I swallowed because she’d hit the nail on the head. It was a fear I hadn’t even recognized—the fear of Noah deciding he didn’t like Creek Falls after all and going home to Maine.

He wasn’t from here. It wasn’t his home. He didn’t have anyone here who would give him a reason to stay. It wasn’t even like he had a job that was exclusive to the area. There were always stations who needed firefighters, weren’t there? Even volunteers?

“Stop it.” Mom tapped my cheek. “You’re overthinking. I can see it in your eyes, Reagan.”

I sighed and picked up the wooden spoon she’d just taken from me. “I’m not used to feeling like this, Mom.”

“Have you told him how you feel?”

“About him? Or this?”

“This. He’s here and he’s being nice about your crotchety old aunt, so I’m assuming he knows you like him.”

I smiled. “Yeah, we already discussed that. We’re not putting any labels on it until we’ve spent more time together.”

“Sweetheart, I don’t mean to be rude, but you’ve stayed at his house several times in the last two weeks.”

“Three times,” I said. “And yes, thank you, your darling son already pointed that out.”

She laughed, hauling the big casserole dish into the dishwasher. “I understand. There’s so much pressure now to label things. I like that you’re taking your time with it and getting to know each other. That shows real maturity from the both of you.”

Always a bonus, I guess.

“What are you doing tonight?”

I shrugged one shoulder and handed her the cutlery basket. “I’m not sure. He’s on the early shift tomorrow, so probably just take a walk and chat.”

“Sometimes that’s the best thing to do.” Mom winked and bumped the dishwasher closed with her hip. “Just spend time together. Your heart will tell you everything you already need to know. But by the looks of you, it already did.” She stroked my hair, and I leaned into her touch.

“Thank you. You might be right. I don’t know. We’ll go wherever our road takes us, but I’d really like to see where that is.”

“And you will.” She smiled. “Why don’t you go and get your young man? Your brother can do the rest of the kitchen.”

I pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her cheek, then went in the direction of the living room. I could hear Dad’s deep voice making a joke about the last season of football, followed by the rich sound of Noah’s laugh mingling with my brother’s deep one.

I leaned against the wall out of sight. I wanted to listen, just for a while. My dad and brother had always been protective of me, and as much as I ribbed on my brother and fought with him, his approval mattered to me.

Our family gatherings were bad enough with Aunt Bethel around without me marrying someone that nobody liked.

Not that I was saying I’d marry Noah. That was… way in the future. We weren’t even an official couple on paper yet.