“Missing?” Mom said. “What do you mean missing?”
“She came in here with Rob, not twenty minutes ago,” Aunt Laura said. “We were standing right here, going over last-minute wedding details. When Rob looked up, she was gone!”
I moved closer to Mom’s side and reached for her hand. She took mine and squeezed tight.
“She probably just stepped out to go to the bathroom or to explore,” Grandma said.
“Where’s Uncle Rob now?” I asked.
That’s what I called him out loud—even though in my head he was “Soon-to-be Uncle Rob.” It’s just too long to say, and besides that, he was almost related to me. Mom and Dad even called him “Uncle Rob” when they talked about him to Penny and me.
No one answered me. But then Mom said, “So where is Rob?”
“He went to talk to hotel security,” Grandma said.
The grown-ups were all standing in a group, talking above our heads.
“I have an idea,” Penny whispered to me.
“What?”
“Let’s get to a phone and press the Ask Aoife button to find out where Lia is!”
“I don’t think that’s the kind of thing the hotel would know,” I told her.
“How do you know unless you ask?” Penny said. She did have a point.
Aunt Laura’s cell phone buzzed and she answered it quickly. “Hello? Rob?” There was a pause, and then, “Oh, that’s great. Thank goodness. We’ll see you soon.”
When she hung up, she told the rest of us Rob had found Lia, which I’d already figured out just from listening to Aunt Laura’s end of the conversation. Lia had gone back up to their hotel room.
Now that everyone was done being worried, there were a bunch of introductions—Rob’s relatives who I’d never met. His older brother, Doug, his uncle, who everyone called Chip, even though that didn’t sound like a real name, and his dad, another Mr. Perlman. Also his best friend, Noah, was there. There would be more people attending the real wedding. The rehearsal was just for the family—well, family and Noah. Best friends are like family sometimes.
“I wish you could meet the baby!” Grandma said.
“Marco’s too young for this kind of trip,” Mom explained.
“Nonsense,” Grandma said.
“What was that?” Grandpa asked. He wears a hearing aid, but sometimes he turns it off because it whistles a little bit.
“I was just saying it’s too bad Marco isn’t here!” Grandma practically shouted. It was getting later and later. Aunt Laura picked up her cell phone, then put it down. Picked it up, and put it down.
“Everything is fine,” Mom told her. “I’m sure Rob is just talking it out with Lia now.”
Finally the ballroom doors opened. Aunt Laura rushed toward Rob and Lia, and the rest of us followed behind her. I’d never met Lia before, but I knew it was her, because she was the only kid with Soon-to-be Uncle Rob.
Rob came over and hugged Mom, Dad, Penny, and me. “Sorry for the delay,” he told us. “Lia, come meet your new aunt and uncle and cousins.”
This was it—the moment I was finally meeting my soon-to-be cousin.
We stared at each other. Lia had curly hair and a sprinkling of freckles across her nose. Lucky. I’ve always wanted curly hair and freckles.
I saw Soon-to-be Uncle Rob nudge her. “Hi,” she said.
“Hi,” Penny and I said back.
Since we were running so late, Aunt Laura and Soon-to-be Uncle Rob decided to cut down a lot of the rehearsing parts of the wedding. They just pointed out where things would go, and showed Penny, Lia, and me where we’d have to stand, then walk, then stand again. Afterwards we’d all go back down the aisle and into another room for snacks and drinks, while the hotel staff cleaned up the ballroom and got it ready for the big party afterward.
“Time for dinner!” Grandma called. We got back in the elevator and went all the way up, past the twenty-first floor, past a whole bunch of other floors, to the tippy-top of the hotel.
I thought twenty-one floors was high up, but this was practically being in the sky. My ears got clogged and I moved my mouth like a yawn to try and open them.
“Being in a hotel is like being in a city,” Penny said as we walked into the restaurant. “Everything you need is all in one place. If we moved here, I don’t think we’d ever have to leave.”
“Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Perlman,” the host said. He was wearing the same Hotel Aoife uniform, and I read his name to myself: Jeffrey.
He knew about the wedding. People at this hotel knew everything!
“They’re not married yet,” Lia spoke up.
“We will be tomorrow,” Soon-to-be Uncle Rob said.
“Well, come this way,” Jeffrey said. He led us through the restaurant, past a smaller version of the fountain downstairs (no fish in this one), past a big, huge salad bar, and past all the other tables, to a small room in the back. There were only two tables in it—one big table set for nine people, and one little table set for three. That was twelve people total, which was exactly how many people were in our party, which meant the room was private, just for us. No other restaurant customers allowed.
I’d never had a private room in a restaurant before, unless you count the party room at Batts Confections. Which I don’t, because we’ve been there so many times, and our store isn’t a real restaurant. If you want to eat something that’s not candy, like pizza, you have to order it from somewhere else.
Having the room be private wasn’t even the best thing. The best thing was that it had windows on three sides, just like the elevator. And instead of looking out at the hotel, it looked out on all of Los Angeles! Since it was getting late, it was dark outside. The city lights were twinkling below.
“As soon as you’re seated,” Jeffrey said, “I’ll take your drink orders.”
Penny said, “I claim the seat by the window!” even though every seat was by the window. Anyway there were name tags at each seat, so everyone knew where to sit.
I found mine right at the little table. “I can keep this, right?” I asked, holding up my name tag. I liked the way my name looked spelled out in fancy script.
“Of course,” Aunt Laura said.
“Me too?” Penny asked. She can’t read too many words yet, since she’s just five, but she can read her own name, and she held up her name tag. Aunt Laura nodded, and Penny said, “Goody!”
We all sat down. The little table was for us three kids. Lia was right in the middle of Penny and me. Probably Aunt Laura did that so we could get to know her, but I was feeling a bit shy. It’s weird to be shy when you’re so excited about something, but sometimes it just happens that way.
But Penny wasn’t feeling shy. “We made a song,” she said. “As a present for Aunt Laura, and I guess for your dad, too. It goes like this: We’re going to be flower girls, flower girls. All three of us will be wearing pearls, wearing pearls.” She paused and looked at me. “Sing the next part, Stella.”
I looked at Lia. I could tell she didn’t like the song. Suddenly it seemed too babyish and not a good present at all. I shook my head.
“We can teach you later, Lia,” Penny went on. “You’re our first cousin, you know. Our dad is an only child, and Aunt Laura doesn’t have any other kids.”
“I have lots of cousins,” Lia told her. “On my mom’s side. So they’re not related to you. Do you want to see a picture of my mom?”
“Sure,” Penny said.
Lia pulled a photo out of her pocket and handed it over. Penny looked at it, then showed it to me. Lia’s mom was pretty. She had the same curly hair as Lia. I didn’t see any freckles, but freckles don’t always show up in pictures.
I handed the photo back to Lia.
“It’s cool that we have our own table,” Penny said. “A table just for the flower girls.”
“Dad and Laura didn’t even ask me if I wanted to be a flower girl,” Lia said. “They just told me that’s what I’m being.”
Hmm, come to think of it, no one asked me either, I thought. One day Mom just said, Guess what—Aunt Laura’s getting married, and you girls get to be the flower girls!
“I think I should’ve been given a choice, don’t you?” Lia asked.
“I would definitely pick being a flower girl if someone asked me,” Penny said. “You get to walk down the aisle just like a bride and wear a pretty dress. My mom says she’s never seen such pretty flower-girl dresses before.”
“My mom didn’t get to see my dress,” Lia said. “It’s been at my dad’s house this whole time, so only he’s seen it. Oh, and Laura’s seen it.” She made a face like she’d tasted something bad.
“Girls,” Mom called from the other table, “the waiter will be here soon to take our orders. Did you decide what you want?”
We hadn’t even looked yet. But I knew what I wanted. The salad bar. When I said it, that’s what Penny said she wanted too. And I don’t think it was just to copy me, because salad bars are so good, of course, she’d want it. Lia wanted it, too. None of the grown-ups did, but grown-ups eat weird things sometimes, like clams and salmon and other fishy things.
After the waiter came and got everyone’s orders—all the grown-ups’ orders, that is—Grandma walked us to the salad bar.
I’m allergic to lettuce, but not really, I just don’t like it. So you’d think I wouldn’t like salad bars. But I LOVE them. Because they have way more than just lettuce. They have cheese and tomatoes and carrots and hardboiled eggs. They have gross things too, like chickpeas and onions and raw broccoli. But you don’t have to take anything you don’t like. And the stuff you do like, you can take as much as you want.
If I ever own a restaurant, it’s definitely going to have a salad bar.
Penny took avocados, chicken, and red peppers. I piled my plate high with two different kinds of grated cheese—cheddar and mozzarella—and so many cherry tomatoes I didn’t even count them. I also got an egg, and plenty of croutons. Lia scooped lettuce onto her plate—yuck, but I didn’t tell her that—along with carrots and cucumbers, and some cold pasta.
We brought the salads back to the private room. The grown-ups were being served their appetizers. We finished our salads and went back for seconds—that’s another great thing about salad bars—you can always go back for more. Then Penny got tired. While Dad ate, she climbed onto his lap and fell asleep. I wasn’t tired at all, just then. Neither was Lia. We’re older, so that’s why. So then it was just us two at the cousins/flower girls’ table.
“Do you think there will be a salad bar at the wedding tomorrow?” I asked.
Lia shook her head. “They’re having chicken in a cream sauce tomorrow,” she said. “But I’m not having any.”
“Are you ordering room service or something?”
Lia shook her head. She looked over at the grown-ups’ table, then she lowered her voice. “I’ll tell you if you promise not to tell anyone else.”
“I promise.”
“I’m your cousin, right? Your only cousin, so you have to keep the promise. This will just be our secret, right?”
“I pinky swear,” I said.
We hooked pinkies.
“I’m not going at all,” she said.
“Shh,” she warned.
“But why?” I asked in my super softest voice.
“Because I don’t want my dad to get married,” she said. “Unless he wants to marry my mom again—that’d be okay. But he wants to marry Laura. He says if I give her a chance, I’ll love her as much as he does.”
“Maybe you will,” I said.
Lia shook her head. “No, I won’t. You wouldn’t want your dad to marry anyone but your mom, would you?”
She was right. I wouldn’t.
“Maybe I can’t stop him,” Lia continued. “But I don’t have to watch it if I don’t want to,” Lia said. “So that’s my secret. Now that you know, you can skip it with me.”
