Oh god.
I smile, trying to ignore the butterflies in my stomach. “I’m a senior, too. School is good. I’m excited to graduate.”
“And college? Do you have a school picked out or are you doing something else?”
“You mean like a trade school? No—I was accepted to a few state schools, plus Florida.” I shrug. “My parents don’t want me going that far, so I’m going to University of Illinois.” I take another bite of cookie. Chew. Swallow before saying, “I haven’t decided on a major yet, though. I don’t think they give degrees for doodling on notebooks and daydreaming.”
“Well, they should!” she announces, and I decide right there that Mrs.Westermann is the cutest thing ever. A total delight.
She leans in. “I bet you and Easton are excited about prom.”
If only she knew. “Um. Prom’s definitely keeping us both busy. Easton does a lot of decorating.”
“Oh, really.” Her brows are in her hairline. “He’s decorating? When does he have time for that?”
Has he not told her where he’s been spending his free time?
“The theme is medieval times,” Easton grumbles, grabbing a cookie and jamming half of it into his mouth with zero regardfor the crumbs scattering onto the counter. They fall everywhere. “We’ve been painting cardboard knights for what feels like forever.”
“Actually,” I mutter under my breath, trying to sound casual. “The theme is A Knight Under the Stars.” I glance down at the countertop, not wanting to outright correct him in front of his mom but also unable to stop myself, because…well, he’s wrong.
“Same thing.” Easton pauses mid-chew, raising an eyebrow at me. He swallows and shakes his head. “She’s in charge of the knights. And she keeps wanting to add rhinestones.”
His mom has been watching us, gaze shooting back and forth between his face and mine. Her eyes light up with amusement at the thought of her son making things shimmer. “Rhinestones, hey? Sounds sparkly.”
Easton rolls his eyes. “You know if it were up to me, we’d slap the paint on and call it a day. But Harper’s got this whole vision.” He holds his hands up and wiggles his fingers beside his face, basically implying that I’m over-the-top.
I scoff. “You mock me, but it’s the razzle-dazzle that they require. The knights need a little flair.”
“If you think they do, I’m sure they do.” Mrs.Westermann laughs softly. “Don’t let some silly boy pooh-pooh your ideas.”
“Oh, she doesn’t—trust me. Harper is in charge and she knowsit.”
“Good.” His mother has no idea what he’s implying; the last thing we need is for her to find out the truth!
I seriously want to smack him.
Why are guys such morons?
“I will say this.” She pauses to take a bite of cookie. “For a guy who spends the majority of his time playing hockey, he has a real knack for crafting—and an eye for decorating.” She pauses. “Oh!Speaking ofeyes, Easton, could you do me a favor and run to the she shed? I think I left my glasses on the workbench, but I’m too lazy to walk out there. You can take Harper with you—I’m sure she’d love to have a look around.”
She punctuates her sentence with a wink, and for a heartbeat I have to wonder: Is his mother playing matchmaker the same way Macy is?
“Ugh,” he groans—but there’s no actual protest. I’m sure he knows better than to argue when his mom; I sure cannot argue with mine.
I glance at Easton. “The she shed?” I want to hear more!
“You’ll see.” His mom beams at me, waving toward the window. “It’s just out back.” She gives Easton a pointed look that has him rising from the kitchen stool and gesturing for me to follow.
“All right, all right. Let’s go.”
I get up from the counter, giving his mom a grateful smile. “Thanks for the cookies, Mrs.Westermann.”
Rudy gets excited and hops up on my legs. I bend to give him a scratch behind his cute little ears.
“Anytime, Harper.” She lets out a breath. “Oh! Easton mentioned something about prom? And the two of you? If you’re going, can you make sure you let us know what color your dress is so we can order a bouquet?”
A bouquet? I haven’t thought of details like that.
