Before I can thank him, he’s disappeared into the crowd all around us.
“Well, then,” I say, lifting my whiskey to the no one in front of me now. “Cheers.”
As soon as I realize that neither Johnny nor anyone else fromhis stupid family is here, I relax, drink, and dance with Nadia, Sage, Tenn, and Sky, in that order. The whole ballroom is decorated so beautifully, with Cranberry heritage roses and other flowers I don’t know just everywhere, a pastel rainbow of petals pinned to the walls and chairs and centerpieces, making everything smell so intoxicating that I can push aside the stressors of this morning for a few songs. But it doesn’t take long for them to creep back, one by one, like sneaky little brain goblins.
Carter seems to have disappeared, and I convince myself that he’s ditched me. He’s changed his mind about everything. That, or I dreamed up the entire proposition. It’s preposterous enough to feel like a delusion. Like my mind would’ve been that creative because I was so desperate to have my childhood best friend back.
“Did you hear me?” Sage is asking, waving a hand in my face. “Earth to Teal.”
I shake my head. “No, what did you say again?”
She narrows her eyes at me. “Where did Carter go?”
I shrug. “Who knows?” I say, in probably way too cheery a voice, because Sage simply narrows her eyes even more.
She decides to let it go, and instead, she points to the centerpieces. “Aren’t all the dahlias gorgeous? That’s what I was asking you before.”
They are. I didn’t even know they were all the same flower—some were teeny tiny, with tight little petals, and others were enormous, about the size of my face, their petals all loose like ribbons.
Sage sighs. “What I wouldn’t give to have these at our wedding.”
I furrow my brow. “And why couldn’t you? You know, with your gift.”
Sage can basically think a flower at a plant and in the next second, it’s covered in them. But she shakes her head. “I’ve noticedI get so tired after using my gift since…” She lowers her voice, her hand going protectively to her stomach. “I don’t think it’s hurting the baby, but I don’t want to risk it, either. And this many dahlias…that’s so much work.”
“Can’t you order them in?”
Sage snorts and laughs.
“What?” I frown.
“Oh, you were serious.” She shakes her head. “This would cost a small fortune. No, forget that. A very large fortune.”
I swallow, and maybe it’s the whiskey getting to me, but number two of my Become a Good Person New Year’s resolutions lingers on my brain.Make it up to Sage.The words become larger and larger, like an oncoming spaceship, until it lands and I must speak. “Leave it to me.”
Sage widens her eyes at me, and then she shakes her head again. “I’m talking thousands of dollars, Teal. No.”
“I said, leave it to me. Consider the flowers handled.” I can’t help the anger flying up in my tone, that spacecraft zooming away. “When do you need them again?”
“Right.” She winces. “September.”
“ThisSeptember? I thought the wedding wasn’t happening till next year!”
Sage takes a deep breath. “We wanted to do it before the baby came. So we could have an actual honeymoon, just the two of us…”
“Right,” I say. Sage and Tenn were going to Santo Domingo, to spend time with his family and frolic in the turquoise blue waters. A pang of jealousy thumps through my heart. “Well, no matter. I got the flowers. Take them off your budget.”
“Teal.”
“I said, for the last time, I got it.”
Sage looks hurt by the sharpness of my voice, but she conceals it with a false, bright smile. “Okay. You got it.”
I wish I could feel triumphant, but apparently I’m not even the kind of sister who can do a favor without being an asshole about it. I close my eyes.Thisis why I’m trying to be better. Be less selfish. Make it up to the people I love.
“Sorry,” I say softly. “I just really want to do this for you.”
Sage gives me a look of shock for a moment but covers it with a smile. I guess that’s a sign of how often I’ve apologized our entire lives. This may well be the second or third time ever. “It’s no problem, Teal. I just don’t want you to go into debt over a few flowers.”
