Page 77 of Library or Lattes?

• Find a tiny coffee shop in a quiet neighborhood—maybe one of those minimalist ones

AMSTERDAM

• Anne Frank House

• Canal boat tour

• Van Gogh Museum

• Vondelpark

• Bike everywhere!

• Find a canal-side coffee shop—watch the bikes

• Flower market

I gazed at the page. At the possibilities. And for a while, it was all I was thinking about. How much I’d see, how much I’d learn. Now, this was the kind of procrastination I needed. I scrolled to a video of Emma, one of my favorite travel influencers, and watched her eat moussaka and dolmades, spanakopita and tzatziki. Oh, to be in Greece! I watched her travel from the crystal-blue waters of the Greek islands to the bright lights of Bangkok. I wouldn’t even have to be me in all these places. I could be anyone I wanted to be. And that person certainly wouldn’t be stupid immature Willa Taylor, who thought that an actual grown-up would be interested in her. No. I wasn’t thinking about him. And I’d just scrolled on to Emma’s latest video, in Auckland, when there was a knock at the door.

I picked up the bowl of candy that Pop had left and made myself smile. Prepared to be fake-scared or real-scared depending on the trick-or-treaters’ costumes.

And I was real-scared. Because it wasn’t tiny little monsters on the other side of the door, it was James. James who I’d been trying to forget all day.

My puffy face, my costume. My bowl of candy. I didn’t want him seeing any of it, so just as he opened his mouth to say something, I closed the door on him. Actually, I slammed it. What was he even doing here? My heart thudded so hard I swore he could hear it from the other side of the door. My breathing quickened. I couldn’t hide now. He knew I was there. And he’d caught me in this stupid costume, playing dress-up.

Then there was another knock and a “Red?” I put the candy down, wrapped a coat around myself, and opened the door again.

He was still there. Standing tall and perfect, holding a food container and probably thinking about how he and April could laugh about me later.

“When you didn’t reply to my messages, I figured you were still really sick. So I thought some chicken soup might help?” James had become even more “Oak Falls” over the last few weeks, like he was slipping back into the world he’d grown up in. He was wearing a coat like Pop’s, with a woolly hat that drew my eyes to his jawline. “Were you wearing that two minutes ago?” he asked me, reaching over to brush the sleeve of my coat. “Weren’t you wearing little shorts?”

“No. What? I was wearing the coat. I’m cold … And I mean, you can come in if you like, but I’m pretty sick. I don’t think I’d risk it if I were you.” I faked a cough.

“I’ll take my chances.” He took up almost the whole doorframe as he walked in, and I reluctantly moved out of the way. “Shall I?” He motioned to the soup and headed straight toward the kitchen, where he found a saucepan and started heating it up before I could tell him No, that’s not okay at all.

I just sat there at the kitchen table as he warmed the soup. He put it in a bowl, took some herbs from a little baggie in his pocket, and sprinkled them on top before passing it to me. He brought herbs?!

“I can’t take the credit,” James admitted. “My mom made it, and I took it out of the freezer. She always makes it for us when we’re sick so I knew there’d be some in there.”

Suddenly I realized how hungry I was.

The soup was delicious and warming, and it sort of thawed me out. When I’d finished the whole bowl, I stood up and took off my coat, forgetting what I was wearing underneath.

James just stared at me. “You look … amazing.”

My face was on fire as I looked down at myself. The tiny shorts, the fitted shirt, way more skin showing than James had ever seen before. It was for a party, not for standing in my kitchen while James Parker looked at me … like that.

“Halloween costume.” I reached for my coat again, but James found my wrist before I could pick it up. And I hated that I felt it again, the shock wave that rolled right over me.

“Are you cold?” he asked, his voice low. Husky.

I shook my head. I definitely wasn’t cold.

“Maybe you don’t need the coat?”

“Yeah, maybe.” I detached my wrist from his grasp and sat down beside him, trying desperately to still be angry. But it was hard. When he had that look on his face, like he wanted me. Like really wanted me.

I felt the urge to lean into him. And then my brain caught up and I remembered why I absolutely couldn’t. I stared into the fire and wished there was a way to burn an image out of your mind.