Page 42 of Save the Date

“I’ll admit I’ve been curious. Could he be the next Mr. Moskowitz?”

Emma felt torn between giving a truthful answer and trying to stir Will up. She decided on the latter. “Would that bother you?”

Will leaned back in his chair and smiled, bringing the mic with him. “This isn’t about me.”

“Don’t you think it should be at least alittleabout you, considering how we met?”

Will looked at Emma and she was relieved that he seemed more impressed than annoyed. He opened his mouth, only to immediately close it again; it appeared he was seriously considering the question.

After another moment, he leaned toward her, and she felt the pull of his striking blue eyes. “If that’s how you want to do it, that’s how we’ll do it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, let’s tell it all. From my perspective and your perspective. I won’t just be the host—I’ll be part of the story. If that’s what you want?”

“Yes, thank you. That’s what I want.”

Emma felt a rush of relief that she was no longer going to be the only person sliced open for the world to examine and judge. Will was going to have to open up too. They would be perfect foils to each other—Emma willing to take the biggestrisk of her life to find happiness and him willing to take no risk at all. She wondered if the listeners would end up taking sides, with the reasonable romantics proclaiming, “I’m such an Emma,” and the cocky skeptics declaring, “I’m a total Will.”

“We’re in agreement then. Now ask me again if your date last night bothered me.”

“Did my date last night bother you?” Emma asked, holding her breath in anticipation.

“Only if you liked him more than me,” Will replied.

It suddenly felt like they were walking toward each other on a very thin tightrope, waiting to see who would fall off first.

***

“Don’t you think it’s a little too soon to mention Matt on the channel? We’ve only been out once,” Emma argued as Jackie futzed with a new lens that attached to her iPhone.

Each time Emma came over to record a video, there was more and more equipment. Jackie’s second living room was slowly becoming a full-fledged production studio, which was definitely more useful than it simply being a second living room.

“I don’t think you should name names or anything. But your audience will want to know you finally met someone who is open to the plan.” Jackie reached into the makeup belt she had purchased off Amazon to “streamline the process” and “keep things organized.”

“Here, I got you a new powder. It’s specifically designed to reduce all the shine from the lights.” Jackie handed Emma a compact that looked like every other powder she had ever seen.

“I’m just worried I’ll jinx it. Maybe I should wait until things are more official.”

“Emma, the whole point of including people on the journey is toactuallyinclude them on the journey. We want them to be able to root for you, not just hear how it all worked outafterward. Plus, sharing that there is a super hot, successful guy who wanted to meet you gives the whole operation credibility.”

“You think Matt’s super hot?”

“You don’t? He’s like a younger, fitter version of Chris with even thicker hair.”

“Chris has very thick hair,” Emma replied, feeling strangely defensive of her brother-in-law.

“I said thick-er,” Jackie clarified. “I know I caught a good one. Even if he is totally useless around the house.”

This was painfully true. The one time Chris had tried to fix something himself, he’d fallen off a step stool and sprained his ankle. Chris was an incredible athlete, but ask him to change a light fixture and all hell broke loose.

“I guess I can frame it as an exciting development instead of a clear-cut success,” Emma conceded. “So much of dating is the push-and-pull of staying realisticandoptimistic at the same time. Maybe l can lean into that.”

Jackie nodded, even though she had dated a total of three guys in her life and had never once been rejected. “When are you seeing Matt again?” Before Emma could respond, Jackie’s eyes lit up and she squealed. “Oh my god! We should double-date. That would be so fun.”

The idea of Emma’s second date with Matt being a conversational four-way filled Emma with dread. She didn’t want to open the door for a Jackie comparison so early in their courtship. Right now, Emma’s connection with Matt felt primarily built on a shared sense of loss. She needed it to build into something deeper before introducing him to her hot older sister.

“Why don’t I kiss him first and then we can see about forcing him to meet my family.”

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