I sat on a round, tufted, pink ottoman, sipping champagne and watching Frannie twirl in front of a wall of mirrors.

She held out the flouncy red material of her skirt. “I don’t know, Rach, I might steal the show. I’m awfully pretty!”

From behind a curtain equally as pink as the ottoman I was on, Rachel called, “Don’t be so sure, Frananas. I’m looking pretty fabulous right now.” She pushed the curtain aside and stepped out. I gasped when I saw her. Even without her hair and makeup done, she looked like a Greek goddess.

“Oh, Rachel, that dress…” I started.

“You win!” declared Frannie.

Rachel smiled down at her wedding dress. “I know.”

Her cream lace dress was flowy and lightweight, nothing like the princess gown she’d gotten married in the first time. The cap sleeves were sheer, and the sweetheart neckline plunged just the right amount. I had never seen her look more beautiful, from the rose in her cheeks to the smile lighting up her entire face.

I pulled her into a tight hug. “I’m so very happy for you, Rach.”

“You’re going to make me cry!” She sniffled into my hair.

“Get all the tears out now so you don’t ruin your makeup on your wedding day.” Frannie wrapped her arms around the two of us and we stood in the middle of the bridal salon hugging, laughing, and tearing up. Our sweet girl was getting married, and it finally really hit me when I saw her in her dress.

I had always been a romantic at heart—had always believed in true love. For the past few years, I’d believed in it more for other people than myself. But seeing Rachel come out the other side of a relationship distinctly similar to the one I’d just ended with Edward made me think all of this could still be me one day too. And I did want this. I wanted the flowers and hearts and romance. I wasn’t in a hurry. I wasn’t going to go hunting for it. I wasn’t even sure I was ready for it. But if I found it, I wouldn’t turn away from it either.

“There is absolutely no way I won’t be crying on my wedding day. Do you even know me at all?” Rachel asked.

Frannie kissed the top of her head and laughed. “I know. I never cry, and I’m pretty positive I’ll be sobbing right along with you. But then we can go pet the baby goats and everything will be better.”

Rachel and Joe were getting married on the farm where Frannie’s boyfriend, James, grew up. Frannie had become kind of obsessed with the goats. The wallpaper on her phone was a picture of her favorite goat on the farm. I was pretty certain the goats were not going to be a part of the wedding, but there was a rumor there would be fresh goat cheese.

“I’m just going to have to hold it together long enough to play your songs,” I said.

Rachel stepped up on a platform and a seamstress started sticking pins in the spots on her dress that needed to be altered.

“Which reminds me, Joe finally chose!”

“Tell me!” I said.

“Okay, don’t judge. Joe and I went round and round about this, but we finally decided. It’s unconventional, but he wants to walk in with his parents to ‘Creep.’”

Frannie snorted. “Oh my god, that’s so Joe.”

“The song by Radiohead?” I asked.

Rachel nodded. “Yeah, we have a running joke about what a creep Joe is, so it seems fitting. I’m going to walk in to ‘Nothing Compares 2 U,’ and then we’ll walk out together to Queen’s ‘You’re My Best Friend.’ Think you can handle it?”

“I can definitely handle it.” I hoped I sounded a hell of a lot more confident than I felt.

My stomach lurched, and my lunch threatened to make a reappearance. Those were big songs—songs I had never played before. I would have to do a lot more practicing than the one hour a day I’d been doing. And I’d have to face Charlie after humiliating myself the day before. I’d avoided him this morning, setting off for my run earlier than normal and on a different route, which only made me feel worse.

After Rachel finished her dress fitting, Frannie and I had ours. Frannie had been right, our dresses were adorable. Hers was strapless, and mine had cap sleeves that mimicked Rachel’s, but both were flowy and knee-length. I’d been prepared to suck it up and wear whatever monstrosity Rachel picked out, because that seemed to be a bridesmaid rite of passage, but Frannie wasn’t having it. And now, standing in my pretty red dress, I was thankful she’d put her foot down.

Frannie looked up from her phone. “Laurel’s at Bar Royal and James is working, if you guys want to head over there for a bit. We can have a drink and a late dinner. They only have bar food, though. Sorry, E.”

“Actually, I’m starving, so I could go for some loaded potato skins right now.” We’d left work early to go to Baltimore for the fitting and none of us had eaten dinner yet. Since Frannie’s old roommate, Laurel, and her boyfriend, James, were both at the bar, it sounded like a perfect cap to the day.

“I’m up for it. Joe’s out with some of his co-workers, so I’m not in a rush to get home,” Rachel said.

Once we changed back into our regular clothes and pulled Rachel away from her wedding dress, we headed over to Bar Royal. It was a couple steps up from a dive bar and Frannie’s favorite haunt, especially because James worked there.

We found Laurel at a high-top table drinking a beer. She hopped up when she saw us and threw her arms out. “Hey, ladies!”

There were hugs all around, and then Frannie’s man sauntered over, and she buried her hands in his thick beard while he wrapped her up in his tree-trunk arms. Frannie was a willowy brunette, with delicate features, and James looked like a red-haired hipster lumberjack. In theory, they didn’t go together at all, but the first time I saw them together as a couple, they made sense.

I was the first to sit down when I saw potato skins dropped off at the table. When Rachel sat next to me, I pulled the plate toward me.

“Mine!” I said.

She laughed. “I’m pulling the bride card. You have to share!”

“Can you pull the bride card a month before the wedding?”

“Of course. It’s like how you have a year from the date of the wedding to send a gift.”

“You can pull the bride card for a year?”

Rachel tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear. “I can, but I’ll use my power for good, not evil.”

“Okay, you can have one,” I said.

“Is it okay if I join you for a few minutes?” James asked in his low, rumbly voice.

“Of course, you big hunk,” Laurel cooed. I had only ever seen her in one of three modes: serious lawyer, hilarious party girl, or unapologetic flirt. Tonight, she seemed to be in mode three.

“So, what’s new, everyone? I feel like I’m so out of the loop all by myself in Baltimore! I need to come get my hair cut so I can catch up,” Laurel said.

“We just saw Rachel’s wedding dress, and she looked outrageously beautiful in it,” Frannie said.

“I’m so excited for your wedding! Frannie said there will be goats,” Laurel said.

“The goats will not be in our actual wedding, but you can visit them.”

“Be prepared to fall in love,” Frannie warned.

“What about you, Eliza? What have you been up to?” Laurel asked.

Everyone turned to me just as I took a bite out of a mozzarella stick. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten something fried, but it was addictively good. I almost wished I hadn’t tasted it because I had a feeling I’d be craving it.

After I swallowed, I said, “I signed up for a marathon two weeks after the wedding. So I’ve been training.”

Rachel elbowed me. “You didn’t tell me that!”

“It was a spur of the moment decision.”

“You made a spur of the moment decision?” Frannie asked.

“Well, I was sort of pushed into it.”

“Elaborate,” demanded Laurel.

“I started running with Charlie, and—”

Frannie slapped the table. “What?”

“Charlie from Friendsgiving?” Laurel asked.

“The very one,” I replied.

“How did that happen? I mean, I’m excited you’re hanging out or whatever you’re doing, but I’m surprised,” Rachel said.

“He really just invited himself into my life, and it’s been...fun. He’s weird in the very best way. And now we’re training for the marathon together.”

I looked around the table, and each of my friends was gaping at me, except James. He was leaned back, his arm around Frannie, swallowing back his beer, taking it all in.

“I feel like I’ve missed something,” Rachel said.

“You haven’t! We’ve been running, and he took me to the horse races—”

Frannie slapped the table again. “The horse races?”

I laughed at how worked up she was getting.

“Yes! He’s helping me rebel. So, we bet on horse races.” Then I mumbled, “And he picked me up in a yellow convertible.”

“That sounds like a date!” Laurel said.

I shook my head vehemently. “I promise you, it wasn’t. We’ve friend-zoned each other.”

“Why? He’s so cute!” said Laurel.

“He’s gorgeous, but I don’t think he’s into serious relationships, and it seems unwise to start anything casual with someone who lives right across the street from me. Not that he’s given any indication he’d want that anyway.”

“Maybe he’s waiting for you to make a move,” Laurel said.

James scoffed before taking a swig of his beer.

Frannie tugged his beard. “Speak!”

He cleared his throat. “I barely know the guy, but he seemed pretty straightforward to me. I just don’t think it’s a good idea for Eliza to try to decipher how he feels. He would probably tell her if he wanted more.”

My heart sank slightly, but I knew he was right. I could always use another friend and so far, Charlie had proven himself to be exceptional at it.

“I need to know more about this yellow convertible,” Frannie said, and then she slapped her hand on the table for good measure.

So, I told them about our day at the races and our training schedule. I didn’t tell them about my awkward air-kiss and how I had avoided him that morning.

When the Charlie topic was exhausted, we played a round each of foosball and pinball, then went our separate ways for the night.

Climbing the stairs to my apartment, I was tired but happy. A night out with my girlfriends had been just what I needed. It felt like I’d entered back into the land of the living over the last couple weeks, and I gave a lot of credit to Charlie for pushing me.

There was an envelope on my welcome mat with my name written in that now familiar messy scrawl. No ‘miss,’ though.

I held the card to my chest and smiled. This man baffled me, only because I had never met anyone like him. But I liked that. I liked it a lot.