“Please kill me now,” Dessa said, falling on the floor in the middle of the department store.
I folded my arms in amusement. We’d already been there for two hours. It would have been fine if my mom wasn’t there, but she insisted that Dessa register for everything, from sheets to silverware.
I reached down and grabbed the scanner from my sister’s hand and pointed it at her like a gun. “If you don’t get up, I’m going to be forced to scan everything in sight.” I spun and found the first most embarrassing thing I could. A pair of underwear. “I’ll put these on your list. In all colors.”
She rolled her head to the side to see what I was talking about. “Oh. Panties. Good. I need some new ones—and isn’t that smarter, anyway? Register for stuff you need, not stuff your mother thinks you should have. A gravy boat? Really? I mean, I like gravy as much as the next guy but isn’t that what a ladle is for?”
“Shh!” I chided her. “Don’t let Mom hear you say that. She’ll enroll you in an etiquette class for sure.”
“You, too.”
“I’m not the one who’s laying on the floor in the middle of a store.”
She frowned. “Good point. Help me up.”
I helped her off the floor and gave her the scanner back. “You know you’re having fun.”
She rolled her eyes. “I do. But how many wine glasses does one person really need?”
“Sixty-two, I think.”
She shoved me and I chuckled. Yeah, my mom could be a handful. But since Dessa decided to elope, I guess my mom figured she was entitled. She’d always wanted to have a big wedding for one of her kids, and I guessed this took away the best chance she had.
The thought sobered me instantly, making me think of Lewis.
Dessa saw my face and touched my arm. “Are you thinking about Lewis?”
“A little. Yeah.” I couldn’t help it. I kept seeing his face in my mind, his sincere smile and his delight over the simple things in life.
I talked with him almost every day, and we video chatted at night before bed. But it wasn’t the same as being with him.
“You know what else is crazy?” I asked her.
“What?”
“I miss Cupid, too. That town grew on me while was there.”
“And you finished your article there—it’s good for your creativity. If you got your entire article done that quickly there, it’s probably good luck.” When I frowned at her, she laughed. “What?”
“You’re supposed to be making me feel better, not worse.”
“What would make you feel better?”
I sighed. “Being with Lewis.”
She glanced around, and then when she made sure there were no prying ears—probably my mom’s—she said, “Are you in love with him?”
The words hit me right in the heart. Love. I couldn’t deny it, that’s exactly what I’d been feeling these last few days. No, even before that—when I was still in Cupid with Lewis. Especially that last night.
It had been so hard to say goodbye to him when what I’d really wanted to say was I love you.
“I think I am,” I told her. “And don’t you dare tell mom.”
She laughed. “Why do you think I sent her to the bathroom? So I could talk to you.”
“Is that why you told her the wrong directions, too? So we’d have more time?”
Her eyes lit with amusement. “Exactly. You have to go to him. You have to tell him.”
I blinked at her change in topics. “What?”
“Tomorrow’s Valentine’s day!” She shoved my shoulder. “You have to go ask him to be yours and tell him how you feel.”
“But your reception—”
“Isn’t until this weekend, and I’ve got Mom to help me get things together.”
“But I said I’d help.”
“You did! You kept me sane these last few days. Now you have to go find your happiness. Go tell him how you feel and then get your ass back here to celebrate with me. Bring him if he’ll come!”
The excitement in her words made me excited as well. It was killing me knowing I wouldn’t be there for Lewis on one of the biggest days Cupid had every year. And killing me that I couldn’t tell him how I felt to his face.
“Are you sure?” I asked her.
“Of course.”
My mind raced with thoughts and worries. What if I couldn’t find a flight? What if I was too late?
“Go now,” Dessa said.
I gave her a quick hug. “Tell Mom I’ll be back by the weekend.”
“Don’t forget your plus one!”
With a laugh, I hurried from the store. I needed to get home and get a change of clothes. I needed to book a flight. I needed…
I smiled to myself. Most of all, I needed to tell Lewis that I loved him.