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“You’ve got it.” Bea turned and headed to the kitchen to put in their order, and Steven maneuvered his wheelchair toward a small table.
“I’m surprised you found a free table with all these people,” Rose said as she slid into a chair.
“Lanie reserved this for us,” he replied, holding out his hand.
She placed hers into it and smiled. His sister really had thought of everything.
“How long is this supposed to last?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know that there’s a definite end to it. Sometime before Bea would normally close, I guess, but as long as people want to hang out and order, they’ll keep going.”
“Is someone keeping a tally of how much money is raised and who’s donating what?” Rose bit her lip. “I’d like to send thank-you cards when this is over.”
“I’m not sure, but maybe inviting them all to our big day will be thanks enough.”
Her eyes widened as her stomach began to churn. “The whole town?”
He laughed. “Okay, maybe not everyone. Still, I’m sure there are other ways we can pay it forward.”
The knot in her stomach eased, but she wondered how she would ever repay everyone for their kindness. Lanie’s voice echoed in her head. We take care of our own. While that might be the case, she would feel unbalanced until she did something to show her gratitude.
Their food arrived, and she dove into her burger, surprised at how hungry she was. Truthfully, she hadn’t eaten much that morning because she’d been a bundle of nerves leading up to the event.
But she was glad she’d come. She glanced up from her burger and smiled at Steven. He appeared in good spirits. The lines that creased his forehead when he was stressed had disappeared.
Maybe everything was going to be okay. Maybe they were going to be okay. While they still had a lot of things to work through, she had hope for the first time in a long time that things were going to work out.
Lanie popped up at their table with a smile. “We’ve only been here an hour, and we’ve already raised enough to pay off the catering bill.”
Rose’s mouth fell open. “What? Are you serious?”
With a nod, Lanie showed her the tally for the baskets. “People bid a lot higher than I’d expected on these.”
“That’s amazing!” Steven’s eyes were wide. “I suspected we’d be able to at least offset some of the cost, but this…” He shook his head as if unable to finish his sentence.
Lanie beamed. “I’m hopeful the proceeds from food and beverage sales will give us enough to pay off what you owe for the wedding and start working on some of the outstanding medical bills.”
“It would be nice not to start our new life together in debt,” Steven said. “Thank you for doing this.”
“It’s not like I planned this alone.” Someone called Lanie’s name, and she smiled. “Duty calls.”
When they were alone again, Rose shifted her chair closer to Steven. “How’s physical therapy going?”
“Pretty well. I’ve been able to successfully perform most of the exercises my therapist has given me, and I practice them at home between sessions.” He winked. “Though sometimes, it feels like it should be called physical torture instead of therapy.”
She laughed. “How long do you think you’ll have to go?”
“I’m not sure. Dr. Bhati has asked my therapist to send an update on my progress in a month, and we’ll reassess after that.”
At least he was listening to his doctors about something, but she kept that thought to herself. Despite her earlier reservations about the event, it was going well, and she didn’t want to spoil it. Instead, she pushed her concerns about the future from her mind and tried to live in the present.
“What a success!” Lanie exclaimed as they left the diner. “We’ve got to wait to find out what Bea raised, but this wedding is practically paid for.”
It had been a long day of shaking hands, fielding congratulations, and talking to friends and strangers alike. In some ways, it had felt like the engagement party they never got to have. They’d hoped to have one last summer, but when Melody took a turn for the worse, they postponed it. Then she’d died, and no one was up for a party after that.
The irony of how accommodating Rose had been during that time wasn’t lost on her. Whereas when she had asked to postpone the wedding, she’d been railroaded. Steven would likely argue the circumstances were different, but were they? Instead of his mother, it was Steven whose health had taken a turn, and while he was on the mend, they still had a way to go.
Although they hadn’t done much planning for their engagement party by the time Melody’s health failed. So Rose supposed that in that respect, things were much different.
