“Yeah. Sorry. I’m kind of in a haze this morning. I didn’t sleep well last night.”

He looked over at the prom ticket table. “Me neither.”

“How come?”

He laughed. “Nervous again. I got up in the middle of the night and ate my way through the kitchen. My mom was all over me this morning because I scarfed some stuff she was supposed to take to her book group.”

A chuckle escaped from my mouth, despite my horrible mood. “What did you eat, exactly?”

He shrugged. “They were these little cakes. Really good. I should have known better, though. I mean, they looked kind of fancy. She doesn’t usually buy that stuff for us.” He shook his head, still laughing. “I woke up to her screams. ‘My petit fours! My petit fours!’ I had no idea what was wrong until she barged into my room and waved the empty tray at me. I thought she’d be happy I put it in the dishwasher for her.”

“So a petit four is a cake? That’s what she was talking about?”

His smile brightened his whole face. “Best thing I’ve ever put in my mouth. When she stopped yelling at me, I asked her where she’d gotten them.”

“And she actually told you?”

He raised an eyebrow. “I can be persuasive. There’s a bakery in Barrington.”

“That’s a long drive for a little cake.” It was hard to feel down when he was with me. I looked him over, all carelessly graceful and long-limbed, and wondered how I had managed not to notice him in the last year.

“Long drive, yes. But worth it. Maybe we should go sometime.” He gave me a sidelong glance.

I sighed. “I don’t think I belong in Barrington.” It was the wealthiest town in the state.

Hesitantly, Ian slid the tip of his finger along a lock of my hair. I didn’t move away or flinch. I let him, astounded at the warmth in his gaze. “You belong anywhere you want to be, Lela.”

I rolled my eyes. “And a few places I don’t.”

“Will you go to the prom with me?” he blurted, and then looked kind of stunned that he’d actually said it.

I let out a shaky laugh. “You want to go to prom with me?” I searched his face for a joke that I rapidly realized wasn’t there.

He gave me a lopsided smile. “Badly enough to eat my mother out of house and home, just to control the nerves. Are you going to turn me down?”

I stared into his bright green eyes and was overcome with the same feeling I’d had last Friday—I wanted this. I wanted this ordinary, normal life. No heartache, no death or killing, no misery. “No.”

He leaned a little closer. “No, you don’t want to go with me, or no, you’re not turning me down?”