Free Jumping Puddles by Rachael Brownell Page B

carefree about all of it.”
    “Perceptive aren’t we, Charlie?”
    “What happened? It seemed like things were going pretty well. She was nice.” I try to sound sad about his break up. Maybe, too sad. He glances in my direction and flashes me a knowing grin.
    “She is nice. It just didn’t work out.”
    “That’s all you’re going to say about it?”
    “Yep. Nothing more to tell.”
    I’m not buying it, but I don’t think he cares. There’s more to the story, and I’ll find out one way or another. It won’t be today, though, unless…
    “You know, you never did tell me why she reminded you of me. Care to fill me in now?”
    “You didn’t figure it out for yourself?”
    “I wouldn’t be asking if I had.”
    “Have you looked in the mirror lately, Charlie?”
    “Every morning. Why?”
    “Imagine if your hair was brown instead of blond.”
    I picture myself with brown hair and see a bit of a resemblance. “Okay.”
    “Now, on top of that, picture yourself in the dress she was wearing at the Christmas party.”
    “I wouldn’t be caught dead in that dress. Correction. I would be dead if Scott caught me in that dress.”
    “Humor me, will ya?”
    “Fine,” I reply, disgusted at the thought of me in Emily’s short dress.
    I attempt to imagine what I would look like, my hair down and flowing along my shoulder, a chestnut shade of brown to match Emily’s. I see it. I see the resemblance. Aside from the fact I have two inches on her, and at most ten pounds, someone might mistake us at a glance.
    “So we look similar if you distort reality. That can’t be it.”
    “It’s not all of it, but that’s what drew me to her at first.”
    Letting his words sink in, the car goes silent. When he left here at the end of the summer he was angry with me, I was angry with him, and we weren’t speaking. He met Emily, and she was my substitute. It was his way of seeing me every day in his own screwed up kind of way. I want to be flattered, but I’m not. I’m annoyed. He could have just come home or called me, and everything would have been fine. We wouldn’t have wasted so much time apart, mad at each other. There wouldn’t have been a need for Emily in his life.
    “That’s messed up. You know that, right?”
    “Yeah, but I couldn’t help it. I met her when I was missing you, and it just sort of happened. Then I started to notice there were these little things she would do that reminded me of you. I think, after a while, I kept her around so it felt like you were there.”
    “Okay, I’m going to ask this, but I’m not sure I really want to know the answer. What changed things?”
    “You. I saw you over Christmas, and once we were back in Santa Barbara, those same things that reminded me of you were a constant reminder she wasn’t you. I didn’t want Emily. I wanted you.”
    My heart stops beating completely for at least a few seconds. I replay his words over and over again in my mind, certain I didn’t hear him right. He wants me. Finally, he wants me.
    “Did you hear what I said, Charlie?”
    “Yeah. Just trying to process everything. I need a minute.”
    “Please, don’t tell me you changed your mind.” Suddenly Blake is in full-on freak-out mode. He pulls the car to the side of the road and throws it in park.
    “I haven’t changed my mind, Blake. I just need to process your proclamation. Just like you needed a moment to process mine. Why can we never be on the same page at the same time?”
    “Okay. Process. Do your thing, and I’ll drive.”
    After wiping the sweat from his palms down the front of his jeans, Blake maneuvers the car back onto the road. I watch as tall buildings come into view and then the Bay Bridge.
    “Where are we going?”
    “I wanted to take you somewhere special, so I made reservations at a place across the Bay. I hope you’re in the mood for spaghetti and meatballs.”
    Squinting my eyes at him, Blake grins at me before focusing back on the road. Alice knew more