“Wow,” I said. “That’s pretty — wow.” The thought of my dad being Mr. Romance was kind of funny. But sweet.

“Yeah.” She grinned. “And still I wasn’t having it. He handed me a slip of paper, and I took it and walked off in such a huff. Ha! But later that day, I remember sitting at my desk with that slip of paper he had given me. Just his name and number. And then underneath he had written, ‘I’ve never tried this before.’ And I thought, ‘What just happened to me?’ There was something so honest, so unafraid about that note and those eyes. I felt sick, and excited, and confused, and like my heart was up in my ears.”

Sick, and excited, and confused. It was all sounding so familiar.

“Okay, I’m talking too much, but one more thing. Sam, I was never good at dating. I mean, look. It took me thirty-eight years to find your dad. And I was with some real duds before him, believe me. And then when I did find him, I was so scared! There is nothing scarier than having real feelings for someone. I mean, it can swoop in and lift you off your feet and turn you upside down. Sometimes it leaves you breathless and hopeful, and sometimes it can tear you in two. But you know what? It is always, always worth it. It feels a lot like this, actually. Way up high, almost touching the clouds, suspended. Not knowing what’s going to happen next.” She sighed. “I don’t know. Does that make sense at all?”

“Oh, yes,” I said. It made so much sense I wanted to press her words into my skin. I looked out around us at the mountains, the trees, our feet swaying out in front of us. It was all so unpredictable. I didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh or cry or howl into the breeze. And then I thought of Eric. I could never have predicted that. That? This? Well, whatever it was. But now I knew it was something.

I had always imagined that liking someone was about something just out of reach. An ache, a longing, like when I had pined for Leo. But maybe the ones who were worth it were the ones who didn’t make you try so hard. They liked you for who you were. And they didn’t really know any more than you. Nobody truly had the answers. It was all about taking the leap, together.

I watched as Kathy leaned her face up into the sun. Her skin looked like melting honey, each of her eyelashes illuminated. She didn’t know what she was doing either. I closed my eyes and tilted my head up, too. And I knew we looked nothing alike, nobody would ever mistake us for mother and daughter, but sitting up there, both of our faces raised to the sun, maybe we could just be friends.

A little while later, I felt another jolt. The chairs started swinging forward and back again.

“Whoa!” Kathy said, grabbing the crossbar so tight her knuckles turned bright white. I did the same. And then, with a low creak and groan from below, we slowly started inching up the mountain. I heard a pitter-patter sound climbing up behind us. Was that rain? Wasn’t it too cold for that?

“Look! Look!” said Kathy, pointing down to the bottom of the lift. It wasn’t rain at all. It was a small gathering of people down below, in all different-colored hats and jackets. And they were waving and clapping for us. We were on our way!

The rest of the day, Dad and Kathy took us through densely wooded trails, each one more beautiful than the next. Cross-country was hard, but in a new, invigorating way. I felt my legs, my arms, my lungs all pumping, pulling, working together. By the time we got done for the day, I was exhausted, and dying to get back to the inn.

Eric was behind the bar in the living room, pouring drinks for happy hour. I didn’t even take off my jacket. I walked right up to the counter while he had his back turned.

“Double shot of amaretto and orange juice, and a splash of rye.”

“Sorry?” He spun around and broke into a big smile. A big, crooked smile.

“Do you think I could talk to you for a minute?” I asked quietly now. “I need to tell you something.”

“Yeah,” he said. “But first, I have something that I forgot to show you. Wait right there.” And he disappeared into the kitchen.

When he came back out, he had on his jacket, too.

“Come on.” He led me out through the sliding door. We pushed out into the night. The snow was up to our knees in the field, and there were still a few feathery flakes slipping down out of the sky. The moon looked like a creamy shell, set in the deep blue-black of the night, scattering bright beams down onto the gleaming snow.

Then, without a word, Eric took my mittened hand in his. I felt a tremor through my arm. He clicked on the flashlight, and we headed out across the field. I didn’t ask him where we were going or what we were doing. It didn’t matter. I knew that even if he brought me out here to see a pinecone I would be just glad to be out here — with him. We walked down the backyard and over the little hill. Then across the creek, still trickling now through islands of snow and ice. Up into the Gallaghers’ farm. Past the house. We came to the quiet tangle of trees at the bottom of their land, and Eric led me in.

The pine needles felt slippery and thin. Through a tiny opening in the branches above I could see the moonlight and just a few stray flakes of snow sailing to earth. And there was that hush in here. A calm that was now somehow electric.

Eric stopped and turned toward me, taking both my hands in his.

“So I know I showed you this place before, but there was something I forgot to do when we were here and I just wanted to, before, well … if it’s okay …”

I watched his face carefully. I didn’t dare move a muscle. And then, in that moment, as he leaned in, the whole world got swallowed up by the stillness of those trees. His lips dissolved into mine, and I felt every inch of my body light up, all of me glowing a vibrant, pure white. I closed my eyes and melted into the greatest kiss in the history of the world.

We stayed like that for I don’t know how long. I lost all sense of time and space. But I do know that at some point his lips started quivering. And then he pulled away, laughing softly.

“What?” I said, afraid.

Levy! What did you do?

Had I slobbered all over him? Did I eat a filling?

“No, nothing! I’m just so happy,” he said.

I sighed with relief. He touched his forehead to mine, our noses pressed together.

“Now, sorry. What did you want to tell me?” he whispered.

“Just … this.”

I pulled his face toward mine. And this time I was kissing him, and I was sure of myself. My lips, my teeth, my tongue. They were right where they should be. We stayed like that for a long time. For a really long time, and yet it all went by so fast. And then, just as I began to pull away, I felt it. At first I couldn’t tell what it was. I felt an itch, like someone was tickling me, just under my nose. And then a coldness, melting, and I knew. It was a single snowflake drifting down and landing just where our lips met, nesting there, between us. My heart lifted and fluttered open. I had found it. The snowflake I was supposed to kiss.

“Hey, Eric?”

“Yeah.”

“I just have to say, I don’t really know what I’m doing.” Yeah, it wasn’t exactly original. But it was a great line.

And I didn’t know if I meant physically, or mentally, or what. I just knew I needed to say it.

Eric smiled.

“I don’t either,” he said.

And then we kissed some more. Deep, long, kisses. And held each other, standing up, in the world’s quietest place.

“Hey, listen,” he whispered at one point. He took my hand and put it on his chest. I could feel his heart beating through his jacket and it matched mine — fast and strong.

“It’s goin’ nuts, huh?” he said.

I wanted to say Wait! Are you for real? Or You’re here! You’re here! Or What does this mean? Or Help! I’m supposed to leave tomorrow! But I kept my lips together.