10 Blind Dates

Seventeen-year-old Sophie convinces her parents to let her stay with her maternal grandparents, Nonna and Papa, in Shreveport, Louisiana, over Christmas break rather than accompany them to visit her older sister, Margot. Margot is on bed rest with superimposed preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication causing severe swelling, and is six weeks from her due date. Sophie's father is the chief of police in the small town of Minden, and Sophie has rarely had unsupervised time. She sees the break as a chance to be with her boyfriend of over a year, Griffin.

Before heading to her grandparents' house, Sophie stops at a classmate's party to surprise Griffin. She finds him in the kitchen telling his friend Parker that her absence feels like a trial run for a breakup. When Parker asks if Griffin wants to break up, he says he thinks so. Sophie gasps, revealing her presence, and flees. Griffin chases her and begs to talk, but Sophie tells him they are done. Her best friend, Addie, confronts Griffin and comforts Sophie before Sophie drives to Shreveport in tears.

Sophie collapses on her grandparents' front steps, where Nonna finds her and brings her inside. Over chocolate cake, Sophie tells her everything. By morning, word has spread through Sophie's enormous extended family; her mother is one of eight siblings, and the household is packed with relatives. Nonna unveils a plan: a sheet of butcher paper listing ten dates from December 20th through New Year's Eve, with Christmas Eve and Christmas Day free. Each family member or pair signs up to set Sophie up on a blind date. Sophie negotiates one stipulation: a "get out of date free" card she can use to skip any date.

Sophie begins working at Nonna's flower shop alongside her cousin Olivia, the daughter of her mom's twin sister. Sophie and Olivia are only two months apart and were once extremely close, along with their cousin Charlie and Charlie's best friend Wes, who lives next door to Nonna and Papa. The four were nicknamed the Fab Four as children. Over the years, however, Sophie visited less often and felt like an outsider, since the other three attend the same school and share friends she is not part of.

The first date, arranged by Olivia, pairs Sophie with Seth for a trip to the Christmas Festival of Lights in Natchitoches. Sophie has genuine fun, and that night Wes tells her she looks happier than when she arrived. The second date, arranged by Aunt Patrice, is a disaster: Sophie must play Mary in a middle school Living Nativity, wearing a musty costume with blinking lights and fending off her handsy date, Harold. Olivia and Charlie rescue her after an hour.

Charlie's pick for the third date is his friend Judd at an ugly sweater party. During an orange-passing relay, Sophie and Wes are paired, and their closeness creates an unmistakable spark. Wes's girlfriend, Laurel, a college freshman at Louisiana State University (LSU), arrives and clashes with him over wanting to leave. Wes refuses, and Laurel leaves alone, exposing tension in their relationship. Sophie begins noticing Wes in a new way.

Sara, Charlie's younger sister, arranges the fourth date: a ticket to Underground Christmas, an exclusive themed party. Sophie's date, Paolo, confides he is interested in another girl, so the two agree to flood social media with fun pictures. Afterward, Sophie and Wes sit on Nonna's front steps, their hands touching as they lean toward each other, nearly kissing, until Nonna interrupts with alarming news: Margot has been admitted to the hospital because her contractions will not stop.

On Christmas Eve morning, Griffin drives to Nonna's unannounced and begs Sophie to get back together. She tells him she needs to finish the dates before deciding. That afternoon, her mother calls: Margot is being rushed in for an emergency cesarean section. The baby, a girl named Anna Sophia, is born weighing barely five pounds and is taken to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). That night, Sophie drives to the hospital with Olivia, Charlie, and Wes.

Sophie views Anna through the NICU glass, then slips into Margot's room and crawls into bed beside her sleeping sister. She confides that Wes almost kissed her and she is disappointed it did not happen. On the drive home, Sophie feigns sleep and overhears Wes tell Charlie he would rather do nothing with their group than anything with Laurel, and that his long-distance relationship is failing.

On Christmas morning, Sophie finds a gift from Griffin: a charm bracelet with the letters S and G, purchased after their breakup. The gesture unsettles her. The fifth date, arranged by the twin cousins the family calls the Evil Joes, sends Sophie with a boy named Nathan to a remote drive-in theater showing a pornographic film. Sophie flees and calls Wes, who drives out to rescue her.

The sixth date, a hockey game arranged by Aunt Camille, pairs Sophie with Wyatt. When the arena's Kiss Cam lands on them, Sophie glances at Wes and subtly turns so Wyatt's kiss only grazes the corner of her mouth. Wes leaves shortly after. News from the hospital worsens: Anna's oxygen levels drop and she is placed on a ventilator, and Margot may need a blood transfusion.

For the seventh date, Griffin appears at the door, having contacted the family to be Sophie's date. Sophie uses her free pass. Before leaving, she and Olivia argue: Olivia accuses Sophie of shutting them out, and Sophie counters that they never made her feel included. Griffin drives Sophie to the hospital, but their argument escalates during the ride until they mutually agree the relationship is truly over. At the hospital, Olivia and Sophie reconcile, each acknowledging the other's perspective. Margot improves after receiving a blood transfusion.

Uncle Michael wins a family vote for the eighth date and stages a costumed bowling tournament. Sophie's date, Jason, gravitates toward Sara instead, while Wes teaches Sophie to bowl, standing close behind her to guide her swing. The ninth date, Papa's pick for Nonna's 75th birthday party, falls apart when the chosen date gets sick. Wes arrives to deliver the news, but Laurel appears behind him as his date for the evening. Sophie is crushed. Later, after Laurel leaves, Wes asks Sophie to dance and tells her he and Laurel have ended things for good.

The morning of New Year's Eve, Wes finds Sophie alone at the shop and tells her he wishes all the dates had been his. Sophie admits she feels the same. He says he will be waiting after the final date, and then it will be his turn. Meanwhile, Anna is taken off the ventilator and is breathing on her own.

For the tenth and final date, Nonna distributes tickets to a New Year's Eve music festival in Dallas and tells Sophie that tonight she gets to pick her own date. Addie and her boyfriend, Danny, are already in the car as a surprise. Sophie runs to Wes, standing in his driveway, and tells him she picks him. He asks if he has to wait until the end of the date to kiss her. She closes the distance, and they share their first real kiss on the front lawn, the entire family watching from the porch.

On the drive to Dallas, Wes confesses he has liked Sophie since they were fourteen. He recounts waiting for her in a haunted corn maze freshman year to tell her how he felt, only for her never to find him, and reveals he once wrote her a fake love letter in middle school. At the festival, they dance and talk all night. At midnight, Wes kisses her, and Sophie declares her New Year's resolution: no more blind dates.

Three months later, Sophie drives to Shreveport every Friday, works at the shop on Saturdays, and spends weekends with the whole group. Anna is healthy and thriving. Sophie and Wes do not label their relationship, calling themselves best friends who kiss, but they are both headed to LSU in the fall. Every Friday, someone writes a date idea on the board at Nonna's house, and the tradition continues. The story closes with Sophie affirming that the long wait to get here was worth it.