Rusty

She decided to go to the party at the last minute when Irene urged her to get out and enjoy
herself. Seeing the worry on Miri's face now, she began to regret her decision. Maybe it had
been a mistake to keep the men in her life a secret. Not that there had been many. But
she'd never brought a date home. Not one man in fifteen years. She hadn't done a thing to
get Miri used to the idea, to the possibility. In all these years, there had been just two
serious boyfriends. One of them had been married. She certainly wasn't going to introduce
him to her family. She knew from the start he would never leave his wife and children. She
knew she wasn't his first affair. Yet she kept seeing him. For five years she saw him every
week. If you asked her about him today she wouldn't be able to explain it. Just that she'd
been young and she'd enjoyed the attention, the thrill, the sex.

The second man was decent and available. He'd proposed after a few months, with a
diamond as big as her thumbnail. For a minute she thought she could learn to love him,
could be happy with his promise of a big house in the suburbs, a maid to clean and cook,
summer camp for Miri. But when it came time to introduce him to the family she couldn't do
it. They would see right through her. They would see the truth--she didn't love him, wasn't
the least attracted to him and didn't want to marry him, not even for an easier life.

Sometimes she wondered about her first love, but not often. A girl gets in trouble, she
marries the boy. They wind up hating each other, resenting each other and finally they get
a divorce. By then it's taken its toll on both of them and their children. No, she never
wanted that, which is why she'd refused to allow her mother to call the Monskys and force
Mike to marry her. Maybe she would fall in love again. If and when that happened she
would introduce him to Miri. But until then, what was the point?

Excerpted from In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume Copyright © 2015 by Judy Blume. Excerpted by permission of
Vintage. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the
publisher.