I took a bite, savoring the flavors, then had a sip of wine. Ah, that pairing made sense.
“Um, I have a present,” Riley said to Grace as they cleared our plates.
“You do? Thank you.” Grace put a hand to her heart.
“I don’t have a lot of memories of my parents. Mostly they’re memories of pictures I’ve been shown and stories I’ve been told so that I don’t forget them. But one of the earliest memories I do have is of my mom’s charm bracelet that she always wore. It would jingle and sparkle as she’d pick me up.” Riley bit her lower lip, and her brother gave her a squeeze.
I recalled that charm bracelet well. My mother had gotten her several charms for it over the years.
“She got it for her excellent eighteen and the charms she put on it over the years represented things–like there are charms for me and my siblings, graduation, and when she married my dad. But there’s also ones from travels and things people got her and stuff. Anyway, Sonja has it. When I was there for spring break, she gave me my charm from when I was born and said I could pick some charms, and to think about what I wanted.” She removed something from her mini backpack.
Evan nodded, probably remembering when Sonja gave him his charm back when he and Wes mated.
“Um, so I don’t actually know the story behind this charm. Sonja didn’t either. But I asked her if she could bring it when she came to the party because it reminds me of you, and I wanted togive you one. Hiro helped me get a bracelet for it. Um, welcome to the family. You’re stuck with us.” Giving Grace a bashful look, Riley handed Grace a small box across the table.
Grace opened the box, and tears pricked her eyes. “Thank you so much for trusting me with something of your mom’s. It means everything.”
Inside was a little pink cupcake charm on a gold bracelet.
“I don’t know the story of that one,” I admitted. “It wasn’t one my mother bought.”
“Oh, your mom bought some for my mom? You should tell Sonja. She likes to hear all the stories,” Riley said.
“Can I see?” Evan held out his hand. Grace passed it over. Evan started to laugh. “I know this story.”
“You do?” Riley perked. “I picked it because one of the first things Grace and I did together was make cupcakes.”
“Anniversaries have themes, and couples often give each other little gifts based on the theme. Mom was the one who usually told our dad that year’s theme. One year, he misunderstood and thought it was the ‘cupcake’ anniversary, so he got her this and a box of the most beautiful cupcakes from the fanciest bakery in Rock Springs. They were works of art with edible flowers on them,” Evan shared. “She loved it, and her friend group adopted the cupcake anniversary instead of whatever it was supposed to be, and they’d try to outdo each other with the fanciest cupcakes.”
Riley put a hand to her heart. “Awww. That is so stinking cute.”
“Mom would have loved you, Grace.” Evan handed it back to her. “Riley, that was so thoughtful.”
“The bracelet you and Hiro chose to put it on is nice, too, thank you,” Grace praised.
“Allow me?” I fastened the bracelet around her wrist.
Jett turned to Brennan. “Now I want a cupcake anniversary.”
The server came back with the next course. “Chilled watermelon soup with lime crema.”
The sommelier brought us a new wine, and Riley got a different drink.
“Such a pretty color.” Riley took another picture of her pink soup, swirled with light green cream.
Wes wiggled nervously. “Um, here.”
Taking a large envelope out of his suit jacket, he handed it to Grace.
She sucked in a breath as she opened in and withdrew a piece of paper. “You re-did it?”
“Yeah. I thought you might like a grown-up version. Now you have choices when you get the dress made.” His look went bashful.
“I wanna see?” Riley took the paper. On it was a sketch of Grace in a gold wedding dress with roses on it.
Grace kissed him. “I love it. Hiro’s mom sent me her dressmaking contacts, and one of them even emailed me back so far. I love both sketches so much.”
We were brought the next course–seared scallops with radish, grapefruit, fresh herbs, and edible flowers.
