Say Yes (3 page)

            “Well, I
should probably take my things upstairs, don’t you think? That should give
Daisy plenty of time to get here before dinner,” I said.  I had wanted to stay
in a hotel, but I quickly lost that argument.  There was
no
way my
parents were letting me be here in town again and not in the room down the hall
that was my own piece of the world for eighteen years. 

            My Dad waved
his hand in the air. “Nonsense.  That can wait until after dinner.”

            “Well, I’ve
been on a plane all day, I at least need a minute to freshen up,” I said. 

Daddy
nodded at me and smiled, saying “Okay, but you can leave the rest of your bags
here. We can get them later.”

“Okay,
thanks. I’ll be right down, Daddy,” and with that I headed upstairs with one of
my suitcases.  I walked down the hall and stopped at the door at the end. I
smiled and reached my hand up to run my fingers over the sign on the door: a
wooden plaque with the words “Lilly’s Room” carved into it, hung on a nail by a
pink ribbon. I took my hand down and with a deep breath I turned the knob and
walked inside.  My room was exactly the same as it was when I left it. The
walls were pink with white trim, and they were decorated with posters of my
favorite bands. The carpet was a soft white, and there was a large pale pink
shag rug in the middle of the room. My full sized bed was still decorated with
my old flower comforter, and in front of my pillows were some of my old stuffed
animals, including the ones that Luke won for me. My old desk was still there,
and above it hung a corkboard with different pictures of friends, stickers,
concert and movie stubs, and a pendant from my old high school.  I set my
luggage down and walked closer to the corkboard. I smiled as I saw pictures of
Violet, Daisy, and I together.  There was a school picture of Violet, one of
Daisy in her cheerleading uniform, and one of Jack, Daisy, Luke, and I at our
graduation.  I touched Luke’s face in the picture with my fingertips and
sighed. I wondered in that moment what he was doing now. I bet he was married
now to a beautiful woman (blonde I would guess) with two children and a dog. 
For the briefest of moments I felt a little bit sad, knowing that could have
been me.  I shook my head, remembering myself again. I quickly grabbed my
billowy navy dress out of the suitcase, my cream heels, and my makeup bag and
headed into the bathroom that was attached to my room.  I changed as quickly as
I could, and freshened up my makeup.  I looked at my hair and it was a lost
cause.  I took it down from the ponytail it had been in and brushed it, then
flipped my head upside down and twisted it into a messy bun. Deciding to play
up my messy mop, I grabbed my large cream colored rose hair clip that matched
my shoes, and slid it into the side of my bun, hiding the hair tie.  Not bad
for having been on a plane all morning.

I
came back down the stairs, and Daddy was waiting for me.  “Wow, you went from
beautiful to gorgeous in ten minutes time. You are definitely your Mama’s
daughter.  Come on, dinner’s ready, let’s go catch up,” he said, and we walked
arm in arm to the dining room.  As soon as I saw the room, my mouth fell open.  I
looked at the table, and it looked as if Mama was hosting a dinner party for
twenty people.  The table had our usual burgundy silk tablecloth with my great
grandmother’s cream lace tablecloth laying over it that we only used for
holidays or special guests. My homecoming must have been something to celebrate
for her to bring out the silk and lace. There were beautiful cream taper candles
in the silver candelabras I got my parents for Christmas five years ago. In between
the candelabras were cream votive candles floating in water in crystal dishes.  It
was so beautiful. There was a huge ham and of course Daddy’s barbecue turkey,
with every side dish imaginable from deviled eggs to mashed potatoes to
homemade dressing.  The desert table was filled with several different pies and
cakes.  Oh God, I was going to need a dolly to get me upstairs after eating all
of this. Daddy took his usual place at the head of the table, with Mama at his
left side. Violet sat next to Mama, and Evan was on the other side of her.  I
sat down on Daddy’s right, and there were two empty place settings next to me,
and an empty setting at the end of the table.  I looked up at Mama. “Um, why
are there so many place settings?  Are there other people coming?”

            Mama grinned
at me. “Well, one’s for Daisy, obviously, and the other two are for Evan’s
groomsmen. We thought we should all get to know each other better since we’re
gonna be spending so much time together the next few weeks,” she said, winking
at me.  Meeting the groomsmen…they were probably both doctors too. I smiled
back at her, and then we began our tradition of holding hands and saying grace
around the dinner table.

About
thirty minutes into the meal, we were back in full swing, catching up on
everyone’s lives.  Mama had begun doing her annual holiday volunteer work at
the local soup kitchen three times a week.  Violet told me that her
kindergarten class was putting on a pageant at our annual Christmas festival in
town.  I swear, in this town, there are at least two festivals per season.
Christmas is by far the biggest there is.  Daddy had begun to cut back on his
hours at the hospital to spend more time with Mama, and they were planning to
take a vacation for their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary in January.  In all the
hustle and bustle of the conversation, I heard the front door open, and a
familiar voice called from the foyer. “Hey, y’all, I’m here! Where’s she at?” 
Daisy.  Hearing her voice instantly puts a grin on my face.

            “We’re in
here, Dais,” Mama called. Just then, Daisy ran into the dining room with her
arms out.  She came right to me and pulled me out of my chair, and into a bear
hug.  “Wow, Dais, uh, hi.” I choked out.  Funny how much force one tiny little
woman can have.

            “Oh my God,
girl, it’s great to see you!  How you been?  Look at you, you look like you just
came back from a fashion show,” she asked, sounding winded.  She placed a
bottle of wine in the ice bucket and we both took our seats next to each other. 
Daisy looked so different since the last time I saw her.  She had short brown
hair with light brown highlights that was cut into an angled bob, and she had
three earrings in one ear, and four in the other.  Topping off the look was a
tiny little diamond stud on the left side of her nose.  On most people, I would
think it was ridiculous, but on Daisy, it was very cute.  She was still in her
blue scrubs. 

            “Thank you,
little sister.  I’ve been great, we’ve all been catching up on what everyone’s
doing. Look at you, in scrubs!  You look very professional,” I said, proudly.

            “Oh, she’s the
best L&D nurse on her unit,” Daddy said, beaming.  “Although, I will
confess, I wish she had taken me up on my offer to work in my practice.”

            “L&D?
Should I know what that means?” I asked.

            “Labor and
delivery,” Daisy replied.

            “I love when
she’s on duty and one of my patient’s is in labor.  She’s an amazing nurse,
makes my job so much easier,” Evan said.  Violet smiled at him.

            “Well, thank
you all for the nice words, but come on, I want to hear more about Lilly!  It’s
all medicine around here most of the time, what’s it like being a famous chef? 
I heard last week that you’d been contacted by one of those actors from one of
those vampire movies to cater some big party,” she said, beaming.

            “Wow, word
travels fast. It was just for a consult, nothing major yet.  We haven’t even
spoken, their reps called the restaurant and requested a meeting with me to
sample some of my dishes, that’s all.”

            Mama smiled. 
“Darlin, that’s wonderful.  You are making such a splash doing what you have
always loved, and you are finally being recognized for it.  We are all
incredibly proud of you.”

            “Well, thank
you very much.  It’s been hard work, but it’s very rewarding,” I said.  “But this
night isn’t about me. I am so happy that I get to be here to witness my baby
sister starting her life with a truly remarkable man.”

            Evan grabbed
Violet’s hand and kissed it. He turned back to me and said, “Thank you, Lilly. 
I’m so glad you feel that way.  I love your sister very much.”

            “I’m glad. 
And, well, it’s the truth.  I could never do what all of you do every day. 
Evan and Daisy bringing lives into the world, and Daddy saving them. Violet
shaping young minds, and Mama giving back to the world. What I do is nothing
compared to what you do. All I do is feed people. I am in good company tonight,
for sure.”

            Daddy lifted
his wine glass and simply said, “To good company.”  Mama added, “To being
together.”  We all raised our glasses.

            A moment later,
Evan’s phone vibrated.  He looked at it, and said, “Oh good, the guys are on
their way here. They said to apologize for being late.”

            Mama smiled
and waved her hand.  “Oh, no worries.  Saving lives is a job, we all know
that.  Besides, there is still plenty, you know they will be hungry.”  Well, I
was right about them being doctors too.  Jesus, was the whole hospital staff
eating here tonight?

            “Yeah, Jack
said his last appointment took a little longer than expected. He had to deliver
some bad news,” said Evan.  I noticed out of the corner of my eye Daisy shift in
her seat.

            I wonder…“Wait
a second. Jack?  As in Jack Riley?  He’s a doctor too?”

            “Yes, we met
in medical school, and we ended up Glenbrook together.  He’s a reproductive
endocrinologist,” Evan said.  “Violet told me you went to school with both of
my groomsmen.”

            “Yes, we
graduated together.  He and Daisy-OW!”  I stopped mid sentence when I felt
Daisy stomp on my foot.  I looked at her and she smiled her best “Talk about it
and I’ll kill you” smile.  I giggled and took a bite of my homemade macaroni
and cheese. I heard Evan stifle a laugh.  Then something Evan said made me go
back.  “Wait, did you say
both
groomsmen?”

            Violet
nodded.  “Yes, they both are from your graduating class.  I still can’t believe
how many talented people graduated with you.  You are a famous chef.  Jack’s a
brilliant endocrinologist.  And Luke is one of the top pediatricians in the
state of Georgia.”  I look up, and almost stop breathing.

I
nearly choke on my food.  Luke?  Luke Beckett?  I hoped this reaction had gone
unnoticed.  It had not.  I looked at Daisy, who was smiling into her plate.  “Luke
Beckett?  He’s one of your groomsmen?”

Daisy
smirked, and said, “Oh, yeah, I must have forgotten to mention that.”  I kicked
her back under the table.

“A-a-and
he’s a pediatrician?”

            Evan nodded,
saying, “Yes, a great guy.  He comes out with me to the surrounding hospitals
every holiday season and we cheer up the patients.  Unfortunately, this year I
won’t be able to make it since we’ll be on our honeymoon, so Luke is playing
Santa and Jack will be taking my place.” 

            Violet put her
hand on Evan’s and said, “Luke and Jack are the doctors that are starting the
practice with Evan.  They are hoping to kind of be a one stop for families.
From conception to birth and beyond.”

            Mama said, “I
wish we’d had that around here when you girls were little.  I had to drive two
towns over to get to the pediatrician’s office.”

            I tried to
imagine this.  Luke Beckett, the biggest country boy football jock in our high
school is now a pediatrician?  The only man I ever….and he’s on his way here? 
To my parents’ house?  He’s in my sister’s wedding? Oh my God…

           
I pulled
back from the kiss, stunned.  “L-L-Luke, wait, I, um….”  Luke kissed me.  My
friend just kissed me.  He just kissed me and told me he was in love with me. 
I didn’t know how to react…I couldn’t react.  Hell, I could barely speak.

            He tucked a
strand of hair that had escaped from my ponytail behind my ear.  “I’m not
trying to push you into anything, Lilly.  I just couldn’t let you leave without
telling you how I feel.”

            “A-a-and, h-how
long have you felt this way?” I asked, starting to regain my ability to speak.

            Luke looked
into my eyes.  “Since the seventh grade. Five years,” he admitted, his voice
dropping to a whisper.  Five years. All that time…

            “So, you’ve
been in love with me for five years, and you chose to tell me this now?  On the
night before I leave for college? H-how am I supposed to respond to that?”

            He looked
down at his shoes.  “I guess you don’t have to say anything.  I was going to
tell you tonight anyway.  I thought, yeah, I’d wasted five years, but assuming
you felt the same way, at least we could hopefully have the summer together
before we both went to college.  But when Jack told me this morning you were
leaving tomorrow, I panicked and thought it’s now or never.  I’m so sorry I
waited so long, Lilly. Please don’t hate me.”

            I took a
deep breath, and exhaled slowly I swallowed hard, and put my hand to his face. 
I raised his head and looked right into his ice blue eyes.  He looked at me,
vulnerable and scared…his heart on his sleeve.  For the first time, I felt I
was really seeing Luke.  A sweet, caring, incredible person who poured his
heart out to me, risking it getting broken for the sake of being honest. I
looked from his incredible eyes, to his mouth. His beautiful mouth. Lips that
had just been on mine…my first kiss. Surprisingly, I felt sad and happy at the
same time. Sad that my first kiss was at eighteen, but happy that it was with
Luke…the boy who had secretly loved me for five years. Me…plain, boring, Lilly
Harrington. Not able to take my eyes away from his mouth, I instinctively
leaned in and kissed him for the second time. The second kiss was better. I
felt electricity shoot through me from my head to my feet. More feelings going through
me than the first time. I felt him slightly open his mouth in surprise, and we
deepened the kiss. He had one hand in my hair, and the other hand moving down
my back, resting at my waist. My hands found my way to his neck, and I lightly
ran my fingers through his hair at the nape, and then I moved them down his
strong back…very strong for a boy of only eighteen. In this moment….I wanted
time to freeze. I couldn’t leave now, not like this.  The truth is…I think I loved
him too. And I couldn’t waste any more time, either. In the background, I heard
Violet laughing and playing inside the house. I had to be alone with him, and
we couldn’t talk here. Luke was right; it was now or never.  I reluctantly
pulled apart from the kiss, and whispered into his ear, “Is there somewhere we
can go and talk?”

            Breathless,
he smiled at me. “The lake house is empty, we can talk there. Is that okay?” he
asked me, seeming nervous. His parent’s lake house. Very secluded. Quiet.

            “The lake
house sounds perfect,” I whispered, taking his hand in mine.  I stared into his
eyes for a long moment, with desire burning through me.  I began to lead him
off the porch.

            He
hesitated.  “Lilly…are you sure?” he asked, knowing what was going to happen if
we went there.

            I met his
eyes, and responded with another kiss.  I was getting better at being forward. 
“I am sure,” I answered, and we walked hand in hand to his truck.

            The sound of
the doorbell jerked me from my flashback.  Mama said, “Oh that must be the
boys.  The gang’s all here.”

            Violet got up from
her seat. “I’ll get the door, be right back,” she said, and walked out of the
dining room.  Evan stood up and said, “Wait, I’ll come with you,” and he
followed her out in to foyer.

            My mouth
suddenly felt dry.  Daisy nudged me.  “Hey, you gonna be okay?  You look kind
of flushed,” she said, genuine concern in her voice.  I started to feel hot,
like the room temperature just went up ten degrees.  She was the only person I
ever told about that night with Luke.

            “I’m fine,” I
lied.  “It just feels a little warm in here.”

            “Okay, come
with me,” she whispered to me.  Then she looked up and said, “Hey, Mama, we are
looking a little low on salad.  Lilly, you want to help me in the kitchen?”  I
just nodded and followed Daisy into the kitchen.  As soon as the door swung
shut behind us, she whipped around and faced me.  “Here,” she said, “drink
this,” and she handed me a bottle of water. 

            I took a long
drink.  “Thanks, Daisy,” I said, and then sighed.  “God, I don’t know why I am
acting like this.  That night happened a long time ago, right?”

            “Well, you
will be seeing him again for the first time
since
that night a long time
ago.  Are you sure you can do this?”

            Little waves
of panic shot through me. Unconfidently, I said, “Of course I can.  I mean,
it’s not like Luke is the only guy I have ever slept with,” I said.  And he
wasn’t, if you count that other guy from my sociology class I was with once
right after college.  Wow, sad. I have had no life.

            “No, but he
was your first.  And you haven’t seen or spoken to him since that first time. 
He was one of your best friends,” Daisy said softly.

            “Okay, Daisy,
are you trying to throw me into panic mode again?” I asked, my eyes wide.

            She smiled.  “Of
course not,” she said, and slightly shook her head.  “Look, that happened
eleven years ago, right?”

            “Right.  I’m
over it, and I’m sure he is too.  I hadn’t really thought much about him for
years.”  At least, I never let myself anyway. Well, with the exception of
today.

            “There you
go.  So, come on, let’s go do this thing.  Grab that salad dressing,” Daisy
said, lifting another bowl of tossed salad and backing out of the kitchen door.

            I grabbed a
bottle of Italian dressing setting on the counter, exhaled, and followed her
into the dining room, keeping my head down to hide the redness I felt rising in
my cheeks.  The minute I looked up, I saw him.  He was bending down to kiss
Mama on the cheek and when he caught my eye, his mouth fell slightly open.  Out
of the corner of my eye, I could have sworn I saw Mama smile.  His eyes were
the same ice blue, with slight wisdom lines around the corners.  He still had the
same dark hair.  He was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a fitted black
turtleneck, which clung around his muscles. Of course he looked perfect. He was
the most heartbreakingly beautiful man I had ever seen. For a split second my
peripheral vision registered that he wasn’t wearing a wedding ring.  During
that split second relief washed through me.  I cleared my throat, and was able
to barely speak, “Hello, Luke.”  It sounded so informal, but at this point I
was trying not to pass out from nervousness.

            Luke smiled
and said, “Lilly, wow, you look…incredible.”  I noticed he was wiggling his
fingers back and forth, like he was nervous.

            “Thank you,
you look great too.  You look…taller,” I breathed.  Taller?  Did I just say
taller?

            Jack
interrupted, saying, “Yes, we’re all so proud of his height.  He’s a big boy
now.”  Jack had always been a bit of a joker.  I always thought of him as an
annoying brother type.  “He’s right, though.  Lilly, you look terrific.”

            “Well, thanks,
Jack.  It’s great to see you too,” I said, and when he leaned his hand across
the table in a fist, my hand mirrored his and we bumped our knuckles, making me
giggle. Jack looked great as well. He was always lean and fit when we were
younger, and he still was, but he looked more muscular than he used to. His
light brown hair was gelled into messy spikes, and he had a slight five o’clock
shadow. He really did look terrific. I slid back into my seat beside Daisy. 
Jack sat on her other side, with Luke taking the seat at the end of the table. All
of a sudden I felt so nervous, like I was suddenly out of place.  Daisy reached
her hand over and gave mine a reassuring squeeze. 

            Mama spoke
up.  “Well, now, isn’t this nice.  All of us here together.”

            Daddy said,
“It certainly is. So, Luke, how did your surgery go? Everything is okay?”

            “Uh, yeah, we
were about halfway through the procedure when his blood pressure bottomed out. 
I was able to stabilize him, and we finished without any more problems.”  Wow. I
couldn’t believe Luke was a doctor. I never thought that this is the road he
would end up going down. At that moment, I suddenly realized I was smiling.  I
quickly looked back at my plate, hoping no one noticed.

            “Well, thank
heavens for that.  That poor little boy is just the most precious thing,” Mama
said.

            “Why did he
have to have surgery?” I asked, and Luke answered.

            “He had to
have an emergency appendectomy,” he said.  “Everything looked great when we
left.  He was stable, all his vitals looked good.”

            “That’s great
to see a doctor care so much for his patients,” Mama said.

            “I love all my
patients. Besides, I know his parents well, we all grew up together.  He feels
like family,” said Luke.

            Evan said,
“I’m sure you are family to them too.”  He patted Luke on the shoulder.

Before
I could ask who his parents were, Daisy leaned toward me and said, “Kyle and
Jessica.”  Kyle Davis had been on the football team with Jack and Luke, and
Jessica Miller-well I guess its Davis now too-was one of my friends that always
followed Kyle around.  They were finally together.  And now they have a little
boy, who was unfortunately in the hospital. 

“Well,
they are lucky to have a friend like you looking out for their son,” I said to
Luke, and he smiled.  We made eye contact for a brief moment, and I felt a
shiver go down my spine.  This was going to be a long dinner.

            After most of
the food was gone and we all couldn’t eat another bite, Daddy, Jack, Evan, and
Luke were leaned back all talking about which NFL teams they thought would make
the playoffs that year.  I took that as my cue to stand, and us girls started
helping clear the plates.  When we were in the kitchen, Mama said, “I still
can’t tell you how happy I am to have you home, Lil. Even if it’s only for a
little while.”

            “Well, I’m
happy to be here.”

            Violet
giggled. “Yeah, you’re not the only one.  Did y’all see Luke’s mouth drop open
when Lilly walked into the dining room?” 

            Daisy rolled
her eyes and said, “Oh Vi, you always thought Luke was in love with Lilly, nothing
every happened with them.”  She looked at me and winked.  Nobody knew we ever
even kissed, let alone slept together.  I guess Luke kept quiet about it.

            “Well, it’s
just that ever since I have known him, every time Lilly’s name comes up in a
conversation, his face changes.  Sometimes he looks happy, other times he looks
like he’s thinking hard about something. Even when he was dating that Sam girl.
 I don’t
think
he loves her, I
know
he does,” Violet said.  “And
you never know what could happen, right?  Nothing like a wedding to put romance
into the air.  Who knows, maybe there might still be hope for Daisy and Jack.” 
So, Luke had had a girlfriend.  For some reason, I felt a small pang of
jealousy.  I guess I should have expected it. A gorgeous man like Luke could
probably have any woman he wants.  I can’t have expected him to be celibate all
these years.