We’re finally on our way when Andrew turns on the radio. Ella’s parents used to own a chain of record stores, so Ella knows her music. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before. The wheels start turning as my smile turns devilish. I turn around and give Ella a wink, so she knows to play along. This was a special code we use with each other all the time in school. Ella nods and I start to lay the ground work by singing along to “Fastest Girl in Town” by Miranda Lambert.
“Ah. Are you ready for a rematch Bailey?” Andrew asks.
“Sure, best of three. Loser buys lunch,” I agree.
“You’re on,” he says.
The first song to play is “Ten” by Jewel, and I know it right away, but I let him call it out just faster than I do. I glance back at Ella and see that she understands where I’m going with this. The next song that Andrew guesses is “Pontoon” by Little Big Town. In school, all I play is the country station on Pandora, and I have been caught singing and dancing to both of these songs in my room.
“Honey, you’re off your game today. Chocolate on the brain? Country is usually the only station you can take me on, and Jewel is your favorite,” Andrew gloats.
“I think you’ve been studying up on country music behind my back. Alright, the next song is coming on. You’re going down,” I threaten.
When the next song comes on, I almost choke on the water I’m drinking. “When the Stars Go Blue” was playing in the bar when Andrew kissed me. He jumps on the advantage of me choking and yells out the lyrics before I can swallow.
“I win! I win! You’re springing for lunch,” he celebrates.
“Double or nothing, you pick the station?” I offer.
“You’re on, name the wager,” he says.
“Best of three, new station each time, loser buys the other three in the car a shopping spree in Chocolate World.”
Emerson starts cheering. “Do it Daddy! I win no matter what.”
“Last stipulation, you’re playing Ella,” I add.
Andrew looks in his review mirror to see Ella shaking her head.
“Don’t bring me in on your wacky games. I hate country,” she scoffs.
“Oh, come on Ella, I’ll even let you pick the first station,” Andrew baits her.
She hesitates for a second; she could have been an actress. “Alright, I guess I’ll give it a try, but when I lose, you are splitting the bill with me Bailey,” Andrew asks.
“What kind of music do you want Ella?”
“60s,” she replies.
“Hmm. The 60s, I like it.” Andrew flips through the stations and stops one before the 60s station and says. “Ready?”
“As I’m going to be,” she replied rolling her eyes.
Andrew flips to the next station and three notes don’t fill the air before Ella is singing the lyrics to “My Girl.” Andrew’s jaw drops. Literally drops.
I start laughing. “I think I’ve been played. Alright,” he says recovering quickly, “next station is my pick. The 70s.”
Again, Ella sings the lyrics to “Go Your Own Way” by Fleetwood Mac before Andrew can take his hand off the knob.
“Alright, what gives? Who’s the music wiz in the back?” Andrew pouts.
“Ella’s parents owned a chain of record stores. She worked in the stores from the time she was twelve until she graduated from college and got her teaching job. There is no way you are coming back from this one,” I laugh.
Andrew just shakes his head. “Played. For a chocolate shopping spree. Okay Miss Expert. Is there any station that I might have a chance in beating you?” he questions.
“Not really, but your best bet might be the teeny bop kid music. I can’t stomach that crap,” Ella explains.
Andrew starts flipping through channels. “Okay, ready?” Ella nods and Andrew flips one last time. This time it takes a few seconds before all three girls in the car start singing “Blurred Lines” word for word. Andrew is clueless.
“I thought you said I had a chance,” he groans.
“No, I said I couldn’t stomach it, not that I didn’t know it.”
“Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate.” Emerson starts chanting in the background.
“You’ve created a monster!” Andrew says as he just continues to shake his head. We keep the station locked to the kids’ bop station and sing pre-teen songs about love and break ups he rest of the way there.
“Bailey, can I ride with you?” Emerson asks as she bounces up and down.
“You bet sweetie.” Bailey answers as she reaches for Emerson’s hand.
“You guys go ahead. I’m going to go to the bathroom quickly before we go on any really good rides,” I announce as I back out of line.
“Are you wimping out on the first ride?” Bailey kids.
“No, but someone made me get up at a horribly early hour so we could be first in line when they opened. That required me to drink two very large cups of coffee.” I kiss Emerson and Bailey both on the forehead.
“Hey, where’s mine?” Ella complains.
I shake my head as I turn away. I have only a few minutes to get everything together for my proposal. Jake is waiting for me by the Kissing Tower when I round the corner.
“Hey, man. You nervous?” Jake asks as he starts unloading the bags.
“Not at all. I can’t wait to see her reaction. Did you meet up with the manager yet?”
“He’s going to meet me here any minute, and he said he already has plenty of volunteers.”
“Great, and you still have the ring?” I ask.
Jake’s face drops, and he starts patting all of his pockets.
“Tell me you didn’t forget the ring,” I ask, worried. Jake smiles and pulls it out of his back pocket.
“Chill man, everything’s going to be perfect,” he says, smirking.
“I’ll hand it off to you at the snack shack. Relax Andrew, you’ve thought of everything.”
“Okay, buddy, I’ll see you in an hour.”
I run back to the ride just as the girls are getting off. I figure we have time for two or three rides before I have to push her in the direction of the Kissing Tower. Emerson comes running up to me and jumps into my arms.
“Daddy, you missed a great ride!” Em squeals.
“I know baby, but I’ll ride the next one with you. Where to girls?”
“This way,” Bailey announces as she pivots on her heel and bounces down the road with Emerson at her side.
“She really loves this place doesn’t she?” Ella asks.
“Yeah, I remember her dragging us all here on spring break our senior year. Dave got so mad because he wanted to go to the shore. But that didn’t bother her. She had a ball all day long.”
“Is everything ready?” Ella whispers.
I smile and fall into line behind our fearless leader. I have to admit, Bailey knows her stuff. There are no lines on any of the big rides. Maybe because she made us sprint, yes sprint, to the very back of the park as soon as we walked through the turnstiles.
The next hour flies by in no time at all.
“Who’s getting hungry?” I ask everyone. After hearing a chorus of ‘me’, I volunteer to go get some snacks.
“Why don’t we slow it down for a few rides? You guys go get in line for the Kissing Tower, and I’ll meet you there with some snacks.
“Emerson, did you know that if you ride the Kissing Towers with someone you really love and you get to the top, you should kiss them and make a wish your wish, then will come true.” I explain as we wait in line.
“Who am I going to kiss when I get up there?” Emerson asks.
“Your daddy of course. He’ll help make all your wishes come true.”
Andrews’s arms come around my shoulders and hug me tight. “I hope to do the same for you as well.” My heart skips a beat, and I sigh leaning back into him.
It’s our turn to get on. Emerson sits down on one side of me and Andrew’s on the other, holding my hand. We slowly start to spin as we rise in the
air. About half way up the spire, Andrew starts handing out the goodies.
“A Hershey with Almonds for Ella because she’s a nut. A Krackle bar for Emerson, because you Krackle me up.” Emerson rolls her eyes and giggles. “And a Hershey’s Special Dark for my special girl,” he finishes as he leans in to kiss my nose.
“Not yet.” I yell as I back away. “We’re not at the top yet. If you don’t do it at the top your wish won’t come true.” I wait a few seconds until we stop rising then turn to Ella who is uncharacteristically quiet at the end of our group. I lean in and kiss her cheek.
“What’s your wish?”
“That I can find someone to settle down with,” she admits. My eyebrows rise at this. Settle down? Ella? Interesting.
“Emerson, your turn. What’s your wish?” I ask.
Emerson waits for a second then looks at the candy bar in her hand. “I wish we could all just eat our chocolate now.”
Andrew leans across me and takes Emerson’s head in his hands and kisses her forehead as everyone laughs. All eyes are now expectantly on me. I turn in my seat to face Andrew who is staring at me. He has a smile on his face that makes me smile in turn. Oh, the things this man can do to me.
“I wish we could eat our chocolate too,” Andrew says with the smile still planted on his face.
“You guys have no imagination,” I mumble.
“Bailey, open the damn candy bar,” Ella grits through her teeth making Andrew laugh nervously.
“Alright, I’ll eat my chocolate. I start to rip into the packaging when I notice it isn’t a normal Hershey’s bar. I take off the wrapping and see that the candy bar is wrapped in a second piece of paper. On baby blue paper is printed “Look Down” in pretty cursive writing.
“Look down?” I look down at my feet. The ride stops at that moment which freaks me out a little, because it’s not supposed to stop. It slowly spins and rises, then pauses at the top to allow you a beautiful 360 degree view of the park, before slowly spinning its way back down. In all my years of riding the Kissing Tower, it has never stopped at the top.
“Down there,” Emerson giggles as she points out the window of the ride.
I stand up from my seat and look out the Kiss shaped window. Down on the ground are people holding up signs with letters on them. They all start running around and mixing themselves up. The signs go down while the people continue to move. Then, once all the people are standing in even rows, the signs start popping up again, one at a time.
B-A-I-L-E-Y-M-A-R-R-Y-U-S. The second R pops up, and I gasp. Once they are all up, I turn around and Andrew and Emerson are both down on their knees with boxes in their hands. Ella is standing next to us taping the whole thing on her iPhone.
“Bailey, I know I have a mommy already, but I was wishing that you would be my second mommy. I love you like a mommy already.” At this point, tears are streaming down my face. A stranger next to me hands me a tissue. I get down on my knees with Emerson.
“Nothing would make me happier than if I could be your second mommy. Thank you so much for asking me.” I swoon, pulling her into a hug.
“I picked this out for your bracelet. Now you’ll have a charm from me, and you can remember this day for always.”
I open the box. In it is a mother daughter charm, two tiny interlocked hearts.
“Oh Emerson, I love it,” I choke out a sob.
I grab her and hug her tight.
I feel Andrew’s hand on my shoulder. “My turn.” He takes his hand in mine and raises it up, so I stand. He stays kneeling in front of me.
“I knew from the moment I met you in college that you were the most beautiful woman in the world. I quickly fell hard for you when I got to know you more. We went our separate ways, and I will never forgive myself for the time I spent away from you. Now that I’m with you, now that I am so close to you, it’s unbearable to be away from you. I don’t want to wait to start my eternity with you.” He starts to get choked up. His next words come shakily. “You have opened my eyes to so many things. You have opened my heart again when I thought I’d never love again. You have opened your heart to my daughter. I would love nothing more than if you would be my wife. Be my real.”
Everyone on the ride is silent and watching me, waiting for my answer. I can’t speak. It is a moment that truly takes my breath away. I lean down to hug him and whisper “yes” in his ear.
He jumps up and screams, “She said yes!”
Emerson starts jumping up and down screaming, and everyone on the ride starts clapping. My hand is shaking as he puts the ring on my finger. Ella grabs me, spins me around, and hugs me while Emerson is hanging on my leg. I look over Ella’s shoulder to see a beaming Andrew taking it all in. Slowly the ride starts to spin and make its descent. Everyone around us sits back down.
Emerson jumps in my lap and Andrew puts his arm around my shoulder. I rest my head on Andrew’s shoulder. Ella grabs my hand to look at the ring.
“You did good Lover Boy,” Ella compliments.
“Thanks, I was hoping you’d like it Ella,” Andrew smirks.
We get to the bottom, and the doors open. Everyone outside is cheering as we walk out. Everyone who was holding one of the signs walks up to me and hands me a different bag of candy with a love note attached from Andrew and a single star gazer lily. It smells heavenly, even more than the chocolate scent that permeates the air in Hershey. A man in a suit and tie walks up to us, and everyone gathers around to hear what he has to say.
“On behalf of everyone here at Hershey Park, the sweetest place on Earth, I’d like to congratulate you on your engagement. We hope you will come and join us at the Hershey Spa for your honeymoon.”
My eyes get as big as saucers, and I slowly turn my head toward Andrew, my smile getting bigger and bigger. The Hershey Spa for a honeymoon. Why had that never crossed my mind? Chocolate at every meal, chocolate baths, chocolate mud masks, I’d be in heaven.
“I’m pretty sure we’ll be visiting there soon. Thank you so much for all of your help with everything,” Andrew says shaking his hand.
“You are very welcome. Enjoy the rest of your day at Hershey Park.”
Andrew pulls me in for a kiss. As he pulls away from me, I see his mom walking up to us. She grabs Andrew for a hug.
“Congratulations Andrew, you did a great job son. I’m proud of you,” she kisses him on the cheek then turns to me.
“Thank you for being here Mrs. Cooper,” I say.
“Oh please child, call me Judy, or mom now if you’d like.” Judy takes my hands. “Bailey, I know Andrew hasn’t brought you around too much, but I hope that will change now. I think you are a wonderful woman to love my son and Emerson so completely. Thank you for taking care of them,” she gives me a motherly hug that I can’t say I’ve ever even gotten from my own mother.
“It’s a tough job but someone’s got to do it,” I joke, nudging Andrew playfully.
She laughs and steps aside. I see Jake standing in the back of the crowd collecting the signs from everyone. “Did you help with all this?” I ask walking up to him and giving him a hug.
“A little.” He smiles and kisses me on the cheek, causing me to blush. We don’t spend a lot of time with Jake, because he lives so far away. Hopefully that will change now that he is moving into my house. “Congratulations,” he says as he takes a step back. “I’m really happy for both of you.”
“Aww. You’re just happy that you get to move into my house.”
“Well, there is that,” he laughs.
Jake turns to Emerson and picks her up.
“Hey Emerson, how do you feel about going on the bumper cars with Ella and me?”
“Yeah! I’m going with Ella.” She yells and points to Jake. “You’re going down.”
Ella, Emerson, and Jake walk off telling us they’ll meet up with us soon. Bailey and I decide another ride on the Kissing Tower is in order.
“How long have you had this planned?” she asks once we are settled in our seats.
“Well, that’s a tricky question. How long since I’ve known I was going to ask you to marry me? Since you told me you were single at Skye’s. How long have I had the ring? Since I chased you all the way up to State College.” He explains as he rubs the finger where my beautiful ring is now placed. “When did I come up with this plan? After all the fun we had with the Hershey’s syrup last week. Were you surprised?”
“I had no clue. I can’t believe you pulled this all off without me knowing anything at all.”
“It was all planned in less than a week. That was my only hope of surprising you.”
“Well, you certainly succeeded.”
“I tried several times to contact your mom, so she could be here too. She never called me back. I’m sorry,” he apologies.
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. That’s how my whole life has been with her. When I was a junior in high, I went to the hospital with a concussion and a nasty cut on my head from a soccer game. It took the hospital two hours to get a hold of her, and she didn’t come in to see me until the next day.”
“Wow. I had no idea. You never really talk about her,” Andrew realizes.
“That’s because there really is nothing to say. My relationship with both of my parents is why I have such a hard time showing emotion. That was a no-no growing up. Even if I ever did show any emotion at all, there was rarely anyone around anyway. It’s also why I have been pushing Jessica so hard to have a relationship with Emerson. I know the results of having a mother who doesn’t show her love for you.”
“Well, that’s not a problem, because she has two parents who love her very much.”
That explains so much. Her mom was never there for her, and her dad left them both for a much younger woman to start a new family. I now understand why Bailey has a hard time expressing her feelings. Growing up, my mom told me she loved me every day, and she was always there for me. She came to every game I played in. I can’t imagine not having someone who was there for me at all times.
When we get to the top of the ride, I lean in and give Bailey a sweet kiss and ask her, “What’s your wish?”
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