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He reached out again, this time patting her leg just above her knee, but his eyes were back on his laptop screen.

“So, you’ve taken us all the way through pricing models. I should read through everything, but do you want to keep going? Marketing plan?”

“Sure.”

They worked in silence for a long time, the leaves overhead creating the perfect amount of white noise. Not a single soul passed by. The campus was so peaceful.

Jonathan gave her his thoughts about the work she’d done so far and showed her the parts he had added. They agreed that he would start writing the section after the one she was currently working on. He typed away for a minute or two, then looked up.

“By the way, I know you don’t know anyone else here. If you want, you’re welcome to join the old Lee family Christmas Eve dinner.”

Phoebe’s lips parted in surprise. “Thanksgiving with ham?”

“Thanksgiving with ham.” Above a small smile, there was the slightest hitch in his eyebrows, as though he was worried she would say no.

This time, she was the one to reach over and squeeze his hand. He squeezed back.

“I would love to.”

Chapter 14

Arden

Arden rarely posted on social media. When she did, it was usually something like a yummy dinner she’d made for herself or Mittens being adorable. So she wasn’t sure what possessed her to post photos from her trip. Maybe she wanted evidence of a time when she’d done something so spontaneous and ended up very happy that she had.

Had that ever happened before? Arden didn’t think so. She was not usually spontaneous.

As soon as she posted the photos—snowy city streets and evergreen trees, a selfie of her with cheeks flushed from the cold, and her steaming mug of coffee with the view of Seattle from Phoebe’s apartment, captioned “White Christmas in Seattle”—her mom, Renee, called her.

“How’s Seattle, sweetie?”

“Hi, Mom. It’s great so far.” Arden muted the Hallmark movie she’d been watching.

“You sure you don’t want to come here for Christmas?”

Arden sighed, crossing her legs on the roomy ottoman in front of Phoebe’s couch. “It’s a little late for that now. Maybe next year, okay? I wanted to do something for myself this year.”

“I understand. That sounds nice.” Her mom’s voice relaxed. “But I miss you.”

“I miss you, too, Mom.”

“Is everything okay? At work?”

Arden knew her mom had no idea about her crush on Peter Blake. She’d never seen them together, so how would she? She heard only what Arden chose to tell her. Which was not much. She occasionally nagged Arden to date more, or at least to be more social so she’d have the chance to meet a man. Arden always shrugged her off, and Renee didn’t push the issue. Arden suspected that Renee knew she hadn’t set a great example of what marriage looked like, and if Arden ever told her she didn’t want to get married, Renee wouldn’t be surprised. Arden had felt that way for a long time, but now she wondered if she mostly told herself she wasn’t interested in marriage because she knew she could never marry Peter Blake. Now that her infatuation with him was leaving her system, she wasn’t sure that was true anymore. Someone sweet and wholesome who loved her unreservedly… she could see herself wanting to make a commitment to a person like that.

Arden was a split second away from telling her mom about Sam Keller when she heard one of Renee’s many dogs barking.

“Shoot,” Renee said, “I should go. We’ll catch up later? You’ll be okay for Christmas out there?”

“Yep. I’ll be fine. Say hi to Roger for me.”

Vague feelings of disappointment surged through her as she watched the Hallmark movie on mute. She tried to sift through them. Of course, part of her wished her mother was more interested in her life. And part of her wasn’t one hundred percent thrilled to be spending the next few days all by herself. But that was the point of this entire trip, wasn’t it? To be alone. To get more in tune with herself.

She had texted Sam this morning, letting him know she’d had a great time last night. He had responded within minutes that he had, too. A man who didn’t play games? Who didn’t intentionally wait hours before responding? Who used exclamation marks and smiley-face emojis to emphasize that he really had enjoyed hanging out with her? Arden hadn’t realized that type of man was an option.

When she replayed last night—from the way he’d shown up unexpectedly, to the way he’d offered her his arm like being a gentleman was second nature, to the way he’d looked at her as the snow fell, to the warm, sweet-and-salty taste of his lips—she felt giddy. She couldn’t remember ever feeling this excited about a guy. Which, of course, was ridiculous, because she’d known Sam for only two days. Maybe it was because their time together was limited—she was going home next week, after all—or maybe there was just something special about him. He was so cute, Arden could look at him forever without wanting to look away. And the way he looked at her… well, it made her feel like he was not only seeing and appreciating her appearance but also seeing and appreciating what was inside. Like he couldn’t wait to learn more about her. For a woman who was used to being overlooked, that kind of attention was proving to be intoxicating.

She wondered if she should ask him to hang out again. The ball was sort of in her court, since he had invited her to the party last night. But it was family time, wasn’t it? Even if he didn’t celebrate Christmas, he had told Arden that his family had their own traditions. The idea of going out to a Chinese restaurant followed by a movie was so appealing, Arden thought maybe she would do it herself. Maybe she would wait until after Christmas to reach out to Sam again.