She took it from me and looked at it as though I’d just handed her a million dollars. “Happy Valentine’s Day, Ryker. Thank you for this. It’s beautiful. Isn’t it beautiful, Mom?”
There was a brief pause before her mom answered with an edge of sarcasm, “Oh, yeah. Gorgeous.”
Scarlet held it up to her nose and inhaled. She smiled as she sighed.
That was enough for me to know I’d endure her parents’ caustic remarks forever. That look on her face was everything.
Turning toward her parents, she held the orchid out to her mom and asked, “Would you please put that in some water for me?”
“Sure,” her mom answered. Scarlet might have missed it, but I didn’t. Her mother was not the least bit thrilled about putting the lousy flower into any water for Scarlet.
“I’m just going to grab my coat,” she announced.
There was an awkward silence while we waited for Scarlet to get her coat. I vaguely noticed her father reaching into his back pocket as Scarlet closed the closet door and moved toward me again.
“Okay, I’ll be back later,” she said.
“Scarlet?” her father called.
“Yeah?”
He moved toward her and held out some money. “Here,” he offered. “You might need some money.”
A horrified look washed over her face as her lips parted. “Dad,” she whispered.
Unable to stop myself, I interjected, “With all due respect, sir, Scarlet won’t need any money. I’ve got her covered.”
He shot me an incredulous look. “Are you sure about that?”
Scarlet’s body was beyond tense. I squeezed her hip and insisted, “Yes, I’m sure.”
It was evident he didn’t believe me, but he dropped his hand and put his money back in his wallet.
“Let’s go,” Scarlet rasped.
At that, we turned and walked out.
We walked in silence to my car, and the minute we were there, Scarlet blurted, “Oh, that was awful. I’m so embarrassed.”
“It’s okay,” I assured her. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get you a dozen roses.”
She narrowed her eyes and asked, “What did they say to you?”
I shook my head. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it. I just… I wanted to get you something more than—”
“I love it, Ryker,” she cut me off. “I love that you didn’t get me the traditional roses.”
“The orchid was the nicest that I could afford,” I explained.
“I don’t care how much it cost,” she insisted. “It’s from you. That’s all that matters to me.”
My eyes searched her face. With one hand on her hip, I brought the other up to the side of her face. Then I said, “You look beautiful, sweetheart.”
She beamed at me. “Thank you.”
I leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on her lips before I stated, “You’re going to freeze out here in that dress. Let’s get you in the car.”
I opened her door and waited until she was safely inside before closing it. Then I rounded the car and got in on the opposite side.
And as was always the case with Scarlet, it took a matter of seconds of being around her for me to forget how horrible I’d been feeling standing at the entrance to her parents’ home. In fact, before we even made it to the end of her driveway, Scarlet’s parents weren’t more than a distant memory.
Four Months later
“Okay, blow out the candles together!”
“Mom,” I called, my tone warning her to relax a bit. She was entirely too excited right now.
“What?” she shot back.
Half a second later, Scarlet’s hand curled around my forearm. “Ryker?” she said softly.
My eyes went to hers. “What, sweetheart?”
Her face was lit up, she was smiling brightly at me, and she declared, “Blow out the candles with me, please. I can’t remember the last time someone had a party for me.”
That was all I needed.
Knowing Scarlet wanted to celebrate her birthday like this, even with my mom going way over the top, was all it took to get me to loosen up and go with the flow. If this made her smile like that, I’d do it every day.
“Okay,” I agreed quietly.
“Think about your wish, and we’ll blow them out on the count of three,” she said. Not wanting ever to see her disappointed, I nodded. Then I took in a deep breath, thought about my wish, and waited. Scarlet counted, “One, two, three.”
With her fingers still wrapped around my arm, Scarlet and I leaned forward and blew out the candles. My mom and dad stood on the opposite side of the table and watched us. My mom was snapping photos at the same time. She had to have already taken at least a hundred of them.
I didn’t necessarily mind. Scarlet was in the photos. I’d love knowing these memories were preserved somewhere.
When the candles were out, my mom handed the camera to my dad and said, “Here, Martin. You hold this while I cut the cake.”
My father was the most laid-back man I ever met. He worked hard and loved his family. He especially loved my mom. And I found that it didn’t matter what she asked of him; he always did it with a smile on his face. So he happily took the camera and held it for her, even though I knew he thought she was crazy sometimes.
As my mom began cutting the cake, Scarlet said, “Thank you so much for including me in the celebration.”
“It’s your birthday,” my mom replied as though that was all the explanation that was needed.
“Why wouldn’t we?” my dad wondered.
Scarlet shrugged. “That’s just it, Martin,” she started. “You and Nina are the type of people that understand the importance of celebrating the people in your life. You find it odd, or possibly even horrifying, to think that others wouldn’t do the same. I’m just grateful to both of you for allowing me to be part of Ryker’s celebration.”
“It’s our celebration,” I corrected her. “It’s your birthday, too.”
Scarlet leaned her weight into me. I wrapped my arm around her back and gave her a squeeze.
A moment later, my mom set a dessert plate in front of each of us before placing one in front of my dad’s chair and finally her own. As we all sat around eating my mom’s homemade cake—a funfetti one—I watched Scarlet absentmindedly lifting her free hand to touch the pendant that sat right at the base of the indent at the bottom of her throat on the necklace I’d given her as a gift. It was her birthstone, our birthstone, I guess, but it held so much more meaning than just that. This month, this day, was when we started seeing each other a year ago. It was hard to believe that it was only a year ago when I pretended to have a problem with the lawnmower so that I could get Scarlet to notice me.
We spent the next hour or so talking with my parents and eating cake. Eventually, though, I excused us and took Scarlet out to sit on the front porch with me.
“Sorry if my mom was a bit overzealous,” I apologized.
“Are you kidding me, Ryker?” she replied. “I love her. I love her almost as much as I love you. Both of your parents, actually. They’re always so kind.”