Page 84 of A Love Like Candle Light

Throwing on my jacket, I hurry to my car with a face-splitting smile. It might only have been a day, but I can’t wait to see her. And even less to finally take her on a proper date.

One could argue the autumn fair was our first date, but I refuse to accept it. She deserves a proper one. So I asked a buddy who knows more about stars than I do for the perfect spot to watch them and bought everything for a nice picnic.

The sky is clear today and it’s probably the last warm-ish day we will get this year, so it’s now or never. Well, now or in spring and I’d hate to wait until next year.

No idea how I got to her place, the entire ride I was picturing her reaction to the date I planned. I pull the bouquet I had Courtney make for her from my backseat and all but skip up the steps of her front porch.

My finger barely touches her doorbell when the door already flies open and she throws her arms around me.

“Hey, babe.” I chuckle and hug her back, then press a kiss to the top of her head. Then I take a deep breath and feel myself relax. “I’m very excited to see you too.”

“Good.” She squeezes me tighter. “That’s good.” Abby appears in the hallway and I break the hug so I can hold her present out of her dog’s reach. For a moment, she’s disappointed, then she sees the bouquet in my hand. “You got me flowers?” she asks in awe, disbelief written all over her face.

“Of course.” I hand them to her. “I made sure to tell Courtney to only use flowers that are okay with dogs. I remember Henry mentioning once how some are toxic.”

“Erik, this is so thoughtful.” Her eyes dart between me and the flowers. And are they glassy? If flowers make her happy to the point she’s about to cry, I’ll get her more, every day, until she gets used to receiving them. “Thank you. I love them.” She pulls me inside and rushes to the kitchen to find a vase.

“You can take off your shoes and jacket, you know.” I stay in her hallway and shake my head. “Nope. You go put on your shoes and jacket because we’re going out.”

“We are?” Her face lights up as she pulls a vase out of her cupboard. “Are we bringing Abby?”

I stare at her, confused as she fills it with water. Why wouldn’t we? “Of course we are.” The thought of leaving her here never even crossed my mind. “As long as she’s okay to drive on my backseat? If not we’ll have to take your car.”

“Sure.” Kylie puts the bouquet into the water. As she brushes past me, she stops to get on her tiptoes and give me a quick kiss. “Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.” I grin and trail after her. Abby is weaseling around our legs. Of course, she’d realize we’re going outside and demand to come along.

“I love surprises.”

I walk back outside, Abby following at my feet. Dry leaves crunch under my shoes. The trees around the lake are beginning to lose their red and golden colors to a dry orange.

“Do I need to bring anything?”

“Nope. Only yourself.” I open door to my backseat for Abby, then the passenger door for Kylie. She giggles as she climbs inside, cheeks flush as she watches me walk around the car and climb into the driver’s seat.

“So, more surprises.” I nod and make a mental note.

“You don’t have to—” She quickly backpedals, but it’s too late.

“Kylie.” I reach for her chin and turn her face to me. “Shut the hell up and say thank you.”

“Thank you,” she mumbles. As soon as I let her go, she pulls up her scarf to hide her red cheeks.

“So, how was your day?”

She lets out a deep sigh and relaxes into her seat. “Exhausting. I have this one client who keeps changing his mind about timelines and tries to hit me with impossible turnarounds. I got to tell him off today, which was admittedly kind of fun. Oh, also…” I start the car. “Gabriella recently did an anti-aging campaign that might be of interest to you.”

I glance at her as I pull out of her driveway, corners of my mouth twitching. “Are you telling me I look old?”

“What? No.” She giggles and lightly swats my upper arm. “No, no, no. But she found a guy who’s an expert at digitally aging up people. I asked her to get in touch with him. Can you send me an image of your mom and dad?”

“Sure, I can do that. Let me ask aunt Molly to send some over.” I make a mental note to message her as soon as we arrive so I won’t forget. “And then what?”

“Then this guy—sorry, I keep forgetting his name—can age Lilith’s image up pretty accurately. I know you had this done by a sketch artist, but I thought computer-made might be worth a try.”

Emotions burn in the back of my throat. “Thank you.” I can’t believe she’d go this far out of her way to help me find my sister. An endeavor that, by all means, is pretty unrealistic to begin with.

“That’s not even something you need to thank me for.” She rolls her eyes and lets out a sigh. “It’s, like, the least I can do.”