Page 36 of The Match

He reaches into his pocket, pulls out a folded piece of paper, and hands it to me. There is a very childish drawing of a girl jumping into a pool drawn on the front. “I had no idea you were such an artist,” I say with a grin.

“I could say the same about you.” He nods his head toward my fruit masterpiece leaning up against the wall. “Gotta say, I didn’t take you for a butt girl.”

My face flames and I laugh. “It was supposed to be an orange.”

“Mm-hmm. Sure it was.”

“Oh, go home and finish Twilight,” I say while shoving his shoulder.

He laughs, and I love the sound. It echoes off the walls, and somehow my apartment suddenly feels safer and homier.

“So, what’s this?” I’m opening the invitation and reading the few scribbled lines stating a date and time. SATURDAY, 12:00.

“Sam and I decided you were right, and we should make more time for fun. So, this is your official invite to our pool party this weekend.”

I look up from the invitation, and I feel my smile growing too big. It’s more appropriate for winning a new car off of The Price Is Right than accepting a pool-party invitation. “I love this idea. Count me in.”

“Before you agree, you should know that my entire family will be there.”

Okay, okay, okay. Just chill the freak out, Evie.

I want to dissect every part of what he just said and look for all the hidden implications. Meet his family? This has to mean something, right?! But instead, I answer, “How entire are we talking? Like distant-crazy-Uncle-Fred-who-drinks-too-much-and-might-try-to-cop-a-feel entire?”

He laughs and rubs his hands over dark-denim-jean-clad thighs. “Just my parents, sisters, and their families.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad. In fact, it sounds like fun.” Someone sign me up for a movie deal, because I’m such a good actor right now that no one would suspect I’m completely freaking out. Jake wants me to meet his family. Wants me to spend the day with his family. Which reminds me of something.

“Wait, where’s Sam right now?”

“My sister is at home with her. I had to run into the office for a little bit.”

Right. The office. His office. The one he owns. I have to stop thinking of these things, because all they do is remind me that there is no way this guy should be interested in me. I’m the furthest from successful anyone could be. Just ask my mom. She’ll vouch for me.

“So, work usually keeps you pretty busy?”

He sighs one of those heavy man sighs that sounds like he’s literally holding the world on his shoulders. “Yeah. But I’ve delegated a lot of my work to the two other architects in the firm.”

“You don’t sound as relieved as a person normally does after a statement like that.”

“I guess it’s because I’m not really all that relieved. This is going to make me sound like the world’s worst dad, but . . . I love my job. It’s been hard for me to give up most of my work to be home with Sam.”

I shake my head. “That doesn’t make you sound like a bad parent. I think, if anything, it shows how amazing you are. You’re giving up something you love to be there for your kid.”

“Thanks. It was easier to balance it all when . . .” His words trail off, and I know what he’s not saying.

“When you were married and had a second parent at home with Sam?”

His blue eyes lock with mine, and he nods. “Sorry. I don’t mean to keep dropping that in every conversation.”

“It’s okay. Really. It’s a part of your life, so why wouldn’t I want to talk with you about it?” And then, suddenly, I realize I’m not such a good actor after all because I’m letting my interest in him show way too much. I clear my throat and look down at my knees. “How were Sam and Daisy getting on after I left?”

“Great. Sam is like a new kid with Daisy. She seems so much lighter and more excited about everything.” He chuckles. “She even put a fake spider in my sock drawer earlier today. You have no idea how good it is to have her interacting with me like that again.”

I smile. “That’s wonderful, Jake. I’m so happy for you guys. I know what it’s like to find that security, and there’s nothing quite like it.”

“Is that how you felt when you first got Charlie?”

I smile at the memory of those first few weeks of finding my new independence. My parents hated it, but I thrived on it. “Yep. It was pretty wonderful. I didn’t move out of my parents’ house until I was twenty-three because I was so scared of what life with epilepsy would look like living on my own. But Charlie and I clicked right away. My parents didn’t support my decision to leave their house at all because . . . well, I think they liked being able to keep me under their thumb. So, when I moved out, Joanna became more of a mom to me than my own mother ever was. She helped me set up a landline here that attaches to a special button Charlie can push when I have a seizure.”

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