Page 94 of If This Was a Movie

She turns the tap off, drying her hands on a free towel, and turning to me, arms on her chest.

“We’re a big family, sweetheart. Up until recently, I was the one getting Sophie off the bus most days, and any night Nathan had to work late, we’d all take turns on who got to hang with our favorite girl.” She looks at me, a twinkle in her eye, giving me a small wink that looks so much like her son’s. “Except for recently, of course.”

“So Sophie…” I pause, trying to process what he’s telling me. “Nate didn’t need a babysitter, did he?”

She shakes her head, a small smile on her lips. “That boy, always working to get whatever he wanted. He never lied as a kid, knew that would get him into the most trouble, but he would play around with the truth.”

“Hmm,” I say, lost in my thoughts and finding myself once again conflicted by what she’s telling me. Nate lied about needing a sitter. Or, I suppose,allof the Donovan kids did, all to give Nate the chance to try and win me. A surge of guilt rises as I think about all of the trouble everyone went through just because I was stubborn.

“Just like his dad,” she says, then gives me a small smile. “You know, when I first met Tom, I ran away from him.”

I choke out a laugh. “I’m sorry, you ran away?”

Mrs. Donovan shrugs. “I was at some party in high school, just had my heart broken, and this cute boy comes over, talks to me all night, and buys me a soda. He was sweet, and I really liked him, but at the end of the night, I ran off and didn’t give him my number.” She smiles and shakes her head, grabbing a platter and putting it into a cabinet. “I was just scared because I just had my first real breakup, and I didn’t want it to happen again. So I never talked to him again, and that was that.”

“Except…” I started because, obviously, that was not that at all.

She smiles. “Except a year later I was moving into my dorm for college and he was helping the freshman. We bumped into each other, and he made me drop the box I was carrying. We both scrambled to pick things up, and lo and behold, he found the bottle cap.”

“The bottle cap?”

“From the soda he bought me. I’d kept it for some silly reason. Tom had planned on letting me be, but he says he saw that bottle cap and knew I felt something that night, too. So he spent the next month wearing me down, asking me out, and flirting with me until I gave him a chance.” She tips her head toward the living room with a smile. “The bottle cap is in a frame there.”

My mind moves to a similar story, one whereIran away from Nate and kept my own momento.

“I like to think the Donovans hold some kind of magic. Like when we find our person, there’s a bit of chaos, but in the end…”

“It’s magic,” I say with a smile.

“See, you get it,” she says, the same smile on her lips.

“Were you still scared? When you met him again?”

“Ah, yes. I’d had my heart broken again in between and swore off men altogether.” My heart stops beating at the familiar refrain. “But Tom never stopped prodding.”

“Like father, like son.” I smile, and she smiles back, some quiet secret passing between us that I like a lot.

The door to the kitchen opens, a wave of sound flooding the space as Mr. Donovan walks in.

“Ah, so this is where the pretty girls are hiding out,” Mr. Donovan says with a smile, stepping into the kitchen and leaving the door open.

“Sometimes you just need some peace and quiet from this family,” Mrs. Donovan says.

“You got any more of those thumbprint cookies? I think Hank ate ‘em all before I could get any.”

“That’s a bold-faced lie, Thomas, because I saw you eat at least five before anyone even came here.”

“I get them once a year!” Mr. Donovan tsks but moves, reaching for a box over the fridge.

“I knew you loved me,” he says, seeing an entire box of the cookies he loves there. But just as he reaches the box, the front door opens, slamming against the wall as it’s flung open. All eyes move in the direction of the noise to see Claire standing there, eyes watering, a suitcase and a large duffel at her feet.

And then she starts to cry.

“Oh, my god, Claire!” her mother says, shoving the cookies at her husband and moving. She moves at lightning speed,seemingly reaching her daughter before I can blink and wrapping her in her arms. “What happened?”

“He dumped me!” Claire cries into her mother’s arms.

THIRTY-SEVEN

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