Constant Surprises (Wrong Numbers Series)

by Bergman, Jamallah

After showering and grabbing a cup of coffee, she decided to call Becky. She knew by this time, they would have been opened for breakfast. “Hello, thank you for calling the Cobalt Blue Café would you like to make a reservation for this evening?” asked the young lady.

  “Hello this is Amie. Is Becky around?”

  “Oh hi, Amie, this is Nancy, let me get her for you. Please hold.” Soon music came on. As much as she enjoyed her carefully chosen music, she was thankful she didn’t have to wait too long.

  “Hey, girl, how are you? Are you enjoying your vacation?” Becky asked.

  Amie sat in a rocking chair on the front porch. “Oh, I had a run in with an old enemy the other night and almost choked the life out of her, the man I had been wanting for years when I lived here wants me to move back and marry him and for the first time in my life, Becky, I am an emotional wreck.” Running her fingers through her hair she could only imagine the look on Becky’s face.

  “Wow, that’s…that’s like…wow. He wants to marry you? He really opened his mouth and told you that he wanted to marry you, Amie?”

  “That he did. But he told me that I can think about it. He knows I have the restaurant among other things in Atlanta I have to think about before I do something this drastic.”

  There was a pause on Becky’s end then she began to talk, “I never told you this, Amie, but before I had started working here, I was involved with a guy name Phillip. We saw each other at the local farmer’s market every day for two weeks. He was working there unloading fruits and vegetables. Very handsome man he was, a redhead with tons of freckles. You know how I am about those hot headed Irish men.” She giggled.

  “We started dating. It was wonderful. Every single day was special and our love for each other was unreal, Amie. One day he told me that he wanted me to be the one. He wanted me to marry him and move back to Ireland with him. I wanted to marry him, but moving all the way to Ireland? Leaving my family and friends?

  “I told him that I couldn’t do it even though I loved him so much. I couldn’t bear leaving home. He pleaded with me and even after thinking about it…I told him no. I think I got scared of what I thought would happen and ended up losing the best man I had ever loved. I’ve not heard a word from him since he left that day. I regret it every day.

  “Amie, if you have the chance of a lifetime to be with the one who makes you complete, who makes your whole body want to melt, then by all means, girl, go for it. It isn’t like you can’t take care of business from Kansas. You can branch out…have a place there where you live. You will never have this chance again, Amie, don’t fuck it up.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me all this, Becky?”

  “I don’t know, I guess the timing wasn’t right until now. I know we’ve been friends since you first opened this place and I’ve been with you through thick and thin but as far as this—you’ve got to go with your heart.”

  Becky was right, she had to go with her heart and her heart longed to be with Roy. “I’ll talk with you on Monday when I get back, I think I’ll go and scout some places around here.”

  * * * *

  “Do you think she’ll like it, Sandy?” Roy asked.

  Sandy quietly examined the engagement ring he had picked out for Amie. She started to cry a bit and wiped her tears. “I think she’ll love it and if she doesn’t, I’ll whoop some sense into her and make her like it.”

  Roy looked at the stunning one and a half carat round solitaire diamond ring and thought about how beautiful it would be on her long delicate finger. He almost felt himself tear up a bit. He had wanted this for so long, and now he was going to make it happen. He was aware he said she could think about, but they could be engaged while she thought about it. Maybe he should even consider moving to Atlanta. It really wasn’t fair of him to ask her to give up her life and dreams for his. Right now, he just wanted her to know how serious he was about his proposal. It was the real deal, not just because of the wonderful week they had spent together.

  “If it doesn’t fit her right, you can always come back in and we can resize it for her. Either way Amie is going to love it, Roy,” Miriam Cross, jewelry store owner and classmate of Roy’s, reassured him.

  “Great, I’ll take it,” Roy said.

  Sandy smiled and embraced him.

  * * * *

  Amie headed over to her parents’ house, unable to keep her news a secret. Her mother was the perfect person to share it with first. “Oh my God, my baby is staying home!” she shouted hugging Amie tight.

  “Now, I don’t want you telling anybody else, especially Roy. I want to surprise him, but I do want your help with something…I need the paper. Do you know if there are any commercial buildings around here that are vacant and good enough for a restaurant?”

  Abby got the newspaper and flipped to the real estate section. “Do you remember Maggie Lipton, Paul Lipton’s mother? She’s an agent. I will give her a call and ask her about some places.”

  “That would be great. Call her, and I’ll call some of these places here in the paper,” Amie said grabbing her cell phone.

  After about an hour of calls and not getting anywhere, Abby came out to the porch with a piece of paper and her purse. “Come on, we are meeting Maggie at this place and I think you are going to love it.”

  “Where is it at?”

  “It’s in the square. It used to be some old warehouse,” Abby said.

  When they got to the destination, they parked the car across the street and walked over to Mrs. Lipton who wore a blue sweater and jeans and a bright smile on her face. “My goodness, Amie, you look wonderful.”

  Giving her a big hug she said, “It’s great seeing you, Mrs. Lipton, what do you have for me to see today?”

  “I don’t know if you remember this place, but it used to be Anthony’s Warehouse. It went belly up after a couple of months.” Opening the doors, the ladies walked inside. The air smelled stale and dusty. “It’s just been sitting here for years now. Were you thinking of buying or leasing?” Maggie asked.

  Amie tried to picture what she could do with this place. It was big and could accommodate one hundred and fifty or more people. The walls were all brick, which she loved, and the floor was old hardwood and still strong after all these years. When she looked up at the ceiling, she could imagine fans in different spots. Then she saw a door and when she opened it, there was another huge area she knew could be made into a kitchen that could even hold a huge cooler. It’s a pain when the back-up food has to be kept in a cooler in the basement. Her mind was racing with ideas. She smiled, came back to her mother and Maggie then went out the door and looked back at the front of the place.

  “It’s perfect, absolutely perfect,” Amie said walking back inside still looking around. “How much is it to buy outright?”

  “This place has been on the market forever. Actually, no one even bothered wanting it much less took a second look at it until your mom called and said you were looking for a place to open up a restaurant. This place is perfect for it. It’s right along the square and everybody comes here for the festivals and such. There is a lot of revenue to be had. For you, my dear, I would go one hundred thirty-five grand compared to what it normally would be, about one hundred fifty grand.”

  Looking around some more Amie said, “Make it an even one hundred thirty and we have a deal, Maggie.”

  Maggie looked around, bit her lower lip, and smiled. “Deal and when you open up I want dinner.” They all laughed and Amie gave her a hug.

  “Not dinner, Maggie, but I promise you can have lunch anytime you want for free.”

  “Well then, let’s go and get the contract signed,” Maggie said.

  * * * *

  When Roy and Amie arrived at the inn later that evening, she exclaimed, “Wow! You guys really did a great job on this place. It looks absolutely amazing, what did you help do?”

  Roy could only smile, as he couldn’t keep his eyes off her. She came in wearing a beautiful red Asian dress with lovely col
orful embroidery in gold, green, black, white, and other colors across the chest. It hugged her every curve as they walked arm in arm through the crowd. She had put her hair up with black hair-sticks embossed with gold Japanese lettering, leaving a few ringlets cascading along her face. “Have I told you how amazingly gorgeous you look, darling?”

  She kissed his cheek, smiling sweetly at him when they walked over to a group of people. They were talk of the evening. Some saying how perfect they were together, some even said it was about time they got together.

  “I went to your restaurant about three months back, best burger I ever had in my life. It had blue cheese on it. Can you believe that…blue cheese? It was so good I ended up having to get another one,” Chuck Williams said.

  “Next time you go, tell them you want it stuffed as well as topped with blue cheese. Knowing how you eat, Chuck, you’ll probably end up eating three instead of two.” Amie laughed.

  “Here comes Sandy and Steven…hey, guys, come over here!” shouted Chuck.

  Sandy made a b-line towards Amie. She was wearing the outfit Amie had brought her. “Wow, I so love your outfit. Please tell me you have one just like it for me,” Sandy said hugging her friend. Amie laughed.

  “I’ll see what I can do for you.” Amie winked as Steven came over and gave her a hug and peck on the cheek.

  “You are going to spoil her rotten, Amie, if you keep getting her these outfits like you do,” Steven said.

  “Sisters share clothes. Where in the world is Roy? I thought he was talking with some friends?” Amie wondered looking around.

  “Steven, darling, why don’t you and Amie dance. I’ll find Roy for you,” Sandy said. Steven took Amie in his arms and headed over to the dance floor.

  They walked through the small crowd of people. “What are you thinking about?” she asked him.

  His fingers wrapped around her hand and he started laughing as if she said something funny, but instead he said, “Why is it that whenever I am around you for some reason I can only see you?”

  Amie gave a small laugh, not sure how to react.

  “I am dancing with the most beautiful woman in the room. That is you, darling. I know I should say it is my wife, but it is you. It was always you.”

  Amie blushed.

  Steven smiled. “I sure am glad you came back home. This town needs your pretty face to brighten it. I am especially happy for Roy, but mostly, I think, for me. I do cherish you, Amie. I never wanted to let you know, but even while we were young, I always thought you were the prettiest thing I had ever seen. I swear if Roy didn’t have his eye on you and I wasn’t married to Sandy, I sure as hell would try my best to sweep you off your feet.”

  Amie’s face softened and when she looked into his eyes she knew he was telling her the truth. Steven never lied to her when they were growing up and he wasn’t lying to her now. “Why didn’t you tell me this before, Steven?”

  “What would have happened if I did tell you, nothing at all because you were too into Roy? Besides, it’s best it came out this way because I am with the woman I love, and we are happy.”

  “And that’s all that matters,” Amie said. Steven looked up and saw Sandy waving at him.

  “Let’s go, darling.” Steven said, grabbing her hand and leading her through the crowd.

  “Where are we going?”

  Steven smiled and led her right across the room. They were rounding a corner when she saw Sandy standing near a door, smiling like a Cheshire cat. As they approached her, Amie noticed Sandy’s eyes were welling up with tears. “What’s wrong, is Roy okay?”

  “Oh yes, he’s just fine go on inside and see for yourself.”

  Amie didn’t know what they were up to, but she opened the door and was stunned. The floor was full of silver and gold balloons, so many she couldn’t actually see the floor itself. A small table stood in the middle of the room with something on it. Amie slowly started walking towards it. The door behind her suddenly closed and she found herself alone. Reaching the table, she saw a red velvet pillow with a note on it.

  Open me, she read. She picked up the note and read—

  GO OUT THE GLASS DOOR AND FOLLOW THE ROSE PETAL TRAIL.

  She went over to the glass door and saw a trail of pink and red rose petals on the ground just as the note said. Walking along the trail she wondered where it would lead. Lucky for Amie however, she didn’t have too far to find out.

  She came to another small table. This time there was a small glass case with a cupcake and a note. Opening the case and taking out the cupcake out and the note, she read—

  SWEETS FOR THE SWEETS, DARLING…TAKE THE CUPCAKE AND FOLLOW THE TRAIL OF CANDLES…YOU ARE ALMOST THERE!

  She smiled and took the cupcake; following the trail she nibbled on the cupcake. Her smile was brighter when she realized it was Hummingbird Cake, which Roy knew was her favorite. She licked the icing with her tongue while she walked through trees in the aurora of glowing tea lights floating in individual glasses. Soon she came to another door and opened it to find she was back in the dance hall where she started, but this time the room was dark. Her former classmates were holding candles, lining a walkway that curved around the corner. She started walking and they started singing, I Only Have Eyes for You by the Flamingos, a song Roy knew was one of her favorites.

  Amie saw the smiling faces as she walked around the room of people. They continued to sing and gathered behind her as she came to the end of the trail. She saw Roy. Standing behind him were both of their parents along with Sandy and Steven.

  Lord, is this for real she thought. She asked, “Is this what you did?”

  Roy chuckled then responded, “I did all of this for you and thankfully everybody here helped me out. I know that I told you I would let you think about us getting married, but honestly, baby, I couldn’t help myself.”

  He came to her and in his cupped hands was a small black velvet box. She couldn’t bring herself to pick it up and open it. Her heart was beating a mile a minute and her throat felt like it was going to close up. Tears flooded her eyes and ran slowly down her cheeks. He opened it slowly and when she saw the dazzling diamond staring back at her, she found herself succumbing to a heaving mess of sobs. She felt herself about to fall, but Roy quickly came to her rescue and held her up as someone tapped her shoulder and gave her a handkerchief. She wiped her eyes and nose.

  “Amie Brown, I’ve known you since we were in elementary school, when you were running around and trying to beat me on the swings. I knew from that day on that I wanted to be with you and only you, but things got in the way and we went our separate ways. Eventually we came back here and got to know each other all over again. It has been such a wonderful experience, I don’t want it to end, darling. You know how much I love you and how much I want you to be mine forever so—” Getting down on his knee, he took out the ring. He held her hand and looked up into her eyes. “My darling, Amie, will you marry me?”

  “Yes, of course, I’ll marry you, Roy,” Amie said. He put the ring on her finger and his arms around her waist. She held him and continued to cry as he stood up and held her for real this time. The whole room erupted in applause and shouts as everybody congratulated and rushed the happy couple to shower them with hugs and kisses.

  “Isn’t this wonderful? Our babies are getting married,” Agnes said hugging a crying Abby.

  Richard and Bob shook hands and gave each other a congratulatory pat on the back. Sandy couldn’t stop crying as she saw her best friend was finally happy with the man she loved. Steven couldn’t have been more proud to see his brother with the woman he loved for so long.

  Epilogue

  Amie Brown-Fulton was looking over the sugar-like sandy beach drinking an apple martini. She liked the ring of that, Amie Brown-Fulton and the more she thought of it, the more she smiled. During their engagement, she went back to Atlanta and settled her affairs. Making sure the restaurant was taken care of; she decided to let Becky be manager. She also decided they could u
se her apartment when visiting Atlanta, so she decided to keep it. It took almost a full year before the second Cobalt Blue Café was finally open and like the first one it was becoming a great success.

  They got married in their family church. She was thrilled her birth mother and family from Japan were there to watch her walk down the aisle. She decided to do something different by not only having a traditional wedding, but also a Japanese wedding to pay homage to her heritage. It was a beautiful affair and made headlines in the local news as well as in Atlanta. They honeymooned for a month in the Bahamas, a place Amie had been too many times before when she had tried to find her father’s side of the family. Looking out onto the beach, she saw her husband Roy coming out of the water. He looked so good, she thought as he started running to the lounge chair, then grabbed his towel. Once he dried off, she saw him wave and she smiled. Walking back to the bar, she poured him an apple martini and dropped a piece of granny smith apple as a garnish. He came inside, still drying his hair.

  “Hello, Mrs. Fulton, what do you have for me?” Roy smiled as she handed him the glass.

  “It’s an apple martini. Try it; you’ll like it,” Amie said. He took a small sip at first, but then quickly took a second longer sip.

  “That is good, I love it and I especially love you, darling.” Smiling he gave her a kiss on the lips. She softly deepened the kiss until he took her in his arms. Feeling the coolness of his skin as droplets of salt water rained down from his hair along her cheek, neck, and chest.

  “I have a wonderful surprise for you,” Amie said.

  “Oh really,” Roy said with a raise brow. “And what could this surprise be?”

  “Now if I told you what it was then it wouldn’t be much of a surprise would it? I want you to go come over here and sit down in this chair.” She walked him over to a sofa chair and gently pushed him down. She kissed his forehead. “Close your eyes until I tell you to open them.”