Dear @KidDoc,
Your profile caught my eye, as we seem to have a lot in common. I’m from Seattle and wanted to live in a warmer, drier place too. I love Mary Oliver and tacos. We also share the same favorite song and movie. Weird coincidence, right? If you’re interested in chatting, please let me know.
Best, Esme
I pushed the laptop back to Robbie. “I’m not going to think about this again because he probably won’t write back.”
“Would you care to make a money wager on that?” Robbie asked.
“I would not care to make a bet, no.”
“Too bad. I’m feeling lucky,” Robbie said.
I laughed, rolling my eyes. “Eat your bagel.”
“Yes, Mother.”
By the timeI’d done my weekly grocery shopping and returned back home, I’d gotten a message from @KidDoc.
Hey Esme,
Thanks for reaching out. You’re correct! We have a lot in common. Eerily so. I love that you own a flower shop. My mother teaches flower arranging at her local community college. Another coincidence, right? I’d love to take you for coffee or a drink. If you’re up for it, text me at 301 555 4434.
Best,
Mark
I read Mark’s message twice, then a third time, even though the words didn’t change. I’d have to be a fool not to give him a chance. I put his number into my phone and texted him.
Esme
This is Esme from the app. A drink sounds great. How about Saturday at 6? The Pelican?
Ten seconds later, he replied.
Mark
Perfect. Should I pick you up?
Esme
Sure, I live above the flower shop. Wild Petal. Buzz me, I’ll come down.
Mark
Great. Looking forward to it.
My stomach fluttered. A date. With a grown-up. I could do this. It was time.
That evening,the kids and I headed over to Gillian and Alex’s home for our weekly family dinner. Although none of us were technically family, the five of us had created one. Onewechose, not the ones we were given. My girlfriends—Seraphina, Gillian, Lila, Delphine—and me had been tight since our now fourteen-year-olds started kindergarten. We’d bonded at the coffee and donut event sponsored by the PTA for the parents of kindergarteners. That was the beginning of the steadiest relationships I’d ever had. We’d been through a lot in the nine years since we’d first met. Lila and I both got divorced when the kids were nine. Delphine had lost her husband when he took his own life not long after my divorce. Gillian and Seraphina had never married and were raising their children alone. The five of us were like sisters, our kids like cousins.
But one by one, we seemed to be getting our happily ever afters. Gillian had reconnected with her first love, Alex, and they were now married, blending their three children into a family, with a baby on the way. Lila had met Vance on the dating app and fallen madly in love. They were now married. Each had a daughter who now acted as if they had always been sisters.
That left Seraphina, Delphine and me. They were still resisting the dating app, but I had a feeling they were waffling.
As we usually did, the adults gathered around the table in the dining room while the kids ate out on the patio. Although the weather had turned chilly, outside heaters kept them warm. We liked them outside so that we could actually hear ourselves think. In the past, more often than not we’d gotten together at Seraphina’s. She had a big house on the beach. However, now that Gillian had married a retired tech billionaire and moved into his mansion, we had another great place to gather. My apartment was too small for all of us, so I never hosted.
Delphine and her daughter Annie lived in a small house as well. We sometimes gathered in her garden in the warm months, enjoying the fruits of her very green thumb.
