And then it clicked.

“Oh! At Catherine’s house?”

“Yeah. She gave me your number so I could…oh shit. I just realized what time it is. Did I wake you up?”

“No, it’s fine. I’m actually driving home right now and trying not to fall asleep at the wheel, so you waking me up is a good thing.” She sat up a little straighter, hoping he was calling her with good news.

“Alright, well I just wanted to tell you that I think I found your bracelet.”

“Oh my God!” Leah gasped. “You’re serious? You really found it? Please say you found it. You’re not messing with me, are you?”

He laughed lightly. “Well, if I were messing with you, I’d feel pretty shitty about it now.”

“You’re being serious? You have it?”

“A gold bracelet. Kind of looks like it’s braided? Three diamonds in the side?”

Leah exhaled heavily as her eyes filled with tears. “Yes,” she whispered.

“I have it right here. It was on the floor in the guest room.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you,” Leah sighed. “I can’t even tell you how relieved I am right now. Will Catherine be around tomorrow? I can come down and get it.”

“Well actually, that’s what I’m calling about. I’m gonna be in White Plains tomorrow meeting a friend for lunch. Gram said you lived an hour north, so I figured White Plains is probably about halfway for you, right? Do you want to just meet there? I figured it would shorten your drive a little.”

“Sure, that works. Where are you having lunch?”

“Uh…The Cheesecake Factory. On Maple Avenue. Do you know where that is?”

“Yep. I’ve been there a few times.”

“Alright, cool. I’ll be there around one,” he said

“Perfect. Really, Daniel, thank you so much.”

“Danny.”

“What?”

“You can call me Danny. No one really calls me Daniel.”

“Oh, okay. Well, Danny, you seriously just made my night.”

“Glad I could be of service,” he laughed. “So I’ll see you tomorrow at one?”

“Tomorrow at one. Thanks again.”

“No problem. Good night, Leah.”

“Good night.”

Leah ended the call, tossing the phone onto the passenger seat before turning on the radio. She cranked it up, singing along while she drummed her fingers along the side of the steering wheel.

She felt like she could run a marathon right now.

It seemed like seconds later that she pulled into the parking space in front of her apartment, and just as she turned the radio down, Leah heard the double beep that signaled an incoming text message. She assumed her father had jumped the gun, thinking she had forgotten to text him.

She was wrong.

Merry Christmas, beautiful. Call me. I miss hearing your voice.

The smile faded from her lips as she read the text. She had removed him from her contact list, so under Sender there was simply a number—but it was a number she knew all too well.

“Unbelievable,” she muttered, deleting the message before she tossed the phone back into her purse.

And then she gave it the finger.

She could not believe he was starting up again, and she was even more aggravated that he had managed to ruin her good mood. Did he really think she would want anything to do with him ever again? Did he see her as being that pathetic?

Leah scowled as she got out of the car, realizing that he probably did. She had given him every reason to think that, allowing him to manipulate her over and over. Why should he think things would be any different now?

She carefully traversed the icy walkway leading up to her door, balancing her bags and her plastic container full of leftovers. As soon as she was inside, she kicked off her shoes and made a quick stop in the kitchen to put away the food before sending her father a text, letting him know she was home.

Leah stripped down to her underwear and crawled into bed, suddenly too tired to even think about putting on pajamas.

She pulled her comforter up to her chin, and before her mind could rehash the infuriating text, she was fast asleep.

Danny DeLuca glanced at his watch before shoving his hands back in his pockets.

It was twenty after one.

“Excuse me,” someone said as they opened the door to the restaurant, and Danny stepped to the side, allowing the man to pass.

He didn’t know what to make of it. She had seemed too excited over the bracelet to be a no-show. Plus, he hadn’t pegged her as the kind of girl who would stand someone up anyway.

Not that he even knew anything about her.

He lifted his chin, blowing his breath out in puffs of vapor and watching it dissipate before his eyes. This was a sign. The universe telling him what he already knew. If he had anything resembling a brain in his head, he would walk away right now. Give the bracelet back to Gram and let her handle it.

Danny sighed, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

Ten minutes. He’d give her ten more minutes.

He scrolled through his apps and opened Words With Friends.

“Oh, bullshit!” he laughed when he saw Jake’s 103-point word. He had built off the C in Danny’s laces to make the word quixotic.

The direct message that accompanied Jake’s move read simply: BOOYAH, BITCH!

Danny smirked as he hit reply: I’d be impressed if I thought for one second you knew what that word meant, or even how to pronounce it. Dick.

“Fucking cheater,” he laughed, hitting send.

“Hey.”

Danny lifted his head to see her standing in front of him, her arms crossed over her chest and her shoulders shrugged against the wind.

He cleared the screen before putting his phone back in his pocket. “I was right about to give up on you,” he said, ignoring the quickening of his pulse.

“Sorry. Parking was awful. I forgot about the gift-returners who would be out today,” she said, waving her hand in a circle around her head.

He nodded, looking around them. “Ungrateful bastards.”

The corner of her mouth lifted in a smile before she said, “You didn’t have to wait outside. It’s freezing.”

Right. He was supposed to be inside. Having lunch.

He shrugged dismissively, scratching the back of his neck. “It’s fine.”

Leah tucked her chin into her scarf and looked up at him from under her lashes. “You’re taller than I remember.”

He smiled then. Not just because of how she looked staring up at him that way, but because of her comment. Like they were long-lost friends who had just been reunited.

There was something so damn charismatic about this girl. He’d spent barely five minutes with her that day at Gram’s, and yet she had managed to charm him. He liked that she wasn’t afraid to call him out on his shit; there was a confidence about her that not a lot of girls had—a toughness—but at the same time, she had been so incredibly compassionate and sweet when it came to Gram.

“So,” she said after few seconds of silence, bouncing up on her toes and looking at him expectantly.

“Oh shit. Sorry,” he said with a laugh, taking his hands out of his pockets and reaching inside his jacket. He pulled out the tiny sandwich bag with the bracelet inside, holding it out to her, and she unfolded her arms, ripping her gloves off and tucking them under her elbow as she took it from him.

She had the bracelet out in an instant, taking the sandwich bag between her teeth to free her hands as she held her forearm against her stomach, trying to close the clasp around her wrist.

The wind was relentless, blowing the plastic bag and strands of her dark, wavy hair into her face, and every few seconds, she would flick her head to the side, trying to clear her vision while her numb fingers struggled with the tiny clasp.

Danny pressed his lips together, fighting a smile as he watched her blow a raspberry with the bag still between her teeth, trying to get an errant strand out of her eyes. He reached down, taking the plastic between his fingers.