I Dreamed the Perfect Blind Date Was Lying To Me Chapter 09

My parents ended up going to that weekend dinner; I didn’t.

That night, my mom called after she got home. Her voice was buzzed with excitement, like she had downed two glasses of wine.

“Emily, Derek was so gracious tonight. He kept asking about you. Said he was sorry for making you uncomfortable. He took us to dinner just to apologize. Your dad said he’s a solid guy.”

I didn’t respond.

“Oh, and he gave your dad a box of craft beer. Said a buddy brought it back from Oregon.”

Beer.

I gripped my phone tighter.

That was in the dream too. Small gifts to pave the way. Beer for my dad. A scarf for my mom. Step by step, turning my parents into his allies.

By the time they had decided he was the one, my saying no would make me the enemy of the whole family.

“Mom,” I kept my voice calm, “can you ask Mrs. Walsh what his ex-wife’s name was?”

My mom paused. “Why do you want to know that?”

“I want to understand. If you both think he’s so great, I shouldn’t go into this blind.”

She accepted that reason, and the next day, she sent me the name.

[Julie Mitchell.]

Two words, sitting quietly in the message box.

I stared at those two words for a long time.

Then I did something bold. I found Julie Mitchell.

Not through anything sophisticated, but through those military spouse groups.

I searched for Julie’s name in the groups. In one, someone mentioned that Julie had left USO a few years ago and now ran a dance studio in a nearby city.

It took two more days to find the studio’s address.

Wednesday afternoon, I took a half day off and rode a bus for two hours to that city.

The dance studio was on a side street, second floor, with a wooden sign out front: Mitchell Dance Space.

I pushed open the door and went upstairs.

Soft piano music drifted from the hallway.

I pushed open the studio door. A woman was stretching at the barre.

She turned when she heard me, early thirties, ponytail, no makeup, a gray leotard. Thin, but her back was straight.

Not the polished woman in the yellow coat from the dream.

But I recognized her immediately, the bone structure, the jawline. It was her.