I glanced over to see her holding a box of small cards, tied with a bow. “Oh, those are for the wish wall. Or, were.”
“Wish wall?” she said. “What’s that?”
I looked at Ambrose, wanting to offer him the chance to explain. But he looked clueless. So much for already being an expert. “At the ceremony, we were going to set up this bulletin board on an easel,” I told her, pointing to where it wasleaning against a nearby chair. “Then during the reception, everyone writes out a wish for the bride and groom on one of these cards and tacks it up. At the end of the night, we take them down and arrange them back in the box. The idea is that every night from the first one you are married, you open one, together.”
“Oh.” She looked at the box. “That’s kind of cute.”
“It’s big right now,” I told her.
“Louna, however, doesn’t believe in wishes,” Ambrose added.
“I don’t believe in making one every time you blow out acandle,” I corrected him. “But this is kind of nice, for the couple. People seem to like it.”
Maya put the box down, then picked up the cake topper again. “I can see the appeal. I mean, Roger didn’t want to do any of this, but....”
I looked at Ambrose, who raised his eyebrows. Lauren said, “But you didn’t either, right? I mean, you’re good with the simple plan?”
“Oh, sure,” Maya replied quickly. “I mean, it’s just about us being together with the people we love. It doesn’t matter where we are. And that patio seems nice. You said we could put some flowers out, and then bring them up to the Incubator and put them on the picnic tables outside there. That sounds good.”
“It’ll be great,” Lauren said.
“Perfect,” Ambrose added. Maya just stood there, holding the cake topper. “Um... are you okay?”
“I’m fine, just fine.” Her voice cracked, clearly, on this last word. She looked at me. “Do you have a restroom I can use?”
“Down the hall to the right,” I told her, pointing. She nodded, releasing the topper, and then went that way. A moment later, we heard the door shut, then lock, behind her.
Lauren looked at Ambrose. “Oh, my God. I had no idea she wanted any of this... I would have helped her.”
“She didn’t tell you she did.” He put an arm around her, and as I watched how effortlessly, easily, she leaned into him, I thought of myself doing the same thing. Then, quickly, of something, anything else. Ambrose said to her, “Weddings are emotional, even the small ones. I’m sure that’s all this is about.”
“I mean, I asked her if she was sure about the patio, if she didn’t want to do it somewhere nicer, but they’re both students and don’t have much to spare. Leo offering Jump Java seemed like the perfect solution. And the Incubator... well....”
“It’s a very thematic name,” Ambrose assured her. “First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Maya...”
“With a baby in an incubator?” She looked stricken. “NowIwant to cry.”
“What’s wrong with incubators? They save lives!”
“Ambrose,” I said quietly.
“I should go check on her,” Lauren said. “She seemed really upset.”
“Here, take a water.” I reached over to grab one off a nearby table. “It always helps.”
She did, then started down the hallway, her flip-flops thwacking against the carpet. When she was gone, he looked at me.
“Okay,” he said. “You have to do something.”
“Me?” I asked.
“A bride is in distress! That’s your specialty.”
“A bride,” I corrected him. “Notourbride. She said herself all this”—I gestured at the stuff still piled around us—“wasn’t what she wanted.”
“Come on. I’ve only worked here a few weeks and even I can recognize a CG when I see one.”
I blinked, surprised he’d learned this abbreviation. “A Controlling Groom is only our problem if it’s our event. And this isn’t.”
