Free Wedding Bell Blues by Jill Santopolo Page A

rubbing his chin. “I need you to help me with a surprise,” he said, “for Joan.”
    Brooke tugged on her braid. “I love surprises!” she said. “What do you want to do? Throw her a party? Get her a present? And how can we help? Do you need us to distract her? We can be very distracting. Sparkly, too.” Brooke nodded at Sparkly, the girls’ dog, who was sleeping in a corner of the salon. “Well, we might have to wake him up first.”
    Isaac spoke quietly. “I want to ask her to marry me.”
    Aly’s mouth dropped open. Joan? Getting married? To Isaac?
    â€œWhat?!” Brooke shrieked. “This is so exciting! I’ve never been to a wedding before!” Then she turned to Aly. “Did you hear? There’s going to be a wedding! We’re going to get to wear the most gorgeous dresses with high heels!”
    Aly laughed. “I didn’t hear Isaac say any of that. But he did say he needs our help.”
    â€œRight,” Isaac said. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to propose to Joan in the Sparkle Spa. I have pictures I’d like you to hang up on ribbons. We can spread rose petals all over the floor. And when everything’s ready, you can make up a reason for her to come back here and—”
    â€œAnd you’ll get down on one knee and tell her you’ll love her forever and ever and give her a big, sparkly ring!” Brooke said.
    By now, the rest of the girls in the Sparkle Spa were listening in on the conversation.
    â€œIs that what’s going to happen?” Jayden asked, splashing her feet in the bubbles.
    Isaac cleared his throat. “Something like that,” he said, gazing around the busy room. “I think I should have mentioned my plan sooner than today,” he saidto Aly and Brooke. “I didn’t realize how many customers you’d have in here.”
    Aly turned to Brooke. Isaac was right. She really wanted to help him out and was excited he was going to ask Joan—their favorite Joan!—to marry him. But she and Brooke were busy running a business. Could they possibly postpone all of their appointments to make this happen?
    Aly sent Brooke a Secret Sister Eye Message: Can we do this?
    Brooke sent her one back: How can we not?
    And Aly knew her sister was right. She just hoped their customers would understand.

two
As Red as It Gets
    A ly gathered the Sparkle Spa customers around the pedicure chairs and explained what was going on, even though most of them had already overheard.
    â€œSo we’re really sorry times a million, but we have to cancel the rest of today’s appointments,” Brooke announced.
    â€œAnd we can reschedule you for Sunday or anytime next week,” Aly finished. “Just talk to Charlotte.”
    Aly held her breath. She was worried that theircustomers might be mad, and she hated when ­people were mad. Especially at her. She grew even more worried when nobody said anything at first. But then Annie spoke up. “Can we help?”
    Aly tucked her hair behind her ear. “With what?” she asked.
    â€œWith the setup!” Annie said. “I’ve never been part of a marriage proposal before. It sounds like fun.”
    â€œMe too!” said Jayden. “I want to help.”
    â€œAnd me,” said Eliza. “If you could use another person.”
    Soon everyone in the spa had volunteered to help. No one was angry about their appointments being canceled.
    Aly ran over to Isaac, who had been waiting by the Sparkle Spa’s polish wall. “Okay,” she said. “We’ll all help. Just tell us what you need.”
    Isaac pulled out a stack of photos from his camerabag. There were pictures of him and Joan hiking, skiing, walking through a museum, blowing out birthday candles. They were all black-and-white shots with a single color added to each one, as if Isaac had painted it on. In one Joan had really red lips. In