"You look beautiful."
Ryder's standing on my doorstep at exactly five-thirty, looking unfairly handsome in dark jeans and a gray sweater that hugs his shoulders in all the right ways.
"I look like I'm trying too hard," I mutter, smoothing down the emerald green dress I finally settled on after trying on half my closet.
When you haven't gone out on a date in over five years, it's a bit difficult to find something 'nice' to wear.
"You look perfect." His eyes do a slow sweep from my face to my boots and back up, and the heat in his gaze makes my cheeks flush. "My mom's going to lose her mind when she sees you."
"Is that good or bad?"
"Definitely good." He steps closer, close enough that I have to tilt my head back to meet his eyes. "Can I just say, I'm really glad you decided to come tonight."
"I'm still not entirely sure why I did."
"Because deep down, you missed them too."
He's right, of course. I've missed Tom's terrible dad jokes and Carol's way of making everyone feel like the most important person in the room. I've missed the chaos of their dinner table and the way they made me feel like I belonged.
I never had that with my own family. But the less said about that the better.
"Come on," Ryder says, offering me his arm. "Let's go."
By the time we pull into the Scotts' driveway, my nerves are shot.
The house looks exactly the same as it did eight years ago. White clapboard siding, hunter green shutters, and a wraparound porch that Tom built himself the summer before Ryder graduated.
"Ready?" Ryder asks, but he doesn't move to get out of the truck.
"Are you nervous too?"
"Terrified," he admits with a chuckle.
The front door opens before we can make it up the porch steps, and Carol Scott appears in the doorway like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting. She's wearing an apron covered in flour handprints and the biggest smile I've ever seen.
"Mia!" She doesn't wait for us to reach her. Instead, she hurries down the steps and wraps me in a hug that smells like vanilla cake and home. "Oh, sweetheart, look at you. You're even more beautiful than I remembered."
"Mrs. Scott—"
"Carol. You're a grown woman now. Call me Carol, or I'll be very upset with you, dear."
She holds me at arm's length, studying my face with those warm brown eyes that are so much like Ryder's.
"Tom! Get out here!Mia's here!"
Tom Scott appears in the doorway, taller and grayer than I remember but with the same easy smile that made me feel welcome from day one. "Well, I'll be damned. Mia Harper."
"Hi, Mr. Scott."
"Tom," he corrects, just like his wife. "Come here, kiddo."
His hug is gentle, and for a moment I'm a teenager again, standing in this same driveway after prom, feeling like the luckiest girl in the world.
"Come on," Carol says, linking her arm through mine. "Dinner's almost ready, and I want to hear everything. Tom, help Ryder with... whatever it is men help with."
"The groceries in the truck," Ryder calls after us, but Carol's already whisking me into the house.
The kitchen smells like heaven. Pot roast and roasted vegetables and fresh bread that makes my mouth water. The dining room table is set with Carol's good china, the kind she only used for special occasions when I was younger.
