Natalie turned to study Noelle, too. “She’s just scared of being hurt. Noelle, you’ve hardly dated at all since David. And that was over two years ago.”
That did it. The last thing Noelle needed was for her sister to give Nick a rundown of her unsuccessful romances. “Natalie, can you just drop this, please? I’m sure Nick couldn’t care less about my former boyfriends. I’m going to get the ice ring for the punch. When I come back, there’d better be a new topic for conversation.” She slipped through the door to the garage where her mother kept a small chest freezer.
****
Nick watched Noelle go out the side door to the garage. Now was a perfect time to talk to her about their fight. The things she said had been painful, but Nick realized there was at least a partial truth to them. “I’ll help,” Nick said as he followed her out.
She was leaning against the freezer with her face in her hands.
“Noelle, what’s wrong?”
She jumped at the sound of his voice and wiped her eyes. “Nothing.”
He forgot about their fight. “Are you crying over this David guy?” For some reason that bothered him—more than he cared to think about.
“I’m not crying.”
“Natalie said he broke your heart.”
Noelle turned away from him, toward the freezer. “Really, Nick. You know better than to listen to Natalie.”
He put a hand down on the freezer, preventing her from opening it. “Well then, who is this David guy?”
“No one. Just an old boyfriend.”
“Did he break your heart?”
“I thought I’d made it clear that I didn’t want to discuss it.” She took a couple of sideways steps along the freezer, putting some distance between them.
Nick was learning that coaxing worked better with Noelle than demanding, so he checked his frustration. “Please tell me why you haven’t dated since this David.”
“It’s not that I haven’t dated, it’s just that…I sort of lost interest in it.”
“And why would that be?”
Noelle shrugged. “I guess I was naïve before him. He took advantage of me.”
Fury jolted through him. “He did what?”
“No, no,” exclaimed Noelle, shaking her head and waving her hands to emphasize that he was on the wrong track. “That didn’t come out right. I didn’t mean…what you think.”
Nick took a deep breath and counted to ten. “What did you mean?”
“It’s too embarrassing. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“What could be that bad?”
“Why do you want to know? Don’t you get enough entertainment out of humiliating me yourself? You want to hear how someone else did it?”
As usual, he felt his temper slipping out of control. He hung on to his emotions with his last ounce of restraint and said gently, “Please, Noelle, I want to know. I’m not going to make fun of you.”
Noelle sighed and rolled her eyes, then gave in and told him. “I overheard David bragging to his friends about how he had it made with me. He was going to marry me and use my money to finance his career, while still hanging on to his high school sweetheart on the side.”
Nick was surprised. Only a fool would think Noelle’s money was worth more than Noelle herself. “He was an idiot.”
“Since then, when a guy asks me out, I always have to wonder, if it’s because he likes me or…” she hesitated.
“Or just your money.”
“Yeah.”
“I guess there’s a downside to everything, including having lots of money,” he admitted.
“I’m sorry for what I said the other day, Nick.” The words slipped out before she could consider whether it was the right time to say them.
“I think you’re oversensitive about what other people think, but I do have to admit, you have a point.”
“I don’t mean to complain. I am very blessed.”
“And I don’t think you’re a spoiled brat.”
She looked up at him, those big blue eyes drawing him in like the tractor beam on the death star. “You don’t?”
“I don’t. I think you’re…”
“I’m what?”
When she went all soft and sweet on him, there was only one way to describe Noelle. “Irresistible,” he whispered, and for the second time in his life, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. The reality of once again kissing Noelle far outshone his daydreams. She was soft and warm and exactly what he’d been craving for the last seven years. He could go on kissing her forever, but the moment was cut short by the sound of the door opening.
Noelle leaped back from him as Natalie leaned out from the kitchen. “What are you two doing out there? We need the ice ring for the punch.”
“Just…just talking,” Noelle called back, her voice distinctly unsteady. “We’ll be right there.”
The door closed and Noelle turned her eyes back to Nick. “Nick, that was…”
“A mistake,” he responded flatly. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” He reached around her, opened the freezer and pulled out the ice ring. What had he been thinking? She’d just told him she wondered if guys went out with her for her money or herself? Which category did she think he’d fit in? He already suspected she thought of him as a charity case. And judging by the way she jumped away from him, she obviously didn’t want to be associated with him in a romantic way. He was an idiot. What had made him think someone like Noelle would want him? He’d just embarrass them both if he tried to pursue her. He took the stupid ice ring into the house before his anger got the best of him, and he smashed it into a million pieces on the cement floor.
****
Noelle stared at Nick’s back as he strode away from her and back into the house. He’d kissed her, and it had been every bit as wonderful as the first time. She’d waited years for that kiss. Then just as she thought everything was falling into place for them, he’d turned cold.
The kiss was a mistake? How could something so wonderful be a mistake? It was a kiss that woke her slumbering heart with its warmth. Then just as quickly, he turned her world dark and cold by walking away. A chill washed over her as she considered that he might have kissed her out of pity, because of what David did.
This had to be the worst Thanksgiving of her life, and it wasn’t even dinner time yet. How would she get through the rest of the day? Right now having the stomach flu sounded better than spending the day with Nick. She wondered if she could fake it, and then decided she didn’t have the acting skills to pull it off. It was back to the kitchen with Natalie, her own personal love connection hostess, for Noelle.
Nick And Noelle
Chapter Six
Dinner couldn’t have been any more agonizing for Nick if he’d been sitting on a chair full of nails. Gladys had seated Noelle next to him at the crowded table. That put her near enough for him to smell the sweet scent of her perfume. They were packed in so closely that their shoulders brushed. He caught her every movement from the corner of his eye. How was he supposed to ignore her when she was invading his senses like this?
He was careful to give her all the space he could. He even made sure their hands didn’t touch when he passed serving bowls to her. To make matters worse, Natalie just wouldn’t let up about fixing Noelle up with someone. In Nick’s opinion she stunk as a matchmaker. He’d never heard such a list of losers before in his life. It sounded like the roll call for “Jerks R Us.” If Noelle had shown the faintest interest in any of them, he’d…
He’d have said nothing. Because he told her the kiss was a mistake, and it wouldn’t happen again. He’d just been protecting himself against her imminent rejection, but now he couldn’t very well turn around and object to her potential dates. Nick continued to chew and swallow, but he could have been eating cardboard for all he noticed.
“How about Ben Miller?” Natalie suggested.
“Who’s Ben Miller?” Gladys asked.
“He owns the insurance agency downtown.
He’s got great manners, and he always dresses so nice.”
No way, thought Nick. Noelle could do way better than that. Never mind that he counted Ben as one of his friends.
“Or Austin Summers,” Natalie continued.
“I thought he was engaged,” said Noelle.
“He was, but they broke up. So I guess he’s back on the market.”
Nick ground his teeth so hard one would think he was trying to chew marbles rather than mashed potatoes. He knew why Austin and his fiancée had broken up, and it had to do with a cute waitress who happened to be rather generous with her affections. And he also knew that that wasn’t Austin’s first indiscretion. In fact, to Nick’s way of thinking, his fiancée had been way too forgiving.
“Natalie, there has to be something else we can talk about besides this,” Noelle protested.
“Yes,” agreed Uncle Larry. “This is Thanksgiving. Let’s talk about what really matters. What did you think of the football game today?”
Natalie’s husband Jeff was quick to give his view, and Nick relaxed, but only marginally. Sooner or later Natalie would succeed in fixing up Noelle, and he’d have to sit back and watch. He slid a sideways glance at her. Her head was bowed, and she was pushing her food around on her plate rather than eating it. Why couldn’t he have handled things better in the garage? Why did he have to give in to the urge to kiss her? Why couldn’t he have thought of something better to say about it? Couldn’t he have laughed it off as a casual kiss between friends?
But no, he had to apologize and tell her it was a mistake—a knee-jerk reaction to protect himself from her scorn. There was no way she’d ever be interested in him now, and when she did start to date someone else, he’d have to just sit back and watch.
A headache started to form behind his eyes as he pictured her laughing and smiling with someone other than him. Then a worse scenario entered his mind. What if she met another David and wasn’t lucky enough to catch him this time?
Gladys’s excellent dinner was turning into cement in his gut. The meal went on at a torturously slow pace, and Nick was grateful when it was finally over. But he couldn’t eat and run. It would be rude and he couldn’t hurt Gladys’s feelings. He and Jeff offered to clear the table while the women took care of leftovers and dishes.
After they finished with the dishes, Gladys brought down the Christmas ornaments, and they all helped decorate the tree Nick had given her. Noelle spent most of the time dancing around him. It was pretty hard to avoid someone in the limited space around the tree, but she managed. She wouldn’t even look at him.
As soon as they were finished, he announced he had to go. “Tomorrow is the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. I’ll be selling some of our trees downtown. Most of them are sold to retailers or charity groups for fund raisers, but I like to sell a few myself.”
“Why is that?” asked Natalie.
Nick shrugged. “I like getting out among people once in a while—especially when Christmas spirit is in the air.”
She grimaced. “You sound just like Noelle. What is it with you two and Christmas?”
“It’s the time of year when the whole world stops to remember what’s really important,” Noelle replied.
“And people actually remember that we should be nice to one another,” added Nick. Their eyes met and a moment of understanding passed between them. He wished there could be more between them than this. Maybe he should ask Natalie to fix him up with someone. Maybe dating someone else would get Noelle out of his system.
He looked at her again. Fat chance. He was well and truly stuck on her.
A slight, hesitant smile hovered on Noelle’s lips. “Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow, Nick.”
“I doubt it,” he replied, trying not to wince as her smile fled and she dropped her gaze. “We’ll probably both be busy. It’s your grand opening and all.”
She finally looked up at him, and he saw a question in her eyes. This time it was he who looked away.
“We’d better figure out a time to meet and finish up with decorating the church. We’re almost out of time for that,” she said.
The church! He’d forgotten about that. Now he was going to have to spend time alone with her. Best to get it over with. Then he wouldn’t have to see her anymore.
“Yes,” Nick agreed. “We’re almost out of time.”
****
Later, on the way home, Larry asked “What was the matter with you today? It was nice of Gladys to invite us and she gave us a terrific meal. Why were you such a bear all day?”
Nick groaned. Uncle Larry was not known for picking up the subtleties of human emotion. If he’d noticed that Nick was out of sorts, it was a sure thing that everyone else had. “I’ve got a pounding headache,” Nick told him. That, at least, was true.
Uncle Larry nodded. “Yeah, women will do that to you.”
“What do you mean?” He hoped his uncle hadn’t picked up on the tension between him and Noelle.
“Natalie sure was a chatterbox today. Geez, who wanted to spend half the meal talking about Noelle’s love life?”
“Not me,” Nick replied emphatically.
****
Opening day at the store was the busiest of Noelle’s life. From the storefront window she could see Nick down the street, selling trees. Drake was there helping, and Noelle thought she saw Ryan and Kendra, too. The weather had turned colder and snow had been predicted by weather men. Noelle wondered if Nick was warm enough in his old coat, and then reminded herself that it didn’t matter to her. Later, when she sent Deirdre out with a thermos of hot chocolate for them, Noelle told herself it was because she didn’t want Drake, Ryan and Kendra to suffer. If Nick benefited from her kindness, it was irrelevant.
It was good to be busy. She wouldn’t have time to think about how mixed up things had gotten between her and Nick. Instead she would concentrate on sharing her favorite thing with her customers—Christmas and the true gift God had sent to all people.
She was happy the store was a success and that all her hard work was paying off.
But her heart told her success wasn’t enough anymore.
****
Advent had already begun and the church wasn’t decorated. Noelle knew she had to talk to Nick. They hadn’t spoken since the kiss. The kiss that Noelle played over and over in her mind, until she remembered Nick saying it was a mistake and wouldn’t happen again. Every time she thought about it, she wanted to curl up in a ball and die.
And yesterday her Mom said Natalie and family were coming back for Christmas.
They were supposed to be spending the holiday with Jeff’s parents, but they had decided to go on a cruise for the holidays instead. Noelle wondered if she should start looking for someone to date just to shut up Natalie. But no, that wouldn’t be fair.
Leaving one of her clerks to mind the store, she walked down the street to Nick’s lot. Nick was with a customer, but Drake was standing around warming his hands on a mug of steaming coffee.
“Hi,” she said. “Will the boss be free soon?”
Drake nodded in greeting. “He just has to load up their tree.”
“Are Ryan and Kendra looking forward to Christmas?”
Drake shrugged. It occurred to her that Drake’s parents may not be able to afford to give him and his siblings much of a Christmas. She immediately decided that she would give Deirdre an early Christmas bonus.
She watched Nick look up from tying the tree to his customer’s car and notice her. He definitely did not look happy to see her. He finished with the tree and walked over to her.
“Hi Noelle,” he said. “Did you need another tree at your house?” A surly tone crept into his voice.
A blush heated her cheeks. “No, I wanted to tell you that I called Pastor Thorn. He says there isn’t enough money in the budget for new Christmas decorations.”
“I guess we’ll just have to make do with what we have, then.”
“Not necessarily. I have an idea.” He didn
’t respond, so she continued. “We don’t need anything fancy or elaborate. If you donate Christmas trees for the gathering space, the fellowship hall, the youth lounge and the Sunday School hallway, I’ll donate the ornaments we need. Oh, and we’ll need an extra tall tree for the sanctuary.”
Nick considered. “That doesn’t sound fair. You’re giving a lot more.”
“That’s not important, Nick. We’d both be contributing what we have to give.
“How about I’ll throw in the lights and we’ll call it even.
She couldn’t believe he’d agreed so easily. She was thrilled and had to stop herself from reaching out to him. “Thank you, Nick. It’s going to be beautiful; I know it.”
“When do you want to do this thing? My schedule’s pretty full. I want to get it finished as soon as possible.”
His gruff tone put a damper on her spirits. She didn’t understand, so she just decided to stick to the facts. “Will this Saturday work for you?”
“Don’t you have to work?”
“I hired a new clerk last week. She and Deirdre can cover for me.”
“Fine then. Saturday’s as good as any other day.”
Nick And Noelle
Chapter Seven
Noelle went to the church early on Saturday morning, but Nick was there before her. “He really can’t wait for this to be over,” she thought sadly.
They spent the whole day decorating. A whole painful day together. They put up trees in the Sunday School wing of the church, in the fellowship hall, the youth lounge and the gathering space. They twined strings of white lights around the beams in the sanctuary, reminiscent of a starry sky. The tree in the sanctuary was the largest of those they’d put up, well over eight feet tall. By the time it was almost finished, Noelle was exhausted.
The church looked beautiful. They‘d worked hard, but had hardly spoken to each other at all—not even to argue. They were putting up the last of the ornaments when Noelle realized something.
“Oh, no!” she cried.
“What’s the matter?”
Nick and Noelle Page 5