Page 71 of Finding Carly
Carly was a few seconds behind. She could hear their guys laughing hysterically now, and she vaguely wondered why. She was sure they looked funny, pretending there was a huge predator behind them, but did they really lookthathilarious?
It wasn’t long before she realized why they were laughing so hard. Apparently, when the guide started filming with Elodie’s phone, he’d pulled out a hand puppet of a dinosaur head and it peeked into the left side of the frame while he was filming them.
When he played the video back in slow motion, it looked as if a dinosaur really was chasing them. And at the end, since she was last, Carly was “eaten” by the creature. Obviously, it was something the guide did for every group, but watching the video made Carly and the other women laugh until they were crying.
Afterward, they all posed on the tree for pictures, even the guys. And when the guide told them all to look to the left and pretend there was a dinosaur, Carly had a feeling the hand puppet would be coming into play again.
She was right. Once again, everyone laughed at the pictures of them all looking terrified at the dinosaur head, which was looming over them.
Carly’s stomach hurt from laughing so hard, and she couldn’t remember when she’d had a better time. It was even more fun when the guys joined in.
They all climbed back onto the ATVs, with Mustang right behind the guide, then the three women, and the rest of the guys bringing up the rear. As they continued with the tour, Carly didn’t even try to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Everything around them was so beautiful, and she knew Jag would keep her safe should any boogeymen be lurking.
They rode for another twenty minutes through the valley before they began to slow once more. Carly could see a structure in the distance, but the guide stopped before she could figure out what it was.
“You might recognize the pavilion ahead of us. It was the platform inJurassic World, where Zach and Gray, the young brothers in the movie, got into the gyrosphere.”
“Oh my gosh!” Carly exclaimed, her eyes glued to the structure. “I remember that part. How fun would it have been to be an extra?”
“Probably not too much fun, since standing out in the sun while they filmed the scene over and over again had to suck,” their guide quipped.
Carly laughed. She didn’t care, she still thought it would’ve been amazing to be here with all the actors, to be involved with one of her favorite movies.
“Why don’t you guys ride on up? I’ll be there in a moment.”
Not even thinking twice about why their guide would send them ahead, Carly started her ATV and headed toward the pavilion.
When they got close, she frowned in confusion. It looked like there was some sort of…party or something going on? For a second she was disappointed, thinking she wasn’t going to get a chance to see the movie prop up close. Then she blinked in surprise.
“Is that…Monica?” she asked. “And Pid?”
Their group parked their ATVs next to another row of vehicles, and she saw Ashlyn, Slate, and the others waving from the deck above them. Carly looked at Jag in confusion. She felt a little better when she heard both Kenna and Elodie ask what was going on.
“They wanted it to be a surprise,” Jag told her softly, unbuckling the latch of her helmet and taking it off her head.
“Wanted what to be a surprise?” Carly asked.
“Their wedding.”
Carly inhaled sharply and looked back at the platform, then again to Jag, before laughing with joy and dashing to the right, where the ground sloped up to the platform.
Elodie and Kenna joined her, and the three of them ran up together, then stopped suddenly when they had a clear view of the entire platform.
Monica had changed into a simple white sundress, a pair of white tennis shoes peeking out from under the hem. Pid had a black collared shirt with the same khaki shorts he’d worn earlier. There were brightly colored flowers hanging from the railing, filling the air with the most breathtaking scent.
Ashlyn and Lexie were beaming as they hurried over to the girls.
“Isn’t this cool?” Lexie asked. “I know I told Midas I wanted a beach wedding, but I think I’ve changed my mind.”
“We had no idea either,” Ashlyn assured them. “We drove up just like you did, totally clueless.”
The five women hurried over to Monica, who had a small smile on her face. She was holding a small bouquet of orchids and had a lei around her neck. “Are you mad that we didn’t tell you?” she asked.
“No way!” all five of the friends said at once.
“This is awesome!” Elodie reassured her.
“I’m so happy for you guys,” Kenna added.
