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“It’salso a flower— completely unrelated— but yeah.Everyonethinks she is named after a tree.Ifshe’s willing to tell anyone in the first place.Shemostly just prefers people think her name isMay.”

Hissmile is amused and quirks up at the side in an adorable way. “LastIchecked,Mackenzieis not a flower.”

“Youare correct.Ithink that by the time my parents got to the third child, they couldn’t come up with another ‘M-a’ flower name and skipped the tradition with me.Thenby the timeMaywas born, they’d thought of another one.”

Jacetilts his head to the side. “Isit a good thing or a bad thing that they skipped you?”

“Agood thing, definitely.BecausewhenIwas a kid,IGoogled, and the only otherM-a flower name that one of my sisters didn’t already own wasMayflower.Andno offense to the mayflower— it’s actually a pretty flower— butIdon’t thinkIcould’ve handled all thePilgrimand ship jokes that were sure to have filled my elementary school experience if that had been my name.”

“Youcould’ve always gone byMayfor short.”

Ilaugh. “No, because ifIhad, it wouldn’t have been long beforeMaywould’ve stolen it, just like she stole my giant, adorable stuffed pig,Clancy, when she was born.Plus, asMackenzieMacNeil,Iam the only kid in my family who has ‘Mac’ for the first three letters of both my first and last name, making me the onlyMacMac.Or, as my dad likes to call me,Macsquared.”

Jacechuckles, which makes me smile.Thenhe glances around the rest of the park again, maybe looking for potential flying objects.

“Howabout you?Anysiblings?Howmany kids are in your family?”

“Thereare six of us.”

“Six?!”Inearly choke on the swig of waterIam taking a drink of. “AndhereIthought four was a lot.”

“Fiveof us in a row are boys.Mysister is the youngest.”

“Howdid your parents handle six?Didthey ever lose one of you, like leave one of you in a gas station’s restroom?”

Somethingstrange flashes across his face.AnemotionIcan’t name.Ionly get a glimpse before it’s gone, and he chuckles and says, “Nope.Allof us are accounted for.”

“Whereare you in the lineup?”

“Iam also third.I’vegot two older brothers, then twin brothers just younger than me, then my sister.”

Igive him a sly smile. “Dothey all haveJ-Anames, like you do?”

“Nope—Blake,Emerson, me,Miles,Ledger, andCharlotte.OrCharlie.Ithink they went with the ‘wait until they’re born to choose a name that fits’ method.”

“Canyou really tell what name fits a kid when they are fresh from the womb?”

Jacesmiles in a way that tells me he’s laughing inside. “Wehave a picture in a family album of the twins not long after they were born, both swaddled up in their little hospital blankets, lying next to each other.Ledgeris about to either sneeze or yawn and has his face all scrunched up weirdly, whileMilesis wearing an expression of utter contentment.

“Weused to joke— probably because it got a reaction out ofLedgerevery time— thatMileshad a foot onLedger’sface in my mom’s stomach so that he could push off and be born first.Soif my parents named them what they looked like at birth, instead ofMilesandLedger, they would’ve been namedVictorandVictim.”

Ilaugh pretty heartily and not gracefully.Anda part of me wants to meet those brothers. (Exceptthe other part of me doesn’t and tries to be vocal about reminding me this is a one-date-only deal.)

Weeach take a bite of the gloriously delicious pie, andJacelooks around again.Ican’t tell if he’s watching out for more wayward footballs or if he’s pulling aDanand is looking for anyone he knows who he might not want witnessing that the two of us are together.

ButJaceis the one who chose this location.Ifhe is worried about someone seeing us, he would’ve chosen a different location, right?Itell myself that he’s only worried about the football kid’s aim.Buta small part of me is whispering that not wanting pictures on social media and looking around to see who’s watching is behavior that has burned me before.

Itell that part to be quiet.Thisis one date only, andI’mhere to enjoy it.Iam full, butIstill take one last bite of the pie on my plate— it’s so tastyIcan’t resist— before pushing it away.

Jacenods toward the other end of the park. “Seethat down there?It’sa mini golf course.Whatdo you say about playing a game?”

“Iwould love that.”

Hestarts putting the food that’s left in the basket andIfold the blanket and drape it over an arm.Wedecide to drop it off at his car before heading to the other end of the park, andIfind out that he’s parked right next to the spotIpulled into.

Footballkid is gone, but there are plenty of other people on the playground and enjoying the open space of the grassy area.I’vebeen living here long enough that the peopleIdon’t ever interact with are starting to look familiar, which feels likeI’veleveled up in small-town living or something.

Aswe cross the grassy field towardCottonCandyGreens, a large dog barks.Jacedoesn’t flinch, but he immediately shifts to position his body as a block between me and the dog, as if it’s more of an instinct or reaction than a conscious thought, before seeing that the dog is on a leash and is perfectly harmless.