“Wondering why Mary Jo isn’t here?” he asks.

Olivia punches him in the shoulder. “Of course, spill it.”

He leans in close. “Aiden broke up with her last night.”

“Why?” Olivia asks in a shocked voice.

“From what I heard, she accused him of flirting with Soph. Lost it on him. It sounds like she does this all the time and he’s over it.”

“He was not flirting with me!” I say. “He was showing me pictures of his nephew.” Oh God. I shouldn’t feel bad for her, but a tiny part of me does. I know how awful a breakup feels.

“Stop it right now, Soph,” Charlie says. “I see that look on your face and we’re not feeling sorry for her!”

Nonna passes by and shoos us off, telling us to set the table.

“So do you think Nonna’s gonna set up a date board for her?” Olivia asks a few minutes later as she sets down the plates. I follow behind her with the silverware.

“I have no idea!” I say. We move on to the extra table Nonna pulled out last week, which Olivia, Charlie, Sara, Graham, Jake, and I have claimed as our own. Jake calls it the OSFTBT (One Step From The Big Table) as opposed to the KT (Kiddie Table) and HCR (High Chair Row).

At last, Aunt Patrice notices the empty bar stool at the kitchen counter.

“Where’s Mary Jo?” she asks.

Everyone at the OSFTBT stops what they’re doing and looks up.

Aunt Maggie Mae spins around on her stool. “She woke up feeling poorly, so we told her to stay home and rest. She’ll be right as rain before long.”

“Does she honestly think she can keep anything secret in this family?” Sara whispers.

“You underestimate how scared everyone is of Aunt Maggie Mae. We’ll all talk about it, but not in front of her,” Jake adds.

Graham nods along. “I bet even Nonna doesn’t say anything.”

And now I feel even worse for Mary Jo. Even though I hated the attention from the blind-date board when it first happened, I can’t deny that it’s brought me closer to my family in a weird sort of way. It feels pretty nice to have so many people rooting for your happiness. And Mary Jo may miss her chance at a piece of that.

***

Of course the family stays after Nonna’s spaghetti lunch to see who’s picking me up for the hockey game. Well, everyone except Aunt Maggie Mae and her crew.

“I have to work late tomorrow,” Uncle Ronnie says. “Somebody needs to FaceTime me during the pickup so I don’t miss it.”

Charlie is standing next to Graham by the staircase. He leans close and says, “Those hockey games last about two hours. If it starts at three, then the game would be over around five. And it’s about a twenty-minute ride from the arena back here.”

Graham holds up a hand. “But that’s only if she doesn’t bail halfway through like last night. I thought she’d at least wait until the end of the movie before she ditched that guy.”

Jake won the bet last night — only because he heard dinner but not movie — and has been rubbing it in everyone’s face all day long. Charlie and Graham are determined to beat him tonight.

I lean in close. “You want the inside scoop? Aunt Camille probably picked someone halfway decent, so I don’t foresee leaving early.”

Charlie and Graham smile as they scratch their names in at 5:25 and 5:30.

“But you owe me half if you win,” I say before walking away.

“Hey,” Uncle Ronnie squeals from across the room. “Y’all got some insider info the rest of us don’t know about?”

Charlie shakes his head and rolls his eyes. “Please. Sophie’s a wild card. Never know what she’s gonna do on one of these dates.”

I turn to Uncle Ronnie and shrug. “There’s some truth in that.”

Wes pops in just before the designated time for my date’s arrival. “Hey,” I say when he stops next to Olivia and me.

He nods to me. “Hey.”

Before I can say anything else, the doorbell rings and a quiet hush falls over the crowd.

“This is getting ridiculous, people,” I say as I push through my family to get to the door. Several family members scramble to finish placing their bets.

I swing open the door and am surprised to see a familiar face on the other side.

“Hey!” I say enthusiastically.

“Hey,” Wyatt says as he steps through the door, giving me a quick hug. I met Wyatt last summer when Aunt Camille roped all of us into helping at the huge pet-adoption thing. Wyatt and I bathed all of the dogs before the event started so they would have the best chance of being rescued. He’s a really nice guy, and we have at least one thing in common — the inability to tell Aunt Camille no — but mostly I’m relieved that this date should hold very few surprises.

“Wait! Foul!” Uncle Michael calls out. “They already know each other. Therefore this can’t be a blind date.”

Aunt Camille rushes forward. “Wrong. She didn’t know he was the one she was going out with tonight. That is the very definition of a blind date.”

Wyatt and I just stare at them. They’ve definitely gone off the rails, and it’s only 2:30.

“We’ve only met once before,” Wyatt says. “And we really don’t know each other.”

I hold up my hands. “If we don’t leave now, we’ll miss the beginning of the game. And since I’ve never been to a hockey game before, I really don’t want that to happen. We’ll see y’all later.” I grab Wyatt’s hand and pull him through the open door. “Oh, and don’t wait up. We may stop for ice cream on the way home.” I wink at Graham and Charlie. The uncles huddle together and whisper worriedly.

Aunt Camille waves from the front porch and says, “I’ll see y’all there!”

“Is she coming with us?” I ask Wyatt on the way to his car.

Wyatt looks back over his shoulder, then to me. His complexion is super pale, so he can’t hide the slight blush that spreads across his cheeks. “I have no idea. She asked me if I wanted to take you to this game, and I said of course. Then she handed me some tickets. That’s all I know.”

We catch up on the way to the arena. He goes to the same high school as Olivia, Charlie, and Wes, but he doesn’t know them well because it’s such a huge school. It’s hard for me to imagine, since mine is so small. We chat about senior year and college selections, and before long, we’re here.

Wyatt pulls his car up to the gate designated for season ticket holders. “Your aunt gave us a parking pass, too,” he says.

This is blowing my mind. I never even knew there was a hockey team here. And now Aunt Camille is a major hockey enthusiast?

Once we’ve parked, I get out of the car and scan the area. “Why do all of these people have their dogs with them?”

Wyatt and I spin in a circle and, yes, almost everyone walking to the entrance has a dog on a leash. Small dogs. Big dogs. Everything in between. Suddenly Aunt Camille’s choice of date is making more sense.

“I have no idea,” he answers. Then he stops abruptly and points to a large banner hanging from the side of the building that reads:

“Oh wow,” Wyatt mutters.