Page 11 of When Love Is Unexpected

"I don't drink," I say. "You know that."

"Not to drink," he says, "For the spaghetti sauce. I heard a good spaghetti sauce always calls for wine?"

"Not this one," I say. "You're going to love it, I promise."

On our way out, we run into Lisa, my soon-to-be roommate.

"Hi, you two!" she says in greeting.

"Hi," I say, giving her a hug. "Lisa, you remember Sam?"

"Yes, of course," she says, shaking his hand. "Loren let me know you'll be staying in her house for a few days, so I cleaned it yesterday. You're all set."

"Thank you," says Sam. "You didn't have to do that. I could've dusted everything myself."

"It's my job," Lisa says. "Three more months, and I'll be retiring from housekeeping."

"So, you're still working for your mom until we move?" I ask.

"Yes," she says. "But I mostly clean for Linder and Morgan. They keep me busy. This week, I'm also cleaning Aaron and Loren's house. I can't wait to see them all."

"It'll be good to have the family together for like one day," I say, realizing I'll be leaving on Saturday.

"What do you mean?" asks Lisa.

"I'm going to San Diego with Sam."

"For how long?" she asks.

"We'll be in California for a couple of months," says Sam. "My sister is getting married, and I wanted to see Laila, so she's coming with me."

When Sam puts his arm around me and pulls me into him, my heart flutters. What the heck is that?!

"I have to stock Aaron and Loren's fridge," says Lisa. "So, I gotta get going, but hopefully, I'll get to see you before you leave."

"Yeah, I hope so, too," I say.

"If not, I hope you two have a great trip. Have tons of fun, but not too much fun," she says, winking at us.

***

As soon as we walk into Loren's old house, I'm flooded with memories.

This is where I witnessed Loren and Aaron falling in love.

This is where Sam almost kissed me.

When we start emptying the grocery bags, I notice that Sam is locked in his own memories of that night.

"Should we address the elephant in the room now or later?" I ask, putting my hand on my waist to emphasize my point.

"What are you talking about?" Sam asks.

"So, we're just going to ignore what almost happened between us the night before you left Cold Spring?"

I pull myself up on the countertop and cross my arms, waiting for him to say something.

"If you want to talk about it, I'm all ears," he says.

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