She needed to talk to Natalie about this.
She swept the tears from her face and pulled herself together. She grabbed her coat and raced outside before Orene could catch her and see that she’d been crying, and drove toward Natalie’s cabin. The roads were so dark, and she remembered Natalie telling her not to drive up the mountain in the Tesla, but this was an emergency.
This wasn’t something she could text or tell her on the phone, though. Butterflies batted around in her belly, making her drivea little too fast, but the Tesla hugged the curves as she headed out past town to the mountain.
All of a sudden, she wondered if Natalie was even at the cabin, or if she was at Randy’s house.
Sheila pulled over and texted Natalie.
SHEILA: Are you home?
NATALIE: At Randy’s. Come over.
Sheila turned the car around to head back to Randy’s, hoping she wouldn’t pass Tucker on the way. If there was one thing about a bright red Tesla, it didn’t fade into the background. There’d be no mistaking it was her.
She held her breath all the way to Randy’s driveway.
Natalie stood at the door waiting. “What’s up?” she asked. “Is everything okay?”
“I don’t know. My plans changed.”
“Is something wrong? Is your mom okay?”
“She’s never fine anymore, and that makes me sad. But I’m overwhelmed. Tucker wants to go with me. I said yes. I think things might be really good.” She blushed, trying to contain her excitement. “I don’t know. Is this a bad idea?”
“What?” Natalie’s eyes danced. “And that’s why you’re frantic? Get in here.” She waved Sheila inside. “Oh gosh. You are in a state.” She hugged her, and Sheila cried again.
“Are all these tears about Tucker?” Natalie asked.
Sheila looked around for Randy. “Is Randy here?” she whispered.
“No. He’s next door helping them with something.”
Sheila sat down and lowered her face into her hands. “I think I really like Tucker.”
“You think?” Natalie scooted closer. “That’s great.”
“I don’t know. He lives here.”
Natalie grinned. “But so do I. It could be perfect.”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s still early and we’re getting to know each other…”
“Y’all kissed. I can see it all over your face!” Natalie danced in her chair.
“I did not say that. Besides, isn’t it too soon for him to be coming to Virginia Beach with me?”
Natalie’s eyes widened. “To visit your mother,andyour sister? Who is to say what’s too soon. I mean, better for him to know everything out of the gate, right? It’s your life. Oh, Sheila, I know how much it hurts to see your mother like that. It’s not an easy situation. It’ll be nice to have company.”
“He’ll probably never want to see me again after that.”
“He’s interested. That says something, and men process differently than we do. This is Christmas magic. Did you wish on a snow globe or something?” Natalie teased.
“No, but we bought his Christmas tree together last night, and I did some wishing on the hayride, and over s’mores at Joe’s tree farm.”
“Isn’t that romantic? I know you enjoyed that. Sheila, you can trust him.”
“Can I trustme?” Because right now that was her bigger problem. What seemed like a fun way to spend the holiday was beginning to feel like a very big hope for something more, andthat was scary. “I don’t even know what I really want. I thought I did, but now I don’t.”
