Naomi stood up and handed Merritt the shopping bag that had been hanging from the handles of Alec’s stroller. Merritt opened it up and delicately pulled out a wedding veil.
“I searched Dad’s house high and low for this,” she said.
“Mom’s wedding veil? I thought it got misplaced when Dad moved to the condo?”
“I think he didn’t have the heart to look through Mom’s things, so I offered to do it.”
“Does he know you’re here?”
Merritt slipped the comb into my hair. “The veil really suits the dress.”
I turned to face her. “Merritt, does Dad know you’re here?” I repeated.
“He does.”
“And he still won’t come to the wedding?’
“We’re working on it,” Naomi said, chiming in.
“He wants to Jo, let’s just give it a little more time.” She picked up the veil and held it up to the dress. “Everything’s right except the color. I’m not sure how I feel about a blush-colored dress and a stark white veil.”
Sylvia lifted the veil to get a closer look at the trim. “We may be able to dye it. Leave it here—let me see what we can do.”
I smiled, pulled the comb out of my hair, and twisted the veil around my arm. “If not, I’ll still have time to order the matching one, right?”
“We can put a rush on it,” Sylvia answered, “but we’ll do our best to get it to match, I’m sure it’s very sentimental for you.”
“It’s fine either way,” I said.
Alec suddenly let out a piercing wail.
“Merri, we’re way past his naptime,” Naomi said, taking him out of the carriage and bouncing him up and down on her knee.
“Go back to the hotel with the baby and get him down. It’s gonna take me a few minutes to wiggle out of this dress, and then I still have to go settle the final payment.”
“You sure?” Merritt asked.
“Yeah, of course. Sam and I will meet you at dinner later, like we planned.”
Merritt leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. “Thank you for inviting us to be a part of today.”
Sylvia motioned to the curtain. “Come, let me help you get changed. I don’t want you getting stuck by a dozen pins trying to get out of the dress.”
I waved Merritt and Naomi off and followed Sylvia back to a changing room, where she painstakingly helped me out of the gown.
“Don’t take what your sister said to heart,” Sylvia said, slipping the dress back onto the hanger. “It’s a spectacular gown, and once we finish all of the alterations, you will look absolutely phenomenal in it.”
My phone was vibrating from inside my bag.
Sylvia handed me a yellow receipt. “I’ll leave you to get dressed. When you’re ready, you can pay the balance in the office adjacent to the reception desk.”
I smiled, reached into the pocket, and pulled out my phone to find a text message from Sam.
Please don’t kill me, but I can’t make dinner tonight. Trying to tie up the last of the loose ends on this deal, so we can have our yes date tomorrow. Have fun with Merritt. I love you.
I typed out a text telling him how disappointed I was that he still hadn’t met Alec and how hurt I thought Merritt and Naomi would be by his excuses . . . and then deleted every word. Sam was doing all of this for us and our future, and how could I be angry at him for that? I texted back a simple, I love you too and put my phone away.
The next morning, I woke up to a large bouquet of yellow teacup roses, and Sam humming away in the kitchen while making us coffee.
“Rise and shine, kid,” he called from the other room. “We’re already behind the yes date schedule.”
I sat up, kicked the blanket off my legs, and looked at the clock. It was 9:00. We weren’t a little behind, we were a lot behind. I jumped out of bed and pulled on my jeans.
“Why didn’t you wake me?” I yelled back to him.
He walked in carrying two steaming mugs of coffee and passed me one.
“You’ve been so crazy with the wedding Boot Camp, I couldn’t even remember the last time you slept in. You looked so peaceful, I didn’t have the heart to wake you.”
“We missed pancakes and strawberry picking. The next activity isn’t until 11:00.”
He set the coffee down on the nightstand and pulled me into his arms. “I have a couple ideas on how to fill the time. What do you say?”
“Hey, Mister, this is my yes date remember, what do you say?”
He lifted me up and carried me back to bed. “Yes, yes, and yes.” And just like that, our dry spell was broken.
Chapter Six
Sam hated Candytopia as much as I’d expected, but, the iron-clad provisions of our yes date agreement required he be completely game for whatever activity I proposed. I, on the other hand, loved Candytopia. I loved everything, from the Wonka-esque gates that welcome visitors to the dreamy gallery where all the art was made from candy and all the exhibits were edible. When we arrived at the pool of marshmallows you could jump into and swim around in, Sam stopped dead in his tracks. When I suggested we take a “dip” he looked at me like I was absolutely insane.
“Do you know how many kids have had their mouths on those marshmallows?” he asked.
I sat down to untie my shoes and patted the ground beside me. “The sign says no shoes.”
“You’re really going to make me go in there?”
I stopped untying my shoe and looked up at him. “Samuel Calver, are you going to force me to recite the formally agreed upon stipulations of the yes date contract?”
He motioned for me to go ahead. I cleared my throat and started, “Clause One states, the planner of the yes date may request any activity whereas the attendee must comply with all said requests. Heretofore, the attendee is under strict obligation to participate in all said activities and do so with a smile on his or her face. Clause Two stipulates the word ‘yes’ is the only acceptable response to any question asked on the aforementioned date.”
“Heretofore? Aforementioned?” He rolled his eyes, took off his coat, and sat down on the ground to slip off his loafers. “I am only doing this because I love you.”
I got up from the ground and pulled my socks up over my ankles. “That’s a good enough reason for me. Ready?”
He mumbled something vaguely resembling the word sure.
I crossed my arms over my chest and threw him my most winning smile. “Sam. Yes date. Are you ready?”
“Yes!” he yelled and hurled his body into the pool. He emerged from under a pile of marshmallows with a huge grin on his face. “What are you waiting for, Jo? Water’s great!”
I opened my arms and pushed off the edge, sinking into the tank. Sam was there, waiting to catch me.
“See, is this so terrible?” I asked.
“I can definitely check swimming in a pool of marshmallows off my bucket list now.”
“I didn’t know it was on your bucket list.”
“I have to have a few secrets, right? So, what’s next on the hit parade? Scuba diving in Jell-O?”
“I have a feeling the next activity will be a little more your speed.”