Page 131 of Happily Never After

With the rickshawsecured to a bike rack, Claire hustled down the pier as efficiently as she could on legs made of meat jelly. She ducked into Pacific Park and dashed through the rides. The pain in her side was finally subsiding as she bobbed and weaved around screaming toddlers, harried-looking parents, and mountains of cotton candy. Casting a glance behind her, she found that Brad and Karen had stopped to stand on the pier. Karen pointed at something on the horizon. Was she going to have to scoop them back up on the rickshaw and hand-deliver them to the wheel? The timeline was already skewed.

Squaring her shoulders and counting to ten, she turned her back to them and approached the wheel. There was the bucket truck, cordoned off by a set of cones. The a cappella quartet satin the shade of a French fry stand, tugging at their collars and fanning themselves.

Claire ran to the ride operator and pulled up a picture of the couple on her phone. He acknowledged with a curt nod. The smell of hot oil coated her nostrils as she ran to the fry stand.

“They’re here. Get ready,” Claire said as she approached the group. Carlos, the cameraman, was already pointed toward the couple. Tabitha, the second photographer, appeared to be getting a close-up of a seagull. And Gisele, their drone operator who would be capturing the footage from the top of the wheel, was smoking.

“Are you okay?” one of the singers asked. There were armpit stains under his seersucker button-down. Hopefully Tabitha could edit them out.

“I just biked eight miles while carrying two people. I’ve had better days.” Claire drew her emergency deodorant out of her purse and reapplied. At least she wouldn’t have to do any more cardio tonight. She unscrewed the cap from her metal water bottle and guzzled from it. “Oh, here they come. Places, everyone!”

Claire ducked behind a “this tall to ride” sign. Brad and Karen stepped up to the ticket taker and climbed aboard one of the cars. A second later, the wheel started to rotate. Thank god. They were behind schedule, but at least now they were on the right track.

She pulled her phone out and dialed Mindy. “Hey, where are you guys? Have you heard from the limo driver?”

“We’re pulling up to Santa Monica now. Heather showed me a back route and suggested the same thing to the limo so hopefully it won’t be long. Did you make it?”

Claire breathed a sigh of relief. Thank god Heather had come along today. If she went to work for another company after all this, it wouldn’t be easy to replace her.

“Yes. I can’t breathe and I’m dying, but we made it. I’m going to check with Luke and make sure he made it to the Getty. We should finish up at the wheel here in ten to fifteen minutes. Do you have any ibuprofen in your purse? I left mine in the car.”

“I have ibuprofen and Gatorade. I got you.”

“Thanks. Love you,” Claire said and hung up the phone. She dialed Luke next.

“What?” he said gruffly.

“Luke, it’s a proposal day. Please try to be a professional.”

He cleared his throat. “Hello, Miss Hartley. How can I assuage your concerns today?”

She rolled her eyes. “I was just checking to see if you made it to the Getty. Dick.”

“What was it you were saying about being professional? Yes, I’m here.” There was a shuffling sound on the other end of the line. “Just setting up now. Ice cream guy is here. The cones look good.”

“Thank you for checking. They’re on the wheel now. I’ll text you when we leave. I’m just waiting on the limo.”

“Claire?”

“Yeah?”

“Just breathe. It’s going to be okay.”

Easy to say for someone who hadn’t just biked a million miles while hauling a good three hundred pounds behind them. “Whatever you say. See you soon.” She hung up without waiting for a response.

“Here,” a familiar voice said. A bottle of Gatorade and an ibuprofen appeared at her side.

“You’re a lifesaver.” Claire hugged Mindy. She had never been so glad to be reunited with her team. “Heather, thanks so much for navigating. I promise things aren’t usually quite this crazy on proposal day.”

Heather smiled. She looked cool and unbothered, hair drawn back into a ponytail. “It’s hard to control things in a city of this size. You never know when someone is going to threaten to bomb the beach for no apparent reason.”

A mechanical groaning came from behind them. Claire turned. One singer’s straw hat poked another in the eye as they jostled for position in the cramped quarters, but it was perfect. Exactly as Brad had requested, down to the last pinstriped bowtie.

The sun glared from overhead, another cloudless California day. As the a cappella group rose, a melodic hum surrounded them. They launched into their first song as they reached the peak. In spite of the gallon of sweat in her underwear and the various aches and pains in her body, Claire’s romantic heart grew in her chest. It really was beautiful.

Then she snapped back to reality and made a note on her time sheet. A drone buzzed by her and zipped to the top of the wheel. She pulled a pair of binoculars from her bag and pressed them to her face. It was hard to tell from this angle, but the couple looked happy. Karen said something excitedly and shoved Brad.

“I’m going to call the limo driver and see where he’s at.” She tucked the binoculars away.

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