After sorting out the boys at the house, I made a phone call to Jackson. I always knew I could count on him for anything.

“Grant, what is it?”

“Jackson, I need your help with a few things.”

“Anything you want, brother.”

“I’m planning something. An event.”

“What sort of event?”

“You’ll be able to guess. Will you help me with it?”

“Of course.”

“Do you have a pen?”

“What do I need a pen for?”

“To take down a list.”

“There’s a list?”

“Yeah, there’s a list.”

Jackson went to get a pen. “All right, I’m ready.”

“First thing, you know the flower market in San Francisco?”

“The big one by the port?”

“Yes, I need someone to go there and order ten thousand red roses.”

“Ten thousand?”

“Yes. Or more if they have them.”

“For when?”

“For tomorrow.”

“That soon?”

“Yes. Did you write it down?”

“I did, but will they have that many available?”

“I hope so. The second thing I need is also at the flower market. There’s a cake shop there, and they make cakes using rose water.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m not sure, but the cakes are delicious.”

“Okay.”

“So I need the biggest wedding cake they can make. Literally the most beautiful, extravagant cake they can possibly make.”

“A wedding cake?”

“Yes. For tomorrow too.”

“You’re getting married?”

“You can’t tell anyone about this, Jackson. Especially not Faith.”

“Why not?”

“Because I didn’t tell Lacey yet.”

Jackson started laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“Don’t you think this is a little out of the blue?”

“It’s not out of the blue at all. I’ve been waiting half my life to marry Lacey.”

“But she doesn’t know that.”

“She’ll find out in plenty of time.”

“Grant, I’ve got to tell you this as your friend. I mean, I’m all for surprising the woman you love. I think it’s lovely. But you really ought to consider proposing to Lacey before springing a wedding on her. She’s strong willed. You know how she gets when she feels like you’re making decisions for her.”

“I don’t care,” I said. “I’ve got to make that woman mine, and if I don’t do it soon, I’m going to explode. Pretty much everything I do with her ends up going all wrong, so I figure I’m better off just arranging everything the way she likes it and hoping for the best.”

“Hoping for the best?”

“Are you going to help me with this or not?” I asked.

“Sorry. You’re right. This way is more romantic, I guess. A complete shock.”

“Don’t be sarcastic.”

“Just keep going. What else do you need?”

“Okay, so we’ve got the flowers and the cake. The next thing I need are white doves.”

“Doves?”

“Yes, doves. You know the kind? The romantic ones that fly out of a box at a wedding.”

“I’ve seen the movies.”

“So get as many of them as possible.”

“For tomorrow?”

“Yes, for tomorrow. Everything’s for tomorrow. The next thing I need is live music. Like a band or something.”

“Which band?”

“Ask Faith. She’ll know.”

“I thought you didn’t want Faith to know about this?”

“Just ask her in a subtle way. Find out what music Lacey would like. And then book them for tomorrow night.”

“This is a long list, Grant.”

“It’s almost done.”

“So what’s left?”

“Faith has to go pick out a wedding dress for Lacey.”

“Grant. You haven’t thought this through. First of all, there’s no way Faith’s not going to know what’s going on if you ask her to do that. Second of all, women like to pick out their own wedding dress. They agonize over it. It’s a huge decision.”

“Just tell her I need her to do it. I’m going to marry Lacey, and God help me, I’m going to surprise her with this. If she doesn’t like it, she can just refuse to go through with it.”

“Grant, this is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard of. I mean, I’ve heard of shotgun weddings, but usually the bride is in on the plans.”

“Well, Lacey’s too mad at me to make any sort of plans with me at the moment.”

“Mad at you?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I interfered in her relationship with Rob.”

“Rob. Holy shit. Grant. I just remembered. Lacey’s engaged to that guy.”

“That’s over.”

“Over? Are you sure?”

“Yes, because I’m the one who ended it.”

“Oh shit, Grant. No wonder she’s mad at you. If she was upset about that, how’s she going to react when she finds out you’ve arranged an entire wedding for her without even consulting her?”

I hung up the phone, and immediately started to panic. What the hell had I just done? Lacey was going to hate this. There was no way she’d go along with it. A wedding? Tomorrow? That she didn’t know about? She was already fuming mad at me, and this was a thousand times worse than what I’d done with Rob.