“So what do you think about pink? Too cliché?” Rachel asked while flipping through pages and pages of booklets and binders on different floral arrangements. Cal looked over her shoulder and scratched at his dark curly hair. Rachel turned to him, waiting patiently for his answer. His face scrunched up and after a few moments of silence he finally sighed.

“I’m not a big fan of pink, Darlin’,” he replied slowly, worried for her reaction. “But whatever you want I’ll go with.” He smiled and then kissed the side of her head but Rachel didn’t crack a smile. Instead she frowned and let out a huff, turning a page so hard that her fingers almost punctured holes in the magazine that was centered on the table. “Whass’matter?” He finally asked, draping an arm over the back of her chair.

Rachel shrugged, still turning the pages. Each jerk got harder and harder until, finally, a page ripped in half. Rachel frowned at the now mutilated face of a model who had a large flower in her hair behind her right ear. Rachel grunted. “She was ugly anyway,” she muttered.

Cal started laughing. Rachel shot a look at him but it only made him laugh harder. Rachel looked down and let out a little chuckle. She couldn’t stay mad when he was laughing. His eyes wrinkled in the corners and they seemed to brighten. “You look like a pit-bull that’s been stung by a pee,” he commented. “What’s on your mind, Darlin’? You won’t get much work done in this mental state.”

Rachel sighed. She knew he was right, not that she’d want to admit it, but she knew it. She ran her fingers through her hair and brushed her bangs out of her face. “I’m worried about Trace,” Rachel finally replied.

Cal made a grunting sound. “Should I be worried?” She smiled. He was so protective of her, a little too protective sometimes. She knew he had good intentions, though, and it’s what made her fall in love with him a little more with each and every passing day.

“Hardly,” she replied. “Y’know, when we were kids, he used to flick boogers at me in school.”

“Ew.”

“Exactly.” Rachel let out a little laugh and turned more pages in a bridal magazine, this one showcasing table décor. “I’m worried that he’s too much of a people pleaser, a family guy.”

Cal lifted an eyebrow. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

“Well, he’s letting his father control his life without having to be there,” Rachel explained. “It’s like his father is a puppet master and Trace is attached to the strings on the other end of it. Trace has…these big, big dreams he wants to accomplish but I can tell that he’s scared of leaving everything that he knows behind. It’s why he’s working at the school, he’s trying to find something to do while taking the time to search for another job that will not only please his family but make him happy as well.”

“The man’s what, twenty-two, twenty-three? Why’s he letting his father make decisions for him?” Cal asked while taking his and her glasses and walked over to the pitcher of sweet iced tea that sat on the island in the middle of the kitchen. He poured the amber colored liquid into their glasses, squeezed a bit of lemon into them, and then walked back to the table, setting their glasses down before sitting himself.

“His father’s a scary man,” Rachel admitted. “It’s why I didn’t go over to their house that much as we got older.” She reached for her glass and held it in two hands, gently tapping it with her fingers. “Also…I think there’s something wrong with his parents’ marriage,” she said quietly. “I think…his father is trying to control Trace because his marriage is something he’s losing control with. It’s just a guess but his father’s an intense man and his mother is very quiet and timid.”

“I feel for him,” Cal said before taking a sip of his tea. “My father’s a strict man as well but he’s—“

“He’s human,” Rachel interrupted him. “And I’m less afraid of him. He’s like a big teddy bear. Speaking of which, can your parents and the rest of your family come in for the wedding?” She asked, reaching for her pad of notebook paper that was split down the middle into two columns. One side had the word “attending” written on it and the other said “not attending”.

“My mom and Dad can come,” Cal replied, sticking a toothpick between his teeth and biting down on the end. “Grandpa Fletcher’s already here, Brandon can come, and Lulu is trying to move her schedule around. I think she said put her down for now but don’t be surprised if she can’t make it.”

“Okaaaaay,” Rachel stretched out the word as she wrote names down. “My mom and dad will be there, of course. Justin, Aunt Lynn, Paul, Uncle Randy, Lisa, Jonathan, Steven, Grandparents on both sides…Mack and Trace, JC, Lance, Chris, and Joey if they want to can come. I’m sure Justin would want them there and I wouldn’t have a problem with it.” She cast a glance at Cal to make sure he was okay with it. When he nodded she wrote their names down. “Anyone else?” She asked while tapping the pen against the pad. “I mean, I don’t want it to be too big.”

“I don’t either,” Cal replied. “I think this is good. The smaller the better.”

“You’re only saying that because my daddy’s paying for the wedding,” Rachel said while flicking his nose. He playfully bit at her. She shrieked and pulled her hand away but he took it back and kissed the back of her hand.

“Not if my grandpa can get his way,” Cal replied. “He wants that to be his gift to us, him paying for the entire wedding.”

“He has horses and a stable to take care of,” Rachel said while shaking her head. “I’m not going to let him do that. My daddy won’t let him do that. I’ll see to it. His presence is present enough.” She punctuated her sentiments with a nod. “Have you thought anymore about where you want to spend our honeymoon?”

“In the hotel,” Cal deadpanned. He dodged Rachel’s fist and laughed. “I’m joking, Darlin’. I don’t know…the mountains?”

Rachel pursed her lips. “That’s nice but I was thinking Hawaii.”

Cal wrinkled his nose. “Why Hawaii?”

“Hello! It’s paradise! We can get couples massages, walk along the beach, get boat rides, parasail, anything that we can think of! We can even see a volcano! All I’m saying is we’re running out of time to plan this wedding and where we’re going to go afterwards and I’d like to book plane tickets as soon as possible.”

“Well, if Hawaii is what you want it’s what you’ll get,” Cal replied.

“I don’t want you to go because it feels like an obligation,” Rachel sighed.

“You had me at massage,” Cal explained.

Rachel beamed. “Great! Now, what store do we want the registry in?”

“All of ‘em,” Cal replied.

Rachel giggled, “You have to narrow it down, babe. How about an appliance store? I think we need more appliances than anything.”

Cal blinked. “You’re moving in with me, I have enough appliances for the both of us.”

“Cal, those things are being held together by duct tape,” Rachel said with a lift of her eyebrows. “We need new ones. Some new furniture as well.”

“What’s wrong with my furniture?”

“Nothing, but I want it to look like someone else lives there.”

“Okay, but no pink!” Cal paused and then added. “Or flowers or…anything fluffy.”

Rachel let out a scoff-like like. “Since when do you see fluffy couches?”

“If it comes out of this mind”—he pressed a finger to her temple—“it can be a reality.”

Rachel took his hand and kissed his fingertips. Then she pressed it against his cheek. “I love you,” she whispered tenderly.

Cal smiled. “I know,” he replied. “I love you too.” He turned his attention the ringing phone that was on the kitchen table. Taking his hand away from hers he answered the call and lifted the phone to his ear. “Bomar residence, Cal speaking,” he drawled. He paused for a second, listening to who was on the end, before replying, “Yeah, she’s right here.” He held the phone out to Rachel. “It’s Mack.”

“Oh man,” Rachel groaned, taking the phone and placing her hand over the receiver. “She’s a real nightmare once she’s injured.” She explained as soon as she saw Cal’s confused look. “Hey,” she greeted her friend as soon as she brought her phone to her ear.

“Rach, I’m going crazy,” Mack groaned into the phone.

“You can’t go anywhere you’re permanently parked at,” Rachel commented as innocently as possible. When she heard her friend mimicking her through the phone she cracked up. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” Rachel laughed, waving her hand in front of her face to keep tears of laughter from slipping down her cheeks. “You left that one wide open. What’s wrong?”

“I’m sooooo bored,” Mack whined in her overdramatic way. “I’ve done every single jigsaw puzzle, played every single video game, watched Arthur, played guitar—Rach, I watched the Home Shopping Network for the past three hours! Do you know how hard it is to keep myself from buying this junk? I almost bought a singing cookie jar!”

Rachel made a face. “Wow, you must be bored,” she said while scratching her head. “Wait a minute…you’re not cleaning, are you?” She asked suspiciously. She knew of her friend’s tendency to clean whenever she got really bored or she was home alone with nothing to do.

“Nnnnooooo,” Mack replied slowly.

Rachel sighed. “Mack, you know you’re not supposed to be on that leg.”

“I’m not….I’m standing on the other one.”

“You’re supposed to keep your leg elevated!” Rachel groaned. “Where’s Charlotte?”

“Mom and Dad are both at work. I’m not doing anything wrong. I’m bored.”

“I’ll bet,” Rachel groaned, rubbing her eyes. “Look, I’ll come over to keep you company if you help me with some of this wedding stuff. I want you to be my Maid of Honor but that won’t happen if you keep running away from me. With that leg of yours you can’t run anymore so you might as well accept your duties now,” she said triumphantly.

“Just to be clear this means me telling you that you look fat in a dress that I don’t like on you and you can’t get mad at me, right?” Mack asked.

“If you’d like to get a heel stabbed in your eye, yes,” Rachel replied. One would think she was a sociopath because of the strange wide and pleasant smile that graced her lips as she uttered those words. Cal, ordinarily, would’ve shot her a look of surprise but he’s been with her for so long that he could tell when she was joking.

“Okay, fine,” Mack sighed. “But you’re lucky I’m in a bad mood.”

“I’m pretty sure that doesn’t make me lucky, only stupid.”

“Shut up, Rach.”

Rachel stuck her tongue out at the phone which was emitting a dial tone. She hung up her phone and pursed her lips while tapping her fingers on the table. “I’m trying to figure out why she’s my friend,” Rachel said slowly. “Until I remember that she’s always been around. Like the time the other girls in our class basically shunned us for not being in the pageant circuit. Now, dealing with her having an injury is making me wonder why I’m bothering until I realized that, as my Maid of Honor, I can stick her with any job that I don’t want to do to make my life a lot easier.”

“Babe, that’s mean,” Cal laughed.

“Yes it is,” Rachel replied with a grin. “But I deserve to be happy and seeing my friend suffer temporarily makes me happy.”

Cal shook his head and stood. Rachel’s eyes drifted down to his “work attire”—dusty jeans, dirty boots, a white wife-beater and a plaid shirt—which also seemed to double as his casual clothes, she noted. She told herself to buy him a suit for their wedding just in case he doesn’t have any clean clothes by then. She didn’t expect him to have that many left with all of the work he was putting into the stables lately.

“I have to get to work. Check to see if we have a new foal or anything,” Cal said as he spun his keys around his finger. “You should see the little kids. They’re so excited for the competition coming up. I think they’re so excited they’d fall off their horses if they weren’t so cared of losing a ribbon.”

“You just have to remind them that winning isn’t everything and, as long as they have fun, it’ll be worth it,” Rachel said as she stood. She draped her arms around his neck and placed a sweet kiss on his lips before bringing her hands down to his chest. He leaned forward slightly and rested his forehead against hers while his arms went up and around her lower back. “On your way back could you bring me a taco?” I’m suddenly craving one.”

“You’re so random,” Cal chuckled.

~*~*~*~

Rachel twisted the knob to the Desrosiers kitchen door and let herself into the house. It was always open for people to wander in and out, the first sign that Southern Hospitality was authentic and not just talked about. There were times, she remembered, that complete strangers would come into the home but they would always be treated like family and taken care of. It was the main reason she didn’t want to move out of the South after she and Cal got married.

“Hey,” Rachel yelled while she closed the door behind her.

“In the living room,” Mack yelled back. Rachel saw a hand lift up from the couch and she squinted, taking her time to look around the kitchen. Nothing was out of place, there were no dirty dishes sitting in the sink, no toaster crumbs, nothing. If it weren’t for the pungent smell of lemon pledge wafting around Rachel would’ve believed that her friend really hadn’t done anything cleaning related.

“The lemon pledge is giving you away,” Rachel commented as she walked into the living room and sat down on the edge of the couch that her friend looked as if she melted onto.

“Curses,” she grumbled before tilting her head back to see Rachel. “What took ya so long? Get your daily dose of Cal this morning?”

“Anyone ever tell you you have a strange sense of humor?” Rachel grumbled.

“It’s what I pride myself in.”

“Any of the boys come out of hibernation?” Rachel asked, turning to see what was on TV. She smiled a little when she recognized the Powerpuff Girls.

“No, thank God,” Mack replied, lowering the volume on the cartoon as Bubbles went on one of her rare rants. “I’d shove my crutches up their noses sideways if they tried to come over here.”

“Ah, the pain speaks,” Rachel  teased.

“You’re making fun of me in my time of need?” Mack asked while lifting her eyebrows.

“Your time of need?” Rachel scoffed.

“Yes! I’ve been on this couch for a half a day and I can already feel my abs turning to flab!”

“You’re being overdramatic, as usual,” Rachel said, ignoring her friend’s huff. “Anyway, I wanted to know your opinion about what flowers to get for the wedding. I was thinking daisies but I don’t think they’re summery enough.”

“How about sunflowers?” Mack suggested. “The guests can admire them and then eat their seeds when they get bored.”

“Well, I plan to make sure my wedding’s not boring,” Rachel grumbled. “I was thinking bringing in a photobooth and having disposable cameras on every table.”

“Y’know, that actually sounds really cool,” Mack said while scratching her head with a corner of the remote. Rachel smiled. It was the only positive thing her friend had said all morning that didn’t have a trace of sarcasm, cynicism, or narcissism in it. “You should add bubbles too.”

Rachel wrinkled her nose. “Y’sure?”

“Who doesn’t like playing with bubbles? Trust me, it’ll be a hit. I’m your Maid of Honor, you actually have to listen to me now,” Mack pointed out.

Rachel made a fake groaning sound before it was quickly replaced by the sound of dry heaving. “Can we open a window or something?” She asked while wavingher hand in front of her nose. “That smell is making me sick.”

Mack gave her a look as if she were crazy. “I hardly used that stuff. Do you have the nose of a bloodhound or are you pregnant?” She asked.

Rachel shook her head. “Neither. I just can’t stand the smell.”

“Uh-huh,” Mack replied, obviously not convinced. “You’d tell me if you were, right? You wouldn’t keep it from me?”

“’Course I would, sweetie,” Rachel replied with a small smile. Mack nodded and turned her attention back to the TV while Rachel let out a soft sigh. That was the last thing she needed to complicate her life.