Page 56 of The Quit List

At that moment, my phone buzzes. I smile when I see who the message is from.

Mini-golf date tonight.

My smile grows. Ever since Holly updated her profile to show more of who she is (i.e. toned down the psychotic “marry me” vibes), and is dating her way, on her terms, she seems to be having more fun. We’ve been texting to debrief after each date, and one night, she even stopped into the bar to tell me about how she’d just been for ice cream with a guy who groaned “mmm” after every overtly sexual lick of his cone, and so she pretended she was going to the bathroom and booked it out of there.

I’m so proud of how far she’s come.

Who’s the lucky guy? New or a second date?

New guy—a cute podiatrist. Wish me luck.

“Podiatrist?” I wonder aloud, frowning at my phone screen.

“Foot doctor,” Seb and Aaron say in tandem. When I look up at them, Seb shrugs. “What? Hockey players have gross feet.”

I raise my brows. “Noted.”

Foot luck.

That was the worst joke ever.

I’m practicing my dad jokes for my future godfathering duties.

Better keep practicing.

Will do. Didn’t know you were a mini-golf fan?

No idea if I am, but it sounded fun and I wanted to try it.

That’s what I like to hear! Knock ‘em dead.

You think this is an appropriate outfit for mini-golf?

She proceeds to send a selfie, taken in the mirror of what looks like an extremely tidy bedroom.

I smile at the silly expression she’s making at the mirror, all cross-eyed and pursed-lipped. She’s wearing a short, baby-blue jumpsuit thing with white sneakers, and her hair is in a messy bun.

She looks… Well, let’s say that podiatrist, whoever he is, is a lucky guy.

And in my opinion—limited mini-golf knowledge notwithstanding—she probably looks more fancy than one might normally look to play a game where you swing a club. But Holly always looks fancy, and it suits her. She should wear what she wants to wear.

Do you feel good wearing it?

I guess I do.

Then I think it’s perfect.

I’ll call you to let you know how it goes.

Hoping it’s a hole in one ;)

Oh my gosh, stop it.

Are we still on for tomorrow?

Absolutely. Looking forward to it. I think.

This makes me chuckle. Her dates have been going well lately, but we still have the other items on that quit list of hers to work on, and I’ve thought of the perfect activity to get her out of her comfort zone and into adventure mode.