Always the Wedding Planner, Never the Bride (24 page)

"Henry."

"What about him?"

"He ate it."

After a full minute of silence, Andy's eyes just stuck on Emma's, a tiny little noise escaped out of Sherilyn. In another couple of seconds, she was bumping against him, her face still buried.

"Honey?"

It wasn't until she looked up at him that he realized she was laughing and crying at the same time.

"Sherilyn?"

"My whole life was in that thing," she said, and a fit of slightly hysterical laughter followed before her face contorted again. "I'm really sorry about your dog, Andy. I really am."

Emma tilted one shoulder into a shrug as she told him, "She's been on the verge like this all day." Then she opened her eyes wide and mimed, "Losing it!"

Andy shifted, placed his hand under her chin and lifted Sherilyn's face to his. "Are you all right?"

Laughing, she shook her head emphatically. "Nope," she said, and she continued to giggle and cry in alternating spurts.

"It says here that you're allergic to aloe?"

"Yes." Sherilyn nodded.

"Don't see a lot of that."

"No?"

"No, it's a fairly unusual allergy."

"Ever since I was a kid. I was at a friend's house, and I burned my hand on the stove. Her mom tore off a chunk from a plant she had in the window and put the gel on the burn. Twenty minutes later, I was a large round beet with legs."

The doctor chuckled as she reviewed the pages on the clipboard in her hands. Adjusting her white lab coat, she sat down on the short round stool and wheeled it toward Sherilyn.

She held out a fat wooden Popsicle stick and said, "Open." Shining a light into her throat, the doctor peered inside. She then repeated the inspection into both ears and up her nose. Sherilyn wondered where the doctor might want to look next!

"And you're sure you didn't purchase any new body lotion or hair conditioner?"

"Nope."

"Sunscreen, facial tissues—"

"What, like Kleenex?"

"Usually the ones marked for bad colds or runny noses."

"No."

"Natural laxatives or digestive aids?"

Sherilyn arched an eyebrow. "Really? No."

Dr. Benson lowered the clipboard to her lap and leaned forward with a sigh. "I think it's pretty clear that your problem the other day was related to your allergy to aloe. But it would really help if we could determine the source."

Sherilyn shook her head and shrugged. "I really don't know.

I was sure it was my fiancé's dog."

"What kind of dog?" she asked casually.

"A big, hairy one."

"The breed?"

"One of those sheepdogs," she said.

"An Old English?"

"Yes. That's it."

"And what made you think it was the dog?"

"It seems like every time I've had these flares, Henry has been somewhere nearby."

Dr. Benson descended into deep thought for a moment.

"Well, either Henry or Andy."

She arched an eyebrow. "Andy?"

"My fiancé," Sherilyn said with a chuckle. "There for a while, I was starting to think I was allergic to Andy, and not his dog."

"Really."

"Yes, and it was no small pressure point either, let me tell you. I—" She noticed the doctor's piqued interest, and her heart began to race. "Well, I'm not!" she quickly added. "It's not Andy. It's definitely the dog!"

"You show no signs of an allergy to pet dander," Dr. Benson stated. "But it could—"

"No!" Sherilyn shouted, and she raised both hands. "Don't say it. Please, Dr. Benson, don't say it. Andy Drummond is the man of my dreams. Seriously, I don't say that lightly. He is the man I've waited for my whole life. So if you tell me right now that I have the unbelievably bad luck of being allergic to him, I don't think I can take it. I mean, I don't think it's an overstatement at all to tell you that I will lose it. These days, I'm just a bathrobe, some drool, and one more setback shy of being on the six o'clock news."

Dr. Benson smirked. "Well, I think—"

"No, really," Sherilyn assured her. "I'm done with the bad news. Done. I can
NOT
be allergic to my fiancé. Can't. At all."

 

 

Romantic Quotes
for Wedding Invitations and Ceremony Programs

"My beloved is mine, and I am his."

Song of Solomon 2:16 (NKJV)

 

"Love is promise, love is a souvenir.

Once given, never forgotten; never let it disappear."

John Lennon

 

"Love is a friendship set to music."

E. Joseph Cossman

 

"There are three things that amaze me—

. . . how an eagle glides through the sky . . .

how a ship navigates the ocean,

how a man loves a woman."

Proverbs 30:18-19 (NLT)

 

"Love in its essence is spiritual fire."

Emanuel Swedenborg

 

"Today I begin to understand what love is."

Alexandre Hazen Dornback

 

"Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud
.

It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,

it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs."

1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (NIV)

 

 

 

 

A
ndy ran the vacuum over the living room rug for the third time while Emma wiped down the dining room table and chairs. On the other side of the glass door, Fee glared at him; then Andy realized the squinty eyes and wrinkled forehead could be attributed to her inspection of the window for anymore streaks.

He flipped off the switch and wrapped the cord around the body of the vacuum, wheeling it to the closet under the stairs before heading up to the bedroom.

Fresh linens, laundered curtains, swept floors; the three of them had cleaned, brushed, or vacuumed every surface they could think of in an effort to rid the house of any telltale remnants of Henry's short stay. Andy wished he didn't miss the dog so much already, and he reminded himself that it had been only a couple of hours since young Aaron and his mother had left with Henry and all of his belongings in tow. He took a short walk around the room to make sure he hadn't missed anything that would eventually cause Sherilyn anymore discomfort.

Aside from a family cat that had lived only a few short years, Andy had never had a pet of his own, though he'd always wanted one. Partial to dogs from a very young age, he liked

them best when they were large and playful, just like Henry. He'd believed finding Henry in the backyard on the very day that they chose their new home had been something of a good sign of things to come. He realized now that he couldn't have been much more wrong.

"Hey!"

Andy smiled at Emma. "I think it's all de-Henried."

She returned the smile, and rubbed his arm. "Sorry, Andy."

"Nah, it's all good."

"Jackson and I are having dinner with my dad tonight. Why don't you and Sher join us?"

"I'll have to see how she feels."

"Okay. Morton's Steakhouse at seven."

"Thanks for all your help, Emma."

"Anything for Sher."

It occurred to him how rare—and accurate—the statement actually was. He had no doubt there was nothing on earth the two of them wouldn't do for each other.

"And I thought Sherilyn didn't have any family," he said, slipping his arm around Emma's shoulder as they headed down the hall.

"Oh, you thought wrong, mister."

"I can see that."

Just as they made it to the bottom of the stairs, the front door burst open and Sherilyn raced past them.

"Andy! Andy!"

"Here," he called out, and she spun around and thundered back to him. "What did the doctor say?"

"I think—" She paused, blinking back the confusion. "Oh, hi, Em."

"Hi," she replied with a laugh.

"I think we have it all figured out. It's not Henry I'm allergic to. It's the conditioner stuff that the groomer used. It has aloe vera in it!"

"How do you know?"

"Dr. Benson helped me figure it out. So I called the groomer. I remembered the name because I thought it was funny." Looking to Emma, she explained, "Happy Tails. You know," and she sang to her,
"Happy Trails to you . . . until . . . we meet . . . again."

"Sherilyn?"

"Oh, sorry. So I called them, and I asked what's in their organic conditioner that they used on Henry and, sure enough! It has aloe juice in it!"

"Oh, Sher." Emma touched Andy's shoulder and shook her head.

"What? This is good news!"

"Yes, I just wish we'd solved the mystery a few hours earlier."

"Why?"

Andy sat down on the staircase and shook his head.

"Why?" she repeated. "What's happened?"

"Andy found a home for Henry."

"No."

"He left with the little boy down the street about two hours ago."

Fee sauntered into the hall and looked around at them.

"This isn't good news?"

"No," Emma told her. "Sher's not allergic to Henry after all."

"Ohh," Fee said, and she sidestepped the stairwell and stood in front of Andy. "Dude. Sorry."

Andy wanted to tell her he was sorry too. But the misery in Sherilyn's eyes inspired him to keep silent.

"No biggie," he said casually instead. "At least we know what it is now."

Sherilyn knelt down in front of him and took his hands into hers. "Maybe we can get him back!"

Emma rubbed Sherilyn's shoulder and shook her head. "No, Sher. You should have seen that kid's face when he left with his new dog. You can't go and take him back now."

Sherilyn looked at Andy for a long moment. He thought he saw resignation behind the sadness in her eyes—until she leapt suddenly upright, stamped her foot and cried, "Sure I can!"

And with that, his fiancée flung open the front door and ran through it.

Andy fumbled to his feet and chased after her, finally catching up to her at the driveway of the house next door.

"No, Andy. He'll understand. I'll make him understand. And I can buy him a new dog. Any dog he wants!"

He almost wanted to laugh, and he decided one more time as he looked at her that he had chosen the right woman with whom to share his life. She'd ruined him, in fact. No one else would ever do now that he'd found Sherilyn Caine.

"Honey," he said, smoothing her hair with the palm of his hand. "You didn't want a dog anyway."

"I know," she sang. "But he's . . . grown on me . . . and . . ."

"Hey. Don't start lying to me now."

"Okay, he didn't grow on me. I don't really like him at all, if you want to know the truth. But I've never been much for dogs, Andy. I could learn to love him. I know I could."

She turned to continue on her quest, but Andy grabbed her by the sleeve of her coat. "Sherilyn, look at me," he said, and she reluctantly raised her eyes. "My hopes are all pinned on sharing my life with you, not Henry."

"But—"

"He's a dog, honey. A great dog, but just a dog."