Page 24

The next day, after thinking of another perfect date spot for a committee meeting, I open a text to my stepsister.

I decide not to tell her that this outing is a setup, because she may be less inclined to come if she knew.

Her mother doesn’t have a lot of faith in any of my abilities, and I don’t know if Sarina feels the same.

Sana: Hey Sarina, great to see you yesterday!

Sarina: Hi Sana! Yes! I love your store.

Sana: Question—A bunch of us are going to High Park on Sunday afternoon to see the cherry blossoms, and Cara said I should invite you. My friend Miles is coming too. He’s great—you’ll like him. It will be the last weekend for the cherry blossoms.

Sarina: That sounds amazing! Absolutely I’ll come. What time?

I give her the time and a meeting place near the park and say I’m looking forward to seeing her again. There . Now I just have to convince Miles to come. On my way to work at Cosmic that evening, I take one of the bags of chocolate-covered gingerbread to Miles at the bookstore.

“What’s this?” he asks after I hand him the blue bag of cookies. He’s at the counter with his laptop in front of him again.

“Chocolate-covered gingerbread. I saw them at Kozlaks’ and thought of you.”

He inspects the picture on the bag. “They’re heart shaped.”

I try not to laugh at that. He’s really, like, allergic to any romantic imagery. “That’s not why I’m giving them to you. They’re great cookies. Try one.”

He opens the bag and takes a bite of one of the little gingerbread hearts. I can see his mood change as he chews. His brows unfurrow, and I swear his eyes almost roll back in his head.

I grin. “Good, right?” I’d been planning to keep the extra bag of cookies that Mrs. Kozlak gave me for myself, but now I think I need to keep them for Miles for when I need to soften him.

He smiles wide. “They’re just like the ones my mom used to buy. Thanks.”

“No problem. Now, question—what are you doing on Saturday? After the stores close?”

“Nothing.”

“Good. We’re all going to see the cherry blossoms at High Park.”

Miles’s smile disappears. “Is this another date?”

I nod. “Yep. This one is perfect for you. She doesn’t even like mice.” I think Sarina doesn’t like mice. To be honest, I don’t know.

He frowns. “Yeah, maybe the setups aren’t such a good idea. I mean, the last two didn’t work, and I’m kind of feeling—”

I put my hand up to stop him. “My stepsister, Sarina, isn’t like the last two,” I say. “You’ll adore her. She’s a business student at U of T. She’s very smart. And even though she’s my stepsister, she’s like… normal.”

“What do you mean, normal ?”

I exhale. “I mean, she’s not, like, weird.” I pause. I don’t know how to say this. “She’s not going to bring mice or toss a fish at you. And she’s not eccentric like me. She’s great.” I think I might be selling Sarina too much here, but I really need Miles to agree.

Miles stares at me for several long seconds. “What makes you think I have an issue with eccentric ?”

I let out a nervous laugh. “I mean you said I was too idealistic . Sarina’s not like that. She’s… realistic. Grounded. She takes everything seriously.”

He stares at me with this intense look in his eyes. I have no idea what he’s thinking, but my stupid heart pounds faster the longer he goes without talking. I can’t stand it.

“I’m going to invite Ajit and Julie too,” I say quickly. “You and Ajit are buddies, right? The High Park cherry blossoms are so beautiful. I’ll bet they are on your list of cheap things to do in Toronto, right? And this is a festival committee meeting, so you have to come.”

He keeps staring at me. “Fine,” he finally says, sighing. “I’ll come.” He looks down at his laptop. “By the way, I got an email from Alex, Su Lin Tran’s assistant in City Hall. Su Lin now has our proposal.”

I clap my hands together. “Yay! We’re totally getting the festival! And we’re going to High Park to celebrate! It’s going to be perfect.”

We don’t hear back from the city that week, so the High Park party isn’t technically a celebration party, but it is a party.

Cara promised she and Hannah wouldn’t ditch us again, and Ajit made a whole bunch of snacks to bring along.

Sarina is waiting in front of High Park subway station when we get there, and the moment I see my stepsister, I know I made the right choice for Miles.

Sarina looks as perfect as always. She’s in pale blue jeans, which are rolled up to her ankles, white sneakers, a pink T-shirt, and a long gray cardigan.

Her hair is loose, and the only makeup I can see on her is a touch of pink lip gloss.

She gives us a shy smile when she sees us, then flips her hair over her shoulder like a shampoo model. Next to her… I feel like a short clown.

I’m wearing a cherry blossom dress I found in a thrift store last year.

It’s bright turquoise with branches all over it, covered with pale pink flowers.

The dress is about mid-calf length, with a full circle skirt and a shawl collar.

I’d thought it was perfect for this outing—until I saw Sarina’s delicate, understated outfit.

But it doesn’t matter what I look like next to Sarina.

All that matters is what Miles thinks of her.

I wave. “Sarina, come meet my friends! This is Julie and Ajit; they own the café on Love Street. Of course, you know Cara, who works at Cosmic Vintage with me. And this is Hannah, and Miles! He goes to TMU and is studying planning! So cool, right?”

I can’t read Sarina’s expression, but I hope she likes what she sees when she meets Miles, because he looks fantastic today. He’s in jeans and a pale beige short-sleeved shirt that has tiny blue flowers on it. I need to remember to ask him if it’s vintage.

Miles, of course, is fully aware that this is a setup, even though Sarina doesn’t know. This way, if disaster strikes like on the other two dates, then Sarina will never know the true reason I invited her here, and Noureen won’t complain about me playing matchmaker.

As expected, High Park is busy. The cherry blossoms, or sakura trees, in this park were a gift to Toronto from Tokyo in the 1950s, and it’s the largest concentration of cherry blossoms in the city.

They are only in bloom about two weeks a year, and of course, everyone wants to see them.

“I wonder if the shops in the area see more business when the flowers are in bloom,” I say to Miles while we walk toward the trees.

Sarina is on the other side of me. Cara, Hannah, Julie, and Ajit are a few paces in front of us.

“Probably,” Miles says.

“The trees are so romantic,” I say. Too bad we can’t get them for the festival.

It would be cool, but I get that it’s not possible.

I grin playfully, turning to Miles. “What do you think, Miles? Should we plant cherry blossom trees in LOL Park for the festival? All this pink would be perfect for the aesthetic. I’m calling the city councillor to add it to our proposal. ”

He, as expected, gives me an incredulous look. “Do you have any idea how long trees take to mature?” he asks. “I doubt they even flower in their first year. We can’t consider every whim that passes your mind. Getting trees would be completely—”

“Impossible,” I say, interrupting him. I giggle and squeeze his arm briefly. “I know we can’t get trees . I literally grew up in a flower shop; cherry blossoms take years to root. But I had you scared, didn’t I?”

He huffs a laugh, rubbing the back of his neck. He’s flustered and embarrassed and ridiculously adorable and…

I’m supposed to be setting him up with my stepsister, not teasing him.

I should leave Sarina and Miles alone. “Oh, I just remembered I need to ask Cara something.” I speed up to catch up with the others.

“Wait up,” Sarina says, running after me. “I need to tell her that halter dress fit perfectly after I had it altered.”

Great. Now we’ve left Miles all alone. Ajit and Julie slow down to walk with Miles, leaving me and Sarina walking with Cara and Hannah.

So far this setup isn’t working. I don’t think Sarina has said two sentences to Miles.

Sarina compliments Cara’s cream sweater—which…

again, what happened to Cara’s retro goth style?

Once we get to a heavy concentration of trees, our group scatters to take pictures. There are hundreds of people around us also taking pictures with their phones. I see a few people with more professional-looking cameras too, and lots of girls in pretty dresses posing with the trees.

The sakura trees are almost… magical. They are absolutely enormous, and each huge tree is entirely covered with small pale pink flowers that contrast perfectly with the cloudless blue sky.

There are so many of these towering pale pink trees in close concentration that the breathtaking beauty in every direction is almost overwhelming.

I come to see the blooms every year, and they have never not left me speechless.

As this is nearing the end of their bloom period, the flowers are losing their petals, so the grass below our feet is carpeted with the same pale pink as the branches.

And with every gust of wind, more pink petals fall, swirling in the air like confetti.

I look for the others. Cara, Hannah, and Sarina are a few paces away, taking pictures. Ajit and Julie are a little closer, taking a selfie together. Miles is suddenly next to me. “Your dress has cherry blossoms on it,” he says.

I look down at my dress, fake horror on my face. “Oh my god… it does! How did that happen?!”

Miles chuckles. “You were wearing sunset colors when we went to see the sunset.”

I grin. “How observant of you.”

“Do you regularly pick clothes based on a theme?”

“Sometimes.” I position my phone in front of me to take a selfie of me with a tree. And of about twelve other people behind me doing the same thing.

“Do you want me to take it?” Miles asks, putting his hand out for my phone.