Queen of the Skye

Madi took in a shaky breath as she sat in her… unlocked car. Last week she had gone to Atlanta and had ALL of her cooking supplies, including her glorious Kitchen Aid, named Eloise, in the back seat. Her car does not lock, and never has. Now, why anyone would steal cookware, she would never know. That night she had driven home with an empty back seat, completely lacking and cookie-like contents.

Now Madi sat in the Publix parking lot about to start a new collection of cooking supplies. She was about to buy trays, bowls, cookies sheets, cookie ingredients, and wooden spoon. She walked through the aisles in a fog. Only she could be this heart broken over cookware.

Finally walking up to the check out line, her grocery cart piled high with new supplies and ingredients, she began unloading everything onto the conveyor belt. It was only a few moments later that she realized who was checking out her items… and her. She immediately looked at her feet and wiped way some stay tears. This boy… this man was so uniquely attractive. She could feel his dark eyes eyes looking at her.

“You alright?” Madi heard him ask.

Madi considered this for a moment, looking up at him. “Well…” she said as her voice quivered. She was suddenly terribly afraid of bursting into tears in front of this indefinitely attractive Publix boy.

“It’s okay if you cry in front of me. I have all sisters.” His face was so sincere as he said this that it practically made all the tears go away. Now the feeling in her heart was replaced by the shaky beating of nervousness.

She sighed. “Well, I have had an awful week. I went to Atlanta for a baking class, and signing in to absolutely forever. I left all of my cookware in the car because I didn’t want to be standing there with 20 pounds of cooking supplies. The thing is, my car doesn’t lock and by the time I went back out to bring it all in, everything had been stolen.”

He nonchalantly picked up half of her bags and began walking out to her car with her. Madi continued to tell the story of her missing cookware as they stood in front of her red beaten up explorer. The whole time he stood listening intently letting her talk.

“So now I can’t go to the cooking class and I have to start all over again with my cookware collection.” Madi suddenly felt ten times better telling this to a complete stranger. She couldn’t help but notice the way the setting sun shone against his face, making his hazel eyes glitter and shine.

For a moment there was silence and he looked steadily at Madi. She couldn’t bare to keep his gaze and looked at the ground.

“Well… thank you for helping me carry my bags to my car…” Madi said, trying to insinuate the need for his name.

“You’re welcome,” he answered with a white smile. “I’m Tray Parker.”

“Madi McEver,” she said.

There was another pause in conversation, until Tray said, “I’m really sorry about your cookware. Don’t hesitate to stop by our Publix to pick up your supplies and ingredients.” You would think he would be mocking her, but he was so sincere and genuine.

“Thank you.” Madi answered with a smile.

“I’m sure I’ll be seeing you Madi,” Tray said.

“Bye Tray,” Madi said, swooning on the inside. As she got into her car, she watched him walk back inside. She began pulling out of the parking lot, in time to see Tray look over his shoulder at her car.

For the next weeks, Madi always offered to go buy the groceries at Tray’s Publix. She always got into his line, and they always had small talk that made her heart simply melt. He always walked out to her car, carrying her bags, asking her about her life.

One day after a grocery trip, Madi had her two friends, Amy and Jess, over at her house. They sat in her kitchen talking about Tray the Publix boy.

“Madi, I think that you two will make impossibly gorgeous children,” Jess said dreamily, already imagining their future lives together.

“Hmm…” Madi mused, smiling.

“You know, every time he sees you in his line, his heart probably smiles,” Jess said again.

“Well… maybe I guess. But I’ve been wondering. Does he just have small talk with me, making me think that I’m considerably important to him, or does he have small talk with everyone?” Madi thought out loud. Her face was covered in a blanket of worry and confusion.

“I doubt he has small talk about people’s personal lives with everyone. And didn’t you say he always says he can’t wait to see you again. I doubt bag boys say that to the common person,” Amy said.

“Maybe…” Madi wondered. She tried to convince herself that this had to be true, but she still had her doubts. I mean she’d never had a boyfriend, so Madi had difficulty defining guys flirting signs.

Jess sat at the bar, staring off into space with a dreamy expression.

“Jess, what are you thinking about?” Amy asked.

“I’m trying to figure out if Madi and Tray’s children with be gingers or not.”

Madi stood leaning against her car, talking to Tray. They had come into a comfortable friendship of hellos and intimate small talk. Today Tray had been asking her about her brother’s peanut allergy and that forcing her to eat soy butter and jelly sandwiches.

“I mean but really, that’s awful. Peanut butter is the best thing since sliced bread,” Tray insisted. “I can’t believe you can’t have it at your house. I might just cry if that ever happened to me.”

“It’s sad. So. Very. Sad. But I have grown accustomed to it. Soy butter really isn’t that bad.” Madi loved the way he talked about crying. He was a sensitive young man.

“So… I was wondering…” Tray began to ask. Once Madi finished loading her grocery bags she looked over at him. “Yah?”

He sucked in a breath. “What are you doing Saturday?”

In the time it took an angry woman to slap her husband, Madi looked like a deer in headlights. She said nothing.

“I mean, if you’re busy… You don’t have to… maybe another day…” Tray said uncomfortably, rubbing his foot against the pavement.

“Yes.” Madi blurted. “I… I mean I’m not doing anything. Saturday. Nothing. What did you have in mind?” Madi’s words ran together in a jumble of nerves.

Tray looked back up at her, a glimmer of hope in is dark hazel eyes. “Well… Do you like horses?”

The deer-in-headlights look vanished and Madi brightened. “I love horse!”

Tray smiled a shy, victorious smile. “I know we don’t know each other that well, but I want it to be a surprise. Here’s my number.”

“Wait no,” Madi blurted. “I’ll give you my number. That way you have to pursue me.”

Tray was at first taken by surprise, but in an instant he smiled. “Okay,” he agreed. “I’ll call you tonight.”

Tray had indeed called Madi that night. For a week they had talked on the phone and texted each other. Madi and Tray had talked about everything from her obsession with Frank Sinatra to his relationship with his crazy uncle. Apparently Tray’s uncle always forgot people’s birthdays, and when he did remember he always sent the strangest presents. One year his dad got a CD of Bluegrass Disney music and Tray had gotten a Framed poster of different colored monkeys.

On Saturday morning Madi kept thinking First date… oh gosh. First date… oh gosh. First date… oh gosh. Tray picked her up and was so gallantly charming with her parents that there would be no way for them to not love him. Even Mr. Scott, who was shining the barrel of an empty gun, was swept away by his polite demeanor.

Tray was able to keep their date a secret, even when they arrived at a random farm with a dilapidated barn house.

“Um… where on earth are we Tray Parker?” Madi asked curiously yet nervously.

Tray just smiled and opened her door for her. They walked up to the yellow farmhouse. An old man opened the door and he turned out to be Tray’s grandfather. He was a gentle, funny man who smelled of sweet, smoky cigars. His house was covered in yellowing floral wallpaper.

“Please call me John,” Tray’s grandfather said. He had a mischievous smile.

“We are going to paint granddad’s barn today. I hope you don’t mind manual labor,” Tray informed, moving his perfectly shaped eyebrows.

So almost all morning and afternoon Madi and Tray painted Granddad John’s barn a beautiful bright red like a plastic cookie bowl. They got into a paint fight and Tray was soon covered in red because Madi overpowered him with her feminine charms and strength.

After changing into different clothes, Madi wandered into the barn only to find a gorgeous white horse. She squealed.

“This is Chief, my horse,” Tray said. Madi then notice a second horse, less gorgeous, but nonetheless pretty. “And that’s Sun Drop. He’s slightly retarded. I’ll ride him and let you ride Chief.”

Madi smiled broadly at his chivalry, and they rode off into the grass hills of Dallas, Georgia.  The sun was setting, and Tray happened to have changed into a white v-neck button-up shirt like on the romance novels. He looked like an angle, not a human.

At the top of a hill, Tray jumped of Sun Drop the retarded horse and picked Madi a bundle of daisies. She took them happily, because they were her favorite flowers.

“How did you know?” Madi asked.

“Because daisies are the friendliest flowers, and you are so very friendly Madi McEver.”

That absolutely captivated Madi’s heart. Only a truly glorious young man would quote the movie “You’ve Got Mail.”

After they were finished horseback riding and said goodbye to Grandpa John, Tray drove them to Steak and Shake. They ordered, and Madi was so busy telling Tray about the red Kitchen Aid she wanted that she didn’t even notice how fast he ate his burger. After about ten seconds, Madi looked at his empty plate.

Madi gasped. “Who stole your burger Tray?!”

Tray laughed a heartfelt laugh. “I already ate it.”

Madi’s eyes got huge. “Oh.” Well, at least now she knew that this boy would eat her baking gratefully.

Tray drove her home after a wonderful day together in his red Ford pick up truck from the 50s. The entire way home they listened to Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald. He walked her to her door. Before saying goodbye, he gave her a wonderfully enveloping hug. Madi rested her head against his shoulder and sighed. This had absolutely been the best freakin’ day ever.

So Madi and Tray Parker the Publix boy were now dating. They spent most days together, but not to the point were they had separation anxiety from each other. Madi often met him at Publix during his breaks and they would eat lunch together. They would go to the movies, go horseback riding, and more and more often they would bake cookies together.

One day while buying groceries, Madi got in Tray’s check out line.

“Well hey pretty lady,” He said dramatically. “What’s cookin’ good lookin’?”

Madi laughed. As they talked, they didn’t notice a girl watching them. It was Christine, the deceptive customer service girl. She had loved Tray Parker ardently for years but was too pushy and Tray didn’t like pushy girls. She was currently giving Madi the stink eye, willing her head to explode.

“So I’m planning this amazingly huge dinner for this month’s girls night,” Madi was explaining. “It’s to celebrate the beginning of summer. I’m going to cook different courses and everything. Maybe even bake a cake.”

“Well if you would like any help Mads, I’ll be around,” He said.

So for a long time Madi and Tray were dreamily happy together, occasionally fighting, but able to get through it. That’s what relationships are all about, right? As Madi was preparing for the glorious Girls Night dinner, she hadn’t had much time to be at Publix with Tray. She needed to be planning.

But one day Madi was picking Tray up to go to Freedom Church with her from work. He wasn’t at his check out line so she asked his manager, Steve, were he might be. Steve said he was stocking shelves.

Madi walked to find him, and she stopped in front an aisle. Her heart stopped. Tray and Christine were kissing. Tray turned away from Christine and looked at Madi, panicked. In a moment, Madi felt the rush of a thousand heartbreaks. She ran out of Publix.

She did her best to stop the tears as she climbed into her car. It was too much. Her first boyfriend… had… had… She couldn’t even bring herself to say the words. She saw Tray run out of the store, franticly looking for her.

Madi was swerving out of the parking lot, just missing Tray. He jumped back on the sidewalk, avoiding her speeding car.

For two weeks Madi ignored Tray’s pleads for forgiveness. He called her five times a day, texted her about fifteen times a day, wrote her emails, and even sent her hand written letters. Madi ignored all of these with a broken heart.

On the night of Girls Night, after preparing the amazing meal alone, Madi was trying to keep her mind off of her deceptive skank of an ex-boyfriend. There were over fifteen girls at this Girls Night, making it a loud and crazy event.

While playing signs, a confusing game that few understood, one girl named Katie Head saw a boy walking down the driveway from an old red Ford pick-up truck.

“It’s a boy,” she said.

Suddenly all the girls swarmed the front doors. Screaming.

“IT’S A BOY!”

“OH MY GOSH!”

“IT’S A BOY!”

“HE’S WALKING UP THE DRIVEWAY!”

“IS THAT MADI’S EX-BOYFRIEND?”

Madi walked up to the pile of girls at the front door. It was indeed Tray walking up the driveway with something red and shiny in his hands. She went out to the front porch and waited for him to come to the end of the walk.

When he arrived at the bottom of the porch steps, Madi gasped. Tray was carrying a glittering, cherry red Kitchen Aid, so freshly bought that it still smelt like the cardboard box it had come out of. If this was his way of apologizing… Well… She might become easily persuaded.

“Look Mads…” Tray began. “I know you’re pissed at me. You have every right to. But you have to believe me when I say that Christine kissed me. She’s liked me forever. I never felt the same way so I was just polite and tried to ignore her.”

Madi’s face was scrunched up like it does when she gets angry, yet on the verge of tears.

“I was just stocking the shelves before the end of my shift when she walks up to me. I was tuning her out like I usually do, and then all of a sudden she’s telling me her parents won’t be home that night and asks if I want to come over and hang out. Before I can say no she’s jumping on me and kisses me. Honest.” Tray’s face was broken and you could easily see how horrible he felt.

Behind them, all the girls were peering intently on the scene outside. Somehow Tray took no notice of them, only concerned about what Madi was about to say.

She stayed quite for a long while, contemplating everything Tray had said. She so wanted to believe him. He had always been sincere and honest to her. Even when they were hanging out at Publix and Christine had been giving Tray googley eyes and Madi the stink eye, he had only had eyes for her.

She looked from Tray, the Kitchen Aid, to Tray again, and then to the sky.

“Okay. I believe you. I forgive you.”

Tray set the red Kitchen Aid on the first step and ran to hug her. The sound of loud but muffled clapping and cheering can from inside. Tray laid his head against Madi’s hair, breathing in a sigh of relief. Madi breathed in his sent. He smelled of sweet laundry after hanging on a wind blown laundry line.

“Oh, by the way. I took the liberty of naming your Kitchen Aid. Her name is Paisley,” he whispered into her ear.

Madi swooned. They both went inside together and she introduced her boyfriend to all of her most beloved friends. He was even aloud to eat the fantastic meal with the girls because they all adored him so much. This was a good development since this was a Girls Night. Throughout dinner Madi and Trey shared a series of happy glances. All the while Jess was grinning like a Cheshire cat because she had seen all this from the very beginning. And so began Jess’ matchmaking future.

Madi McEver and Tray Parker dated all through college, going through the ups and downs of an honest relationship. Madi went to Berry and Tray went to Shorter, so they were neighbors and spent much time together.

A month after Tray turned twenty-two, his Grandfather passed away of a heart attack. Because he was his only and most beloved grandson, Tray inherited his grandfather’s farm in Dallas, Georgia along with the two horses and an enormous collection of New Mexican quarters.

Though it took time or Tray to recover from the grief of loosing his John, Madi stood by him through the pain. She baked her famous cookies and stayed with him while he was too upset to leave his dorm. In time Tray got better and Madi and his relationship was stronger than ever.

On the evening of Madi’s half birthday, which Tray always celebrated with her as ardently as her regular birthday, they were taking a walk to the old mill on the Berry campus.

“You know I love you Mads, don’t you?” Tray asked.

“Of course. You tell me all the time,” Madi responded. He did indeed tell her all the time. Practically every day. Tray had become very god at showing his emotions over the years.

“Then, you’d say that you don’t get sick of me most of the time we spend together?” he asked.

Madi laughed. “Of course not.”

They stopped on the stony bridge, the murky green water beside them, glittering a strange color under the setting sun. The light of the evening shot through the trees behind Trey. All of a sudden, he bent down on one knee. Madi sucked in a breath, then seemed to stop breathing all together.

“Madison Gail McEver, I loved you from the moment you gushed about your stolen cookware. We’ve gone through life together, and I want that to continue. Would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

Though Madi rarely squealed, (she thought it was strange and embarrassing) at this moment she began breathing again and squealed. Quoting Pride and Prejudice, Madi answered, “Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes!”

Madi and Tray were married seven months later at Frost Chapel on the Berry campus. The Chapel was on top of a perfectly slopping grassy hill. The wedding was everything Madi had always dreamed of. There were daisies overflowing from every open space that brightened everyone’s demeanor.

After the reception and once Madi and Tray had changed clothes, they stood at the top of the hill. Madi, having planned this spontaneous moment for years, smiled broadly. They rolled down the hill, laughing and screaming while their family and friends stood at the top cheering them on.

And so ends this story of Madi and the adorable Publix boy.