Page 25 of Grace Notes
“Daddy, where are we going?” Avery asks from the back seat, swinging her feet against her carseat.
It’s less than five days until our vow renewal, and the managers at the venue asked Emryn and me to stop by. We haven’t had the time until now, so we are making a family trip out of it. After we leave here, we are going to stop by a park and spend some time with Avery.
“We have to make a quick pit stop, and then we will do something fun. It’s a surprise, though,” I say, glancing at her through the rear-view mirror.
My arm rests against the middle console, and Emryn’s hand reaches out, resting over mine. I look over at her, and she has a soft, content smile on her face. Planning this ceremony has been rough on her—everything that can go wrong has gone wrong—but we are finally on the downhill slide. And in a few short days, I get to marry my wife all over again.
“I bet it’s ice cream,” Avery says with a self-satisfied smile. Things have been slowly improving since she started talking with Dr. Phelps. She still gets morose sometimes but isn’t acting out as much.
Emryn turns around in her seat, winking at our daughter. “Even if it’s not, I think we outnumber your dad. We can take him.”
Avery giggles, and I smile. That giggle will always be one of my favorite sounds. “Yeah, Daddy. We can take you.”
“Oh, you think so, do you?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.
She nods her head, still giggling. “We’ll just see about that.”
Turning the car into a parking space, I throw it into drive and rush to take off my seat belt. Emryn does the same, jumping out of the car at the same time as me.
I grab the handle of Avery’s door and start to tickle her. Her giggles reach an all-time high when Emryn jumps on my back, trying to tackle me to the ground.
“I’ll save you, Avery,” Emryn tells our daughter as she hangs from my back.
With one hand, I hold onto Emryn, and with the other, I focus on getting Avery’s seat unbuckled. It takes a minute, but once I’m successful, I swoop her up in my arms. With Emryn still on my back and Avery in my arms, they both start to attack me, tickling me, and I play along, dropping to the ground on my knees as if they got the best of me.
Avery throws her arms up in victory and looks up at her mom, a bright smile on her face. “We did it, Mommy. We got him.”
Leaning over my shoulder, Emryn reaches out, giving Avery a high five, and then climbs off my back. Once she’s standing, she takes Avery from my arms, planting a big kiss against her cheek. “We sure did, Avery Bug, but what do you think? Should we help him up?”
The little turd pretends to think, tapping her finger against her chin before she gives me an ornery grin. “Only if there’s ice cream.”
Chuckling, I say, “I think I can make that happen.”
“Yay,” Avery celebrates, wiggling out of Emryn’s arms and coming to stand in front of me with her hand out. I take it, pretending she is helping me up without pulling her down.
When I am on my feet, I sweep her up in my arms and walk over to Emryn, letting my hand fall against her lower back. Then, I guide us toward the front doors of the venue, leaning down to whisper in her ear. “Payback is coming.”
A shiver runs down her spine as my words slip across her skin, and I don’t bother hiding my grin.
Turning her head toward me, she winks. “Bring it on.”
The lightness on her face lasts until we cross the parking lot, and then it drops like a lead weight as she reads the sign on the front door.
Closed for Renovation. Reopening November 30th.
November is almost four months from now, and our ceremony is supposed to be next week.
Emryn’s breaths start coming in shallow spurts as if she can’t quite get air to reach the bottom of her lungs. Setting Avery down, I take Emryn’s hand in mine. Her skin is clammy as the panic starts to take over.
Wide, tear-filled eyes meet mine, and it’s like an anvil to my chest.
“Hey,” I say, reaching out to pull her into a hug before she can say anything, “it’s going to be okay.”
She shakes her head against my shoulder, tears soaking into my shirt.
“What are we going to do?” she wails. “I have caterers coming Saturday with food. We were supposed to set up the decorations on Friday. That’s four days away. Why did they not at least leave a message explaining what was happening?”
“Mommy?” Avery’s voice wobbles, and I turn my head to find her bottom lip poking out, nearly in tears as she watches Emryn.
