Page 78 of Save the Date

“No one mentioned that in the recipe,” Emma countered.

“Wow. I guess youreallydon’t know how to cook,” Matt said with a smile. “Don’t worry. My mom was a teacher for twenty-five years. She’ll help you learn in no time.”

Emma nodded, wondering if she had somehow expressed a desire to learn how to cook in her sleep or if Matt simply couldn’t imagine having a wife who barely understood how to use a microwave. In Emma’s defense, some of the fancy ones had too many settings.

“Let me go grab us something from the Thai place,” Emma offered. “I don’t think any of this is salvageable.”

“Are you sure? We can have food delivered.”

“I need some fresh air. On account of all the smoke inhalation.”

“Fair enough. I’ll get my usual.”

“You got it,” Emma replied, glad she at least knew how to order chicken pad thai.

As Emma walked out of the building and wrapped her sweater tightly around herself, she noticed a familiar blonde pacing by the door. She squinted to get a better look just as the blonde turned and made eye contact. They both gasped.

“Kelly?” Emma asked even though she knew the answer. She’d done enough Instagram stalking to be able to recognize Matt’s ex-wife anywhere in anything. Right now, Kelly wore a formfitting white collared shirt tucked perfectly into a floral pencil skirt with what had to be at least three-inch heels. It put Emma’s yoga pants and comfy sweater to shame.

“Oh my god. Emma, right?” Kelly looked mortified. “You must think I’m a total stalker.”

“No. No. I just recognized you and—” Emma could see tears welling up in Kelly’s perfectly green eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Not really,” Kelly croaked before slumping down onto a bench. Emma was glad the normally nosy valets were nowhere to be seen.

“Did you need to talk to Matt?” Emma asked as she sat down next to her.

“You aren’t mad that I’m here?”

“Not yet,” Emma joked. “But let me know if I should be.”

Kelly’s mouth turned upward without quite hitting the threshold for a smile. “I saw you onThe Amanda Sharpe Show. Pretty much everyone I’ve ever met sent your clips to me.”

Emma winced. It couldn’t have been fun for Kelly to see her ex-husband’s new fiancée announcing their relationship to the world. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. None of this is your fault. I’m the one who ruined everything.” Kelly looked over at Emma. “I’m assuming Matt told you what I did?”

“He mentioned there was infidelity but didn’t get into too many details.”

“I don’t know what I was thinking. I’m not a cheater. Ihatecheaters. But it’s like the infertility and constant disappointment rotted my brain. I just needed to escape for a night and not think about anything important or real. I wanted to feel like a woman again and not just an inhospitable womb. Does that make any sense?”

“I certainly think so.”

“Well, Matt didn’t. No matter what I said or did he couldn’t get past it. It’s like his perception of me totally changed and I was suddenly some horrible stranger whowantedto hurt him.”

Emma understood Kelly’s pain. It was awful when someone you loved could only see the worst version of you.

Kelly sighed and rubbed her red eyes. “Even after we signed the divorce papers last week, I thought he would change his mind. I know that probably sounds delusional but Matty and I… We just go together. I can’t imagine being with anyone else.”

Emma nodded, not sure what to say. It felt inappropriate to give her normal spiel about the myth of soulmates and Kelly’s ability to be compatible with thousands of random people. It would come off like she was trying to get rid of her.

Luckily, Kelly kept going. “But when I saw you on the show yesterday, I panicked. I realized that if I didn’t do something right away, he might really be gone.”

Emma nodded again. She knew the feeling. She also knew that every time she had tried to do something to get someone to stay, it hadn’t worked.

“Do you want me to let you in to see him?”

Kelly looked at Emma like she might have a concussion. “Why would you do that?”

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