Page 119 of Inferno

“Would you like to stay for dinner, Taylor?” Mama Wolf invited. “There’s more than enough for everyone, and the Campbells and Wimbushes have agreed to join us as well.”

Taylor smiled. “Thank you for the kind invitation, Mama Wolf, but I’m afraid I can’t stay. I’m going out of town for Thanksgiving—”

“Are you going to visit your mother, baby?” Mom inquired hopefully.

“Yes, ma’am, and we’re leaving tonight. So I just stopped by to see Manning—”

The women exchanged soft, knowing smiles that made Taylor blush.

“—and, of course, I wanted to wish the rest of the family a Happy Thanksgiving as well,” she hastened to add.

“That was very sweet of you, Taylor,” Mama Wolf said, giving her a warm hug. “I’m glad I had the pleasure of making your acquaintance.”

“Me, too,” Taylor said sincerely.

Drawing back, Mama Wolf smiled at Taylor. “The next time I send one of my care packages, I’ll be sure to include a pound cake for you and your family.”

Taylor beamed. “We’d like that very much.”

“Good.” Mama Wolf winked.

Taylor smiled,thenwaved around the room. “It was nice meeting all of you.”

“Same to you, Taylor,” they chorused cheerfully. “Have a safe trip and a wonderful Thanksgiving.”

“And don’t be a stranger!” Mom urged.

Taylor glanced sideways at Manning. “I won’t,” she promised.

Moments after they left the kitchen, they overheard Mom boasting proudly, “That, ladies, was my future daughter-in-law. Mark my words.”

Manning blushed hard as he and Taylor grinned shyly at each other.

As they reached the foyer, he steered her gently into the mud room, away from prying eyes and ears.

When they stood facing each other, he confessed, “I like you, Taylor.”

She smiled winsomely. “I like you too, Manning.”

“No, I mean. I like you,likeyou.”

Her smile deepened. “I meant the same thing.”

His heart leaped into his throat. Nervously licking his lips, he said, “Would you—”

“I owe you an apology,” she blurted.

He blinked.“For what?”

“For the way I’ve treated you the past two and a half weeks. I haven’t been a very good friend to you, and that was wrong of me, especially after the way you stood up for me and wound up getting in so much trouble. There’s no excuse for my childish behavior, but I’d like to explain where I was coming from. That day after school when you left me and went to Caitlyn’s car, I was really hurt. And I was insanely jealous of her because I knew I could never be as beautiful or popular as she is.” Taylor bit her lip, her eyes lowering to the floor as she whispered, “I didn’t think someone like you could ever be interested in someone like me.”

“Are you kidding?” Putting his finger beneath her chin, Manning coaxed her gaze up to meet his. “That day in precalculus, when Mr. Langenkamp made me get up and solve the problem on the chalkboard, you gave me this smile…I’ll never forget it. It made me wonder how the heck it took me two months into the school year to see you. I meanreallysee you. You’re beautiful, Tay, and that three-second kiss we had meant more to me than…than anything I did with Caitlyn.”

A soft, tremulous smile curved Taylor’s lips. “You mean that?”

“I do,” he said fervently.

Her face glowed with pleasure.