Cullen McNamara finally agreed to set a wedding date with Wanda Sappington the day before he's forced to take his invention to the World's Fair in Chicago. His father has faith in him and has taken every last bit of money he has and made all the arrangements without telling Cullen, that way Cullen can't refuse to go, there are no refunds. His father also knows that Cullen has to get off of the farm because of his allergies.
It is so loud in the building where Cullen is located and he thinks he's losing sales because he can't hear when the people try to talk to him about his invention. When it's suggested that he learn to lip read, he finds the woman he saved, Della, is the teacher so he strikes up a deal with her to teach him. He can't afford lessons so he explores the exhibits of her choice in the evenings while she teaches him. Cullen and Della spend every evening together and he finds it hard to concentrate on his lessons because he finds himself thinking about her more and more. He loves Wanda but Della is the one on his mind.
He is having a hard time learning and is still losing sales. Cullen decides to have a demonstration but that gets sabotaged as does his exhibit. Not only has he wasted six months at the fair, he's lost the money his father invested and in turn they will lose the farm. Then when he thinks things can't get any worse, Wanda shows up unexpectedly and demands to get married immediately.
I just love Deeanne's books and this one is no different. A wonderful story about how people looked down on the deaf, even if a person was just starting to lose their hearing, which was the cause of some of the loss of Cullen's sales. Also I loved reading about the world's fair and the 'new' ferris wheel, elevator, etc., things we take for granted today and how they amazed people in 1893.
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