There’s a mad rush to the window. Outside, Wes has stopped dribbling and is holding the ball against his hip. The car is a huge limo-size SUV with tinted windows, and it seems to be idling at the curb.
This is painful.
“Is he getting out?” Jake asks.
“Nice ride,” Graham says.
Nonna coughs loudly behind us.
“It seems it’s time for the date to start,” she says. Everyone turns from the windows. Nonna looks right at me and says, “Come here, Sophia.” I’m a little worried that she’s used my full name, but I move closer to her.
“When you showed up on my doorstep in tears more than a week ago, it broke my heart. And I wanted to do anything I could to fix that. You’ve been a good sport through all of these dates, even the ones that weren’t very good.” She looks over my left shoulder and gives Aunt Patricethe look.
I nod along. Where is she going with this?
“Thank you for going along with all of this. That beautiful smile is back and that’s all I wanted.”
I lean forward and hug her. As bizarre as this experience has been, I feel good. I feel happy. And reconnecting with my family was worth any heartache I had from my breakup with Griffin.
Nonna has a white envelope, and she pulls out what looks like several tickets. “Tonight’s date is something I hope you’ll like. It won’t be just you and your date. I thought it would be more fun if you had some company.”
She looks past me. “If you are between the ages of seventeen and nineteen, please step forward.”
The crowd murmurs and everyone starts shuffling around. Within a few minutes, Charlie, Olivia, Graham, and the Evil Joes are standing next to me.
Nonna stands up and passes two tickets to everyone standing in line, except me. Olivia takes one look at them and shrieks, “No! Way!”
I look over her shoulder. “No. Way.”
Nonna has scored us tickets to Deep Ellum’s New Year’s Eve music festival. The lineup of bands and musicians is to die for.
“Each of you has two tickets, and you’re welcome to invite someone to go with you.”
She’s still holding four tickets in her hand. I’m assuming two of those are for me and whoever she picked to go out with me, but not sure what she’s doing with the other two.
“How’d you score tickets for this, Mom?” Uncle Michael asks.
“How’d you even know this existed?” Jake asks. “And why can’t we go?”
“This nice gentleman I met while I was visiting Gigi got me these tickets because his company is one of the sponsors. The poor thing is in town to visit his mother, and she’s not doing well. When I told him all about Sophie, he offered to hook me up. Plus, you boys already have big plans. I’ve heard you talking of nothing else for the last three days.”
I nod toward the front door. “Is my date ever coming in?”
Nonna cocks her head to the side. “There is someone out there, but he’s not your date. That’s Randy from the shop. He’s driving y’all over to Dallas. He’ll go visit his brother while you’re at the concert, then he’ll drive you home. Did you know he works as a chauffeur on nights and weekends?” she asks excitedly.
I shake my head. “So where’s my date?” I ask.
“We’ve all chosen your last nine dates. But tonight is different.” She hands me four tickets. “Tonight it’s your choice. Two of these tickets are for you and your date. The other two are for the other couple already in the car. Have a wonderful time!”
For a moment, I can’t catch my breath. Then I throw myself in her arms, hug her hard, and dash for the front door.
Wes is still in the driveway, staring at the car at the curb. He turns in my direction when he hears my footsteps.
He drops the ball. “What’s going on?”
I hold up the tickets. “Nonna got tickets to a music festival in Dallas. And I get to pick my date and—” I draw in a breath, suddenly feeling heat prickle all over my body, despite the chilly air. I look him in the eye and finally say what I’ve been wanting to for all these days. “And I pick you. I hope you say yes.”
Wes’s eyes move over me and a slow grin spreads across his face. “Yes.” He pulls me in close, his hands on my waist. “Do I have to wait until the end of the date to kiss you?” he asks. “Because I’ve been waiting a really long time to do that.”
