“What’s wrong, dear?” Mom asked.
He nearly laughed at Kelsey’s pained expression. Talk about payback for all her anti-marriage talk. And her kiss in the parking lot.
“I’m used to offering ideas, but I don’t want my personal likes and dislikes to get in the way of helping you define what the bride and groom—or, in this case, you—want. You’re the client.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Mom said. “You’ve catered to our whims on the last four weddings. Pretend this time it’s yours.”
Oh, Mom. You’re going to scare her off.Will felt sorry for Kelsey. Well, almost.
“But it’s not my…mine,” Kelsey explained. “It’s Faith’s.”
Mom smiled. “Humor me.”
“Let’s see…we had seafoam green and coral at the first, sage and gold at the second, black and white at the third, and cerulean blue and silver at the fourth,” Kelsey said.
“Forget about the other weddings. What wouldyoudo for this one?”
A minute passed. Kelsey’s eyes darkened as if she were contemplating the solution to world hunger, not what colors to use in a wedding. “I suppose I’d use intense colors. Red and purple.”
“Oh, yes! Faith loves purple.” Mom’s excitement was almost contagious if one could get excited about colors. “It’ll be stunning.”
“Stunning,” Will echoed, though not as enthusiastically as Mom. His comment earned him a glare from Kelsey.
Mom laughed. “Now, was that so hard?”
Kelsey smiled, and Will noticed she didn’t answer the question. “I’ll meet with the florist to discuss the arrangements. Do you have any ideas for flowers?”
Mom nodded. “Please get the folder next to the computer, Will.”
Mom’s words came slower this time and took effort again. As Will headed toward the desk, he glanced at the grandfather clock on the far wall. They’d been working for almost three hours. “We should call it a day.”
“Not yet,” Mom said.
Will handed the file to Kelsey and sat in a chair next to his father. The two women seemed to be in a world all their own. Every few minutes, he’d catch a word or two. Engraved frames…a string quartet…“Canon in D,” a DJ, and flowers.
What was it with women and flowers? Red spray roses, purple violets, grape hyacinths, jasmine, pansies, Laurustinus, Syngonium foliage. It was all Greek, or in this case, Latin to him. Enough was enough. Time to call it quits.
“Mom’s been going all morning long. Don’t you think we should let her relax and take a nap?” he asked Dad.
“She’s enjoying herself.” Dad smiled at the pair of women huddled over a spiral notebook and stacks of file folders. “Let’s not ruin it.”
“But the doctor said—”
“A smile on your mother’s face is the best medicine,” Dad said. “Trust me.”
Will wasn’t so certain. Sure, she looked happy, but what about the dark circles under her eyes? Being that tired couldn’t be good for her. As he watched her, his jaw tensed. Mom was still beautiful, but she’d lost the spark in her eyes. The vitality that used to radiate from her was gone. She’d faded from a vibrant color into a pastel. His chest tightened.
“That should do it for now.” Kelsey closed her notebook. “We’ve got enough to get started.”
“If you have any questions, give me a call.” Mom patted Kelsey’s hand. “And don’t forget to keep in mind what I said about the other…thing.”
Kelsey grinned. “I won’t.”
The edges of Mom’s mouth turned up slightly. Even tired, she still managed a smile. “It’ll save us so much time when we plan the next wedding.”
“Next wedding?” Will stared at his mother, then at Kelsey, who merely shrugged. “What are you talking about? Faith won’t be getting married again.”
“She won’t.” Mischief glimmered in Mom’s tired eyes. “But you will.”
