Page 74 of Little Gray Dress

“Yeah.” Why must I bawl at a moment that should be the feel-good moment of my life? Well… the almost feel-good moment of my life. “I do. Did you guys know about this?” I ask them and watch them both shake their heads.

“Not until about an hour ago. We couldn’t have planned this out if we were writing a movie.” Lily laughs and reaches over to grab Josh’s hand. “It’s beyond romantic, Ems. And it’s not even over.”

“Right.”

The hardest part is still waiting for me: how to break all this to Jack.

Chapter Eighteen

Six and a Half Years Ago

Waterfront Park, Portland, Oregon

The Meet Cute

“Oh my God, I am so sorry.”

Even though I have my hands over my face, I know his voice. Never in a million years did I picture actually meeting him at the exact moment I’m assaulted by a rogue Frisbee. When I peer through my fingers he’s kneeling in front of me, with ten other guys behind him, reaching for my hands.

“Let me see it,” he says, wrapping his hands over mine. “Go get her some ice!” He yells at someone near him. “Is anything broken?”

When he pulls my hands from my face he lets out a little gasp. “Is it bad?” I ask him, worried about what he’s seeing. Is my eyeball hanging from its socket? Is there a gaping wound? Is my brain (or lack of brain) visible?

He laughs. “Nah, you’re going to have a black eye, but I think your skull is still intact. I’m really sorry.”

“Oh.” I wave my hand at him trying to play it cool. “It’s no problem. It’s actually why I came down here. I haven’t had enough black eyes in my lifetime, and I was needing a memorable Fourth of July story to tell my grandkids.”

“Well… I don’t think you have concussion. Your wit seems to still be still intact.” He laughs and sits next to me, inspecting my face closely. “It didn’t break the skin but it is starting to swell. I feel like a real ass.”

“You should, you ruined my face.” I try to joke through the pain.

“It’s a very pretty face too.” He smiles at me sympathetically. “I feel like maybe I know you from somewhere.”

“You do, I’m the girl who makes great coffee.”

He comes to my coffee window nearly every day. His passenger seat is always piled high with books, and every day he orders the same thing: an Americano with room for cream, with two sugars. I never talk to him, apart from taking his order. How can I? He’s beautiful. Probably easily the most gorgeous guy I’ve ever not formally met. His baby face melts my heart every time he smiles at me as I hand him his coffee.

“Right! You are the coffee girl. I knew I knew you. How weird is this?”

“Weird that I don’t spend every waking moment at the coffee shop?”

“No.” His friend returns with the ice. He gently raises it to my eye that is feeling puffier by the second. “Weird because I always want to talk to you but, you know… In the drive-up, there isn’t a lot of time for conversations.”

“You wanted to talk to me?” I’m a little surprised by this, because he’s always so nonchalant at the drive-up. Like he’s avoiding chit-chat with random coffee gurus.

“Of course. You’re gorgeous, and you do make a heck of a coffee.” He pulls away the ice pack to see if it’s working. He grits his teeth and scrunches his face up, obviously disappointed in my healing progress during the past sixty seconds. “How about I make this up to you today?”

I glance over at my friends, who are all anxiously nodding their heads. They act as if I’ve never met a random gorgeous man before.

“I’m kind of not looking my best today. Are you sure you want to be seen with me?”

“Of course, but luckily for you, my father owns one of the yachts on the river here and I’ve got it all to myself today. So you won’t have to face a lot of people with your… injury.” He points out at one of the larger boats docked at the port. “What do you say? The fireworks look a lot better from the water.”

“What about your friends?” I glance with my one good eye at the group of guys standing around watching my pathetic attempt at pretending I’m not jumping for joy on the inside.

“These guys don’t mind. Right, guys?”

They all mumble something at us before grabbing the Frisbee and going back to their game.

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