’s it been going with Heather?”

“What do you mean?”

“Just, like, with all this wedding stuff.” Finn crumpled up the empty bags and tossed them into a nearby trash can. “I love her, but we both know she can be a lot.”

I shrugged, combining some of the pretzels and chocolates in one tray. “It hasn’t been too bad, honestly. She just wants everything to go well. I’m probably not helping by making my comments about the wedding, though.”

Finn glanced over at me. “What comments?”

“Just something about how it was just last month that she was single.”

Finn stopped what he was doing to turn to me. “Yeah, maybe that wasn’t the best thing to say at her engagement party.” When he saw the look I give him, he continued. “But hey, Heather knows how you feel about all this stuff. She knows it’s not personal. Don’t beat yourself up about it, okay?”

We both organized the crystal trays on the bar top. I noticed one was out of line with the others, so I reached my hand out to move it, at the same time that Finn did. Our hands touched, and Finn lightly clasped onto my hand with his.

I felt heat rush to my cheeks, but before I could even linger in that feeling, a caterer brushed past us, and Finn pulled his hand back quickly.

He cleared his throat, and then looked around him at the decorations all coming together.

“I don’t think I could do this,” he said after a moment.

The heat rushed back into my cheeks, but for a completely different reason. “Do what?”

“This.” He gestured all around us. “The whole wedding thing. All the flowers and food and money and raving about love. It’s just not my style”

My stomach shifted as I nodded as a response. He didn’t seem to notice or even look for my reaction.

“But regardless, I’m happy for Heather and Mason,” he continued. “Even if they just met a few weeks ago.” He winked a me, and I forced a smile in response, averting my eyes.

Finn glanced past my shoulder at the patio door. “Oh hey, looks like your parents finally made it,” he said. “You wanna go and start helping them?”

“You go ahead,” I said. “I’ll be right behind you.”

Finn smiled at me one last time before heading into the house. I took a deep breath and tried to shake off the unsettling feeling that had taken over me.

I looked around and couldn’t help but smile at how beautiful the setup looked. The tables, the orchids, the fairy lights strung up on posts outlining the tables.

I lightly touched the spot on my hand where Finn’s hand had been just moments ago.

‘Gardenias,’ I thought to myself. ‘I’ll have gardenias at my wedding.’