Sure.
A slow smile spreads across my face. Maybe dating isn’t impossible after all. Then again… it might just be easier when Nora’s involved.
Six
Ghosted
Nora
Miles declared his first OneDate outing a success—especially since his date left a glowing review. He decided he was ready to switch roles and request a date of his own. It felt a little fast, but his optimism was hard to argue with. If anything, his enthusiasm was proof OneDate was helping him. These low-stakes dates are meant to ease the pressure, to let him build confidence one outing at a time. Somehow, against all odds, that’s exactly what’s happening. He’s learning that dating doesn’t have to be terrifying or humiliating. At this point, I don’t have a real reason to tell him no.
I had to pause our one-on-one coaching after Mom’s relapse last week. It wasn’t serious, but it wiped her out, and I wanted to be around in case she needed anything—even if “anything” meant sitting on her couch and doing crosswords. For the most part, Miles seemed to be doing fine without me.
I’m currently at Porter’s getting ready to leave at the end of my shift when Eve’s and Lach’s voices get my attention. Then I hear Asher’s name. I slam the locker door, and it clanks against the metal latch. From the back room, I race to the bar. “I want baby snuggles!” My shoes squeak on the floor as I stop next to Jake. I pluck Asher from his grasp, but he gave him up pretty willingly. With Asher in my arms, I bend down and rub my nose against his teeny, tiny button one.
“You know,” Lach says, “you could have one of your own, then you’d get twenty-four-hour baby snuggles.”
“Why do that when I have yours?” I coo at Asher. “Auntie Nora is here, and I’ll spoil you with all the love and toys imaginable.”
“How’s OneDate going? Get Jake to join yet?” Lach playfully elbows Jake.
“Nope.” Jake spins around and storms off, ending his participation in further conversation.
“Since Jake’s out, what about Miles? Has he been behaving himself?” Lach takes a seat on a bar stool.
“It’s been good. He’s been good.” Asher scrunches his face and fusses in my arms as a distinctly awful odor drifts up around us.
“Oh! He’s dropping bombs.” Eve swoops in and lifts him from my arms. “I’m going to take care of the damage.” She heads down the hallway with her son in her arms, and the diaper bag swinging at her side.
My phone alerts me with a message. I pull it from my back pocket. It’s not the message on my screen that draws my attention but instead it’s an alert from OneDate. When I open the app, it’s on the screen I was last on. Miles has an event today, and his date just canceled. An hour before it starts. Dammit. There’s no way someone else could arrange a new date with him on such short notice. I swallow. The lump of dryness in my throat not going away.
My mind snaps backward—I’m seventeen, sitting on my front porch in a thrift-store dress, watching the sky darken while my prom date never showed. My sophomore year of college, alone in a café with melting ice in my latte while the barista gave me a pity smile and stopped asking if I was waiting for someone. And the one that hits the hardest: my dad promising he’d be home. For dinner. For Mom’s neurology appointment. For anything that required him to show up. Until one day he… didn’t. No goodbye. Only the quiet admission he didn’t want to be part of our family anymore.
Being ghosted isn’t just awkward, it fucking sucks. It teaches you that people don’t think you’re worth the courtesy of a goodbye. That you’re optional. Disposable. Miles doesn’t deserve that lesson. He’s been trying so hard. Asking questions. Practicing conversation.
Images of Miles sitting by himself, checking the time, waiting for his date to arrive, flash through my mind. He’s made so much progress. I can’t let this be what knocks him back down. I shouldn’t do this, but I don’t know what else to do. I know what it feels like to be let down, and I refuse to let that be what Miles takes away from today.
There’s a good chance I’m going to hate myself later for this, but I shove my phone in my pocket. “I have to go,” I say to Lach and race out the door before he can say anything.
In the parking lot, I glance down at my jeans and pink work T-shirt, which boasts a hoppy aroma. Thankfully, past me had the foresight to keep a clean work shirt in the back seat. I quickly glance around to make sure no one’s watching before executing the world’s fastest wardrobe change. Once the fresh shirt is in place, I race across town.
The park is already alive when I pull in. Kids shrieking with laughter while pink and purple balloons sway in the breeze. A few eager leaves start to turn with hints of gold and red scattering among the branches, but the others still cling to summer like they aren’t ready to admit the season is changing. A giant inflatable bounce house castle towers next to the playground. I drift through the crowd as if I belong and I’m not scouting a kidnapping. Under the pavilion, near a picnic table, I spot Miles crouched down, helping a little boy tie his shoes.
I stroll up to him. “Hi, Miles. Sorry I’m late.”
His head snaps up, brows knitting together. “Nora? What are you doing here?”
Leaning closer, I drop my voice. “I’m your date.”
“What?”
“Your date.”
He finishes the knot and stands as the kid darts off, sprinting past us. “What do you mean?”
“Your date canceled at the last minute.” The explanation tumbles out faster than I can filter it. “I was already in the app and saw it. I wasn’t—like—monitoring your profile or anything.”
“Oh.” He blinks. “I didn’t even check my messages.”
