“Sweet?How horrifying.” I was gratified by his laugh. “Okay, so with Isaac, I’ll be sweet. The sweetest. Like meringue.”
We reached the top of the hill, where Noah had began corralling the cousins into gathering up sleds and far-flung hats. “I’ll give you a lift,” Tyler said.
I glanced at my mob of cousins, weighing the comfort of being squished in the back seat with an elbow in my ribs and another in my eyes, versus the interrogation I’d get if I not only arrived with Tyler but also left with him. Then Gabe ran by, and I got a giant, sweaty whiff of his armpits. “Yeah, okay.”
In the car, Tyler blasted the heat and the radio, the synthesizers and electric guitars of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra belting out “Carol of the Bells.” We pulled out ahead of the others, passing houses lighting up the night with fairy lights and glowing Christmas trees.
“Whydidyou like me when you were a kid?”
I turned sharply toward him, but he stared straight ahead, both hands gripping the car wheel. “What?”
“Why’d you have such a crush on me?”
There was a strange relief to being able to talk about thismassive part of my life out loud with the object of it. Still, I didn’t know what to say. “I thought I’d covered that already. You’re pretty, if you didn’t notice.”
“Right.” His voice was flat.
I frowned, surprised. “You wanted a different answer?”
“No one loves the idea that people only like them for their looks.”
“Tyler, you’re the most popular guy I know. You don’t need to be worried about people only liking you because you’re pretty.”
“Mm,” he said. “Though you just said that’s the only reason you liked me.”
Wow. This really bothered him. “I mean—no, it wasn’t the only reason.”
“Then why else?”
I stared out the windshield at the snow-heaped pines flashing by. “You’re easy to like.” I tried to keep my voice neutral, objective. “You’re friendly, and you make people laugh and give people your full attention. It’s addictive. Who wouldn’t like that?”
“So you do think I have a personality. And you like it.”
“It’s acceptable,” I said, making a face at him. “God, Tyler, why are you badgering me for compliments?”
A small smile hovered on his lips. “Maybe because I know how rarely you give them.”
We’d reached Golden Doors. He pulled up the circular drive and turned off the engine. Outside was all darkness andsky and snow. Above, the stars scattered across the velvet black. There were more stars above Nantucket than you’d ever see in Manhattan, more stars than you’d realize existed.
“You really like this guy?” Tyler asked as we idled in front of the porch. “The one coming tomorrow?”
I conjured Isaac’s face, brow smooth, eyes dark. He was exactly what I wanted. “I do.”
“Okay, then. What time does he arrive tomorrow?”
“Four, I think?”
“Let’s meet up before for practice.” He spoke more assertively than I would have expected from someone acting out of necessity. “Text me in the morning.”
“Really?”
“Never let it be said I don’t hold up my end of a bargain.” He shot me a smile. “See you tomorrow, Shira.”
“See you,” I said, and I hopped out of the car, humming softly as I walked to the door.Hark how the bells, sweet silver bells, all seem to say, throw cares away...
Maybe I would actually have my own miracle this Hanukkah. Maybe I would get exactly what I wanted.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
