Page 47 of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

‘I love that it’s taking place at The Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm. Tell me your ideas.’

‘Well…’ I glance at Hollyn, suddenly nervous. ‘The ceremony is going to take place outdoors, with the fields and sunset as the backdrop. It’ll be very colorful, so the wedding party florals are simple, all white. The tulip fields are the ceremony showstopper.’

‘And for the reception?’ McKenzie asks. ‘This is where we want to see drama.’

‘Perfect, because what I have planned is easily the biggest piece I’ve ever done. It’s a white tent reception so I’ll reverse the look of outside inside the tent. Colorful tulips suspended from the ceiling will match the fields outside just above the guests’ heads.’

McKenzie claps her hands together with a grin. ‘I love it. The white against the rainbow of tulip fields, then the color against the white tent is perfect. Whimsical meets classic. What do you think, Hollyn?’

Her eyes are wide, and her grin even wider. ‘Sounds beautiful, but complicated. We’re going to do that inhowmany hours?’

‘Three,’ McKenzie reminds her.

‘Honestly, I can’t picture it, but I’msureDax can handle it.’

‘You’re a brave man, Dax. Think you two can pull this off?’

‘I’m sure of it,’ I say with a confidence I probably shouldn’t have considering I don’t know how well Hols and I will even work together yet.

‘This is it from me,’ McKenzie says. ‘We’ll converse via video chat and emails from this point on. You have my info, so let me know if you have concerns, questions, or need anything at all. Both of you.’ She glances between the two of us. ‘Now point me towards the café with the strongest coffee in town.’

* * *

Hours Later, Still in the Garage…

‘Oh my god,’ Hollyn groans, midway through her third bouquet as we prep for tomorrow.

A song once made famous by her mother blasts from her parents’ backyard. To me, it sounds like our childhood dancing around us. To her, it’s clearly the most annoying thing ever.

‘Whatare they doing?’

‘We could take a break and find out?’

‘No,’ she says, wincing as the song gets louder. She keeps her cool for a few more minutes until she suddenly drops the bouquet onto the table.

‘Let’s go.’ She storms through Mom’s garage, to her parents’ driveway, and into the backyard, me hot on her heels. We both stop as we reach the edge of the pool.

I laugh, but Hollyn has a dropped jaw and a wide-eyed, horrified look on her face. Penny is doing the dance routine she did in this song’s video, and River is singing it at the top of his lungs into the end of a pool net he’s using as a microphone, bouncing around as if he’s on stage as they prep the pool for the upcoming summer. A camera on a tripod not far away is catching every second of their performance on film.

‘Christ on a cracker,’ Hollyn says, staring across the pool at them.

‘I know you missed this,’ I say, nudging her with my elbow, now copying the moves I know well because I’ve been a part of this family since I was four.

She glances at me and laughs, shaking her head. ‘Whatare you doing?’

I lip sync the words to the song, pointing at her in the right spots. ‘River, your dad and I sometimes make videos. The three of us dancing. We’re supposed to film this one next week.’ I shrug, shaking my ass to the beat. ‘River and I, we get the likes.’ I wink.

‘It’s cause we’re pretty,’ River yells, doing the moves with me from across the pool. ‘We’re gonna kill this one.’

Hollyn sighs heavily. ‘You know when you’re born into a family, and you wonder why?’ She stares at me, her grin growing by the second as I dance. ‘Whythisfamily? Whyme? Whythatkid next door?’

I laugh out loud. ‘I do know that feeling, but probably not as well as you do considering…’ I motion to her mom and brother both dancing like no one’s watching.

‘This is one of those moments. And you’re not helping.’

I continue dancing, mainly because it’s making her smile. She used to not care what other people think, now she’s lost all confidence in herself and is standing on the sidelines looking in.

‘Come on, Hols. Dax will teach you the moves!’

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