Scarlett Rose's Arc

Chapter 16 of 57

Scarlett woke before Clayton. The ring caught the gray light from the window. She turned it once on her finger and thought about her sister. Rose lived three hours away in the city and heard every piece of family news through their aunts. If Scarlett waited, Rose would find out from someone else. That would cut worse than any fight they'd ever had. She made coffee and picked up the phone before she could talk herself out of it. Rose answered on the second ring, already loud, already moving through some city street. "You never call before nine," Rose said. "Who died." "Nobody. Are you sitting down." "I'm walking. Same thing. Talk." Scarlett set the mug down. "Clayton asked me to marry him. I said yes. Two nights ago. In the greenhouse." The line went quiet. Scarlett heard a car horn on Rose's end. Then Rose made a sound that was half scream, half laugh, and Scarlett had to hold the phone away from her ear. "Two nights," Rose said. "You waited two nights to tell me." "I was trying to figure out how." "Scarlett. I have been waiting for this call since I was eleven years old. Do you know how many holidays I've sat through listening to you not talk about him." Rose was walking faster now, Scarlett could hear it. "I'm booking a train. I'm coming Friday. We are picking a dress." "Rose." "I already have a Pinterest board. I made it in March." Scarlett laughed and pressed her hand flat on the counter. She had braced for a lecture about being kept in the dark. She had braced for hurt feelings. She had not braced for a Pinterest board made in March. "What about the family," Scarlett said. "Aunt Bev. The cousins." "Leave them to me. I'll call everyone before supper. You will not hear one word of gossip because there won't be time for any. Deal." "Deal." "Now go tell your cowboy I'm bringing turquoise into that cottage whether he likes it or not." Rose hung up. Scarlett stood at the counter and let the silence settle. Clayton came down the stairs in bare feet and stopped when he saw her face. "You told her," he said. "She's coming Friday. She's already picked out a dress board." He poured himself coffee. "Good." "She's calling the whole family today. Every aunt. Every cousin." "Better her than you." Scarlett sat down at the table. The weight she'd carried since the greenhouse, the one she hadn't named, lifted enough that she noticed it leaving. By suppertime the news would be everywhere on her side of the family. Nobody would hear it as gossip. Rose would see to that. Then Scarlett remembered the dress. And the venue. And the date they still hadn't set. Friday was four days away, and her sister was arriving with opinions.