Dad wasn’t alone. Standing next to him, there was a lady in a business suit, and on the other side, a POLICE OFFICER.
“Oh, thank goodness, you’re all safe and sound,” Dad said. He opened up his arms and we were all crowding into them—even Lia. But then he let go, and held the three of us out at arm’s length. “What were you thinking, running off like that? What were you THINKING?!”
Penny started sniffling. “Please don’t make me go to jail, Daddy. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. It wasn’t my idea.”
Uh-oh, there went my little sister tattle-telling again.
I glanced over at the police officer. He had a walkie-talkie raised up to his mouth, and he said, “They’ve been found.”
I turned back to Dad. “I’m sorry, too,” I told him.
“I’m sure you are,” he said. “But we’re still going to have a family talking-to, just so you know.”
That’s when I remembered that I really, REALLY had to go the bathroom. I twisted my legs, one around the other. Dad’s cell phone rang right then. It was Mom, making sure we’d really and truly been found. Penny grabbed the phone. “Mommy!” she cried.
The lady who’d opened the door said she’d take me to the bathroom. I followed her, even though she was a stranger, and we’re not supposed to go anywhere with strangers. She had helped find us—and Dad seemed to trust her. Besides, the police officer was there, and he seemed to think it was okay, too.
She waited right outside the door for me. When I finished, I washed my hands, and she handed me a paper towel. “You kids gave us quite a scare,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” I said again. “How did you know how to find us?”
“I got a call from a young girl just this morning. She was very curious about the feeding schedule for the koi fish—where the food was kept, what the hours were for my staff going into the storage room to get the food, whether the cleaning crew ever went into that room to clean things up, and how often that happened. When your father called to say the three of you were missing, we notified hotel security. We had everyone looking out for you.”
“Even the police,” I said.
“Your mom called them,” she explained. “They arrived in the ballroom right about the time I did. They were gathering information about you girls, asking for room numbers. Lia’s dad, Rob, gave his room number—1104—and that’s when I remembered the call. It had come in from that very same room. Since Rob himself doesn’t have the voice of a young child, I figured it had to be Lia calling, and I figured maybe the reason why she was asking all those questions about the supply closet was because she was planning to run away to it. As soon as I put two and two together, your dad and I raced over—along with Officer Robbins. We opened the door, and you know the rest.”
“Thanks for finding us,” I told her.
“My dear, it’s my job,” she said.
“Your job is finding people?” I asked.
“My job is to help people with whatever question or problem they have when they’re guests at this hotel.”
“Oh, I get it,” I said. “You answer the phone for the Ask Aoife hotline—and that’s the number that Lia called.”
“My dear,” the lady said, taking my hand and leading me out the bathroom door, “I am Aoife!”
Aoife and I walked back to Ballroom A. My whole entire family was standing together, crowded around Lia and Penny. A bunch of the regular guests were there, too. Penny spotted us first. “Hi, Stella!” she said. “They’re not mad anymore—well, only a little bit mad.”
She didn’t even finish her sentence before Mom, Aunt Laura, Grandma, and Grandpa all rushed toward me and took turns hugging me. “I’m sorry,” I told them all—it was the third time I’d apologized since we got out of the closet. But I didn’t know what else to say.
“I know you are, honey,” Mom said. “Penny and Lia explained everything.”
“How could you ever have thought I didn’t want you to be in my wedding?” Aunt Laura asked.
“Well,” I started, “because you wanted your wedding to be perfect, and I wanted you to have a perfect wedding, but I messed so many things up, and . . .” My voice trailed off, because looking at her dress right then, I didn’t see any kind of blue paint on it. “Your dress—it’s washed off.”
“Not exactly,” Aunt Laura said. She lifted up a layer, and revealed a flash of blue paint underneath. “Evonne remembered she’d brought a white shawl along, and she ran up to her room to get it. I put it on and knotted it in the back.” She dropped the shawl back down. “Looks good, doesn’t it?”
I nodded.
“I think so, too,” Aunt Laura said. “When I looked in the mirror, it looked like I’d planned to wear the dress like this all along, so Evonne said she’d loan it to me for the day.”
Another something borrowed! That meant nothing was doubled up, after all!
“So now will you be in my wedding?”
“But I thought the wedding already happened,” I said.
“Yeah,” Lia said. “It was starting right when we left.”
“You think I’d get married without my one and only daughter right there by my side?” Rob asked her.
“Or that I’d get married without her—or without my two favorite nieces?” Aunt Laura added.
“Goody!” Penny cried.
“But I wanted to get you something special that you’d remember the day by, and instead it got all messed up.”
“I don’t need any present from you,” Aunt Laura said. “Your presence is your present. So are we ready to get started?”
“Yes!” said Penny.
I shook my head. “Lia has something to ask you first.”
“Lia,” Aunt Laura said. “What’s your question?”
“Would it be all right if my mom came and got to see me be in this wedding?” Lia asked. “I really want her to see me in my dress and walk down the aisle.”
“Oh, Lia,” Aunt Laura said. “Of course, that’d be all right.”
Lia called her mom, who said she’d be there in an hour. Aoife stepped up to the front of the room. She put her fingers in her mouth and gave the super loudest whistle I’ve ever heard in my whole entire life. Everyone quieted down right away. She made an announcement that the ceremony was being delayed a little bit, but there’d be champagne for all the grown-ups, and orange juice for the kids in the meantime.
But then Rabbi Wasserman came to talk to Aunt Laura and Soon-to-be Uncle Rob, and said he couldn’t wait for another hour. He had another function to attend. “We’ve already delayed a while,” he explained.
“Not that long,” Mom said. “We’re only—” she paused to look at her watch—“thirty-five minutes behind schedule.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. “It felt like we were gone for way longer than that.”
“I’m sure,” Mom said. “But believe me, they were the longest thirty-five minutes of my life.”
“Mine too,” Dad echoed.
“Mine too,” Aunt Laura and Uncle Rob said at the same time.
“Jinx,” Penny yelled. But then she added, “Briggs Laura” and “Perlman Rob,” so the two of them could keep talking.
“Add another hour,” said Rabbi Wasserman, “and I just can’t do it.”
“I guess we can’t wait for Mom,” said Lia.
“Oh no,” Aunt Laura told her. “We’re waiting. She should’ve been on the guest list all along. Right, Rob?”
“Right,” he said. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. You were right.”
Penny shook her head. “Uncle Rob strikes again!”
“What?” asked Rob. “What’d I do?”
“You keep seeing Aunt Laura before the wedding,” Penny told him. “You’re standing next to her RIGHT NOW. That’s bad luck, you know.”
“Bad luck, schmad luck,” said Uncle Rob. “You girls are our good-luck charms—I think we’ll be all right.”
“I don’t know how lucky we really are,” Lia said, her voice just an eensy bit shaky. “After all, the rabbi is leaving.”
“But you’ll stick around for the wedding now, whenever it is?” Aunt Laura asked her.
“Yeah,” said Lia. “I will. I promise.”
Aunt Laura put her arm around Lia’s shoulder. “That’s all I need to know,” she said. “We can have the party now—everyone’s here, and ready to celebrate. There’s no rule that you can’t have the party first, and then get married. If Rabbi Wasserman can’t do it today, we’ll do it tomorrow. We may not have all our guests still here, but we’ll get married. The important thing is the family is still intact.”
“A reverse wedding,” Mom said. “It’s not the traditional route—but then again, my kid sister has never been the most traditional girl.”
“This is the one day I actually wanted to be,” Aunt Laura said. “I wanted things to be in the right order, and I wanted the kids to walk down the aisle and throw petals, and I wanted Mom and Dad to give me away, in front of all of my friends. But it’s okay, you know, as long as the girls are safe and sound. It doesn’t really matter how this wedding happens, just as long as it does eventually.”
“I guess I should let the guests know,” Rob said.
“Know what?” Aoife asked, walking back over to us.
“The rabbi apparently has another function to attend. So we’ll have the party now. Whenever he can come back, we’ll have him marry us.”
“Does it have to be this rabbi who marries you?” Aoife asked.
“I suppose not,” Rob said. “It could be a priest, or a justice of the peace.”
“Or a hotel proprietor?” asked Aoife.
“Are you trying to tell us that YOU can perform this wedding ceremony?” Mom asked.
“I’m licensed in the state of California,” she said.
“Oh, Aoife, thank you,” Aunt Laura said. “Thank you so much.”
“Wait a second,” said Penny. “Your name is Aoife?” I forgot they hadn’t been introduced.
“It is,” she said.
“You have the same name as the hotel!” Penny told her.
“I know. It’s my hotel.”
“The whole hotel is yours?” Penny asked, nearly breathless.
“Yup.”
“Wow, I didn’t know you could have your own hotel. When I grow up, that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to have my own hotel, and also my own candy store, and be a princess, and be a writer.”
That was a really long list of things to be, but I didn’t say anything, because right then everything seemed possible.
