Revenge of the Flower Girls

by Jennifer Ziegler

  “Go on, Alex. Prove us right,” I said. “Go get Lily.”

  While Delaney was lucky and got to talk to Alex, I ended up talking to Burton.

  Mom sent me out with Quincy to try to drag him back to his kennel. It took some doing. I got his leash on him, but then it was like trying to pull a small airplane into its hangar — an easily distracted, eager-to-play airplane.

  I finally got him in there with the help of a tennis ball and two jerky treats. Of course he started whining the minute I closed the latch, so I sat next to him and said nice things about him so that he would settle down. It seemed to work. Plus, he found a big glob of frosting on his tail that he could lick up.

  I poked my finger through the bars to stroke his forehead and told him over and over that he was a good boy. But as he grew quiet, I could hear another noise. A loud honking sound.

  I peeked around the corner of the wraparound porch and saw Burton. He was leaning against the wall, blowing his nose into a handkerchief.

  “You all right?” I asked.

  He nodded.

  “Isn’t the wedding about to start?”

  He shook his head. “Mother is cleaning off the ring, and Mavis and Felicia are blow-drying themselves.”

  “Sorry everything is running late,” I said.

  He shrugged.

  “You sure you’re all right?”

  Burton leaned forward and pressed his forehead against the porch post. He looked puny and deflated. “I’ve tried to make her happy,” he mumbled.

  Hoo boy, I thought. Sure, I’d asked if he was okay, but I didn’t actually expect him to open up. Why couldn’t I have been Delaney, who can talk to anyone at any time? Or Darby, who’s always trying to understand how other people feel? I’m no good at helping people with their problems. And I’d rather get five booster shots than listen to a ninny like Burton.

  “Well, you tried,” I said. “I guess that’s that.” I figured such a concise statement might wrap things up for him.

  Unfortunately, all it did was make him open up more. “I tried everything,” he said, his voice low and muffled. “I listened to her suggestions. I took her advice. I never complained.”

  I fought the urge to hop the railing and run into the trees. I can do this, I told myself. It’s not too different from Quincy. Just pat him on the head and tell him he’s done good.

  “I guess you can do everything right, but still not be the right match for someone,” I said. “Maybe you and Lily are just too different.”

  Burton swiveled his head to look at me. “Lily?” he said, seeming confused. “I’m talking about my mother.”

  “Oh.” Obviously, I didn’t know anything. So I decided to just keep quiet until something made sense.

  “She told me this would be good for my career. I’m smart, you know. But I’m not that brilliant with people.” He let out a wheezy chuckle. “I’d rather be at the library than at my own wedding. How pitiful is that?”

  I thought about all the time he spent researching and the way he carried his papers like a baby. “It’s just the way you are,” I said. “Books are easier than people. People are tough.”

  “Lily’s great with people, though,” he went on. “Everyone loves her.”

  I had to agree that was true.

  “She never treated me like an oddball. Even when we were growing up.” He let go of the post and stepped back to blow his nose. “Anyway, Mom says if I go into academia or law, I need to get better around people. She said Lily would do that for me. She told me I shouldn’t let her get away.”

  There was a crackling on my walkie-talkie, but I turned it off. I figured nothing could be as important as this. It was like … learning to read. You know how, in the beginning, all you see are letters and you have to look at all the parts and sound them out to figure out what they mean — but then, after a while, you don’t even notice the letters and all you see are words?

  Burton was becoming a word.

  “So asking Lily to marry you was your mom’s idea?” I said.

  He nodded. “She’s always known what’s best for me. And she’s right. I need to get better with people — especially if I want to teach at a university. But look at this wedding. It’s a disaster.”

  “Yeah, well … that’s not entirely your fault,” I said. I was feeling guilty about the way we’d ruined things for him. I still didn’t want him to marry Lily, but at the same time, he’d never done anything bad to us. He just wanted to be around Lily more — and who could blame him for that?

  “Mother is so upset. Nothing is turning out the way she’d hoped.”

  The way she’d hoped?!

  “Jiminy!” I shouted. “I’m sorry, Burton, but your mom needs to figure out that this isn’t her wedding, it’s yours. And anyway, she’s the one who pushed you into it. It’s not fair to make you do something you might not be ready for and then get mad at you if it doesn’t work out.”

  Burton looked thoughtful. “You have a point.”

  I studied his face. There was something sort of sweet about Burton that I never saw before. I could kind of, almost, maybe see how Lily could like him.

  “You know, I understand needing to get better with people, because I’m not real good at them either,” I said. “But instead of getting married, why don’t you find some good friends? Maybe a couple of people who like books and research and stuff, like you do. The best part is, you don’t have to go through a big, crazy ceremony to get yourself a good pal.”

  Burton laughed. A real laugh-out-loud kind of laugh instead of one of his gaspy ones.

  “See? You aren’t bad with people,” I said. “We had ourselves a good talk.”

  “Thanks,” he said. “You know what? You aren’t bad with people either.”

  Back inside, things were starting to calm down a little. Some people dropped off soggy gifts and left, others never came in at all, and the half-drowned folks who chose to stay were now toweled off and making jokes. Most of the cleanup fell to me — which I guess was justice since I’d come up with the sprinkler system plan. I was carrying another load of wet towels and rags to the utility room when I heard Delaney’s buzzy voice come over the walkie-talkie again.

  “Firstborn and Second-born, do you read?”

  “Second-born here,” I replied.

  We waited a few seconds.

  “Firstborn, do you read?” Delaney said again.

  Again, there was no reply.

  “Dagnabbit, Dawn!” Delaney’s voice hissed and crackled.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “Sweetheart is missing,” Delaney said.

  “What? I thought Alex just got here.”

  “Wait…. That’s right, Sweetheart is Alex. What’s Lily’s code name? Darling? Aw heck, never mind. What I’m trying to say is, Lily is missing.”

  “Where’d she go?”

  “I think we all know where she went. Alex has gone to find her and I’m going to make sure he gets her.”

  “Well, that’s good. Things need to get rolling soon. Mr. Maroney keeps showing his knee surgery scars, and Ms. Woolcott has eaten half the mini quiches. And if that ring bearer tells one more knock-knock joke, I’ll —”

  “We have to delay it just a little longer,” Delaney interrupted. “Can you stall the wedding guests to buy Alex some time?”

  “How on earth do you want me to do that? We’ve already done everything except start a fire.”

  There was a pause on the other end.

  “Wait — you don’t actually want me to start a fire, do you, Delaney?” I asked.

  “We probably shouldn’t,” she said. “How about just make a speech?”

  “Me?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Uh-uh. I’m too shy.”

  “Well, you have to do something, and quick. I’m going off to check on Alex and Lily, and Dawn has gone radio silent. We’re counting on you, Darby. Over and out.”

  “But … wait! Delaney? Third-born?” I kept pushing th
e TALK button and fiddling with the volume, but it was no use. Now they were both ignoring their walkie-talkies. “Shoot!”

  I pocketed my receiver and headed back into the living room. Delaney was right. Everyone was getting restless. People of all different levels of sogginess were squirming in their chairs, checking their watches, and glancing hopefully around the room. If something official didn’t happen soon, people would ask questions. Then the Caldwells would find out Lily was missing and start searching for her. We needed to give Lily and Alex as much time as we could.

  But why did it have to be up to me?

  “Maybe it doesn’t!” I said to myself. I scanned the vicinity for a worthy candidate. Mom and Dad were still trying to help Reverend Hoffmeyer get dried off for the ceremony. The rehired ring bearer was sneaking bits of ruined wedding cake while Bree tried to clean up the mess. Mavis and Felicia were in the kitchen retouching their makeup.

  And then … Aunt Jane started to walk past, on her way to the kitchen with some of Mom’s face powder.

  “Aunt Jane!” I cried out.

  She stopped in her tracks and looked over at me. “What’s up?”

  “Could you do something for me?”

  Aunt Jane walked over. “Just name it,” she said, pushing a loose strand of hair out of my face. “You know I’d do anything for you girls.”

  “Anything?”

  “Hey, I’m in a dress, aren’t I?” she said with a chuckle. “So what do you need?”

  I looked at Aunt Jane in her purplish-blue dress with the shiny buttons. I could tell by the way she moved and kept pulling on the sleeves and collar that she was uncomfortable in it — but she wore it anyway. She never wears dresses. She hates dresses. And yet, she wore one for Lily.

  Suddenly, I knew what I needed to do.

  “I want to say a few things to the guests. Could you get their attention?” I asked.

  Aunt Jane grinned. “Can do.” She walked to the far end of the living room and stood facing the guests. “All right, everyone. Listen up! My niece Darby would like to say a few words.”

  Everyone fell silent. Aunt Jane beckoned me with the hand not holding powder, and people turned in their chairs to watch me approach. My legs felt all noodly and I was amazed to see my feet moving. It was as if someone else were controlling them.

  I reached the front and turned toward the audience. You’re doing this for Lily, I told myself. And Alex. And True Love.

  The guests all leaned forward at once. Some folks were smiling at me; others just seemed baffled. Mom, Dad, and Reverend Hoffmeyer were among the confused-looking ones.

  “I’d like —” I began. My voice came out all squawky. I cleared my throat and tried again. “I’d like to tell you about my family. A lot of you know us and you know that we’re not perfect. I mean, what family is? But I guess we aren’t real good at pretending to be perfect the way other families are.”

  A couple of people chuckled. Across the room, I could see Mavis and Felicia, and even Mrs. Caldwell, come out of the kitchen to listen.

  “My mom works hard,” I went on. “A lot of you know that because she does your books for you. If she doesn’t and you’re looking for someone, you really should consider her. Anyway, it’s not easy to run a business and take care of four girls, a dog, and a house. But she does it.”

  Mom’s mouth curled into a slight grin, and her face turned a rosy shade.

  “My dad’s a great guy, too. He’s funny and loves to play crazy games, like I do. We don’t see him as much as we used to since he moved out, and we miss him. But it’s also kind of nice having just Dad time. Before he left, we saw him more, but it wasn’t like we were always doing stuff together. Now when we visit, we talk and play games and joke around the whole time. So it’s still good, but in a different way.”

  It was Dad’s turn to look a little embarrassed, but happy, too. He and Mom kept looking at each other, shaking their heads, and smiling.

  “Then there are my sisters,” I said. “They are something else. Dawn always has the best ideas. Delaney has more energy than an electric-powered hummingbird. And Lily. Well, you all know Lily. That’s why you’re here. You know that Lily is like … the soft, sparkly light of morning. Like a breeze that smells like flowers when it’s hot out. Or a cup of cocoa when it’s cold.”

  I paused for breath. I couldn’t believe I was actually up there, talking — and without hiccups either. All in all, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. And I started thinking maybe I’m not the shy triplet after all.

  “Anyway,” I went on, “Lily’s about the best there is, and I’m really glad she’s my sister. But I ask you to please keep in mind that Lily is entitled to make mistakes now and then. I mean, we all sometimes find ourselves doing the wrong thing, and —”

  Right at that moment, the front door opened and Ms. Woolcott came bustling in. She was waving her arms excitedly.

  “I just saw the most amazing sight,” she said. “It’s Lily! She’s at the top of the hill in her white dress! And I can’t tell for sure, but it looks like Alex is with her. With his arm around her!”

  Sure enough, Alex got it right. As soon as I told him to guess where Lily was, he hightailed it out the back door and started jogging toward the hill. I was bouncing on my toes, watching him through the window of the utility room, so happy he passed the test.

  After I talked with Darby via the walkie-talkie, I slipped through the door to follow him. We’d worked so hard to arrange this moment, I needed to find out what happened. Plus, I wanted to make sure Lily was okay.

  The thing was, I knew that if they saw me, they wouldn’t be able to talk to each other — not in a real, opening-up kind of way. So if I wanted to hear them without being seen, I’d have to come up through the brushy part and stay very still. That’s hard for me to do. Dawn and Darby are much better at eavesdropping than I am. Dawn especially. She can win staring contests with fish.

  I cut across the yard to the part of the hill where cactus and cedar scrub are mixed in with the oak trees. The rest of the hill is cleared of brush and covered with wildflowers. Lily likes to sit at the top, lean against the oak trees, and watch the wind ripple the flowers.

  It was hard not to race up to the top, but I knew if I did that, I would make too much noise. I had to be patient and carefully choose my steps to make sure I didn’t break any branches or rustle any leaves. It was also a smart thing to do because of the cactus and rattlesnakes.

  I poked my way up and knelt behind a big juniper bush. Lily had come into view long before I reached the crest. She was easy to spot because of the gigantic white dress.

  Alex was just cresting the hill. He came to a stop a couple of feet away from Lily and stood there, looking at her. His arms were slightly out in front of him, as if he wanted to reach for her but wasn’t sure if he should.

  Lily’s hands were over her face, and at first I assumed she didn’t realize he was there. Then I heard her say, “Is everyone mad at me?”

  “No. No one’s mad at you. Your family is worried because they don’t know where you are.” He walked a little closer and sat down beside her. “What’s wrong, Lily?”

  Lily shook her head over and over. “I just can’t go through with it. I realized a while back that I was making a mistake, but by then, it seemed too late. So many plans had already been made. So much money had been spent.”

  Alex’s mouth curved into a sad sort of grin. “Just like you to not want to inconvenience people.”

  Lily let out a groan and put her hands over her face again. “Oh, I feel like such a fool!”

  “You’ve got to tell your family. They love you; they’ll understand.”

  “I know. It’s just hard to disappoint them. And I don’t want to hurt anybody.”

  Alex slowly lifted his hand and placed it, gently, on her shoulder. He patted her sort of stiffly and then Lily just seemed to slump over against him — as if her gravity gave out and sent her toppling sideways. Alex relaxed and put his
arm around her. For a while, no one talked and the two of them sat there, leaning into each other, the way I used to see them do all the time.

  I wanted to bounce around so bad, but that would surely give me away. And if Alex and Lily knew I was there, they would focus on me instead of each other. So I pretended that a big, thick cement wall was going up around the jumpy feelings inside me — damming them up like a wild river. Amazingly, it seemed to work. Even my toes didn’t jiggle.

  After a few quiet moments, I heard Lily say, “I’m so sorry the girls got you mixed up in this.”

  “Hey, no apologies necessary,” Alex said. “Last night, I got to eat four delicious asparagus spears, and today I got to see Reverend Hoffmeyer with a flowered towel on his head. It was awesome.”

  Lily started laughing and then stopped herself. “Seriously. I know how much they meddled. The girls just never could accept that you’ve moved on.”

  “Who says I’ve moved on?”

  She sat up and gave him a confused look. “Haven’t you?”

  “Um, forgive me for pointing this out, but … you’re the one wearing a gigantic wedding dress. It seems to me that you’re the one who’s moved on.”

  Lily glanced down at herself. “I guess I did. Even if I didn’t want to.”

  “Wait….” Alex scooted around to face her. “What are you saying?”

  “Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. “It doesn’t matter.”

  “It does matter. It matters a lot. I don’t know what happened last September. I’ve been trying to figure it out ever since.”

  “You wanted your space,” Lily said with a shrug.

  “No, I didn’t. You suggested that we give each other space. I figured you wanted it, so I agreed.”

  “But I didn’t want it. I just thought you did.”

  Alex’s mouth hung open for a moment. “Seriously?” he said. “We broke up because we were being polite? Because neither one of us could admit what we really wanted? That’s so … sad.”

  “I know.”

  The two of them were looking right at each other, so intensely, as if the rest of the world had dissolved and they were the only things left. Miraculously, my invisible dam held strong and I continued being still and quiet. But even if I’d charged out of the brush and started dancing around, I’m not sure they would have noticed.