Author:Sheila Willar Copyright:2022 Sheila Willar ISBN #:978-0-9867101-4-8 Book Title:THE CHAPEL Chapter #:9 - THE SNOW GLOBE
BOOK 1 - CHAPTER 9 - THE SNOW GLOBE
Erin walked home as slowly as possible, hoping that the worries of the last few days would subside.
She had come to New York to bury her past and to put some distance between her and an “all-seeing” God, both of which seemed to get louder wherever she went.
Erin turned the key in the lock of the apartment door, but when she tried to open it, it would not budge.
“Just a minute,” called Maggy as she moved a pot of flowers. “Come in, but you’ll have to watch your step.”
Erin squeezed around the partially open door and gasped at the ocean of flowers and the overwhelming smell of greenery.
Pots were everywhere. The living room sofa was like an island in a sea of lavender blue.
“Do you know anything about this?” asked Maggy as she showed Erin the invoice.
“I don’t understand,” exclaimed Erin. “I gave this to Ms. Statton and she said that she would take care of it. Someone has crossed out my handwriting and changed the order from ‘stone’ to ‘flowers’. It’s been tampered with."
Erin looked it over again and noticed the name of the florist.
“Arthur Blooms. Oh no!" she exclaimed. "I thought he was sending me Irish Blue stone, so I asked him to send it here. That means that I don’t have the stone.”
Erin swallowed when she saw the $15,000 charge. It made her head spin.
“There’s been a terrible error and I’m afraid I may have caused it, at least part of it. It will take years for me to pay this off.”
“It’ll be O.K.” said Maggy. “Now that we know what’s happened we can have them deliver it to the right place.”
“But that’s just it,” exclaimed Erin. “There is no right place! The whole thing is a mistake. I didn’t order flowers. I ordered stone.”
“Then no one owns the flowers?” asked Maggy.
Erin hung her head.
“I have more bad news. I called the wedding planner and "your" flowers haven’t been ordered. I’m so sorry. Really I am. I meant to call her earlier but I got caught up in work and forgot.”
Erin thought that Maggy would never forgive her for the mess, but instead of harsh words she heard a snicker and a snort.
She wasn’t quite sure what the sound was a first but when she looked up there was no mistake about it. Maggy was laughing.
“I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at you. Really I’m not,” explained Maggy.
Erin looked around the room and the others were laughing too.
“I’m not doing this again,” yelled Kelly as she buried her face in a pillow.
“It’ll all work out,” assured Maggy as she wiped tears from her eyes. “I’ll keep the potted flowers. They’re better than cut ones anyway," she reasoned.
Maggy called her fiancé Peter and together they came up with a plan. They would sell some of the flowers at work, and the rest they would buy for the wedding.
Within the hour Peter and his friends arrived with a truck and they removed the wayward plants. Peter made fun of the situation and said that he would have a good story to tell at the reception.
“It’s time to eat,” called Finola.
The conversation at the dinner table was crisp, as there was plenty of blame and apologies to go around, but underneath the frost, Maggy and Peter were filled with energy and optimism.
Kelly was also buoyant with cheer and when they were finished eating, she stood up and yelled, “Surprise! Happy Birthday!”
Erin froze in place as Kelly distributed streamers and silly hats, and lit the candles on the cake.
Erin closed her eyes and made a solemn wish, “Please let Maggy have a beautiful wedding.”
“You should have seen the priest’s eyes when we delivered seventy pots of flowers to the cathedral,” remarked Peter.
“It was so beautiful,” added Maggy. “It was like it was all planned.”
Erin cringed.
“Just eat!” commanded Finola as she carved slices of cake.
“Here. This is from all of us,” lied Kelly.
Erin opened a small box and lifted out a Christmas snow globe. She and Kelly had admired it when they walked by a display in a store window.
“Thank you so much!”
After she wound the mechanism, flecks of sparkling glitter swirled up and over a family of deer that was surrounded by silver trees. Some of the pieces of glitter were shaped like doves that seemed to circle in the sky.
That night Erin slept well, but she was awoken early by the sound of Maggy’s mother and aunts who were up before dawn, with the intent of solving the problems surrounding Maggy’s wedding.
“Mrs. Mancinni should pay for the flowers.”
“God yes.”
“It was Erin’s mistake.”
“She can’t afford it!”
“Not a penny to her name.”
“Maybe she can talk the priest into it.”
“Do you think?”
“No! Don’t be daft.”
While the sisters sipped tea, Erin got ready for work and slipped away as quickly as possible.
When she arrived at the office, Lila had already made plans for them to go to Mrs. Mancinni’s to check on the preserved stone.
“Thank you for your help, Lila,” said Erin, as they waited for the car, outside in the cool morning air.
Erin stood still amongst the rivers of people who flowed past her in and out of the building.
"Why is it?" thought Erin. “All I can manage to do is be rescued.”
