“Mom—” Dad starts but is immediately interrupted by Grandma, who’s livid.

“I told you to tell her much earlier, but no one listened to me. Now look at what has happened. She’s talking about going on dates, spending the night out. She needs to know!”

“What does that mean?” My whole world shakes as the scene from my favorite movie, A Walk to Remember, flashes before my eyes. I gasp. “I’m dying. Now I understand why you protect me so much.”

“What?” Grandma’s eyebrows squish together, and she looks between my parents.

Dad snickers next to me. “No one is dying, tummy bear,” he whispers and his familiar smile and crazy nickname is a big comfort.

“Then what do I need to know?”

“That you’re spoken for.” Grandpop blurts the sentence that will change my life forever.

I’ve never passed out in my life, so I don’t understand what it means when everything around me goes quiet all of a sudden.

For a beat, I see Grandma’s mouth moving, but then her face gets blurry. I feel Dad’s hands tightening around me, and then everything is dark.

Before I open my eyes, I can sense four heads hovering over me.

“Why did you tell her like that, Dad?” my mom whispers. “We discussed that we’d ease her into this news slowly.”

“I’m still not convinced about this, Laura.” Annoyance is clear in Dad’s voice.

But he’s quickly shushed by Grandma. “You tell them, Frank,” she says to Grandpop. “This is how it’s supposed to happen. The Spencers—”

“Dad, please tell me whatever Grandma is so anxious about has nothing to do with me,” I whisper, slowly opening my eyes to find I’m lying on the couch.

“You scared us all, tums. Are you feeling better?” Dad places his hand over my forehead, and I grasp it before he can pull it away.

“I’m fine. But what’s going on?”

It’s Grandma who perches on the couch next to me. “You know my mother, your great-grandmother, was a pillar of this community. She was a savvy entrepreneur and businesses all over town followed her advice.”

I nod, knowing everything by heart.

“Do you agree that it’s our responsibility to make sure her promises are fulfilled?”

I can already feel this question is a double-edged sword. There’s no right answer. But still, I nod.

“My mother had a very good friend, and they decided to turn their friendship into something deeper.”

My brain immediately flies to the lesbian romance novel I’m currently reading. Who knew my great-grandmother was so ahead of her time.

Before I can figure out where my great-grandfather fit into this picture, Grandma says, “So they made a pact. They would marry off one of their kids to each other. Unfortunately, they both ended up having only daughters, so the promise shifted to my shoulders.”