Page 93 of Meet Me on Mistletoe Lane

“Oh, I dunno.” I drummed my fingers on the doorframe. “It’s not terrible—”

“Come on, Gianna.” He made a face. “I’ve seen the way they bombard you. Not to mention the entire town when you walk down Mistletoe Lane. Doesn’t it get old? I mean, why you? Why not your cousins?”

“It didn’t used to be this way, but…after Dad died, I think everyone just felt like they needed to look after Mom, Leo, and me,” I said, my voice growing quiet. “I don’t think they do it to be intrusive.”

They do it out of love.

And realizing that made my heart fill with something I didn’t expect.

Gratitude.

By the time we reached my driveway, the ease of the evening vanished and was replaced with jittery nerves that made my leg bounce wildly in the passenger seat. As James turned off the Jeep and jogged around to my side to open the door, I had to remind myself how to walk and prayed he couldn’t hear the way my heart pounded in anticipation.

This was it.

He was walking me to my door.

We’d go up the front porch steps and…then what?

How would I know if he wanted to kiss me?

Did I need to like…linger or something?

Did I want to linger?

Honestly, yeah. I do.

“Thank you for coming with me tonight,” he said, his voice a little high before he cleared it. “I had a great time.”

I swallowed over the lump in my throat and managed a semi-coherent “Me too.”

“The last time I saw a movie like that was in the park back home, but we had a bit more people around us.”

“How many?”

“A couple thousand.” He grinned.

“Thousand?” My voice rose. “I can’t imagine.”

“Well, by next year, you won’t have to.” He tucked his hands into his pockets. “You’ll be among millions in New York City.”

Millions.

My stomach rolled.

All my life I’d dreamed of breaking away, exploring the world and then writing it all down so others who were stuck like me could live that life, too.

But who was I to tell that story, really?

When there were millions more who could probably do it better?

“Gianna?” James’s voice broke through my daze. “You good?”

I spun my claddagh ring a few times and took a slow breath in through my nose, grounding myself. “Yeah, I’m good. Just…thinking about the future, I guess.”

“Exciting, isn’t it?” He rocked back on his heels.

Ha. “A bit, yeah.” And terrifying.