“You are forgiven,” Rosie said. “Why are you getting married so quickly?”
“We want to start a family, and it means a lot to both of us to be official before we get pregnant,” she said.
“That’s a good thing,” Rosie agreed and went on into the kitchen. She slipped a clean apron over her head and fired up the grill and oven. Then she gave me a look and nodded. “Tell her.”
“Tell me what?” Scarlett asked.
“We are your family,” I started. “So we want to do something for the wedding. We’d like to make an appointment at a bridal shop on Friday and buy your dress.”
“And,” Rosie said, “hire a florist to put up some simple decorations in the church for the wedding.”
“That is ...,” she stammered, tears welling up in her eyes.
Rosie handed her a paper towel. “You know I never let anyone cry alone. So stop it! We’ve got a café to run, and we can’t have tears dripping in the food.”
“Y’all really are my family,” Scarlett said. “Thank you so, so much for offering to do this. I had thought I’d just order a cheap dress online. I told Grady that I wanted a bouquet of roses and figured that was enough. If we started getting corsages for everyone in his family, we’d have to rob a bank.”
Rosie got down the big bowl and started making biscuits. “What color roses?”
Scarlett didn’t even hesitate. “Red, since it’s so close to Valentine’s Day. He’s going to wear a red tie with his Sunday suit.”
I gave her a sideways hug. “Then red it is. Now, let’s go get the dining room set up for the breakfast rush.”
“If y’all talk about the wedding plans, then raise your voices so I can hear,” Rosie told us as we pushed through the swinging doors.
“Yes, ma’am,” we said at the same time.
Scarlett switched on the lights, and together we set down the chairs, filled the condiment trays, and took them to the tables, and then I wrote the Monday lunch special on the board—spaghetti and meatballs, hot rolls, salad, a free drink, and a piece of cherry or blackberry pie.
The aroma of biscuits baking in the oven wafted out through the dining room. Even if I moved in with Jackson, I couldn’t imagine a life when I didn’t work at the café or eat biscuits and gravy for breakfast.
“Are you eating your regular, Scarlett?” Rosie called out.
“No, I made breakfast at home for me and Grady before I drove down here,” she said. “But I might have one biscuit with honey.”
“I want my regular,” I said, raising my voice.
“Biscuits and gravy and a stack of pancakes?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I answered.
I made one last scan of the dining room to be sure everything was ready for the first busload of customers before Scarlett and I went to the kitchen. As usual, Rosie had already poured the coffee and had a plate of steaming-hot biscuits in the middle of the table.
“Do y’all think we will have Tressa trained enough that I can take a few days off after the wedding?” Scarlett asked. “Grady would like for us to have a long-weekend honeymoon—maybe up to Cloudcroft to stay in one of those hotels. I could be back to work on Wednesday.”
I nodded and chuckled. “Of course you can take those days off for your honeymoon. I’m sure our new girl will catch on quickly. I have been here less than a month, and look at the miracles you and Rosie have worked on me. Besides, y’all ran it with only the two of you before I came along. So yes, we can give you a long weekend for a honeymoon, and after that, you should take Sunday off each week. That way you’ll have a family day, and when Tressa is comfortable, you can take off full weekends.”
Rosie buttered a biscuit and drizzled honey on it. “I agree. Someday we might get another young woman who needs help, and both of you can have weekends off.”
My fork stopped halfway to my mouth. “Why would I want to do that?”
“You and Jackson might want to lay in bed and make a baby after you get married,” Rosie answered.
“Bite your tongue,” I snapped. “I like him a lot, but marriage is so far down the road that it’s nothing but a dot on the horizon.”
“Hmph!” Scarlett snorted. “Everyone at the supper last night saw the way he looked at you. You might as well get ready to catch the bouquet when I throw it. That reminds me—as much as I would like for either or both of you to be my bridesmaids, Grady and I are doing something different: We are walking down the aisle together. He’s got too many relatives to pick a best man and groomsmen, so we will do it our way.”
“I like that idea,” Rosie said. “Together from the beginning. I heard the brakes on the bus a minute ago, so it’s time to get to work.”
