5 Cora
Cora had a date.
Well, what she really had was a match. But a match would lead to a date. And a date would lead to a breakup, which meant she
won the bet.
Okay, yes, that sounded a little off, even to her brain. But a surge of triumph rushed through her anyway. She was about to
win the bet with Bianca.
Cora was a competitive person, so winning any bet was enticing. But winning this particular bet came with the added benefit
of proving her point to her sister. Bianca was naive, and Cora felt a sense of responsibility to keep her from getting hurt.
More than half of marriages ended in divorce, and those were just the relationships that were committed enough to make it
to the altar. Statistically speaking, this internet-based relationship with a person Bianca had never met had zero chance
of going the distance. And then what? She’d be stuck in another state all by herself, trying to put the pieces of her life
back together?
Unfortunately, Cora knew all too well how that song ended. She’d already lived it once.
But there wasn’t going to be a repeat performance because Cora was going to win the bet and prove her point to Bianca. And
the poor shmuck who was going to help her do it was...
Jax V.
SoulMatch used last initials instead of full last names to protect privacy, believing that each person should be able to share their personal information when they felt most comfortable, which Cora could respect.
Although if she was being honest, being called “Cora P.” made her feel like a contestant on The Bachelor , which wasn’t a selling point for the site.
But she digressed. The main thing was that she had a match.
She skimmed Jax V.’s information. He was a couple years older than she was and had never been married. His hobbies were kite
surfing, traveling, and hanging with his family. A fun fact about him was that he had his pilot’s license but didn’t have
his own plane—yet. And his ideal relationship was one where forever didn’t seem long enough. All in all, Jax V. sounded like
a pretty great guy.
Of course, it could all be a lie.
Okay, yeah. Maybe Bianca had a point about her being cynical.
Although whether Jax V.’s story was a lie or not didn’t really matter. It wasn’t like she was looking for a future with this
guy. All she needed was a perfect first date and maybe a pretty awesome second date. As soon as he seemed interested, she
would flip the switch to Real Life and count the minutes until he bolted. Hopefully she got to count in days, but she supposed
being dumped in the middle of a meal would make a more impactful point. She scanned the profile a bit more before she opened
his message.
Honestly, she was a little disappointed she didn’t get to send him the message first. She would’ve liked having the first
word, starting off more in control.
But this app worked like a real matchmaker, someone who would introduce a couple based on whatever criteria she thought would
make a connection. In this case, the introduction happened in the form of a message sent to both people simultaneously. Apparently,
Jax V. opened his message before Cora did.
She made a mental note to change her notifications so that wouldn’t happen again.
Nice to meet you, Cora P.
Three things you should know about me, in case they are deal-breakers.
I love hot dogs. I know I shouldn’t. I know they’re made of nothing good, held together by chemicals, and will probably kill
me. But if death by hot dogs is how I go down, so be it.
He didn’t start off with a cheesy pickup line or some comment on how she looked, which was a solid start. Plus, it made her
smile.
She kept reading.
While I agree that Taylor Swift is a talented musician, I don’t know if she’s the greatest of all time. That designation is
reserved for Elvis. I could also be talked into Dolly.
Clearly, he’d read her bio. He was wrong, but she gave him points for trying to connect.
Although, she did like Dolly.
This is my first time doing anything like this, so I apologize if I’m doing it all wrong. But if I haven’t offended you too
much so far, I’d love to chat.
—Jax (My last name is Verona, by the way. In case you want to look me up on social.)
She had to admit, she was intrigued. Before she gave herself too much time to overthink it, she hit Reply and started to type.
Hot dogs, huh? Seems like an unfortunate way to go. If you’re going to have death by something unhealthy, sugar is a much
better option. Think of all the delicious culprits. Ice cream. Chocolate. Donuts. Pretty much everything served at brunch.
But as long as we’re discussing deal-breakers, I don’t trust people who don’t eat dessert. Seems... wrong.
—Cora
She hit Send and was just about to open the profile page with his picture when she was interrupted by the sound of the glass
door sliding open.
Savannah stepped out on the deck clutching a coffee mug between her hands. “I mean, there really isn’t a better view in the
whole world, is there?”
“Not as far as I’m concerned.” Cora snapped her laptop shut and set it on the wide arm of the Adirondack chair. She wasn’t
sure why she snapped it shut. It wasn’t like she was trying to hide anything. Both of her sisters were aware of her dating
plan. But for some reason, this part felt... personal.
Either Savannah didn’t notice the laptop or didn’t care, because she settled in the chair next to Cora and let out a contented
sigh. “Now, this feels familiar.”
“Right?” She jerked her thumb over her shoulder. “But the house used to be bigger, didn’t it?”
“It’s like someone threw it in the dryer. It looks the same, just two sizes smaller than it used to be.”
Cora laughed. “Exactly.”
“It’s good to be here, though.”
“Mmm.” It was a noncommittal response, because the verdict was still out on whether or not it was good to be here. Although,
if the first twenty-four hours were any indication, it wasn’t looking good.
“Any word on your lost luggage?” Savannah asked.
“It has been located.” Cora gave a dramatic pause and turned to look at her sister. “In Fargo, North Dakota.”
“How did that happen?”
“I have no idea.” People’s incompetence exhausted her.
Of course, sometimes people in general exhausted her, but that was a different topic for a different day.
“I have a swimsuit you can borrow today,” Savannah offered.
“Thanks.” Cora took a sip of her Diet Dr Pepper. “I thought I’d drive to Panama City and buy a few things to hold me over
while I wait.”
“Today?”
“Yes. What else do we have to do?”
Savannah motioned out toward the water. “I thought we’d have a beach day. Like we always did. First day of the summer vacation
was always a beach day.”
“Every day of the summer was a beach day.”
“Yeah, but the first day was different. The first day was a designated beach day. Remember?”
Cora sighed. “Fine. I’ll drive to town tomorrow.” She tossed Savannah a judgmental look. “But you’re not going to try to make
this trip an exact replica of how it used to be, right?”
“What’s so bad about holding on to traditions?”
“Because life isn’t the same as it used to be. Maybe it’s time to let go of the past and embrace the present.”
“But that’s the beauty of traditions. Even if everything else changes, some things stay the same.”
It was a nice sentiment, maybe. But just because they went to the beach on the first day of vacation didn’t make any part
of this trip—or this family—the same as it used to be.
The sliding glass door opened again, and Bianca cruised onto the patio holding an energy drink in one hand and a hideous, three-foot-tall trophy in the other.
“Let the record show that bunk beds are not as fun for adults as they seemed to be when I was a kid,” Bianca said, almost as if she were trying to prove Cora’s point from the previous argument.
“What is that?” Cora pointed at what appeared to be an old T-ball trophy covered in stars and doused in gold spray paint.
Bianca hoisted it up proudly. “Only the most coveted souvenir in Sunnyside. Y’all can thank me later.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen,” Cora said.
Bianca ignored her and propped herself on the deck railing directly across from her sisters.
“Okay, I’ll bite,” Savannah said. “Why is that thing coveted?”
“It’s the Trivia Champions trophy. You should’ve been there last night. The entire town showed up, locals and tourists. The
place was packed.”
“And you won the whole thing?” Savannah sounded impressed.
Bianca nodded. “Well, Luke and I did.”
“And yet, even with all that knowledge in your head, you still thought it’d be a good idea to move across the country and
marry a man you’ve never met,” Cora said.
Bianca rolled her eyes. “You’re not going to let that go, are you?”
“The fact that you’re moving across the country to marry some man you’ve never met? Nope. Not letting it go.”
“You have to admit, Bee, it seems a little impulsive. Even for you,” Savannah said in a diplomatic tone.
“Soulmate. I’m moving to marry my soulmate.”
“Who you met online,” Savannah countered.
“Who I was matched with using state-of-the-art AI technology.” Bianca had an I’m-running-out-of-patience tone. “I thought we went over this last night. Cora’s going to try it out. Confirm its validity.”
“Wait, we’re still doing that?” Savannah asked.
“Absolutely. Someone has to save Bianca from herself.” Cora settled into her chair, feeling confident. “In fact, I’ve already
gotten a match.”
Bianca brightened. “That was fast! Should I pick out my own bridesmaid’s dress, or do you want to choose for us?”
“Or, by this time tomorrow night, you’ll be canceling your moving truck reservation.” Cora shot her a satisfied smile.
Savannah let out a mom-like, tired sigh. “If you two are going to go through with this—”
“Three,” Cora jumped in. “In case you forgot, you were the one who came up with this plan.”
“Fine. If we are going to go through with this, there need to be some ground rules.”