“What in the world?” she murmured to herself, glancing down at the screen, which was covered with notifications.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, she took a deep breath and swiped her thumb to unlock it.
There were so many texts and missed calls, including more than one from Sandy, another teacher at the school where she’d taught before adopting Gael.
She clicked on the teacher’s name first.
Sandy:
You didn’t tell us you were getting married!!!!
Congratulations, girl!
Hey, just because we don’t see each other every day doesn’t mean we don’t want to keep in touch.
All the girls are freaking out! Text me back and tell me all about him. Or call!
There were a few more messages from Sandy andfrom two other teachers, but Jenny scrolled past them, a knot tightening in her stomach at the idea that they all thought she was getting married when she wasn’t.
How had they even found out?
Her phone buzzed again while she was holding it and she tapped to see another text from her cousin Mindy.
Mindy:
i know we don’t see each other much, but WOW. i don’t get a wedding invitation???? JK you do you, but call me and tell me about this mystery guy. i want to make sure he’s good enough for my favorite cousin. i already know he’s hot enough…WOW.
“Oh, no,” Jenny sighed, feeling awful that Mindy would think she was getting married without telling her own family.
But the phone was already buzzing again, and she tapped, surprised to see a name from their small group of friends in college.
Raquel:
oh honey, i couldn’t feel happier at this news
i can’t believe we fell out of touch after how closewe all were
seeing that photo come across my feed made my day
it was so clear even back then how he felt about you
Jenny drew in a breath, surprised.
How he felt about me?
She had always figured her crush on Erik was obvious to everyone around them, no matter how much she tried to hide it.
It never would have occurred to her that anyone would thinkhehad feelings forher.
“And what photo?” she murmured to herself, scrolling through her phone.
It had to be a social media thing. The school had insisted that she have an account, so she’d opened one a few years ago and never done anything with it since.
But when she clicked the icon, the app opened up to a barrage of private messages.
She ignored them and clicked on a notification saying she had been tagged in a photo.
Sure enough, there was a single picture, taken today at the veterans center, holiday decorations on display.
