Page 46 of Someone Just Like You

In the final minutes before the guests of honor arrived, I took stock of the room. It was now filled with both couples’ children, grandchildren, parents, aunts, uncles, and closest friends and colleagues. Warmth filled my heart. I couldn’t wait to see Mom’s and Dad’s faces when they discovered they’d been played. My phone pinged in my hand. “They’re here!”

The room grew quiet. My pulse raced. “This is it.” I smiled up at Timothy, but he was gawking at Charley. Did he wish he was here with her instead of me? Did I care? To my relief, the door opened before I had a chance to answer my own question. Tonight was about my folks and Mr. and Mrs. Stark.

Nicole entered first and stood to the side so that the two couples, who I assumed had met up in the lobby, could enter the room at the same time.

The rest of us erupted into a collective shout of: “Surprise!”

The Starks squealed. Laura slapped a hand to her mouth. Randy, looking healthy if not a tad thinner since the heart attack, burst into laughter and gave Eddie a bear hug. In contrast, my parents were silent. Their jaws dropped, and they shared an expression of shock.

Giddiness rushed through me. We’d fooled them but good! I dashed over to them and pulled Dad into a hug. “Happy anniversary!”

When he released me, there were tears in his light-blue eyes. “I can’t believe you guys did this,” he said, his voice choked with emotion.

“Are you surprised?”

He scratched at his salt-and pepper-haired head. “That’s one way to describe it, Squirrel.”

Mom joined us, looking stylish in a gray V-neck cashmere sweater, black corduroy skirt, and tall black leather boots. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

She was oddly subdued, which I attributed to shock. “We wanted to do something nice after the difficult year both families had.”

Her chin-length bob, now dyed chocolate brown to match her daughters’, swayed as she took stock of the room. “This is certainly…nice.” She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her blue eyes.

I twirled my hair and frowned. Compared to the Starks—whose collective shrieks of unadulterated delight were still going strong—my parents’ joy seemed muted. Before I could give it another thought, Nicole pulled me into a side hug.

“We did it.” She beamed at me and clapped her hands together. “The venue is perfect. Who would have thought you and Jude would make such a great team?”

“Not me,” I muttered, ignoring the squidgy feeling in my belly.

“Where’s your date?” she asked, scouring the room.

“Over there,” I said, pointing in his direction. He was at the bar…with Charley.

“Where?” She squinted. “Oh!He looks so much like Jude from far away!”

I balled my hands into fists and gritted my teeth.Do not engage.“Cute dress!”

She lowered her chin like she’d forgotten her outfit for the night—a sleeveless mini dress the color of a Granny Smith apple.

Her husband, Dean, joined us. “Don’t you just want to take a bite out of her?” He opened and shut his jaw in a biting motion.

“Can’t say I do.” I laughed and kissed his cheek in greeting.

After Eddie made a short toast wishing the Starks and Blums a collective seventy-five more years of wedded bliss and thanking everyone for coming, dinner service got started.

Between the salad and main courses, Michelle and I went up to the bar to refresh our drinks.

In front of us, Great-Aunt Arlene waggled her finger at the bartender. “Not too much ice. If I wanted ice water with a splash of vodka, I’d ask for it.” As she walked away sipping out of a cocktail straw, she muttered, “Too much ice.”

Michelle and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Dad came up behind us and did a double take. “How did you get here so fast?”

I pointed at myself. “Me? What do you mean?”

He blinked. “Didn’t I just pass you on your way to the bathroom?”

“That was Charley, Dad. Jude’s date,” Michelle said with a snort.

---