A Lowcountry Bride

by Preslaysa Williams

  No need to revel in the downside of things today either. “We have a fun day ahead of us.”

  Derek kissed Jamila on the cheek and headed to the refreshment table. Today reminded him of the trunk show, filled with excitement and an eager crowd—except Maya wasn’t here. He sighed again and repositioned the table covered with a checkered tablecloth. Derek had made five peach cobblers last night. One dish was strategically placed for the customers. He lifted the lid and the scent of peaches warmed him to the core. Peach cobbler was his mother’s favorite.

  The crowd inside the store grew. “It would’ve been nice if Maya was here to help us out. Are we really gonna be okay without Maya here every day?” Jamila asked.

  His heart folded in on itself. Goodness. This was really tough on her. Obviously, his earlier strategy to play it cool wasn’t working. He should tell her the truth. Derek gave Jamila a side hug. “This has been so hard on me. It’s gonna take some adjusting, but I don’t know when we’ll see Maya again to be honest. So I’m committed to moving forward with you.”

  Jamila twisted her mouth. “You are?”

  “Of course I am.” He gently tugged on her braid. She still let him braid her hair. “We’re a team.”

  “Okay then. We’re a team. Can we shake on it?” Jamila extended her hand, and Derek shook it.

  “Now let’s help these customers find the dresses of their dreams.”

  Jamila laughed and they set out to help the customers.

  He was secure inside, rooted and grounded in his ability to oversee the store, but also to be a single dad. He’d look into getting a new manager soon. It would’ve been nice to have a happily ever after with Maya, but if the only reason she appeared in his life was to show him that he could move on despite losing his loved ones, then that was fine.

  Soon as Maya arrived in Charleston Airport, she took a taxi over to Always a Bride. Maya glanced out the rear of the cab, at the palmettos lining the sidewalks of downtown Charleston. The vibe was so much different from New York’s. She preferred the calmer, more serene Lowcountry. She could admit it now.

  She had to ask Derek in person about whether he was planning to sell. Ever since her father told her the news, she could only feel a sense of shock. Why would Derek sell the boutique when business was doing so well? Derek should’ve still been able to manage the store even if she wasn’t working there. Maya had been gone for just over a week. That wasn’t long enough for the boutique to lose momentum. Was Maya that much of an influence on him? Couldn’t be.

  Yet the longing in Derek’s eyes when she’d said goodbye to him returned to her memory. Now Maya felt extra guilty about taking that position in New York, a position that had led to nothing. She should’ve listened to common sense instead of getting swept up in Laura Whitcomb’s publicity-induced enthusiasm. Maya also shouldn’t have been so selfish. If the main reason Derek was considering selling the store was due to Maya’s hectic work schedule, then she would never forgive herself. Maya sighed. This was a mess.

  “Here’s your stop,” the cabdriver said.

  “Thank you.” Maya exited the cab and paid her fare with a generous tip. After the cabdriver got her suitcase from the trunk, Maya took a few deep breaths. A warm breeze blew across her cheeks and rustled her curly ’fro. She would definitely ask Derek herself, but should she do so now? Didn’t it make sense to go straight to her father’s house instead?

  No. Something propelled her to stop here first—love.

  Love. The notion settled into her bones and sent a honeyed sweetness to her soul. She loved Derek. The idea rooted inside of her and made her want to see him even more.

  Maya rolled her suitcase toward the boutique. The ivory sign that displayed the words always a bride in ornately brushed script was still there, and her heart skipped.

  A poster board sign that read community day hung in the store window. A red balloon popped out from the front entrance, and Maya squinted. Why were there balloons? A huge crowd of customers were inside, eating dessert and perusing the dresses on display. There was a celebration.

  Something fluttered through Maya—excitement, happiness, joy. There was lots of activity. That was a good thing. It meant the store wasn’t hurting for sales. She stood outside the store and scanned the crowd inside the boutique, looking for Derek. Then she spotted him, and her insides flipped. Derek was busy helping the customers. He looked beyond handsome in his light blue collared shirt and khaki pants. He had a fresh Caesar cut too. His edges were neatly lined up. She noticed those little things about him when they were working here together.

  Were working here together. Again with the whole past-tense thing. He looked perfectly content and in his element right now—without her. The thought pinched.

  The business was doing well too. If she went inside, Maya would only be disrupting an already good thing. It was best to go to her father’s house first and call Derek before popping up unannounced.

  Maya turned to go home. She’d figure out something else to do with her bridal gown design career. Working at Always a Bride wasn’t it. No need to change on Derek since it looked like he was getting accustomed to Maya not being around as much.

  “Maya?”

  The young, lyrical voice stopped Maya in her tracks. Jamila. Maya made a half-turn, and yes, it was Jamila. Her eyes lit up.

  “It’s you!” Jamila ran toward her and gave her a huge hug. “Maya, I missed you.”

  Maya’s heart melted. “I haven’t been gone for very long.” She gathered her bearings, but then she gently wrapped her arms around Jamila.

  “You’ve been gone over a week. That’s like an entire lifetime.” Her brown eyes widened. “I thought about you every single day. I thought about whether you loved your new job in New York. Whether you missed us. Do you love your new job?”

  “No,” Maya said, not wanting to get into all the reasons she didn’t love it.

  “Oh.” Confusion etched across Jamila’s features.

  Should Maya explain to Jamila why she didn’t like it? She seemed curious enough. “I left that job. I’m back in Charleston for good.”

  “Really?!” Jamila’s voice bordered on a screech.

  Maya laughed. “Yes, really. New York wasn’t the place for me. Everything I want and everything I am is right here.” Maya glanced over Jamila’s shoulder. In the distance was the place where the first enslaved Africans arrived in Charleston. Maya had come a long way. Hopefully, Maya made her ancestors proud. “Yes, it’s right here.”

  “Yay, yay, yay!” Jamila hopped up and down. She hugged Maya, and Maya smiled. This was where she was supposed to be.

  Just then, Derek stepped outside of the boutique. Skepticism was written all over his chiseled features. Their eyes met, and Maya’s heart skittered. What should she say to Derek now?

  “Hey, you. This is a surprise. What are you doing here?” he asked.

  Maya heard a note of hesitation in his voice. “I decided to come back down,” she said.

  “To visit?”

  “She’s in town for good, Dad!” Jamila said excitedly.

  “What happened to your job in New York?” he asked, doubt in his voice.

  He didn’t feel the same way about her anymore. Maya should’ve stayed put from the beginning.

  “Miss Maya didn’t like it,” Jamila said again. “She didn’t like it at all.”

  Oh Lord. Maybe she shouldn’t have laid it all out there to Jamila after all.

  “That’s huge news.” Derek shoved his hands in his pockets, expression serious. “We haven’t spoken, and so I figured you were busy at work. What happened?”

  The uncertainty in his voice set her on edge, and Maya tugged on her ring finger. Should she tell him the real reason and everything in between? “I wasn’t sure if I was coming to Charleston. Not until . . . not until I figured out some things. Not until . . . I was discharged from the hospital and feeling better.”

  “Discharged from the hospital?” His volume increased a couple of no
tches.

  Maya explained everything.

  “My goodness. I wish you would’ve told me,” Derek said, empathy in his eyes.

  “I know. I know. I was feeling all discombobulated. I’m better now.”

  “Positive?”

  Was she positive? Well . . . no. She still wanted to talk about the boutique. She glanced at the store’s sign again. “Not exactly positive. I heard that you were considering selling the store, and I wanted to ask you for myself.”

  “I changed my mind about selling.” He gave her a half-smile and gestured to the busy boutique. “I wasn’t ready to let it go. When push came to shove, I want this store.” Derek crossed his arms. “I don’t think I could stand to lose one more thing in my life.”

  To lose one more thing. Her heart folded in on itself. By going to New York, Maya put their relationship at risk. A fresh wave of guilt filled her.

  Jamila stepped closer to Maya and squeezed her hand. The encouragement in Jamila’s eyes rooted Maya in that space. “I also returned to the boutique because I wanted to know if you were still open to me working here. I’m taking your advice and branching out on my own too. Starting my own dress design business.”

  Derek stared at her, and it was hard to read what he was thinking. It was very near impossible to read what he was thinking, in fact. It wouldn’t surprise her if Derek decided to rescind his previous offer given their last conversation about her career choices.

  “Is that the only other reason why you came here?” Derek asked, his face still expressionless.

  This was a trick question. She didn’t just come here to get the facts surrounding the store. She didn’t come here to get a job either. Maya came here to express her truth, but how would Derek take it? Was the truth worth saying? Perhaps it wasn’t.

  Then she remembered all the courage she had gathered while standing in Laura’s office. The courage to walk away from guaranteed success and the courage to walk toward her truest self, her truest wants and needs. Maya wanted love too. While standing before Derek, with Jamila at her side, Maya saw that she could have a full life. Nothing could hinder that, not even sickle cell anemia. She released Jamila’s hand.

  “I love you, Derek. I’ve been so naive. I should’ve recognized a good thing when I had it, but I didn’t, and—”

  “Shh.” Derek placed his finger on her lips, and the nearness of him made her insides melt into a puddle. Derek’s face softened. “I’m glad you’re here with people who care about you. I’m glad you’re okay. You can definitely work here again. Whatever I can do to help you get your business off the ground too, I will.”

  His eyes, so rich and dark and kind, didn’t leave her. She’d been craving his touch, the scent of him, the warmth of him. Now Derek was here. She wrapped her arms around him.

  Derek planted a warm, soft kiss on her lips, and Maya returned his kiss. His mouth was full and gentle. Derek then nuzzled her jawline and her neck. Liquid love poured through her and filled her to the brim. Maya was home.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Maya and Derek’s relationship grew strong. In addition to working at the boutique, Maya was also working to establish her bridal gown design business. She lived with her father while looking for her own apartment in the area. She hoped to find her own place soon.

  Two weeks after she had returned to Charleston, Maya was putting the finishing touches on her website, and she was almost ready for it to go live. She loved the simplicity of the website. It gave her the ability to showcase her unique style. Now all she had to do was finish writing the About page.

  Maya clicked on the About page and typed the beginning:

  Maya Jackson has loved playing dress-up ever since she was a little girl. That love for design carried into her adulthood. She got her professional start in fashion design as a junior designer for Laura Whitcomb Inc.

  As soon as she went to write the next sentence, she caught sight of her father and Ginger walking into the boutique, hand in hand. Seeing the two of them together was sweet. “Hey, Pops,” she said, closing her laptop. “How are you?”

  “Doing great.”

  “I’m so glad you’re back in town for good, darling,” Ginger said. “You’re gonna do so well here. I can feel it.”

  Maya smiled. “That means a lot to me coming from you.”

  Ginger winked. “I know a good person when I see one.”

  “We stopped by today because I couldn’t wait to give something to you,” Pops said.

  “What is it?” Maya asked.

  “The new deed to the house. I’m signing it over to you. No cost except for a dollar for good faith on the sale.”

  Maya’s eyes widened. “Really? But why?”

  Her father smiled. “Because Ginger and I will live together. I’m moving in with her, and I wanted to pass the home on to you one day anyway . . . whether you were returning to South Carolina or not. So I figured, why not now?”

  Maya looked at the title deed. “Pops, this is . . . I’m speechless.”

  “No need to be. Before your mother passed on, we had discussed eventually giving you the home. You can use one or two of the spare rooms as a design studio while you build your business. No need to have any cramped space anymore. It’ll be rent- and mortgage-free. No need for you to scramble to think about how to make a rent payment like you did when you were in New York.”

  She nodded. That was the best idea. Maya hopped off the chair and hugged him. “Thank you so much.”

  Derek stood off to the side, a smile on his face. “You know, Maya, you probably won’t have any money worries now since you’ve put your dresses in the boutique again too. I’m looking at the sales figures, and we’ve made more money this past week than we have in the prior month. We also have a slew of new email inquiries asking for a ‘Heather Gates dress.’”

  “I have my work cut out for me,” Maya said. “Better get this website up and running soon.”

  “Told ya you’d do good,” Ginger said. “I believed in you from the beginning.”

  “So did I,” Derek said.

  A thrill zipped through Maya. Derek was her boyfriend, and her dresses were selling. This was a dream come true.

  “We better get going, Ginger.”

  “Aye, aye, sir.” Ginger gave a mock salute, and they kissed each other on the lips. They were too cute.

  After they left, Maya opened up her laptop again to work on her website, but a notification dinged on her phone. She glanced at the screen. It was an email from Laura Whitcomb’s lawyer.

  Oh.

  She did not need any bad news today. Maya wavered on whether to read the email now or later, then decided that it was best to get it over with. She clicked it.

  Dear Ms. Jackson,

  After much deliberation, we have decided to withdraw our case against you. Laura Whitcomb Inc. doesn’t see it as financially advantageous to pursue the matter further, especially seeing that you are a small start-up brand.

  Maya winced. “Financially advantageous” meant that Laura didn’t think she’d get much money out of Maya anyway. It was also meant to be a dig at Maya and her new business, but Maya didn’t care. At least she wouldn’t be bothered by Laura anymore. Good riddance. Maya set her phone down and told Derek the news.

  “‘Small start-up brand,’ huh?” he asked. “Guess Laura is underestimating you once again. It’ll be her loss in the long run. Especially when your company becomes super successful.”

  “You know what, you’re absolutely right!” Maya laughed and clicked on the About page of her website again. She read the last line that she had typed:

  She got her professional start in fashion design as a junior designer for Laura Whitcomb Inc.

  “Hmm . . . no. I don’t want to say that. Don’t want to hang on Laura’s coattails anymore, not even in this new evolution of mine,” she muttered to herself. Maya deleted that reference and typed again:

  Maya apprenticed under her mother, Adelaide Badoy-Jackson, a Filipina fashion
designer who taught Maya indigenous stitching and clothing design techniques. Over time, Maya studied fashion design as an undergraduate and later incorporated West African design techniques in her work.

  Maya smiled at that new paragraph. It was much better. It reflected her. Being herself was so much better than trying to fit into Laura’s little box.

  “Maya?” Jamila said. “Can you help me with this dress?”

  Maya glanced up. Jamila was busy trying to tie a sash around a pale pink satin dress. “Of course I can. Let me do that for you.”

  Maya tied the sash, and she couldn’t help but remember her own mother helping her with dresses too. Perhaps Jamila would become Maya’s dress apprentice one day.

  After she finished tying the bow, Jamila stepped back. “This looks great. Thank you.”

  Maya smiled. Jamila would be a great apprentice one day.

  “Things looking good on your new website, Maya?” Derek stood behind the register, busy calculating the rest of the boutique’s sales.

  “Oh yes, they are looking excellent.”

  Derek headed their way and tucked a stray curl behind Maya’s ear. Her heart pulsed quicker. She loved being around him.

  “Wonderful,” he said. “We’re going to make a great team.”

  “We definitely are,” Maya said. “Most definitely.”

  Epilogue

  On a crisp fall day, Maya stood in the foyer of the temporary building for New Life Church and waited for the cue to walk down the aisle and say “I do” to Derek Sullivan, her Prince Charming. White pillar candles resting on top of candle holders of different lengths were positioned around the quiet sanctuary. Delicate sounds of “Our Father” danced across the cozy space from the black piano near the altar.

  Maya and Jaslene Simmons, Maya’s super-organized and highly efficient wedding planner, managed to create a beautiful wedding. The planning turned out to be smooth, and Maya didn’t fret about any of the details. She simply had to trust her heart and live fully each and every day.