Chapter 45

The next Friday night, Celina and Gabe finally managed that date she’d agreed to. Emma was spending the night at Celina’s parents’ house, and Gabe had picked Celina up at six o’clock, just as he’d promised.

Gabe reached for her hand as he drove along a quiet, country backroad away from town. “You nervous?” he asked.

“A little,” she admitted.

Nervous was an understatement. The skin of her hand tingled where it touched his. The only worry she had for the night was that their dynamic would change without Emma around to lead the conversation. Celina knew a lot about Gabe, but it wasn’t because they’d been able to get to know each other in a conventional way.

He lifted her hand and kissed it. The sun was sinking behind the tall pines as they drove, and the lengthening shadows stretched across the road. She wondered if she should’ve insisted they go somewhere more public. Being alone with someone meant that every moment that wasn’t spent in conversation held a quiet that sounded like the de