Page 45 of Someone Just Like You

“Aunt Molly!” Four-year-old Eris, wearing a darling pink pleated dress and matching Mary Janes, ran circles around me. She stopped to catch her breath, allowing me to kiss the top of her head and drink in the floral scent of the Frozen by Disney spray I’d bought for her last birthday. “Aunt Molly,” she repeated through puffs of breath. “There’s ’nother lady here who looks just like you!”

I sighed in defeat.Fine. Charley and I were arguably the same “type” appearance-wise—dark-haired, light-eyed, medium height. Maybe being a child, Eris’s depth of observation was still so underdeveloped, she saw us all the same.

But wait. If Charley was Jude’s type, did this mean I was his type too?

I did a slight shake of my head. Who cared what Jude’s type was? I was here with Timothy, who was…who was…I chewed my lip. Timothy wasgreat. He was easy on the eyes, sweet, and funny. There was nothingnotto like about him. From the first time we’d met, he’d been a safe and weirdly familiar presence.

But his compliment about me being pretty earlier hadn’t turned my insides to mush. I didn’tpinefor him. And I definitely didn’t see us celebrating sixty years of marriage someday like Nani and Papi.

I glanced at Jude across the room and quickly back to Timothy. Where was I going with this and why right now? It was my parents’ party. I could figure out my love life tomorrow. I turned to Timothy and smiled away the angst swirling around my gut. “I need a drink.”

“I hoped you’d say that.”

I chuckled and gave him a comforting pat on his lower back. This was probably as awkward for him as it was for me. At least I was related to these people.

I had taken one sip of my Pinot Noir when my phone pinged a text message from Nicole that they were on their way.

Nicole:We’ll let you know when the eagle has landed.

I snorted. To anyone listening, I said, “The Blums will be here soon.”

“The Starks too.”

My eyes met Jude’s. “H-hi,” I stammered. All our co-planning had led to this moment. I had no idea where we even were in terms of our dynamic, only that it had changed drastically since the first planning dinner in Hoboken.

“Mole,” he said in acknowledgment while scraping his phantom scruff. “Nice hair thingie.”

I touched the side of my head where I’d worn one of the butterfly barrettes he’d bought me and cleared my throat. “This is—”

“Timothy?”

“Charley!”

I glanced at my date, who was beaming at Jude’s. “You guys know each other?”

“We…um…went out.” Charley blushed and tucked a long strand of dark hair behind her ear before looking up at Jude. “Just once.”

“Only because you never texted me back.”

“You texted?” Her blue eyes widened to the size of quarters.

“Yes!” Timothy fiddled with the top button of his black dress shirt.

“I never got it.” She dabbed at her neck. “I assumed…I would have…” She glanced at Jude and back to Timothy. “Never mind.”

Jude coughed. “Wow, this is…what a small world.”

“Totally,” I agreed, nodding at Jude.

“Listen up, everyone,” Michelle called out.

Happy for a legitimate reason to end the current conversation, I turned around to face my sister, who stood at the front of the room with Alison.

“We have it on good authority that both couples are about ten minutes away,” Michelle said.

“If you need to leave this room for any reason, do itnowand be quick.” Alison jutted her head in the direction of where her family sat at a round table. “I’m talking to you, Benjamin.”

As her son buried his curly head into the crook of his other mom’s neck, the gallery oohed and aahed at the little boy’s adorableness.

---