Flower Girl World: Rosie and the Wedding Day Rescue (5 page)

The guests laughed and clapped loudly. As the girls hurried back down the aisle, Rosie realized something: “Now I'm the only flower girl who hasn't helped the bride.” But there was no time to worry about that. The flower girls had to get back to the bridal suite to search for the missing ring!

Racing up the stairs, Starr said, “Are either of you good at finding small objects?”

For the first time since she was asked to be a flower girl, a confident smile spread across Rosie's face.

Chapter Eight

When the girls returned to the bridal suite, Amber and the twins were still yelling at each other. Greta was crawling around on her hands and knees in her wedding dress, looking for the ring underneath furniture.

“Things don't look good in here,” Starr said.

“You're right,” Iris agreed. “Finding that ring is going to be impossible.”

“Maybe not,” Rosie chimed in. “I know what to do.”

Before her new friends could ask what she meant, Rosie started calling out instructions.

“Starr, you focus on your brothers. Find out if they know anything about the ring.”

“Okay,” Starr replied.

“Iris, can you take care of Greta? She shouldn't be crawling on the floor. She's going to ruin her dress.”

“Sure,” Iris said. She lowered her voice. “I'll keep Amber away from her, too.”

“What are you going to do, Rosie?” Starr asked.

“I'm going to find the ring! Luckily, I have all my detective tools with me,” Rosie said, holding up her detective kit.

“Cool!” The other girls were impressed.

“But we have to hurry,” Rosie added. “The wedding guests are waiting!”

Starr yanked her brothers away from Amber. They were like tigers ready to pounce on the maid of honor.

Iris kneeled on the floor next to Greta. She put an arm around the bride and led her over to the couch. “Rosie will find the ring, Greta. Don't worry.”

Rosie dug through her kit. “Hmmm…” she thought. “What's the right tool for a situation like this?” It really wasn't the time for fingerprint powder.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Amber jumped out of her chair to answer it, but Greta stopped her. “Amber, no one enters this room, and no one leaves until the ring is found!” she said fiercely.

“But…But…” Amber said. “I just thought—”

“Please don't think anymore,” Greta cut her off. “You've already caused enough trouble.”

Amber sunk back into her chair.

The knocking finally stopped. By then, Rosie had found the perfect detective tool: binoculars! She would use them to scan the room for anything unusual. But before she could begin her search, Starr came over to report on her conversation with her brothers.

“I think the boys are telling the truth. I know when they're lying, and this isn't one of those times. Something fishy is going on.”

“I agree,” Rosie said, raising the binoculars to her eyes and peering all over the room.

Just then Amber's cell phone started ringing. “Oh great, it's Nick!” she said, reaching for the red phone.

“Don't you dare answer that,” Greta snapped.

“Fine,” Amber said in a huff. She dangled the phone by its charm chain. “Then I suppose you should take it away from me.”

Rosie continued scanning the room until her eyes came to rest on Amber.

“Greta!” Rosie burst out a second later. “I found the ring!”

Chapter Nine

Greta leaped to her feet. “What? Where is it?” She wiped tears from her eyes.

Rosie walked over to Amber and took the cell phone out of her hand. Hanging from her charm chain were tiny figures of a shoe, a shopping bag, a nail polish bottle—and the groom's ring! Rosie gave the ring to Greta.

“Now I remember!” exclaimed Amber. “I was afraid I'd forget where I put the ring. Nick suggested that I attach it to my cell phone. He knows how much I love my cell phone.”

Amber laughed. But realizing that no one else thought it was funny, she stopped.

A text message suddenly beeped on Amber's phone. Rosie looked down to read what it said.

Knocked. No answer. Ring on cell phone.

Amber grabbed the phone from Rosie.

“It's from Nick. He must have figured out why the wedding was delayed,” she went on. “The mystery is solved. Now it's time for all of us to walk down the aisle.”

“I don't think you'll be walking down the aisle, Amber,” Greta said, holding the ring tightly.

Amber looked confused.

“A maid of honor is supposed to
help
the bride, not cause problems for her. You care more about your cell phone and your boyfriend than this wedding. Our moms wanted you to be my maid of honor, but let's face it: we've never been very close.”

Amber's eyes opened wide. “What? What am I supposed to do?”

“You can join Nick in the audience, if you like.”

Amber's face turned bright red. “I'm sorry that things didn't work out.” She grabbed her bag and scurried out the door without saying goodbye.

Rosie supposed that Amber wouldn't be in the audience, but now was the time to focus on happier thoughts. Greta had the ring back, and Rosie was the one who found it. “I guess I'm a good flower girl after all!” she thought to herself.

Greta glanced in the mirror and wiped the makeup smudges off her face. Then she turned to the girls. “I don't know what I would have done without you three. Thank you so much. Rosie, you saved the wedding by finding Mark's ring.”

Rosie beamed. “It wasn't just me,” she said, grabbing the hands of her two friends.

“You're right,” Greta said. “Now I have a special request: Will you three be my flower girls of honor?”

Rosie, Iris, and Starr gathered around Greta and gave her a huge, happy hug. They didn't need to say anything. Greta had her answer.

Chapter Ten

Rosie's heart was thumping so hard she thought she might fall down. She, Iris, and Starr stood outside the ballroom, waiting for their turn to walk down the aisle. Rosie was nervous, but more than anything, she was excited. Greta had given her an important job: she was in charge of the groom's ring!

“That's our cue,” Iris said as the music changed to an upbeat tune. She glanced back at her friends. “Good luck!” she said before heading down the aisle.

After a few beats, Starr followed her. Finally it was Rosie's turn. She wondered if she'd be able to move her legs, because they were shaking like crazy. All it took was one scary first step…and then she was fine.

Rosie gently tossed her petals to the ground. She looked out into the audience and tried to imagine the guests as pigs. It didn't work until she spotted Max. Seeing him as an oinker with a tie was so funny, she almost burst out laughing. But then she remembered her important job and shifted her focus back to the petals.

When Rosie reached the end of the aisle, the music switched to
Here Comes the Bride
. All the guests stood, hoping to get a good view of Greta. As the bride came through the door, Rosie glanced over at Mark, who was standing on the other side of the arch. She could tell he had tears in his eyes, but his smile stretched from ear to ear.

During the ceremony, Rosie focused her attention on the justice of the peace, who was in charge of marrying Greta and Mark. She listened anxiously for him to say six important words:

“May I please have the rings?”