MARGOT:Text me when you figure out where you’re going tonight. There’s a separate side bet on what this date is. Brad put $20 on dinner at the Steakhouse.
ME:Are y’all on that dumb group text, too?? And I know y’all are old and have a kid now but who eats dinner at 2 pm?
MARGOT:He’s obsessed with the group message and I said the same thing about dinner. I googled things happening in Shreveport today so my money is on this interactive art exhibit at Artspace. You know how much Nonna loves that place.
That actually makes sense. Nonna does love that place.
ME:Well, then I should be home early!
MARGOT:Have fun! And send pics!
Nonna is still busy at the counter whipping up something delightful, so I motion for Olivia to follow me into the family room.
“What?” she asks.
I open the internet browser on my phone and search for the event Margot mentioned. When it pops up, I show it to Olivia.
“This has to be it, right?” I ask.
She reads the screen and squints. “I guess it could, but how boring is that? I’m expecting more out of her than this.”
I glance at the clock at the top of the screen. “Well, we’ll know soon enough. My date will be here in an hour.”
Forty-five minutes later I’m brushing mascara over my top lashes, trying to psych myself up for the date. I’ve been listening to the steady thump of Wes’s basketball next door, and any lingering thought that he was in on some grand surprise has disappeared. He’s in shorts (but no shirt!) and seems to be taking his frustrations out on that poor orange ball.
And I may have verified his shirtlessness several times just to make sure.
Olivia sprints into the bathroom, barely making the turn into the doorway and hitting the door with a loud thud.
“I figured it out!” she screams.
My eyes get big. “What? Where am I going?”
She pauses dramatically. “You’re going to Dallas!”
I side-eye her. “Texas?”
She nods and then holds up her phone, showing me a picture of the clue Nonna left on the board.
I read it again:
“How do you getDallasout of that?” I ask.
“Look at the first letter of each sentence,” she answers.
And I do, and sure enough: D-A-L-L-A-S.
“What’s in Dallas?” I’m trying not to panic. Dallas is three hours from here. Presumably we’ll drive home tonight, because there’s no way I’m staying in Texas with someone I don’t know.
“I tried googling it, but since it’s New Year’s Eve, there are a thousand things going on. But this has to be it.” She looks at her phone once more. “Five minutes. Let’s go see what it is.”
I follow her downstairs. My hands are sweating. What if this guy is a creep and I’m stuck on this road trip with him? I’m going to have to refuse to go, even if it hurts Nonna’s feelings. There’s no way I can do this. She’s asking too much!
As expected, my ENTIRE family is here—even the Evil Joes. Olivia and I have to push our way through the crowd to the front door, where Nonna is sitting in a nearby chair, as regal as Queen Elizabeth sitting on her throne.
We’re all staring at the door, waiting.
“There’s a car pulling up outside!” my cousin Mary screams.
