It was time for Aunt Mary and Bob to exchange vows and rings. Tom, the best man, handed Aunt Mary’s ring to Bob, and he slid it onto Aunt Mary’s finger.

Then Aunt Mary turned to Amelia Bedelia’s mother for Bob’s ring.

“I was afraid of losing it,” said Amelia Bedelia’s mother to her sister. “So I stuck it on my thumb. Now it’s stuck, really stuck.”

Amelia Bedelia wondered why her mother had stuck it on her thumb instead of just putting it there. She looked out at the guests, who were whispering and craning their necks to see what was causing the delay. She spotted Pearl and shrugged her shoulders.

Amelia Bedelia’s mother and Aunt Mary tried to get the ring off by twisting, pulling, and pushing it back and forth, but it was no use. “My thumb is so swollen that it’s never coming off,” said Amelia Bedelia’s mother.

Suddenly Flo appeared out of nowhere, with a big bottle of bright blue dishwashing liquid. She squirted it all around the ring.

“Go with the Flo!” she said, pressing her thumbnails under the edge of the ring, urging it to “Give up, already!”

SQUELCH! went the ring, arcing high into the air. Bob nearly caught it but bobbled it. Amelia Bedelia’s father nearly caught it too, but the ring fell into the sand at their feet. Jason scrambled for it but instead covered it up completely.

“Where did it go?” asked Aunt Mary.

Everyone looked and dug and looked, but it was hopeless.

“We’d have a better chance of finding a doubloon,” said Jason.

Aunt Mary said, “Bob, you wouldn’t happen to have your—”

“In the trunk of my car,” said Bob. “Back in a jiffy.”

Aunt Mary looked at Amelia Bedelia’s mother. “Did I just get left at the altar?” she asked.

“We all did!” said Amelia Bedelia.

Soon, though, Bob came back down the aisle, scanning the beach with his metal detector. Picking up a signal, he pointed right next to where they had been looking. Jason stuck his hand in the sand, retrieved the ring, and handed it to his mother.

She placed it on Bob’s finger without waiting for him to take off his gear.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife!” said Captain Will.

“Let the party begin!” announced Aunt Wanda to the clapping and cheering guests.

The food was incredible. And there was more than enough, since all Jason’s friends had shown up with a delicious selection of seaside treats and frosty beverages. Aunt Mary had no trouble convincing them to stay for the party too. But with all the extra guests, they began running out of ice.

“That’s plenty of ice right there,” said Amelia Bedelia, pointing at the centerpiece. It was a huge ice sculpture of two interlocking hearts.

“Do you want to break my heart, Amelia Bedelia?” said Flo. “Oh, go ahead. It’s going to melt anyway.” She handed Amelia Bedelia a small mallet. Clearly she was prepared for almost everything!

“I was stationed on an icebreaker,” said Captain Will. “We rescued other ships that had gotten trapped in the ice near the North Pole.”

Amelia Bedelia handed the mallet to Captain Will. “You’re the expert,” she said.

Captain Will whacked the ice sculpture just once, and it shattered into a million ice cubes.

“I may retire,” said Flo. “How could I ever top this? Any other wedding would be boring compared to today’s.”

“You couldn’t have planned it better if you’d planned it,” said Amelia Bedelia.

Flo laughed and then frowned. She looked at Amelia Bedelia with a puzzled expression.

“Time for a photo!” yelled Amelia Bedelia’s father.

“Shake a leg and get yourself over here!” yelled Amelia Bedelia’s mother.

Amelia Bedelia and Pearl headed to where Flo was helping a photographer set up a big camera on a tripod. Jason was racing the waves with some beach friends.

Then Amelia Bedelia spotted Anita, Aunt Mary, and Bob looking at a picture together—probably of Blackberry Cottage, because Aunt Mary had a stunned expression on her face. All of a sudden she hugged Bob, and he twirled her around in the air. Aunt Wanda was dancing with Captain Will. It didn’t seem as though they were going to stop anytime soon. Grandma and Granddad were eating cake with Bob’s family. Woof! Woof! And there, racing across the beach at full speed, was Finally. Amelia Bedelia scooped her up.

Flo looked at her Flo chart and shrugged. “Well, the sun is perfect, so let’s go with the Flo and just take some photos,” she said.

So Amelia Bedelia’s mother, Amelia Bedelia’s father, Amelia Bedelia, and Finally posed for the photographer. At the very last minute, Amelia Bedelia grabbed Pearl, and her mother grabbed Flo, and Amelia Bedelia’s father called out, “Three, two, one! Family hug!”