“Trust me, if God could bring me through that, he can see your sister through all this. He loves her even more than you do, and I know you love her a lot.”
“I . . . I do.” A lump rose in my throat.
“I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. She’s blessed to have you.” He paused, then cleared his throat. “And I . . . I feel pretty blessed too. Glad I’m getting to know you, Southpaw.”
“I feel the same way.”
“Let’s make a pact to stick together. I have a feeling the bride and groom are going to need us, okay?”
“Sounds good.”
We ended the call, and I leaned back against my seat, thoughts spinning. Somehow, knowing Derrick Richardson was on my team brought great comfort. Together, we would get this wedding back on track. Somehow.
On the Monday after the shower, Crystal was all smiles again. “I talked to Phillip.” She took a nibble of a leftover teacup cookie and her eyes widened. “Mmm. These are great. I didn’t get any at the shower. I was too preoccupied.”
“Thanks. Derrick did most of the baking.”
“I heard all about that from Phillip.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I hear Derrick is quite a whiz in the kitchen.” She took another bite, a look of complete satisfaction on her face.
“So what happened with Phillip? You talked to him, and . . .”
“And”—Crystal grinned and set the cookie down on a napkin—“it went well.”
“Are you saying we don’t have to return the presents after all?”
“Return the presents?” Grandma Nellie’s voice came from behind me. “And why would she have to return the presents?”
Oh, yikes. Man, our grandmother was sneaky, listening in on our conversation. She started firing questions, but finally stopped when she saw my sister putting her finger to her lips.
“Grandma Nellie, don’t. You’ll scare Mama.”
“You’re scaring me.” Our grandmother’s gaze narrowed. “The wedding is still on, right?”
“Right. The wedding is still on.” Crystal nodded, then gave me a comforting smile. “Thanks to Mari.”
“Mari needs a man.” My grandmother rolled her eyes.
“Wait . . . what?” How had we shifted from Crystal’s wedding to my love life?
“I said, ‘Mari needs a man.’ ” Grandma Nellie waggled her index finger in my sister’s face. “And you, Crystal? You marry that boy. And keep the presents too.” Then she headed into the living room, mumbling all the way. I couldn’t make out much of it, but got the part about pre-wedding jitters.
“Crystal, you don’t think she’ll say anything to Mama, do you?”
“No.” My sister shook her head. “She knows it would hurt me, so I’m sure she won’t.” A pause followed, and then her eyes brimmed with tears. “Mari, thank you so much.”
“For what?”
“For talking me down from the ledge the other day. And for giving me the courage to have a heart-to-heart with Phillip.”
“Tell me about it.”
“I told him just what you said, that I’ve been scared of losing him if I dared to disagree with his mother, especially about any of her ideas for the wedding. He promised me it’s not going to happen, no matter what. He even said we could get married at the justice of the peace if I wanted.” She giggled and then took another nibble of her cookie.
“The justice of the peace?” Grandma Nellie’s voice boomed from the living room. “Over my chubby dead body!”
I shuddered. “Please tell me that’s not an option. Mama would have a meltdown.”
“No, of course not. But I got his point. He wants me to be happy. And you know what? I am.”
“So what did you decide?”
“I’m going to go through with the plans as they are. I’ve settled the issue in my heart. I’m not going to do it to please Phillip—or his parents—anymore. I’m going to do it because it’s going to be the easiest for everyone involved at this point. The work is mostly done.” She dropped the cookie and grabbed my hands. “And you, Mari, don’t need any more on your plate. You and Derrick have already worked so hard to make everything amazing for us. Why would I do that to you? Or to Mom and Dad?”
“So everything moves forward as planned.”
“Yes.” She smiled. “And just for the record, my wedding bouquet will be loaded with very clichéd white roses.”
“Amen!” I laughed. “Perfect.”
“Exactly. Everything will be.” Crystal sighed. “I feel good about the whole thing now. In fact, I don’t know when I’ve ever felt better. Talking to Phillip made me feel like I’d lost twenty pounds.” She took another bite of the cookie and spoke with a full mouth. “After all the sweets I’ve consumed, I need to lose twenty pounds.” She chased down the cookie with a swig of milk from my glass. “I should start exercising.”
“My favorite exercise is a combination of a lunge and a crunch.” I took a little nibble of a cookie. “It’s called lunch.”
She laughed so hard I thought she might choke. “You’re perfect just the way you are, Mari.”