Rosie peeked out of the bridal tent, opening the flaps only a couple of inches so she could see out but no one could see in. “No peeking, but your guests are arriving,” she said to Ari. “And the puppet theater is fabulous. You did such a great job setting it up.”
Ari ruffled the skirt of her wedding dress, getting its folds to fall the way they had in the bridal magazines they’d pored over. The dress was amazing, the bodice tightly beaded with seed pearls in shades of silver, cream, and black, and fringed in a scallop of pearls along the empire waist. Ari had chosen to go bare-shouldered, the dress held up only by straps of beads and dipping low in the back. The gossamer skirt flowed down to the floor in creamy waves. The hairdresser just had to attach the wreath of flowers Ari would wear in her hair and the short veil in the back.
She was the most beautiful bride Rosie had ever seen.
When Ari was finally satisfied with the results, she lifted her head and smiled at Rosie and Chi. “I could never have done this without you.”
“Take some credit, girl, for your amazing abilities,” Chi said. “You’re going to make the best teacher ever.” Ari was working on her master’s in education and was aiming to teach elementary school kids like Noah and Jorge.
For so long, it had been just the three of them, Rosie and Ari and Chi—sisters, best friends forever, a team of three. Then came Jorge. And now, in the past year, they’d become a huge family with all the Mavericks.
The tent flaps opened, and Susan Spencer, Matt’s foster mother, stepped in. Wearing a flattering dress of aubergine, it was hard to believe Susan was in her mid-fifties, despite her silver cap of hair. It was Susan’s smile that made her seem so young—and she was always so full of smiles.
Susan and Bob Spencer were mom and dad to the Mavericks. They’d taken all the boys in as young teenagers and raised them as their own, with no differentiation between the guys and Daniel or Lyssa, their two biological kids. Rosie had always found Susan and Bob to be completely generous and selfless.
Susan’s face lit up when she saw Ari. “You are so beautiful, honey.”
Ari beamed at her soon-to-be mother-in-law as Susan curled her into a warm embrace, careful not to crease the dress or muss Ari’s hair. When she pulled back, her eyes were misty. “We are so happy you’re part of our family. Matt loves you so much. And Noah couldn’t have asked for a better mom, or loved anyone more than he loves you. They’re so lucky to have found you.” Susan dabbed at her eyes.
“I’m the lucky one,” Ari said. “Thank you for always believing in me.”
“Oh, honey, you are exactly the woman I wished for Matt. You are so good for them. You’re so good for all of us.” Then Susan turned to Chi and Rosie. “And you brought us beautiful Chi and Rosie and Jorge too.”
Rosie felt the prickle of tears at the way Susan always included her and her son.
“Ari, I’m not done with your hair,” called the hairdresser, waving her magic curling wand. “We have to put on your wreath and veil. And it looks like some of your curls are about to droop. We absolutely cannot send you out with droopy curls.”
Susan ran her fingers lightly over Ari’s hair. “Everything about you is perfect just the way it is, honey.” She smiled. “But go on, let your stylist do her thing.”
While Ari had her hair recurled, Susan touched Rosie’s arm. “I’m so pleased that I get to take care of Jorge while you’re busy with the ceremony. Thank you for that.” Then, with a kiss to Rosie’s cheek, Susan slipped away, her subtle perfume lingering in the air.
“This setup is fantastic,” Chi said as they once again peeked through the tent flaps. A red carpet had been rolled out for Ari to make her trip down the aisle, and the usual wooden benches had been replaced by chairs draped in white cloth. A grand piano stood at the edge of the stage, the tuxedoed pianist playing instrumental versions of Ari’s favorite music, from Somewhere Over the Rainbow to Evermore to songs she’d loved as a teenager. “I can’t wait for the robots to come to life.”
Since this was a puppet theater, Ari and Matt had decided to put on a puppet show while everyone took their seats. Because Matt had conquered the world of robotics, the stage had been transformed into a factory with robots moving product along an assembly line. It was amazing with all the moving parts—levers and gears and robot arms and robot hands.
As the guests filed in to find their places, two puppet robots appeared onstage to take their spots along the assembly line as if they were starting work for the day. The puppets had been inspired by five classic film robots—R2-D2 and C-3PO from Star Wars, Wall-E and Eve from Wall-E, one of Jorge’s favorite movies, and a dash of Lisa from Weird Science. Somehow, the mash-up worked, and it was impossible not to smile at the scene.
“Hello, Number Ten,” came the deep male robot’s voice, a number fifteen stenciled on his vest.
The robot with a ten on her vest said, “Hello, Number Fifteen,” as she passed him, her long eyelashes fluttering and a smile on her rosebud-red mouth.
Pink and red hearts fell out of the ceiling to hover over the male robot as he stared longingly after the lady.
Everyone laughed at the loud sound of his wildly beating heart.
Then levers and gears clicked and clacked and the assembly line rolled. The robots patted pieces and parts on the conveyor as if they were manufacturing toys or trucks or toasters.
Rosie glanced at the groom’s tent on the other side of the theater, where the boys, already decked out in their mini tuxedoes, were staring at the stage with rapt attention. A man’s big hand held the flap aside. Of course, it had to be Gideon. He would make sure they didn’t miss a thing.
She would have loved a glimpse of him in his tux, but no such luck.
Onstage, the robots whistled as they worked, like the seven dwarves in Snow White. And Fifteen kept shooting hearts at Ten that she failed to notice.
Then a horn blew, announcing it was lunchtime. Ten’s hands flew to her cheeks. “Oh no, I’ve forgotten my lunch box.”
With hearts still waving madly over his head, Fifteen held up his lunch box and was clearly about to offer it to her, when a little boy robot with a number one emblazoned on his vest danced onto the stage.
“Mommy, you forgot your lunch.” He waved the box in the air.
Ten wrapped him in her arms. “Oh, Little One, you are such a good boy.”
Poor Fifteen, stoop-shouldered, picked up his lunch box and began lumbering away.
Little One called, “Number Fifteen, will you come eat with us?”
Looking both surprised and pleased, Fifteen nodded, then hurried back over.
A big yellow sun dropped down over the left side of the stage, and a picnic bench rolled out. All three robots sat down, the sun now dancing over their heads along with the hearts.
With no preamble, Number One turned to Fifteen and asked, “How do new robots get made?”
Everyone in the audience laughed as Fifteen’s eyes went wide in horror. “Well, oh, uh,” he spluttered.
The guests were still chuckling as Number Ten smiled and patted her son’s hand. “Nice try.” She leaned toward Fifteen and said, “I’ve already told him I’ll answer that when he’s older.”
“Okay, then why do flowers bloom in the spring?” the little robot asked.
“Because it’s cold in the winter, and they need to sleep,” Fifteen said.
“And why do hummingbirds eat all the time?”
“Because their wings beat fifty times a second, and that takes a lot of energy, which means they need to eat a lot of food to give them energy.”
Little One nodded, then asked, “Do you have any little boy robots?”
“No,” Fifteen said, shaking his head sadly.
“What about a lady robot?”
“I wish I did,” Fifteen said as the hearts above him did a crazy dance.
Little One leaned close to Fifteen. “My mom doesn’t have a man robot either.”
His implication was clear. The two robots needed each other.
Hearts fell from the ceiling right over Number Ten’s head as she reached out for Fifteen. As he took her hand in his, Little One nestling happily between them, the hearts merged over their heads.
The guests applauded as the curtain fell on the puppet factory and the little robot matchmaker with his mom and new dad. Rosie and Ari high-fived in the bride’s tent. They’d all put the storyline together during a string of dinners at Matt and Ari’s house in the weeks leading up to the wedding. Judging by the laughter and applause from the audience, it had gone over even better than they’d hoped.
Chi pointed to a couple in the audience. The man was tall and broad in a dark suit, and the woman was absolutely beautiful in a yellow silk dress. “I think that’s Nicola Sullivan and her husband, Marcus. I’ve got to get an autograph! Although, I wouldn’t want to make her feel she shouldn’t have come, if she was hoping to be anonymous for the day.”
Nicola was famous around the world as pop star Nico, and Chi, Ari, and Rosie were all huge fans of her music. Rosie grinned, having heard how sweet Nicola was from Harper and Charlie, who’d both spent time with her. “I bet she’d love a little fangirl moment.” As Chi dashed off, Rosie called out, “Get an autograph for me t—”
She lost her breath before she could finish her sentence. Gideon had stepped out to escort Jorge to Susan’s side.
He was gorgeous in a white tux, his hair slightly spiked, his jaw clean-shaven. But what made her heart beat wildly was the way Gideon gazed down at her son in his mini white tuxedo, a joyous smile curving his mouth. That special smile he reserved just for the boys. Jorge held on to one big hand, looking up at Gideon as though he was a hero.
Rosie’s heart melted completely.
How could it not?
The rest of the crowd faded away as Gideon bent down to say something to Jorge that made her son smile wide, before he handed him over to Susan and headed back toward the groom’s tent, which was on the opposite side of the puppet theater from the bride’s. Only as Gideon disappeared from sight did the rest of the wedding come back into focus.
Rosie rested her hand over her heart, stunned by its hammering beneath her fingers. She’d been struck by Ari’s brother from the moment they’d met, and her crush had only grown over the past nine months. Grown to the point where she couldn’t help but fantasize about the strength of his arms around her and the feel of his mouth on hers.
Jeremy Newman, who was escorting guests to their seats, waved as he spotted Rosie peeking out of the tent. Snapping back to earth and reality, Rosie smiled and waved.
Harper Newman’s younger brother was the sweetest kid. He was nineteen now, but he’d been hurt in a car accident when he was a boy and suffered permanent brain damage that had left him with the mind of the boy he’d been. He was just so happy all the time. He adored Jorge and Noah and loved playing their games. And he adored Harper’s husband, Will Franconi, who was like a big brother to him.
Looking extremely dapper in his white tux, Jeremy took his sister’s arm and walked with her to the Maverick row, where the family would sit during the ceremony while the Mavericks stood up as groomsmen for Matt.
Harper was beautiful in a blue dress the same color as her striking blue eyes, with her soft brown hair in a loose updo. As a corporate recruiter who loved matching people with their perfect new jobs, she was the perfect foil for Will. He had not only built Franconi Imports into a multibillion-dollar company, but he also loved his fast cars—and so did Harper and Jeremy.
With Harper seated, Jeremy made his way back up the aisle to escort Charlie Ballard and her mother. Charlie created the most incredible sculptures out of metal and was engaged to media mogul Sebastian Montgomery. Charlie was stunning in a flame-red dress. Though Rosie had heard it said that redheads should avoid red, especially at a wedding, on Charlie the dress was perfect. Rosie was sure Sebastian, who positively adored the talented artist, would agree.
Charlie’s mother, Francine, had severe degenerative osteoarthritis, and Jorge and Noah had helped deck out her walker in daisies earlier that morning. They loved making things pretty for Francine, whom they treated as an honorary grandmother.
Next, Jeremy walked up the aisle with Paige Ryan on his arm, who was radiant in a light pink silk dress, her pretty smile a mile wide. Though Paige had known financier Evan Collins since college, they’d become a couple only at the beginning of the year, after Evan’s marriage to Paige’s younger sister had broken up. Initially, Rosie had been shocked to hear the news—not because Paige was in a relationship with her sister’s ex, but because Paige’s sister had done such horrible things during the marriage. Rosie shouldn’t be surprised by how evil some people could be, not when she’d had to deal with Jorge’s father. And yet, she still wanted to believe the best about everyone.
Paige was seated beside Evan’s birth mom, with whom he’d only recently been reunited along with the brother and sister he hadn’t even known existed until this year. Tony and Kelsey were both smart and fun, and Rosie was enjoying getting to know them better at the various Maverick birthday parties and other celebrations. Kelsey was also one of Ari’s bridesmaids.
Jeremy dashed back to escort Tasha Summerfield down the aisle. She was amazing in a gold dress, the sequined bodice glittering in the afternoon sun peeking through the trees. The light caught her long dark hair, turning it into glossy waves. The newest addition to the Mavericks, she’d met Daniel up in Tahoe a few months ago, when they’d bought homes next door to each other. Rosie had spent enough time chatting with Tasha to know that she’d come through some seriously tough times after discovering her father and brother had been running a sophisticated real estate con for years, all behind her back. Daniel, and his unconditional love for her, had been a major support for Tasha as she’d worked not only to rebuild her life, but also to make reparations to the people her family had scammed.
The stage curtain rose again to reveal the robot assembly line transformed into a wedding scene, complete with an arched trellis trimmed in flowers and vases filled with roses.
Time was ticking down to the big moment, and the makeup artist pulled Rosie away from the tent flap. “It’s almost time. Let me make sure you don’t need any last-second touches.” She dabbed a soft makeup sponge around Rosie’s eyes. “You’re perfect.” Over her shoulder, she said, “We’re ready, ladies. Let’s get this show on the road.”
The wedding was about to begin.