Page 103 of If My Wishes Came True
“Fourteen. Which would have been fine, if there hadn’t been a torrential downpour in Denver that slowed traffic to a screeching halt. Then, I got a flat tire in the middle of Nebraska?—”
My eyes go wide. “Oh no…”
“Yeah, it wasn’t ideal. I’d only changed a tire once before in mylife. But I had my phone and access to YouTube, so that helped. I hit a few snags, and even ripped my shirt, but eventually I did it. And I was just about to get in my car when I saw a semi coming at me at full speed. I moved out of the way as fast as I could, and I must have dropped my phone, because the next thing I knew, it was smashed to pieces right where the truck had driven over it.”
“Oh, Charlie,” I sigh. I feel so awful for him, I want to throw my arms around his neck and kiss him all over his dirt-smudged face.
“I’m so sorry I missed the show, Jenna. But at least the night’s not a total wash,” he says, his expression softening. “I still have a surprise for you—if you want it.”
My eyes light up. “Of course I want it.”
Charlie smiles for the first time tonight, then reaches for my hand. We walk down the hall together, back to the artwork on display. The gallery’s mostly empty now, except for a few stragglers and the staff members, who are busy chatting with patrons as they leave. It’s the perfect setting for a romantic surprise. The dim lights, the flowers and candles, the music playing over the speakers.
Charlie stops when we get to the center of the room. “Stay right there,” he says, his eyes glimmering.
I watch as he continues toward the wall opposite my painting. To the odd modern art piece I noticed before. The canvas covered in bubble wrap.
It’s Charlie’s surprise for me.
I shake my head, laughing at myself. I can’t believe I thought it was modern art.
Charlie tugs at the wrapping to unveil what’s underneath, and I bite my lip in anticipation.
But nothing happens. The bubble wrap won’t budge.
“Wow. They did a pretty thorough job covering this up,” he tells me. “I’d asked them to use a sheet—the way you’d hidden the portrait of me in your studio—but I guess they didn’t have one.”
Charlie tries again, with more force this time. He’s unsuccessful.
“So much for a dramatic reveal,” he jokes.
“Let me help you with that.” Odette—Tati Marie’s friend, and the owner of the gallery—rushes over with a pair of scissors and begins cutting into the plastic covering. “Marie told me you wanted it hidden under a sheet, but this was the best I could come up with.”
My heart swells over the fact that Vanessa’s aunt helped Charlie set up my surprise.
“I appreciate you letting me add a piece to the show,” my boyfriend tells Odette. “And I’m so sorry I was late. Thank you for keeping this wrapped until I got here.”
“It’s no problem at all,” she says. “Most people thought it was a commentary on pop culture. I even got some offers on it, which I was sorry to turn down.”
I stifle a laugh, feeling vindicated.
A minute later, Odette is still cutting off strips of bubble wrap with a very determined look on her face. Charlie offers to help, but she promises she’s nearly got it.
He chuckles in my direction. “This surprise isn’t quite going as planned.”
I giggle. “Seems pretty on brand for you today.”
“I shouldn’t have used so much tape,” Odette reflects, still hard at work. “I’m sorry, Charlie—the sheet would have made your surprise much more dramatic.”
“It’s fine,” he says, smiling at me.
My heart swells. I’m thrilled he’s taking this all in stride.
“There we go,” Odette says with a satisfied sigh.
The plastic covering drops to the floor slowly, and rather anticlimactically. When I look up, Odette’s still standing in front of the piece, so I have no clue what it is yet.
“Thanks again,” Charlie tells her.
