Page 144 of When We Were Young

I freeze.

“W-what?”

“Don’t play coy with me, girl. I kicked ‘em under there that day we all walked through while you and Holden were getting busy somewhere in the back. You’re welcome, by the way.”

I’m speechless. Mortified. My eyes are so wide I’m worried they’ll pop out of their sockets.

Ruthie cackles as she turns and pushes the door open.

“Grandmother...” she mutters under her breath.

After a second of staring after her, I follow. When I enter the store side, Layla comes flying toward me and wraps her arms around my waist in a wonderful hug.

“Hi, Lizzie!”

I chuckle as I hug her back. Today, I’m really feeling like a part of this new family that I’ve found.

“Hi, sweetheart. Are you excited to go to the drive-in?”

“Yeah! Lester says in the olden days, this was the way they had to watch movies. Not inside. Weird, huh?”

“Hey, Ladybug,” Lester calls.

Layla releases me and turns toward him.

“I never said olden days. I said when Ruthie and I were kids.”

“Yeah, that’s the olden days.” Layla turns to Holden. “Tell them I’m right, Uncle Holden.”

Holden tosses his hands up in front of him. “Oh, no. I’m not getting involved in this discussion.” He runs his fingers across his lips as if to zip them.

“All right, are we ready?” Ruthie asks.

The kids’ excitement is palpable, and it feels good. Downright good.

A few minutes later, everyone is gone except Holden and me, and we’ve locked up the front and back doors.

He tugs me close and wraps me in his arms. We stand like that for a while, and part of me never wants to let go. But then my stomach growls. Roars is more like it.

Holden pulls back and peers down at me. “I guess that’s a sign we should start our dinner date.”

I love how easily he makes me smile.

“Yes, we should.”

I take his hand, and we head over to the event space.

“Tonight we’re making chicken paprikash,” I say.

“Ooh. You know that’s one of my favorites.”

Holden and I have found that we really enjoy cooking together.

All those times cooking and taste-testing as I perfected options for the classes turned out to be wonderful opportunities to get to know each other again in a low-pressure setting.

“Are you sure you want to cook here? I’m happy to take you anywhere you’d like to go.”

“This has become my favorite place to eat.”