Page 13 of Petals & Promises

“What a brilliant idea. I’m sure Nurse Harlow is lurking somewhere nearby,” Dr. Arbour whispered conspiratorially, making me laugh and reminding me this was a happy moment.

We were so excited that I was finally free from all restrictions. Now it was up to me to learn what my body could handle with my newly repaired heart. In a few ways, it was a little intimidating. I wanted to try everything, yet the fear I’ve lived with for twenty-five years kept whispering in my ear, making me doubt if this was really real. How could a heart that had once been a ticking time bomb in my chest suddenly become the thing that will give me a full and happy life?

The guys were too excited to return to the house after the appointment, so we decided to go for an early dinner. I was more than happy to do anything that got me out of the house. So Warrick was nominated to pick the place, and we ended up at Just Like Mom’s. It was a diner meant to replicate the old-fashioned feel when diners were in their glory. However, when I sat in the booth, I immediately knew why Warrick picked this place—the milkshakes.

These were not your average milkshake. No, these masterpieces came topped with whole doughnuts, slices of cake, cinnamon rolls, and brownies. You name it, they could make it happen and put you into a sugar coma you’d never regret. The rest of the food looked amazing too, but I knew Warrick was playing to my sweet tooth.

“Guys, if I eat one of these, you’re going to have to roll me out of here,” I said, staring at the two-page spread of pictures.

“Care Bear, today is a day to celebrate. Don’t get bogged down in the details. Get what speaks to you, and we’ll deal with whatever comes after,” Warrick reasoned.

Gareth reached over and turned the page back to the normal food. “Pick your meal first then decide if you want a shake. I’m sure they can make them to-go as well if you think it will be too much now.”

“Oh, I like that plan.” I grinned. “I feel like my stomach has shrunk over the past weeks since I was never hungry. Knowing I can come back to eat the milkshake when I’m ready changes everything.”

The waitress came over to greet us and take our food and drink orders. “Coming right up,” she announced. “I’ll be back with your drink and shakes.”

“So, Care Bear, what’s first on the bucket list?” Warrick asked, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. When I looked at him confused, he seemed a little surprised. “Are you telling me you don’t have a list of things you’ve wanted to do but couldn’t?”

“Not really,” I admitted. “It was easier to accept things when I didn’t fixate on what I couldn’t do but created lists of all that I could do.”

Yun-Sun got up from his seat, walked over to the main counter where you could sit, and asked the lady serving there a question. Moments later, Yun returned with a white paper placemat and a small box of crayons.

“What’s all that for?” I asked, watching him take out the blue crayon.

He glanced up at me, his stunning eyes filled with mischief. “We are going to create an adventure list.”

“An adventure list…” I repeated.

“This has nothing to do with death or dying, so I don’t feel like a bucket list is the right term,” Yun-Sun explained. “You will get to put down whatever you like, but each one of us gets to add an adventure we’d like to experience with you. I’m going to put down taking you to a theme park. Not many people know this, but I’m a roller coaster junky.”

While something like that shouldn’t surprise me, it did. Out of all the guys, he was the most calm and collected. Perhaps that’s why he enjoys roller coasters—it’s all about controlled chaos.

“I’ve only been to fairs but never ridden on anything more exciting than a Ferris wheel or merry-go-round,” I shared, bouncing in my seat, jostling Nugget, sitting in the corner next to me. “This sounds amazing and something I’m not sure I would have thought of on my own.”

Yun-Sun passed the paper over to Ulysses, who took the crayon and tapped his chin with it. Then his face lit up as an idea struck him. “Rosie, do you remember that day, years ago, I picked you up, and we drove two hours to that place where you could swim with dolphins?”

Instantly, I knew what he was talking about. It was a memory I treasured. Not only had I gotten to spend the day with just Lysse, but then being able to see dolphins up close and personal was amazing. That had been one of the lowest days of my life after Papa Addy died, and I don’t really know if Lysse knew how much it meant to me he did that.

“Of course, I remember. It was the day I fell in love with you,” I admitted confidently, since I knew he loved me too.

My frankness seemed to catch Lysse off guard as he choked on the soda he’d just taken a sip of. “Really?”

Grinning, I nodded. “What can I say? You were my prince charming who came to rescue me from the depths of my despair.”

“Is that why you never told anyone what we did?” Lysse questioned.

“Some things a girl just needs to keep for herself,” I explained. “So, what idea did you have that connects back to that moment?”

“Ah…” he mumbled, trying to gather his thoughts. “Right, so I was thinking that we should go snorkeling. Take a trip somewhere where the reefs are full of fish and other things to see. You don’t need to be certified like scuba diving, and we can even rent the gear if we want.”

Our conversation was put on pause as our food arrived, and we dug in. I was grateful for the chance to take a moment and process the fact these men were not holding back when it came to these ideas. Here I was thinking that going for a bike ride on a path that wasn’t flat would be a thrill ride. Clearly, my ability to see life like everyone else was skewed. This was going to be the bigger battle—relearning what I was capable of. I needed to stop marking things as impossible and truly consider what would hold me back from doing things like snorkeling or riding a roller coaster.

The answer to that was nothing but me.

Vili licked his fingers clean from the chili dog he was eating and grabbed a crayon. “This idea not so thrilling but still an adventure.”

Gareth looked over his shoulder, frowning at what was written. “Vili… what exactly do you mean by go see whipped cream? Is there some kind of whipped cream factory or something you want to go see?”