Cassie's bridesmaids, who'd worn tight jerseys and jean shorts for the softball game, now were flaunting their bodies in bikini tops and short skirts. I took note of the fact that Mark seemed to be enjoying the show. I also took note of the fact that David barely acknowledged the girls.
David, once more on my team, greeted me warmly, and I felt a tug at my heart.
“Hey,” I responded, not trusting myself to say anything more.
Before I knew what was happening, our team of eight divided itself into four pairs, and I was alone with David and a list of items to collect.
“Looks like we're a couple again,” he said with a mischievous grin.
I crossed my eyes at him. Then I turned my attention to our list.
“Two gold coins,” I read.
“The Hispaniola?” David asked.
“Very good. How did you know that?”
“We went swimming over there once. After closing. Don't you remember?”
I gulped. I did remember. I remembered not wearing much at the time, too. My face heated up. Fortunately, David had already turned away.
We walked over to the Treasure Island Area and collected our coins from the treasure box on board the ship.
“What's next?” David asked.
“A lettuce leaf.”
After nabbing some romaine from Peter Rabbit's Garden, we made our way to Mary, Mary Quite Contrary to pick a red rose.
David stuck the stem lengthwise between his teeth and grabbed me for a brief tango step. I laughed. He'd always had the ability to make me feel better.
“Where to next?” he asked.
I read from our list, “'An item with writing on it in a language other than English.' I have no clue.”
“What about a bill?” David asked, grabbing his wallet from his back pocket.
He opened up the billfold, picked out a dollar, and then, looking embarrassed, snapped the wallet shut. But not before I'd seen something. Something important. A picture. Of me.
“David...”
“What's the next thing?” he asked, refusing to look at me. I thought of the picture of him in my wallet, the one I'd promised myself I was going to throw away. But hadn't.
But what good would it do to tell him? So he hadn't stopped caring about me, nor I for him. We still had the same problem. He wanted to get married, and I didn't.
So I said, “We're done. Now we're supposed to meet up at the mini-golf game.”
“After you. Man, it's hot.” David handed me the bill and flower so he could remove his shirt. I struggled to keep from leering at him.
At the Alice in Wonderland mini-golf game, we handed our items to Cassie, and joined the line at the “19th Hole.” A free game was usually the prize for a direct shot into the Queen of Heart's mouth, but today the first person to score would share a giant fruit basket with the rest of his or her team. That would then signal the end of this particular event.
Jenny was next up, and I raised my eyebrows at David. Mark came up behind her and placed his hands on her hips to guide her swing, in a cliched gesture I'd seen in several films. I cut my eyes to Cassie, whose face had crumpled. Did she suspect? Mark and Jenny looked awfully chummy, and I wondered if their relationship really was over.
Jenny giggled and pushed Mark's hands away. Then she proceeded to score a hole in one and a victory for her team. Mark picked her up and swung her in a circle.
David took me aside as everyone handed in their flamingo golf clubs and hedgehog balls to Cassie.
“Did you see that?” he asked me.
“Oh, yes. It was hard not to.”
“Old habits are hard to break?”
“I can't believe this. Did you see Cassie? I think she knows. Or at least has an inkling.”
David nodded. “I wonder if she'll be calling off the wedding.”
We watched as Cassie climbed nimbly on top of the giant mushroom nearby, sat down behind the caterpillar, and wrapped her longs legs around it.
“Thanks, everyone!” she said, brushing her red curls behind her ears. “An hour and a half until the dinner!”
“Looks like it's still a go,” David whispered to me. “See you at the dinner.”
I tried not to stare at the taut muscles in his bare back as he walked away.
Once I'd showered and dressed back at my cottage, I perused my wedding checklist. I felt confident that I was ready. I couldn't ignore the gnawing feeling in my stomach, however. I tried to analyze it, but came up with too many possibilities to figure it out. Maybe I doubted Mark's affection for Cassie, especially given his actions toward Jenny earlier. Probably, I worried they were too young to make this commitment. My usual distrust of marriage entered into it as well. But I knew there was another level. If I were to look deep enough, I might find a little tiny bit of envy. Maybe I wanted it to be David and me getting married. The thought overwhelmed me, so I quickly grabbed my purse and left for the car.
After we'd stuffed ourselves with pasta, salad, and garlic bread at the rehearsal dinner, David stood to make a toast.
"To the young couple," he began. "You give us old geezers hope."
This elicited a laugh from everyone but me.
"But, seriously, I'd like to read a poem I wrote."
I snapped my head up. Poem? David wrote poetry? This was definitely new, or at least something he had kept from me. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Ground me my darling, uncloud my judgment, unearth my goodness, and spring into my soul," David read from a slightly crumpled piece of lined paper.
Caitlin, who was sitting to my right, nudged me, and looked at me wide-eyed. I just shrugged my shoulders.
"In return, I shall rain affection upon you, hail your virtues, and wind myself around your heart." David's voice, tentative at first, grew stronger as he warmed to his subject.
"I will fall for you, and you for me. Love will bloom, and we will live together in a world of endless suns." He smiled out at the crowd, folded up the paper, and placed it back in his pocket.
I gasped. David, my David, had written that?
A round of applause and whistles resounded throughout the dining room. Mark stood to shake David's hand.
"Did you know he wrote poetry?" Caitlin whispered.
"No. I sure didn't," I said. My ex was full of surprises.
When the dinner wrapped up, everyone headed for the parking lot. Caitlin, who was riding with Cassie and Mark, hugged me. I watched David leave with Mark's father. I'd had the thought of congratulating him on his poem, but I didn't have the chance. I looked around. It seemed that everyone was coupled up. I, as usual, was alone.
Of course, this was the way I preferred it. I enjoyed my own company. It was...easier.
My life was organized. I liked that. When I put something away, I knew where to find it again. I could watch what I wanted on TV, eat what I wanted for dinner...
And chores? I couldn't imagine fighting about whose turn it was to wash the dishes or fold the laundry. Arguments over trivialities like that would surely suck the life from a relationship.
But tonight, my heart felt heavy. Could it happen? Could two people really live together in "a world of endless suns," as David had put it? What about all the cloudy, even stormy, days?
My alarm blared at me at five the next morning. Wedding Day! I quickly showered and dressed, and drove to work.
The park would be closed all day. Usually when we had an after-hours event, I kept the park open on its usual schedule. But as combination wedding planner/maid of honor, I had my hands full. I knew I would get some flak from our usual customers, not accustomed to having their favorite park closed on a Sunday. Besides that, the weather was perfect. Sunny and clear, but not hot. I knew dozens of people would be disappointed when they read our "CLOSED DUE TO SPECIAL EVENT" sign at Rapunzel's Castle.
I toured the park first thing, picking up stray pieces of garbage and checking our storybook boxes. Our weddings were always popular, not only for our charming recep
tion settings, but because guests enjoyed experiencing the park afterward. Cassie's ceremony was scheduled for five, the reception at 6:30. Guests would have plenty of time in between to explore the park.
At the Cinderella Courtyard a few hours later, as I busily accepted deliveries of the flowers, the tableware, and the castle-shaped cake, I once more gazed at the spot where David had proposed. Should I have said yes? How strange to think that we could be married now. David would probably be with me, helping with the set-up. My heart ached at the thought.
"Aunt Megan? Can I talk to you for a sec?"
"Sure, honey.” I was busy writing place cards for four last-minute guests who had been able to attend the wedding after all.
“I think Mark was involved with Jenny.”
I stopped what I was doing to look at Cassie. "Does it matter, honey? He loves you, you're about to get married, and you're going to live happily ever after." I was really getting good at this.
"I don't know if any of that is true,” she said, looking out the window.
I stood to put my hands on her shoulders. "Cassie, what are you saying?"
She smoothed her princess gown over her flat stomach.
"I've always suspected, well..."
"What?"
"That he was ambivalent about us. That he liked her. And sometimes I just couldn't reach him, you know? And did you see them at mini-golf?”
I nodded miserably.
“Has David said anything to you? About Mark's feelings for me, I mean?”
I gulped. The ceremony was set to begin in ten minutes. What should I do? On the one hand, I didn't believe in marriage, and the fact that Mark wasn't 100 percent sold on Cassie was alarming to me. On the other hand, well, the ceremony was to begin in ten minutes. Maybe Cassie was just experiencing cold feet. Should I tell her what I knew?
"It's okay,” Cassie said with a sigh. “I can tell from your face. I can't marry him."
"Are you sure, sweetie? I know he loves you." I hope he loves you.
She shook her head slowly. "Maybe. But we're so young. It's probably too early to make a commitment like this."
I refrained from telling her she might have come to this conclusion a little sooner. Before we'd planned a wedding for one hundred people.
"Then you shouldn't do it,” I said instead.
"Can you tell him?" she asked.
I nodded over and over, trying but failing to convince myself.
Mark and the groomsmen, including David, were already at the altar awaiting the bridal procession.
I walked partway down the aisle and looked at David, who, bless his heart, knew me well enough to tell from my face that something was wrong. He came down the aisle to meet me.
I whispered, "She knows. About Jenny.”
David sighed heavily and looked around the church.
"She doesn't want to go through with it,” I added.
David nodded, and I immediately knew two things. One, he would fix everything. And, two, I would never love another man as much as I loved him.
Thirty minutes later, I congratulated myself on how well we'd handled everything. The gifts were returned, the flowers were delivered to a nearby hospital, and the food had been divided up among the guests. A number of people had stayed behind and were now touring the park. Yes, everything had gone quite civilly. That is, until...
"You asshole," Cassie screamed at Mark, her fist pumping. They stood several feet apart in front of the pumpkin. Although Cassie now wore a tank top and shorts, her hair was still piled elaborately on top of her head. The updo threatened to come undone with each shake of her fist.
“Goodbye, then! Have a nice life!” Mark stomped off toward the exit.
Cassie pressed her forehead against the side of the pumpkin and covered her head with her hands. She began to cry.
David walked up to her, murmured something, and gently led her over to me.
"What happened, honey?" I asked.
"He wants me to reimburse him for the rehearsal dinner! And he said he chose the wrong one of us."
"Oh, sweetie. Do you want me to take you home?"
"No. Mom's waiting in the car. Thank you for everything. And I'm really sorry."
"Don't say another word about it. You go home and take care of yourself."
An hour later, David and I sat on the deck of the Hispaniola, our bare feet dangling in the water. We were nibbling on wedding cake, a delicious concoction of chocolate, whipped cream, and cherries.
"I don't think I've ever seen Cassie so...strident," David said, and we both laughed.
"I shouldn't laugh," I said. "She's very upset."
David turned to me. "I know. But she's young. She'll find someone else. As for you, if you weren't interested in marriage before, I'm sure you really aren't now."
I became serious. "I'm sorry, David. So sorry. For not accepting your proposal."
"What was it exactly, Meg? You never told me. Because your dad had an affair?"
I shook my head. "No. It wasn't only that. I think there was betrayal way before that. In any relationship. We start out...so nice to each other. So considerate. And complimentary. And then..."
"We take each other for granted? Is that what happened with us?"
I thought carefully. “No. Not really. Surprisingly.”
"Maybe it could be different for us.”
Isn't that what my sister had said? “Maybe. Yes, I think it could.”
David cocked his head. "Are you telling me...?"
"David Arellano, will you marry me?”
Storyworld never did get a fairy tale wedding that summer.
David and I married on top a mountain at the state park where he worked. Just as we recited our vows, the combination of light and reflection in the lake below created just what David had promised in his poem: a world of endless suns.
I am now a believer.
If you enjoyed this story, you may like my romance e-novella, Storybook Love, also set at a storybook park. Storybook Love is available on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Storybook-Love-Park-Romance-ebook/dp/B0056BOS1K/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_1
Something Old, Something New: A Storybook Park Short Romance Page 2