"How do we start making this up?"

Nate moved his seat back, creating room to straighten his legs. "Well, how long do you think we'd need to be together before you'd take me with you to Christmas?"

"Umm." I tapped a rhythmless beat on the steering wheel with my nails. "Long enough that they couldn't scare you off. Twenty years and a few kids, maybe?"

He chuckled. "They might catch us if we tried to tell them that. What about if we met when I moved to town? Oh! We can say you and Laurel helped me find my loft. If they know I'm friends with her, will that cause problems?"

After a few seconds of thought, I said, "No, that could help. That way we already knew a lot about each other, then when we met in person, we hit it off. Four months ago, maybe? Any less might seem weird for a family vacation."

"Sure, sounds perfect. So, it was love at first sight, and we've seen each other almost every day since. Is there anything else they'll ask?"

"Nothing that needs lies, but we definitely have to learn more about each other. What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a physical therapist."

"Oh, that's cool."

"It's alright." Nate crossed his arms and stared out the window at the blur of trees, and I caught his frown in the reflection on the glass.

"You don't like it?"

"At first, I did." He rubbed his knee. "When I tore my ACL playing basketball Freshman year of college, I needed surgery. Missing the rest of the season sucked, and my attitude about it was awful, but the physical therapists were so upbeat it made all the difference in my recovery. They were awesome, and I thought it'd be nice to help people that way."

"But it's not?"

"No, it is." His smile was tight. "So many of them are hard to deal with because they're in pain, I get that. And it's wonderful when I'm able to help them, but also... kind of an emotional drain. Does that sound awful?"

"No. It'd drain me too. You should enjoy your job. When Laurel hired me, I wasn't sure I could do it, but realty hooked me after my first sale. I found exactly what the family was looking for and they were thrilled. They bought their first home, and it felt special to be a part of that excitement."

"That's awesome." Nate patted my leg. "You're a sweet person."

"Aww, thanks. Laurel loves realty too though."

He snickered. "Yeah, because she's a stellar salesperson, and she loves making money."

"True." I laughed and sipped my coffee, frowning as I glimpsed the bottom of the cup.

"What are all your favorites? Color, food, whatever I should know."

"Smart." I nodded. "You have to tell me yours too. Umm, I don't think I have a favorite color, it depends on what it's for. I love all kinds of food. I try to keep healthy stuff in the fridge for dinner. If I'm going out, I'll eat anything."

"Me too. Do you cook?"

"I follow recipes, nothing impressive. I'm not someone that whips it up as I go, and ends up with a great meal. What about you?"

"That's the only way I cook." Nate grinned. "When I use a recipe, I always miss an important step and ruin it. That's why I can't bake; it's too strict. I make a mean pecan pie bread pudding, but that's not real baking."

"Sounds amazing! It's my brother Joby's favorite too. It doesn't matter how much he's had to eat, if bread pudding is available for dessert, he'll find room."

"Me too. And I don't have a favorite color either, except with cars. I have to have a red car."

"Okay, so you're a car guy, noted."

Nate tilted his head and wrinkled his nose. "Not really—I won't work on them or anything. A cute ride is important though, and to me, the cutest are always red."

"It's a solid way to pick a car. I prefer blue myself, but I needed a bigger vehicle to drive clients around in and this was in my price range, so I had to go with silver."

"This is super nice." He ran his fingertip over the faux wood trim. "So, what do you do in your free time?"

"I..." Nothing came to mind. Realty business sucked up most of my day and besides that, Laurel and I liked to shop—mostly for work clothes—and I sometimes watched television before bed, but that didn't count, did it?

Excellent. Not having an interesting pastime fit nicely with my boring, predictable life. How did this happen?

"Liv? You look so confused. I didn't mean for that to be a trick question." He poked my side, smiling.

"I just realized I have no hobbies."

"Oh. Well, you and Laurel stay pretty busy."

"But that's crazy, right? I mean, I love my job, and working with my best friend is fun, but shouldn't I have other things too?"

"It'd probably be good to have something just for yourself. We know it won't be cooking." Nate nudged me playfully. "Is there anything else creative you've done in the past?"

After a minute of thought, I yelled, "Painting!"

Having an answer and remembering an activity I excelled in was a relief. Nate took my outburst in stride and waited for me to elaborate.

"In high school, I loved to paint, even attended classes outside of school for a while. But after the drama with Sawyer, I only wanted to get away. I guess that's another thing I left behind."

Nate frowned. "That stinks. If you loved it, you should do it."

"I think you're right. I'll have to buy some things when we go home." In my mind, I pictured the sunlight streaming in my bedroom window. If I moved the chair to the corner, there'd be plenty of room for an easel and a small supply cabinet with drawers for—

"You're practically glowing."

I laughed, embarrassed at being such a nerd. "Sorry. I got excited."

"Don't apologize, it's adorable."

"Okay, more about you," I said, covering my warm cheek with my palm. "What else do you do?"

He hummed in thought, and dug around in his pocket, pulling out two pieces of gum and offering me one.

"Thanks." As soon as I unwrapped it and popped it in my mouth, Nate collected the trash from me. He was clearly a tidy person, and I hoped I wouldn't be so cluttered that sharing a room would frustrate him. That reminded me we'd be sharing a bed too.

As an adult, I'd never slept beside someone I wasn't sleeping with, but it'd be fine. Not uncomfortable at all.

Nope.

Totally fine.

"Read."

Nate's voice made me jump, and I glanced from him to the sides of the road. "What?"

"I said, I like to read. Are you alright?"

"Yep, I'm great!" I shoved all the random worries from my head. "I used to read a bunch too. There's another thing I should make time for. What sort of books do you like?"

"Mostly mystery, crime fiction type stuff; Michael Connelly, James Patterson."

"I've read some Connelly, and liked it, but I usually prefer lighter genres. Romance or young adult fantasy, stuff where they don't have to deal with real-life problems. They just dance with fairies, or chase monsters, or find out they were born with some magical, world-saving powers."

"Escaping life for a while can be nice. Please tell me you weren't obsessed with Twilight."

I tried to hide my grin, and Nate laughed. "You were!"

"I wasn't obsessed. Maybe I skimmed the series more than once, and yeah, if the movies happen to come on, I'll watch them. And it's possible I have a Team Edward shirt. But nothing else."

He cracked up. "I'd say that's more than enough."

"So you didn't like the books or the movies? I bet you didn't even read them, you just assumed you'd hate them."

"Actually, I read the first one. When the movie came out, I was fourteen and still way in the closet, but definitely team Edward. I couldn't get into the book though. Too much Bella, I guess."

By the time we'd finished discussing and comparing the book series to the movies, which he'd seen all of, we were passing the sign welcoming us to Savannah, Georgia.

The area was unfamiliar to Nate, and he gawked out the window at the giant houses surrounded by huge live oaks dripping in Spanish moss. Some of them were so extravagant they looked like a scene from a movie more than a house real people owned.

A few miles later, between historic buildings, we glimpsed the cobblestones of River Street, and a one-man band. He wore a Santa costume, and beside him, Mrs. Claus tap danced on a small square of wood. A few passersby stopped to watch and tossed cash in the performer's hat.

Nate turned to keep his eyes on them longer. I cracked the windows, letting in crisp air, and a sound it was hard to believe came from two people.

Then, we passed the turn for the bridge that led to Tybee Island. "About twenty minutes to go," I said.

"Alright." Nate rubbed his palms together. "Back to work. Tell me about your family. Who'll be here?"

"We're going to my granny's house. She's the best. Honestly, if it wasn't for her, I'd probably make an excuse to skip Christmas."

Hearing myself, I cringed. "That sounded terrible. I love my parents, but they're a lot, especially Mother."

"Don't worry; I get it. I love mine too, but it's easier from a distance."

"Yep, exactly." Nate's words made me feel less awful. "Anyway, Mother has strong opinions and I try not to get mad because she means well, but she refuses to see my side. Dad's tried to tell her I'm fine, but she won't listen."

"Is it weird that you call them Mother and Dad, or is it me?"

"It's not you." I clenched my teeth as the same frustrations I'd dealt with for years creeped in. "They were Mom and Dad when I was younger, but I started saying Mother when I was a teenager, and she refused to call me Liv. She hasn't changed, so I won't, either."

"Wait. What's your name then? I thought it was Liv."

"It's Jolivette. I just shortened it. Everyone here will say Jolivette to stay on Mother's good side, except Briar—she'll do it because she knows I'd prefer Liv, and Granny calls me Liv because she does whatever she wants and no one can stop her." Granny being feisty made me grin. "Laurel only uses my full name when she's joking."

"Briar's the worst, but the more you talk about Granny, the more I like her."

"She's by far the coolest of my relatives."

Nate shook his head. "Jolivette is pretty, but you're an adult, your mom should call you whatever you want."

"I think it's pretty too. It just stood out more than I wanted when I was younger, and now I won't use it on principle."

"This is a level of petty I can get behind." He chuckled, making me grin.

"Thank you."

"What should I call your parents?"

"I'd start with Mr. and Mrs. Carson to be polite and see what they say, but they're Jonah and Johanna."

"Hang on. Jonah, Johanna, Jolivette, and what's your brother's name again?"

"It's Joby." I rolled my eyes. "I'm sure the j-o idea was all Mother's doing." My mouth popped open. "I don't even know your full name."

"It's Nathan Chaim Levy."

"Chaim?" I glanced at him. "As in l'chaim?"

"Yep. In case Nathan Levy didn't sound Jewish enough, I guess."

"Oh, my gosh!" I grabbed my head. "Are you Kosher? I didn't think of that. We'll stop and get anything you need to eat. I don't know what they'll have at Granny's and—"

Nate patted my shoulder, stopping me. "Very thoughtful, thank you. But remember the sausage biscuit I ate this morning?"

"Oh, yeah." I relaxed, and he smirked.

"I'm not Kosher or religious at all, actually. It's one of the many things about me my family can't tolerate." Nate's tone was light, but the words made my chest ache for him.

"I'm so sorry, Nate."

He shrugged, and for a few moments, the low chatter of the radio show I'd left on for background noise filled the car. Then he seemed to shake it off as he straightened in his seat. "I'm an only child. You only have one brother, right?"

"Yep, Joby's it. He's two years older, and he recently broke up with his girlfriend, so he's coming alone."

"Will they give him crap for not being married?"

"Of course not. They reserve that kind of stuff for women." I huffed but clamped down on the budding feminist rant. There was no time for it, because I'd turned onto the Wayden Isle bridge.

We stared at the sparkling water on either side of the mile long, two-lane bridge. I'd made the drive from Savannah to Granny's a thousand times in my life, but the view would never get old. A glance at Nate told me he agreed.

Pulling onto the island was like driving back in time. It wasn't a tourist destination and the ones who lived there didn't want it to be. Visitors came for the small-town feel.

This place was all about the sound of the waves, not loud music and Spring Break-style partiers. Nobody here would airbrush your name on a shirt or try to sell you a parasailing trip. Wayden was slow days soaking up the sun and quiet nights with family and friends.

I inhaled a deep breath. "Okay, a few minutes to go. My aunt, Briar's mom, will be here too. She's my dad's sister, but they're totally different. Ruth Grace is a character worthy of a sitcom, and she's bringing her new husband, so that should be a treat. He's husband number six for those of us keeping track."

"Whoa! Six? That's at least three too many. I'd have to give up at some point."

"Agreed. Husband number one was Briar's dad. They stayed together the longest, close to a decade. The rest of them have been within the last twenty years."

"What's the deal? Are they rich, and she's inheriting everything black widow style, or what?"

"No." I laughed. "They're all still alive as far as I know, and there's plenty of family money. I haven't touched it, but Ruth Grace wouldn't need anyone else's. In fact, she got rid of the last guy when he found out she'd spent a bunch on phone psychics and he called her crazy."

"That was rude. I mean, if it's hers, she can waste it if she wants to."

"Sure, but to be fair, she'd spent over five thousand dollars so far that year and it was March."

Nate's eyes bugged out of his head. "Crap on toast! Or maybe he was right and she might be crazy."

"So disgusting." I giggled. "I'm glad you're here."

"Me too. Sounds like I'm about to see a show.

Slowing, I pulled off the road onto Granny's lengthy driveway. Gravel crunched under the tires, then changed to quiet concrete a quarter of a mile later as the home came into view. Christmas lights that twinkled even in the middle of the day outlined the entire place from top to bottom including every plant in the flower beds.

"You weren't joking about the money. This house is enormous."

I parked in the circular drive beside the footpath that led to the front door, and it opened a second later. Granny stood there wearing cherry red pants and a tunic length white button up with the collar popped. It looked fantastic with her spunky white hair, and again I hoped that I'd grow old the way she had, without ever slowing down.

"Can you believe she's eighty-five?"

Nate whistled. "Granny's a little hottie. Good for her."

The rubies on her necklace and dangling earrings glittered in the sun as she stepped to the edge of the porch and waved. I returned the greeting, and before I knew what was happening, Nate kissed my cheek.

"Wait right there."

My face warmed as he left his seat and jogged around the front of the car to open my door and reach for my hand. No real boyfriend had ever done that. He helped me out, and my stupid tummy tingled.

Weaving his fingers through mine, Nate leaned down. "Let's do this, babe," he whispered. His lips brushed my ear, and a shiver ran down my spine.

I nodded. "Yeah, and babe will do. Go with that."

Nate winked, and we started toward the house hand in hand.

Time to introduce everyone to my boyfriend.

Do you think everyone will believe they're a couple? 😬

I can't wait to find out! 👀