The Wedding Shop

by Rachel Hauck

  Cora rolled her eyes, peering at Birch. “Did you two arrange this conversation? Fine, Birch, will you fetch the pastries. Charge them to my account. Bring them around back. Mama will be setting up tea and coffee in the pantry.”

  “What about the kisses?” Mama said. “We’re out.”

  “Kisses?” Birch echoed, a chuckle in his tone. “Yeah, how can I help with the kisses?”

  “Oh, you,” Mama said with a naughty giggle, turning away and heading inside.

  “Mama means Hershey’s chocolate kisses, Birch,” Cora said. Goodness, were they children, giggling over the word kisses? “You can get a tin at Kidwells.”

  “Kisses?” he said again, his grin taking on a teasing swagger. “For a wedding shop? A bit on the nose.”

  “Go on now. For a farmer, Birch, you’re acting mighty highbrow.”

  Cora started inside, but he reached for her, gently holding her arm. His nearness stole her breath and filled her with a sudden and disarming sensation. She swallowed, pressing her hand to her chest, trying to gain composure.

  “You want chocolate kisses, right?”

  “Yes, w-why do you keep asking?”

  “I wouldn’t want to get the wrong ones. I’ve never had chocolate kisses before.” The wind of his words brushed her cheek and fashioned an army of tingles down her spine.

  “W-well then, try one when you get here.”

  “I think I will.”

  Cora fell against the door as Birch released her and headed off to do his errand, whistling.

  The ardor of his tone when he said, “Kisses,” still fired against her skin. Wait until she saw him again. She’d give him a piece of her mind. And what was that tune he whistled as he trotted off?

  Cora went inside, musing over the melody, searching for the words. Ah! That silly Helen Kane melody, “I Wanna Be Loved by You.”

  I wanna be loved by you / nobody else but you.

  Cora gave the back door a good hard slam. Birch Good could just sing that song to another gal. Because she belonged to Rufus St. Claire.

  Chapter Four

  HALEY

  Sunday evening Haley fired her Harley 750 out of the garage, into the cold night, and headed north, toward town. Toward First Avenue, passing under the streetlights, needing a break from the house.

  As the youngest, she was used to being home alone with the folks. But ever since college she’d been on her own, and now it felt weird to live with her parents again.

  They clearly had a routine. A way of living that fit their lives, and Haley felt like an interloper. But after Tammy’s death and the breakup with Dax, coming home gave her the reset she needed.

  Riding under the shield of night, twilight long gone on the horizon, Haley’s thoughts took on a motor of their own.

  The family goal setting three nights ago went well. Until Haley said, “Open up the old wedding shop.”

  At first everyone just stared back at her. Silencing the Morgan boys was an accomplishment in and of itself.

  Sister-in-law Jodi from Chicago wanted to know what the wedding shop was, and the boys sputtered over their explanation. But boy howdy, they were against it.

  They took their cue from Mom, who spoke loudly in her silence.

  “You were a captain in the air force. How can you be a huckster for the bloated wedding industry?”

  “An MBA from Kellogg will set you up, Haley. A buddy of mine landed a job with a nice six-figure salary when he graduated.”

  “From fatigues and logistics to lace and tulle? I can’t see it.”

  Finally Dad stepped in, said to let Haley make up her own mind. She’d done a good job with her life so far. Thanks, Dad. “After all,” he said, “Aaron was a really nice boy growing up, then he decided to be a lawyer. The family supported him on that decision.”

  Bwhahaha. Dad’s dry humor broke the tension and put the goal-setting party back on track.

  But Mom? She remained stiff and aloof, tight-lipped. If she had something to say, she couldn’t find the words.

  From back off the road, several houses still danced with Christmas lights, and Haley allowed a moment of sentiment.

  She loved her hometown, for all of its busybodies and small-town mind-set. It’d been a great place to grow up. After years in the military, Haley needed to find herself again, her values and integrity, the tenderness of her heart.

  She’d become callous, hard. Haley gunned the gas, pushing the bike forward down River Road, as if the motion would dislodge her sins and leave them crashing down on the road.

  A stoplight flashed red up ahead, so Haley eased off the gas and squeezed the clutch, downshifting. This was a new light, bringing the town total up to four. After the goal setting, Dad brushed her up on Akron Developers, the group wanting to demolish the wedding shop.

  A few years back they’d moved in southeast of town and erected high-priced homes for Nashville’s elite looking for some space. And little by little they crept into Heart’s Bend proper, making deals and acquiring land.

  In the distance, a popping sound rocketed through the air. Someone was still celebrating the new year. Two years ago, fresh off her tour in Bagram, the slightest noise jolted her heart into overdrive.

  It took her a year to steady her insides, to not jump at every sound, wondering if it was a rocket or bullet that could take her life. Meanwhile, back home, Tammy battled cancer.

  The light flashed green and she started off, down First Avenue toward the old wedding shop. She needed to see it. Feel it. Confirm her New Year’s decision was real. Not just another dig against Mom. She was getting too old for that stuff anymore.

  Haley headed past the old storefronts. Dad was on the Reclaim Downtown committee, where they made plans to rejuvenate the old soul of Heart’s Bend—the original city center.

  She cruised past Ella’s Diner, the light from inside pressing against the window, beckoning her. She’d have to pop in there soon, say hi to Tina, Cole Danner’s mom.

  Haley spent a lot of Friday and Saturday nights at the counter drinking chocolate shakes and eating French fries with Tammy, waiting with her to get a glimpse of Cole.

  But that’s what best friends did for each other, right?

  Haley squinted through the pockets of shadow and light as she came to a stop sign at Gardenia Park, heading for 143 First Avenue.

  The avenue bent slightly to the right, and there in front of her was a tall, dark structure with large display windows hovering under the winter limbs of three large trees. Haley pulled along the front curb and cut the bike’s engine. Tugging off her helmet, she studied the place with her eyes and heart wide open.

  “Hey, old fort. It’s just me from now on out.”

  A dark, sad place, if ever there was one. Had it always looked like this? Or was her perspective cleared, sharpened by worldly experiences?

  As a girl, she’d thought the shop seemed alive and romantic.

  But tonight the moonless night cloaked the shop with dark shadows.

  Haley retrieved her phone and a thick black flashlight from a saddlebag. Tucking her phone in her pocket, she clicked on the light, waving a large, long beam over the deserted shop.

  The redbrick front, with two large windows framing either side of the door, was covered with ivy. The postage-stamp yard was wild and overgrown.

  But even in the dark dullness, Haley saw the beauty. Felt a glimmer of life.

  Slicing her way through the weeds to the front steps, she tried to peer through the windows, but the concrete porch, no wider than the door, gave her no perspective. The railing had rusted away, so she couldn’t lean on it. She made her way around back, tripping on a root or vine, something that reached out of the ground.

  Stumbling, she caught herself with a hand to the brick, whispering a dark word as she trekked around the shop, weaving through fallen branches and clusters of dry, dead leaves.

  Wedding shop, what happened to you?

  Around back she found the porch listing to one side, pulli
ng away from the brick.

  Pulling open the porch door, which hung off its hinges, Haley stepped onto the weak, rotting floorboards. Testing each step, she made her way to the shop’s door, peeking through the dirty glass.

  There . . . in that small room, she and Tammy sipped from their thermoses filled with Mrs. Eason’s sweet tea and played make-believe.

  Haley tried the knob, wanting to sneak in like she did twenty years ago, but the old iron piece refused to yield, merely wiggling from side to side.

  Next she tried the windows. But they were stuck tight.

  Pressing her nose against the window to the left of the door, Haley squinted through the darkness, trying to understand if this was her future. Had she set a solid New Year’s goal?

  She’d not prayed much in the last decade since college. Even the devastation with Dax had not dropped her to her knees. But since the day God spoke as she crossed from New Mexico into Texas, she started lifting more and more of her words heavenward.

  Lord, do I do this? Am I crazy? Just being sentimental, sticking to my little girl dream? Opening a wedding shop is silly, right? So not me.

  She didn’t expect an answer, really. What did it mean to hear God? She’d forgotten how. With the passage of time, all those teenage impressions of God “speaking” to her seemed made up, her imagination taking hold.

  When she was fifteen, she’d adopted a mantra from a traveling evangelist. Live for God. Everything else will fall into place.

  She’d done well by her motto until college, then lost even more of her faith in the air force. And what remained, she lost with Dax. Maybe now was the time to return. She’d chased adventure. Pursued men and what she thought was love.

  Maybe now it was time to pursue God with the same abandon.

  The wind trickled past, cold and dewy, with the promise of snow. Haley scanned her light over the floors, stopping on the spot where she and Tammy had lain, pinkies locked, making a promise.

  She relived the moment sometimes in her dreams. Especially in Afghanistan. As if her heart longed for the innocence of childhood and the comfort of home.

  “Old shop, you’re my friend, aren’t you?” Was it possible to feel like she belonged to a building?

  “Hey, didn’t you see the sign? No trespassing.”

  Haley was spun around by a barreling bass voice. She gripped her flashlight like a weapon. “Who’s there?”

  The dark figure shoved through the debris and brush hemming in the failing porch. “You know you’re on city property.” He cut through her flashlight beam, and Haley could see the cut of his features and the loose hair swaying about his head. “You need to get off the property.”

  “Cole?” She trained her beam on him.

  He swung his flashlight to her face. “Haley?”

  “Yeah, it’s me!”

  He traveled through the rest of the overgrowth and hopped onto the porch, scooping her up in a big hug. “What are you doing here? Last I saw you, at the funeral, you were raving about California life.”

  “Yeah, well, what do I know?”

  “Tell me about it.” A soft laugh accompanied his statement. “How long you in town?”

  She shrugged. “Not sure. Got grad school on the horizon. If I’m going, I’ll leave this week.”

  He put his light on her face again. “And if you’re not?”

  “Might hang around here.” She looked around to the shop’s door. “See what mischief I can get into.”

  “Mischief? In Heart’s Bend?” His soft laugh touched a locked corridor of her heart. “Hey, remember when you pummeled me in fifth grade because I said you were pretty?”

  She laughed. “Oh my gosh, what made you think of that?”

  “The word mischief, I guess.”

  “Well, I’m not looking for that kind of mischief.” She peeked at him. “Guess I never apologized for beating you up.”

  “You didn’t.” Cole rubbed his jaw, as if her ten-year-old’s punch still stung. “But the damage is done. I was humiliated.”

  She laughed again, her heart a winter flower unfolding. “Sorry about that. You can blame Seth and Zack for my boxing skills. With them, I either defended myself or constantly was black-and-blue.”

  “I’m sure it served you well in the military. So how are you?”

  “Good. You?”

  “Good. Busy. Well, trying to be. Get things going after the holidays.”

  “I bet. D-did you have a good Christmas?” Did you miss Tammy?

  “I did. What about you?”

  “Good. You know the Morgan house . . . pretty crazy.”

  “I saw Seth the other day. He came into the diner. Looks like he’s happy. His wife seems great.”

  “Abigail? She’s a saint. Keeps Seth in line.”

  “So you’re out of the military?”

  “I am. Got out in October. Took a couple of months to wind down, visit friends.” She held her arms wide. “Now I’m here.”

  “No more ‘Yes ma’am, Captain Morgan’?”

  She grinned, shaking her head, liking the ease of the conversation. “No more spiced rum jokes either.”

  Cole laughed. “That one is just too hard to pass up. So what’s next? Law school? Med school? MBA? Conquering and dividing, taking over the world?”

  “Oh, see, you have me confused with the rest of the Morgan family overachievers.” Haley shifted her weight, tucking her cold fingers into her jacket pockets. “I think I might just stay in town.” She motioned to the shop. “Get this bad girl up and running again.”

  “What? This?” Cole slapped the brick wall. “The wedding shop? You’re kidding.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Why? She’s falling apart. About to be torn down.”

  “Because Tammy and I pinky swore. One day we would open up the wedding shop again.”

  Cole leaned against the wall. “I don’t think she’d hold you to it, Haley.” He ducked his head away. “You know, since she’s not here.”

  “Maybe all the more reason why I should do it. To remember her. To keep a promise.” Haley walked to the far side of the porch, staring toward Blossom Street and the lone amber streetlamp, emotion wadded up in her chest. “So what about you? What’s up with Cole Danner? How are you doing?”

  He shrugged. She knew that move. Something was on his mind. “I went on a date tonight.”

  Haley aimed her flashlight right in his eye. “Really? Someone I know?”

  He shook his head, squinting, raising his hand as a shield to the beam. “No. She was a friend of a friend. Can you put that thing down?”

  Haley lowered her light. “So what are you doing here?”

  “Date ended abruptly when I said something that reminded her of her ex-boyfriend, who cheated on her, by the way, and boom, I was the bad guy and ‘Check, please.’ But not before she sang four rounds of ‘All men are liars and cheaters.’ ”

  Haley could hum a few bars of that song. “Sorry, Cole. Was this your first date since Tammy?”

  “Yeah.” He rapped his knuckles against the porch’s wood frame. “I know I’m only thirty, but I suddenly feel too old for this. Dating. Wasn’t fun in high school, so why would it be fun now? Expectations are the same yet different. People come to the table with all their gunk.” He turned to her. “You don’t have gunk, do you? Please don’t have any gunk. ’Cause the world needs one person without gunk, and that’s you, Haley.”

  “Don’t make me the saint.” Haley stepped away, feeling herself close up, wilt a little. She probably had more gunk than anyone. At least anyone on this porch.

  Cole was Tammy’s man, but he’d always been Haley’s friend. Words flowed easily between them. In fact, once, they spent all night talking in the football stands after a particularly tough loss to their rival Memphis team. Cole, the team’s kicker, missed the game-winning field goal. He needed to talk. Tammy hated football. She only went to the games for Cole.

  Boy, she liked to have killed them both when she found out
her boyfriend and her best friend stayed out all night, talking, not answering their cell phones.

  “So,” Haley said, patting the brick. “Do you think this old place can be restored?”

  “I think it’s a waste of your time. Going to be demolished once the city sells to Akron. I’ve put in a bid to demolish it.”

  “What? No, Cole. They can’t tear it down.” Haley pressed her cheek against the wall. “I’m here. I won’t let them hurt you.”

  Cole’s laugh was sweet, low, full of affection. “Now you’re taking me back to the old days. You and Tams . . . dreamers. How do you still have rose-colored glasses on after being in the air force? Didn’t deployment burst all your bubbles?”

  “I don’t have any rose-colored glasses, Cole, but it’s war that makes me want to reopen the shop. If we don’t have love, marriage, and family, then what hope do we have? Why do we fight wars? I defended our freedoms, our way of life, down to the right of a man to propose to the woman he loves. For a woman to marry the man of her dreams.” She waved her flashlight beam against the window. “Besides, I always knew this shop was my future.”

  “You’re kidding. Not much of a future.” Cole kicked the weak porch frame. “Are you sure you’re not just being sentimental about Tammy? About being a kid?”

  “No, yeah, maybe. But so what? I’ve seen a lot in the last six years, Cole, and if running this wedding shop is my destiny, what God has for me, I’d be honored. Consider myself lucky.”

  “Lucky? When you could go to grad school. Be one of those ‘amazing Morgans’ who conquer their corner of the world.”

  Haley stamped her foot. “This is my corner of the world. And I’m going to conquer it.”

  His laugh carried the sound of pity. “Good luck. But I’m telling you it’s going to be demolished.”

  His words fell between them as Haley batted them to the porch floor. Tears swelled in her eyes. “Why not for Tammy, Cole?” Her confession was low and true. “Why not for me and our childhood dream?” She turned to him. “I miss her.”

  “Me too.” He paused, clearing his throat.

  Haley cupped her hands around her face and peered through the window again. “How do you think I should go about getting this place?”