Page 85 of Save the Date

That picturesque scene was quite literally Emma’s nightmare. She shuddered at the thought of being left to her own thoughts for thirty-two to thirty-seven minutes, depending on her location and the time of year.

“Do you think I talk too much?” Emma asked, even though she knew nobody should ever ask a question they don’t want the answer to.

“Not too much. Just a lot.” Matt quickly glanced at her to make sure he wasn’t in trouble. “I really don’t mind though. Unless I’m trying to work or something.”

Emma suddenly felt like her seat belt was strangling her. She pulled at it anxiously, only for the stiff fabric to remain in place, sucking the life out of her as a rush of worry took over her brain. Was she unintentionally setting herself up for a lifetimeof fear that her husband was justtoleratingher whenever she opened her mouth? Because given her chatterbox personality, that seemed like a big issue.

“Did Kelly not talk a lot?”

“No, she talked. It was just different.”

“Different as in better?”

“Why are you asking that? Are you trying to start a fight?”

“No. I’m trying to figure out if we’re forcing something that shouldn’t be forced.”

As the words left Emma’s mouth, she knew there was no turning back. She had said the scary thing—the thing they made sure to never acknowledge or mention—out loud. They would either come out of this conversation stronger than ever or not together at all.

“Doyouthink we’re forcing it?” Matt asked with concern.

“Please just answer the question,” Emma replied, exasperated.

Matt sighed. “I think we’re still in the figuring-each-other-out phase. But that doesn’t mean we’re forcing it.”

“How long did it take for you to figure Kelly out?”

“That was…”

“Different?”

“Yeah. We’re both from the Midwest. We both have big families. It’s like I already knew her or something.”

Emma nodded; she had recently felt the same way. About someone else.

From the moment she’d met Will she’d been able to be her full self. She’d cracked jokes. She’d spoken her mind. She felt understood in a way that shouldn’t be rare but always was. There was noforcing itwhen she and Will were together. Someone was always talking—often both of them at the same time.

And just like that, a light bulb exploded in her head.

“I think you should pull over.”

“What?”

“I think you should pull over.”

“I can’t. We’re halfway up a mountain.” Matt made a good point. They had left the Pacific Coast Highway behind and were now weaving their way up Kanan Dume Rd. It wasn’t a road for the faint of heart.

“Up there. You can pull over there.” Emma pointed to a scenic overlook ahead.

“That’s on the other side of the road.”

“Just do a U-turn.”

“Are you serious—”

“Quick, turn now! No one is coming,” Emma screamed, causing Matt to panic and swing the car around. They came to a screeching halt dangerously close to the edge.

“That was not okay!” Matt exclaimed in the closest thing to a yell Emma had ever heard from him. “We could have died.”

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