5. Maverick
Chapter five
Maverick
O n Tuesday, Stacey and Caleb had scheduled a ‘fun’ day for all of us. I was very thankful for this. We had been going non-stop since the majority of the wedding party had arrived on Sunday. A day to just chill or do other things in Boise sounded like a great idea right about now – especially considering how packed the rest of the week was. Tomorrow was supposed to be a rest day so that we could all do laundry, rest our muscles, and so on. Thursday, we had the bachelor/bachelorette party.
Friday and Saturday were the busiest days on the schedule because of the wedding on Saturday. On Friday, we were supposed to go to the church at noon and start decorating. Once the decorations were done, the bridesmaids had to go to the alterations shop and pick up their dresses—and Stacey’s wedding dress. Friday evening was the rehearsal, and then we were all going over to Caleb’s parent’s house for a rehearsal dinner.
Saturday morning, everyone would get ready for the big event, and the day was packed until the ceremony.
Looking at this schedule made me wonder what Stacey and Caleb’s original schedule had been because we hardly had time to do everything this week. From what Caleb had told me, the original schedule had been twice as packed, and they had decided to do more ahead of the wedding once they realized how much help they’d need the week of the wedding to accomplish just this much.
Maria was in charge of the day’s activities, and I was somewhat worried to learn what she had planned. She had talked my ear off on the way to the Airbnb from the airport about what she had thought about doing in Boise, so I had an idea of some of the things she had been considering. But she hadn’t ever told me what we were doing.
“All right, we don’t have anything to do until about eleven thirty, eleven forty-five,” Maria announced at breakfast this morning. “The indoor theme park we’re going to doesn’t open until noon, and the earlier we get there, the fewer lines there will be for everything. It’s quite popular with it being summer. It’s called Wahooz for those who plan to do something else this morning. You can always meet us there at noon.”
“Wahooz? That’s an interesting name,” I commented.
Maria shrugged.
I had already finished breakfast and had been washing dishes. So, I offered to do dishes for the rest of the wedding party. A sink full of dirty dishes, when we had the morning to do as we pleased, would drive me nuts. Maria came over and started to dry the dishes once she had finished her own breakfast.
“What’s the cost for entrance?” I asked, glancing up from the dishes.
“We’ve booked a party with them, so we’ve already paid for the wristbands and everything,” Maria informed me. “It was part of the budget that Caleb and Stacey set aside. They wanted us to be able to enjoy a day with them without any pressure of the wedding planning.”
I nodded slowly.
We finished washing the dishes in silence, and I started to put them away. Maria went to take care of something else that was bugging her. Internally, I was thankful that she had somewhere else to be. As much fun as Maria could be, I was a little overwhelmed by her disorganized chaos. It did get things done, but there had to be a better way to accomplish tasks than to remember them bit by bit.
I shook those thoughts away because as much as I wanted to say something, she was the bride’s sister. She had probably found a way to manage it all for Stacey and for Stacey’s sake alone.
I took the morning to go over the décor and the plans for Friday. That was going to be our busiest day outside of the wedding, and I was partially responsible for making sure it all went well. We had rented a large balloon pump to make sure that the balloon arch and the garland would be put together in time. Jason, Maria, and Stacey were all responsible for the balloons.
Personally, I was responsible for the table settings. I’d already called the venue to confirm we had tablecloths we could use, as well as table runners, plates, and everything else we’d need. With the florist in charge of the flowers and centerpieces, all the décor had been taken care of. Despite Caleb’s worry that three hours wouldn’t be enough time, I was sure that we would have plenty of time so long as everyone worked diligently. Altogether, we’d have at least sixty hours between everyone in the wedding party – Caleb and Stacey included – because we were all working for the three hours.
By the time eleven-thirty came around, I was ready to head out to Wahooz. In my truck, I took Elliott, Jason, and Richard. Jacob would drive the rest of the groomsmen while Maria was catching a ride from one of the bridesmaids – or possibly Stacey. All I knew was that we were going to be able to get there all about the same time.
The drive itself was only about thirty minutes from our Airbnb. We all arrived shortly after noon because of traffic, but that was all right. Upon entering the building, I could see why Maria had described it as an indoor theme park. The first thing that greeted us was a theme park ride that would spin us around and around and around, and we could control how fast our own pod of four people was spinning.
There was also a ropes course, a bowling alley, and bumper cars immediately visible. This place certainly had a lot to do. We got our wristbands at one of the many counters, and Stacey and Caleb immediately disappeared to go to the arcade.
“Hey, Maverick, bet you can’t lap me in the go-karts,” Maria teased.
“Go-karts?”
This place was very much not my scene, but since everyone else was participating, I’d do my best to find the fun. And there were at least ten other families here, all with kids. So it was high noise level – high energy - all around.
“Come on. Are you chicken?”
“I’m not chicken!” I replied, shaking my head.
With that, I had backed myself into a corner. Maria, Elliott, and I joined the rest of the group heading outside for the go-karts. Then, I realized that there was mini-golf here too. Maybe, after an hour or so of having fun with the rest of the group, I could convince someone to come play a round of mini-golf with me. At least it would keep us away from the noisy rides.
When we all got to the front of the line for the go-karts, we ended up filling every go-kart on the track. I was partially impressed. We had enough people for that? Even without Stacey and Caleb?
I glanced over at Maria as I got myself buckled in.
“You’re going down!”
She was grinning widely.
I gripped the wheel of the go-kart and listened as the employee went over the safety rules. The main thing to know was that there was no bumping, and we were allowed to go around as often as we could until they called us back to the pit. Standard enough.
They started the countdown, and then we were off onto the track. I pressed down on the gas pedal, but Maria was in the other lane of cars. She had already taken off and was zooming around the track.
Driving a go-kart wasn’t as difficult as actually driving since all I had to do was focus on not bumping into the edge of the track or the other go-karts. But I soon realized the fun was in trying to go fast, which resulted in a lot of fishtailing or peelouts. Once I got the feel of this little vehicle, I was actually having a good time. That is, except for when Maria would pass me and let out a loud whoop.
By the time the end of our ride came, I was glad to be pulling off the track. I’d had enough of feeling like a big kid.
“Woo! Wasn’t that fun, Maverick?” Maria asked as we started walking back inside.
“It was ok.”
Maria raised an eyebrow but immediately dragged me over to the large spinning ride that we had seen upon walking in – the Thunder-Whirl. I gulped hard. We were the only two to get on this time around and ended up sitting in the same set of four. She gripped the turnstile hard, and I let her go to town as we spun around and around.
I wasn’t very impressed, but I was glad to see that she was having fun. The smile that graced her face was perhaps the widest I’d seen all week, and it was clear that this was something she found fun.
“That was an experience, but I think I’m going to go play some of the arcade games for a bit,” I said after we got off. “I’m not really into some of these rides with motion like that…”
“I’m sorry,” Maria said. Do you want some company while you’re in the arcade?”
This surprised me a little. The group had kind of split up in all different directions, and we were supposed to meet at the bowling alley at two to play a round together and get some food. She could have gone and done anything, but she wanted to stay with me.
“If you want to, you’re more than welcome to come with me to the arcade,” I finally said.
We walked to the arcade and ended up playing some air hockey together. That was a lot of fun, and I started to find that perhaps I just hadn’t come in with the right expectations. I even let Maria drag me out to the go-karts again, if only to see the wide grin and hear her hollering at me every time she lapped me. There was something exciting about this woman.
By the end of the day, we were all exhausted. We had eaten a bit of a later lunch, so no one was immediately hungry by the time we got back to the Airbnb. After a quick poll of everyone, I decided to order a delivery of hamburgers for everyone.
Then, Maria’s phone dinged.
“That’s Stacey. I gotta go,” she shared.
She stood up, and I followed her to the front door.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“Stacey needs some help unknotting the chain of the necklace she wants to wear on Saturday. Despite my best efforts, it seems to have gotten knotted up on my flight. I’m not going to take a key in case someone else wants to leave. Do you think you could keep the door open for me?”
“I can arrange for that. I can give you a ride over there if you want,” I offered.
“Thanks, but it’s not a long walk, and the fresh air will do me good. And one of the gals will bring me home. Also, thanks for being a good sport earlier. I know that a lot of those activities aren’t really up your alley, but it means a lot that you were willing to join in with all of us, and – I think – you actually had some fun,” Maria said with a smile.
“I… well, seeing how much fun you were having inspired me to give it a try,” I admitted.
She laughed a little as she put on her shoes.
“Then, I’m glad to see that there was something there you enjoyed,” she said.
“Have a safe walk to Stacey’s,” I stated. “And text me if the door locks on you for some reason.”
She nodded and walked out the door.