Page 150 of The Rebound
“Don’t go getting any ideas.”
He smiles. “I’m not.”
“Good.” But I look down at her in my arms and feel a tug at my heart. What I have with Luke still feels new. Sometimes it’s like we’re still getting to know each other. Our thoughts, our moods, where we want to eat, what we like to do. Luckily, I find the more I learn, the more I like. I was just teasing him before. I don’t have the answers. But for once that’s okay. It’s enough now just to be with him. To take each day as it comes and not have my life scheduled out in advance. Enough now to just spend the holiday with him and my family and one or two emails.
Maybe three.
“When you’re older, we’ll get your ears pierced,” I whisper to my niece as she reaches up to grab a loose curl. “And you’ll tell me all the secrets you don’t want to tell your mom. And I’ll give you your first sip of—”
“Okay,” Louise says, turning to take her from me. “You can hold her at home.”
“I was only messing!”
“I lived with you when you were a teenager, Abby. No, you weren’t.”
Luke tugs the back of my coat, pulling me to him as Louise settles Saoirse in her baby chair.
“You cheered up,” I say.
“I did. I remembered that I loved you.”
“Well, that’s good timing. Even with all the family arguments to come?”
“Even with that.”
“Even if you have to sleep on your parents’ couch?”
“I’ve slept on the couch before, remember? At least this time I won’t have to hear you snore.”
“I don’t—”
“Hey, lovebirds,” Louise says, shutting the trunk. “Hurry up.”
“I love you too,” I say, ignoring her. “And I don’t snore.”
“We’re driving away now,” Louise calls as she gets into the passenger seat.
Luke draws me close, brushing the snow from my hair before kissing my temple.
“Welcome back, Abby,” he murmurs into my ear, and hand in hand we head toward the car, head toward home.
* * *
