Erin squinted, her eyes locating the fine needle cutting through the stem of the single red rose. Once removed she cupped the head of the flower in her hands and lifted it to her nose, the smell reminding her of her Nan’s garden as it was when she was a child. The scent quickly sent her into an intoxicating daydream that left her smiling at the days she‘d ran free along the freshly cut grass with her brother.

Her Nan loved her garden, especially the red roses. Her love for them began the day Erin’s granddad gave her Nan a single red rose and a set of gardening gloves for their very first wedding anniversary. It had been tradition since that day to plant a new flower every May, which was the month of their anniversary. Their garden was beaming with colour; the best though was always the red roses.

It was tradition but then of course, Erin’s mother followed her own passion and not her Nan’s. Her mother was not much the gardener, rather a cook and instead opened her own café and called it The Rose Cafe. There by the entrance of The Rose Café, was a basket of red roses from Erin’s Nan’s garden.

Erin closed her eyes and inhaled the scent of the rose again as a soft breeze came from the open window to her right where she knew her friend was sitting.

“Are you ready?” her friend asked.

A voice came softly beside her and she looked up, surprised to see her friend there in front of her waiting for an answer. Looking over her friends shoulder she saw her mum and her Nan both holding a bunch of red roses.

Erin’s mother stepped forward and reached out, taking the single red rose from her in exchange for the bouquet of roses. The single red rose was for him, her husband to be.

“I will make sure he gets it” her mother said softly. “Now, don’t you just look beautiful!” she beamed proudly.

“Absolutely!” her Nan agreed.