"Sophie, I know you're worried about the court hearing but I'm sure it'll be nothing. We'll get a fine and go on with our lives."
"It's not about this morning. Well, part of it is, but that isn't the only reason I'm feeling stressed."
He stops. "Then what is it?"
I look up and notice the concern on his face. It's the first time since moving to New York that someone has actually shown interest in how I'm feeling. In a huge city where people are always in a hurry, you tend to feel invisible. I noticed it as soon as I moved there. Nobody even looked at me. They just raced past me, making me miss the friendly smiles and hellos I was used to back home. Even Bianca doesn't greet me with a hello or a smile. It's all business from the moment I get to work. So to have Aiden, a guy I just met, show concern for me makes me pause a moment.
"Sophie?"
"It's nothing," I say, shaking my head and continuing down the sidewalk. "Look, I can already see the lights."
The storefronts are still a block away but the white lights cast a soft glow from each window.
"Here." Aiden offers me his arm again. I wrap my hand around it, noticing the muscles in his forearm.
As we walk, a light breeze blows, giving me a whiff of his cologne. I smelled it earlier at the bar when he sat next to me. It's a fresh, woodsy scent, which is one of my absolute favorites on a guy. It seems rugged, and masculine. The guys I've dated in the city tend to wear colognes with more of a floral scent, almost like women's perfume.
"She's right," Aiden says, stopping as we reach the downtown. "It's really beautiful."
Little white lights, some steady, some twinkling, line each and every window. Some of the shops have them strung around evergreen topiaries placed in planters just outside the door.
"If this is what they do in September," I say, "I wonder what they do for Christmas?"
"We should come back and see."
I look over at Aiden. He's gazing at the storefronts, acting like what he just said had no meaning behind it, and maybe it didn't, but I don't know how it couldn't. He just invited me to come back here with him at Christmas. Why would he say that? He has a girlfriend. Was he thinking she'd come with him?
"Let's keep going," Aiden says, slowly walking again.
"Aiden, we're not—" I stop, not sure how to word what I'm thinking. I shouldn't be talking at all right now, given how much I've had to drink.
"Look at this one." He nods to the window to our right. It's decorated with pumpkins of all sizes and colors and has a scarecrow sitting on a hay bale. "I always wanted to get pumpkins when I was a kid but my parents didn't allow them in the house. They worried they'd rot and start to smell."
"Couldn't you put them outside?"
"My mom didn't want to mess with having to get rid of them after Halloween. The condo had limited garbage space."
"So you never got pumpkins?"
"We had a plastic one we put out every year."
"We had tons of pumpkins. One of my friends had a farm with a pumpkin patch. She'd let me come over and take as many as I wanted. Our house has a wraparound porch and my mom and I would decorate it with pumpkins and cornstalks every fall. She still does."
"I would've loved that."
I smile at him. "Maybe you should've grown up in Kansas."
We continue down the street, my arm wrapped around his, and for a moment I pretend he's single and we're on a date. I realize I shouldn't be thinking that and quickly wipe it from my mind.
"Let's walk back on the other side," Aiden says, leading me across the street.
We pass a coffee shop that has pumpkins piled up in a wagon and bright yellow mums popping out of windowsill pots.
"What a nice little town," I say with a sigh. "I almost don't want to go back."
"I know what you mean," Aiden says, his voice drifting off as he gazes down the street.
We walk in silence on the way back to the inn. When we're almost there, Aiden stops and turns to me. "Thank you for tonight. I know you wanted to stay in your room and work but I'm glad you didn't."
"I am too," I say, looking up at his eyes.
He softly smiles. "I think it's safe to say we're no longer strangers. Any chance you'd do that hike with me tomorrow?"
I don't answer, my tipsy brain lost in the fantasy of what it'd be like to date a guy like Aiden. We had such a great time tonight. And he's so damn handsome. I just want to keep looking at him.
"You want to let me know in the morning?" he asks.
"Oh, um,..." I blink a few times, waking my brain back to reality. "Yeah. I'll let you know."
He nods, then turns and continues to the inn. I remain where I'm at, feeling dizzy and a little sick.
"Aiden?"
He turns back. "Yeah?"
I was going to ask for his help but decide to go it alone. I take a step and the dizziness returns, making me trip. I feel my body heading to the ground just as Aiden's arms go under me, lifting me back up.
"You okay?" he asks.
"Yeah. Just dizzy." I rub my head. "I drank way too much. I wish Tom hadn't brought us that wine."
"I'll get you back to your room. You'll feel better once you sleep it off." He puts his arm out. "Grab on."
I take his arm and we slowly walk into the inn. Tom is standing at the check-in desk, a big grin on his face.
"What'd you think?" he asks.
"It was beautiful," I say, trying to smile but it's hard when I'm feeling like I might get sick.
"Thanks
