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Girls Night (Part 1)

“Buckle up.”

Meredith looked down at the latch. “I am. Ivy, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Ivy looked around and backed out of her spot.

“About how long do you think it would take to get to Toby’s house from here?”

“I’m not taking you to Toby’s house.”

“No, I just wanted to set a timer. We’ll see who gets the last laugh.”

“Where does he live?”

“Plum Street.”

“Maybe fifteen minutes, but give him twenty to get in the door.”

Meredith set an alarm on her phone. “Wait ‘til she sees this, Mr. Smartypants.”

“He really proposed in the car?”

“Yes, can you believe it?”

“Isn’t he supposed to…”

“He said that, but I prefer it how it happened.”

“Really?”

“It was absolutely magical, Ivy. I’m going to remember this day for the rest of my life.”

“That’s good, Meri. I’m glad things worked out for you guys.”

“What’s bugging you?”

“I can’t put my finger on it. We’ve been living together for months already.”

“Sure, but weddings are a whole thing unto themselves. It’s a lot of planning and negotiating.”

“And spending.” Ivy laughed. “I know it’s going to be fine, but I really can’t wait for it to be over.”

“And you feel guilty for feeling that way?”

“I’m miserable about it, Meri. I want this all to go perfectly, but I really just want it to be done.”

“It’s just because you’re so close to the finish line.”

“It’s like it’s not even my wedding. Holly has been driving this whole thing.”

“She’s the Matron of Honor. You’re lucky to have one who takes her duties so seriously.”

“She’s trying to buy off her own guilt over being such a jerk to me for most of her life.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, Holly and I had a very strained relationship until last year.”

“What changed?”

“The incident at the Family Fun Festival last year around Christmastime.”

“Incident? That sounds serious.”

“Deadly serious. A gang of armed crooks sidetracked the cops to a fake emergency so they could rob the whole darn town. We tried to hide in the toy store, but one of them came in waving a gun at us.”

“That’s awful.”

“Ian whacked him with a baseball bat and we tied him up, but we were afraid more of them would come in.”

“Did they?”

“No, luckily, Slipstream ran in and took them all down.”

“Really? I wonder how he knew to come.”

“Yeah, you wouldn’t think he was monitoring the whole tri-state area.”

“I guess that’s the upside of being able to run faster than the speed of sound.”

“Seems like.” Ivy waited for the light to turn green. “Anyway, the whole thing was super-stressful and Holly had some kind of wild fever dream after we got home.”

“Wow, I’m sorry.”

“We’ve all been in therapy over it, but Holly has been trying to make amends. Frank just feels bad because I didn’t have anyone to walk me down the aisle.”

“That’s really sweet.” Her phone buzzed in her pocket. “Haha, now you get yours, Toby Belzer.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m texting his mom.”

“Boss move.” Ivy laughed. “What did you say?”

“I told her to have him tell the whole story.”

“Yeah, he probably left that part out.”

“He’s such a goofball.” Meredith snickered as she slipped her phone back into her pocket. “Look, Ivy, I don’t think you should feel bad. You’re helping Holly with her therapy and you’re getting a really beautiful wedding out of the deal.”

“I know, but I’m just so tired of all the pomp and circumstance. I’d be just as happy to go to a judge in jeans and a hoodie.”

“Tomorrow is going to be such a great day. Don’t you think?”

“I’m sure it will be every bit the fairy tale that Holly has been cramming down my throat since Ian proposed.”

“I’m guessing he didn’t do that in a car?”

Ivy swept tears from her eyes. “It was January, when he was taking down everyone’s lights.”

“What did he do?”

“He wrote ‘Will you marry me?’ in Frank’s yard with Christmas lights.”

“Ivy, that’s amazing.”

“I would have gone to City Hall with him the next day, but Holly decided to make a pageant out of it. She had been so shaken by that incident, I didn’t have the heart to tell her no.”

“Sure, I get it. She seems pretty edgy, too.”

“Honestly, she’s been so manic about all the wedding prep…”

“She’s going to crash once it’s over.”

“I’m afraid she is. I don’t know how to help her, Meri. She’s so high-strung.”

“She’s got the baby to focus on. Maybe it won’t be so bad.”

“I hope so, Meri. I’m afraid she’s going to crash and burn.”

“I’ll try to keep an eye on her.”

“Thanks. I’m worried about her. She’s been doing better with Frank and the girls, but…”

“I’m here with you. Okay?”

“It’s a lot to dump on you, Meri. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. I owe you so much. It’s only fair.”

Ivy pulled into Frank’s driveway and took a deep breath. “Here we go.”

Meredith grabbed her overnight bag from the back seat and followed Ivy through the garage.

“Hey, everybody!” Ivy called as the girls came running.

“Aunt Ivy, we started the popcorn and Daddy found a bunch of Santa shows to watch.” Chelsea jumped up and down.

Kendra grabbed Meredith’s hand and pulled her into the hallway. “I’ll show you where Aunt Ivy’s room is.”

“Oh, thanks.” She followed the little girl to a guest room and put her bag down at the foot of the bed. “Wow, this is nice.”

“It’s alright.” She scanned the room a moment. ”You should see my room.”

“Sure, after I get changed.”

The girl looked at her quizzically.

“Well, you don’t think you’re the only one around here who likes comfy jammies. Do you?”

Kendra smiled and pulled the door shut as she left.