The Heartbreaker I Adore (When In Waverly 2)

Hannah

I wake up to someone jostling my shoulder, and the first thing I notice is the horrible crick in my neck. The second thing is the river of drool flowing from my mouth, down my jaw, and onto the car door. Where am I? What’s happening?

I jolt up straight, and my neck protests. Seth snickers next to me when he sees the drool on my face, but it turns to concern when I wince in pain after trying to turn my head to look at him. I’m supposed to be getting married today. I can’t have a crick in my neck. I use the sleeve of my sweater to wipe my face.

“Where are we?” I ask as I stare straight ahead. I would look around to figure out the answer to my question, but I’m not a fan of crippling pain. Okay, that’s dramatic, but it really does hurt.

“I figured we could get some breakfast. And apparently, our moms have been discussing things throughout the night. They have some big plans for the day that they want to tell us about.”

“Oh, great,” I groan.

“Everything will look better once you have some food in you. Come on, sleepy head,” Seth says. He dashes around to my side and pulls me out of his Jeep. “I don’t know if I should be offended that you’re so grumpy on what is to be our wedding day or not…” I know he’s not really offended because of that adorable smile on his face. How does he look so cute after driving literally all night?

“No, it’s just my stupid neck really hurts.” He puts his hand on my neck and massages, and it is somehow simultaneously painful and soothing. I wince when he presses into the knot in my neck and smack his hand away.

“Ouch!” he yelps and jumps away from me. “What was that for?”

“It hurt!”

His parents join us a moment later, and we all head into the restaurant together. We’re seated by the hostess, and after waiting for what feels like an eternity, thanks to my grumbling stomach, the waitress finally makes an appearance.

I order waffles, and the prospect of getting those golden delicious carbs in my stomach has me smiling for the first time since I woke up. I still can’t move my neck, but waffles will make it better. Waffles make everything okay.

The restaurant is really busy. It’s a Saturday morning, so everyone and their grandma has come out of the woodwork for a breakfast that’ll make you feel sluggish and bloated for the rest of the day. No really, this place is crawling with senior citizens. That’s how you know the food is good. It takes us forty long minutes to get our food, and I’m positively wilting from hunger by the time the waitress plops a plate of pancakes in front of me.

Pancakes…not waffles.

My eyes start to burn, and my lip quivers ever so slightly. This is ridiculous. I’m a grown woman. I will not cry about waffle/pancake mix-ups. Even if waffles are far superior to pancakes with their little built-in bowls to hold all the syrup in place.

Everyone else digs into their plates of eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, and French toast happily. I pour syrup onto my pancakes and watch it all slide off to the side. It’s fine. It doesn’t bother me at all. I’m getting married today, so everything is perfect.

I’m about to take my first bite when my parents walk up to our table. They steal chairs from the empty table next to us and settle themselves on either side of me.

“I’m going to need an entire pot of coffee if I’m going to stay awake today,” my dad announces to the table.

“You ordered pancakes?” Mom asks in surprise. She’s so perceptive and knows me so well.

“Well, no…” I answer. Seth and his parents give me confused glances, and then before I know what is happening, Seth beckons over the waitress.

“This isn’t what she ordered,” he says, waving a finger around above my plate of pancakes, and I would absolutely love to slide down in my seat and hide under the table. I don’t do this. Confrontation with random strangers is not my thing. I’ll go round and round with Colby all day, but that’s where it ends.

“Oh, I’m so sorry about that,” the waitress says. “It should have been waffles, right?” I nod my head and am immediately reminded about the shooting pain in my neck. I’m having a great day. I’m getting married. I love this day.

I better not have to wait another forty-five minutes to get those waffles, or I will let Scrappy Hannah come out to shine for once. My parents order their food, and then my mom and Jenny start going over their list of things we have to do today. Seth was not lying. They were extremely busy plotting while I was snoozing away all night.

I’ve been plied with ibuprofen and IcyHot for my neck. Seth and I have picked up our marriage license from city hall—a very surreal experience that I didn’t think would ever actually happen. My nails have been buffed, filed into the perfect almond shape, and painted the softest shade of blue there is. My mom has styled my hair into loose waves and declared me stunning. Now, the only task left is to find myself a dress that’s suitable to wear on top of a mountain. I’m thinking something loose and flowy that won’t wrinkle easily, because I fully plan on tucking it into a pair of baggy sweats to make it easier to hike up said mountain. My mom thinks it’s a horrible plan, but I think hiking in a white dress is a worse plan.

“Hannah, you cannot tuck a wedding dress into pants!”

“Mom, what kind of dress do you think I’m going to get the day of to wear on a mountain?” I argue. We’re in the middle of a bridal store, and people are starting to stare and scurry away. I already know I won’t find the type of dress I want here, but I didn’t have the heart to take this experience away from my mom. I’m her only daughter. She wants to sip champagne while her daughter tries on poofy dresses, so that’s what she’ll get. Even if the experience doesn’t end with me weeping and saying, “This is the one.”

“I just want you to look perfect,” she says with a wobbly voice. “I’m sorry, this is all just a lot to take in.”

I wrap her in a tight hug. “Mom, are you not excited?”

“What? I’m so excited. I love Seth like he’s my own son, and now he really will be.”

“Good. Let’s find me a dress,” I say. We all search the racks for a simple, flowy dress. I even try two of them on, but nothing is striking my fancy.