Preston saluted him. “I promise this trip to Lucky’s won’t end in you feeding raccoons.”
“I’m holding you to that,” Noah warned him before he shook my dad’s hand. “It was a pleasure to meet you, sir.”
“Son, I’ve told you. If you call me sir one more time, I’m going to forbid you from dating my daughter.”
“Good luck with that,” I said wryly.
Noah laughed. “Noted. And I’ll make sure I chase up the fire report tomorrow. They said it would be in in the morning.”
Dad nodded. “Good job. You kids have fun and be safe.”
“Thanks, Dad.” I waved and lead Noah to the front door. He doubled back into the kitchen to bid my mom goodbye before he came back and grinned at me.
“Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” I stepped outside.
“No idea. But I’ll follow you anyway.”
“So cheesy.”
“Like those tater tots your mom served. Can I hire her to cook for me?” He closed the door behind him and took my hand, slipping his fingers between mine.
I groaned. “Don’t. She loves cooking. Couldn’t you tell by the banquet she served you?”
“You mean your dinners aren’t normally like that?”
“Oh, no, they are, but there was at least two extra casseroles there tonight.” I nudged him with my elbow. “She likes you.”
“I am pretty likable.”
“Here we go.” I sighed. “Mr. I Saved Your Life is back again.”
Noah laughed, nudging me right back. “Stop it. You know I’m messing with you.”
“I know. But I like messing with you, too.” I grinned. “Sorry about Aunt Bethel. She’s temperamental.”
“Like I said, it doesn’t matter. It was a great dinner, and your family is pretty normal compared to when you get all mine together.”
“What’s your family like?”
“My family?” There was a note of surprise in his voice. “Insane. Completely fucking insane, but they’re the best at the same time. My parents have been married since they were nineteen, and that’s pretty much the benchmark for most of my family.”
“Except you?”
“Pretty much. I think my parents knew I wasn’t the person who’d settle down at home, though. They knew I hated my hometown, and they weren’t surprised when I said I was moving here permanently.”
“You hate your hometown?”
He looked down at me. “You sound equal parts relieved and surprised about that.”
“I just—I am surprised, that’s all.” I shrugged in my attempt to be nonchalant about it. “I love my hometown.”
“I love it here, too.”
“So you’re not going to leave?”
“Whoa.” Noah stopped us on the sidewalk, pulling me to the side beneath some trees so someone walking their dog could go past us. “Where did that come from?”
A lump formed in my throat. “Nowhere.”
“Reagan.” He dropped my hand and trailed his fingers along the side of my face, pushing my hair away. “What do you mean?”
My stomach was in a knot. “My mom said something in the kitchen. About me being afraid that you’d leave. And… she was right.”
“You think I’d leave Creek Falls?”
“I don’t know. You admitted that you don’t really know anyone here. I had this, like, theory inside my head that it was my job to make sure you knew more people. That this felt like home for you.”
“Okay. Stop right there.” He cupped the side of my face. His eyes were warm on me, but there was a spark of amusement buried there, too. “Let me tell you this right now: Creek Falls feels like home to me. And you know why? It’s because of you. You make this town home, Reagan.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you.”
My lips parted, but nothing came out. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
“Home isn’t always a place,” he said softly. “Sometimes home is a feeling, and that’s how you make me feel every single day. Whether you’re texting me shit about my favorite TV show or you’re sitting on my counter in one of my old t-shirts with a hangover. Even when you’re drunk and trying to dance on a bar. You feel like home to me.”
I fell into him, wrapping my arms around his waist. It was such a stupid thing, validation. But that was how I felt right now—validated. Like I mattered, like I was something to him. Really something.
Because I knew. I understood. I freaking well got it.
I felt the same.
Noah felt like home to me, too. And I didn’t even have one right now, but none of that mattered when I was with him. He was like an alternate universe where everything was okay just because he’d smiled.
And as he hugged me tightly, the thought struck me with the suddenness of a lightning bolt.
I was falling in love with Noah.
Out of nowhere, I was falling headfirst in love with him.
And I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to keep falling and spiraling and descending into the chaos of love until I was dizzy and breathless.
“Noah?” I whispered, turning my face so I wasn’t smooshed into his chest anymore.
“Yeah?”
“I think I’m falling in love with you.”
“Good,” he whispered back, lowering his mouth to my ears. “Because I know I’m falling in love with you.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
* * *
REAGAN
Home
Two Weeks Later
I looked around the open-plan space of the apartment.
It was hell.
The cupboards were rotting and the laminate in the living area was pulling up. I was no builder extraordinaire, but even I could tell this place was falling apart.
There was no way this was listed for my budget.
“It looks nothing like the pictures,” I said, looking at the real estate agent.
She grimaced. “Sometimes they’re not accurate.”
“Not accurate? Oh, my God, Dana. The pictures show a new apartment—this place looks like it was new fifty years ago.”
She sighed, tucking her short hair behind her ear. “Shall we move onto the next?”
“Yes. Please.” I followed her out of the apartment and headed downstairs while she locked up. She joined me minutes later and gave me the address for what I knew for a fact was a new building.
Thank God.
I got into my car and tossed the information pack for that apartment onto the passenger side of the car. I’d had a bad feeling about it before I’d even gotten here.
The fire report had come back as being caused from some faulty wiring on the ground floor. It’d shocked all of us, but the good news was that my insurance company had finally agreed to pay up.
It’d be at a snail’s pace, of course, but my dad had talked me into letting him put down my security deposit and I could pay him back.
My parents had money, but that didn’t mean I’d take it. They’d raised us both to work for what we wanted, and it was hard enough borrowing the money from them. It wouldn’t even dent the bank account, but it didn’t matter to me.