Noah crossed his bicep over his chest and kneaded his muscle, then he repeated the same on the other side before shaking out his arms. Teagan decided the only thing she could focus on was the two-level stone-and-cedar home. That was safe and appropriate to gawk at. Lainey had always called it a cottage because of the fairy gardens she and Bella had planted in the backyard. “That was true. But it’s your house now.”
Noah quit his fidgeting and stared at the dark gray-blue paint and the round accent rocks as if he couldn’t comprehend that he would lay his head to rest inside the charming little house filled with bedtime stories and fairy tales. “I don’t know…”
“It is yours, Noah,” Teagan urged.
“You don’t know that.”
True, she hadn’t seen a will or any estate documents. She’d never asked or even thought to. But she did know that Lainey had arranged for Bella to be completely provided for, and part of that meant that the little girl had a trust to be administered by her guardian, funded by what came from life insurance. Even if the Forces weren’t well off, the Strams were, and neither Lainey’s parents nor the Colemans, Noah’s side of the family, would let Bella struggle financially.
“I know enough,” she countered. Lainey’s house would likely be paid for from the trust, and that could give Noah wiggle room to get Nuts and Bolts running. Teagan had wondered why he didn’t just find a job, but she knew now why he’d jumped headfirst into business ownership. Noah Coleman was such a Navy SEAL. Go after big things. Do them well.
“Sounds about right for Eagle’s Ridge.” He cast a sideways glance. “Everyone knows something.”
They walked slowly toward the stone entryway as their easy conversation fell into an awkward silence. Was he suggesting she’d been gossiping? About him? It was time to change the subject. “I heard you’re going to open Nuts and Bolts again.”
Noah sighed and ran his hand through the back of his close-cut hair. “Yeah, yeah.” He held the front door open for her, stepping back so Teagan could walk into the familiar house. “I think it’s going to be a good thing.”
The door clicked shut behind them, and he passed her, leading the way to the living room. She stepped over a couple of bags, wondering if he planned on sticking around for a while, then bit her tongue, wanting to trust Lainey’s decision. “It will be. The town’s already buzzing that it will open soon.”
“Really?” he asked.
“It’d be great for everyone if you opened in time for Halloween.”
His brow furrowed. “Why?”
“Oh, you don’t remember,” she said, sitting down on the love seat.
“Refresh my memory.”
Teagan toyed with her hair, recalling year after year of holidays. “Let’s see. There was a lot to choose from.”
“You’re stalling. Must not be that memorable.” He winked.
“Picking the best of the best.” She pulled her hair into a ponytail. “December was big for the holidays. But because the Halloween parade goes right by there, they went big. And they handed out candy in front of the parking lot.”
“Oh, right!” He made a throwing motion. “I forgot about the Halloween parade.”
The parade where the sidewalk watchers and storefront merchants threw candy and the kids in costumes walked down the street. An Eagle’s Ridge tradition. “Well, I’m glad you remembered now.”
Noah’s eyebrows jumped as he readied to throw another imaginary handful of candy. “Yeah? Why’s that?”
“Because the kindergarten crew take it very seriously, and you have some serious costume planning and decorating of Nuts and Bolts to figure out.”
His face pinched as though he’d just realized that Bella would be walking in the parade too. “Awesome.”
Well, darn it. Maybe her warning and amusement were off on their timing. “I can help with the costume. Easy, no problem.”
“Nah, I’ve got it.” He waved away her offer.
“You’re going to need help sometimes,” Teagan pointed out.
“On a Halloween costume?” He rolled his eyes. “I’ll take Help for One Hundred on bigger issues, Alex.”
Teagan winked. “Bella doesn’t do typical costumes.”
“That’s cool. I’ve got it. But the garage…” He ran a hand over his face. “I can’t remember.”
“Sure you do. Fog machines coming out of abandoned cars, everything painted orange. Scarecrows crawling out of trunks and hoods. And Bella can walk with us.”
He tipped his head back. “That’s awesome. Thanks.”
“Now you have a plan.”
“Nothing I love more than a plan.” Noah nodded to himself, maybe reminiscing about what used to be an Eagle’s Ridge tradition. “Cool. I’ll dress Bella, she’ll walk with you and Will, and I can come up with a couple ideas for the garage. Perfect.”
Teagan let him have a quiet moment until he looked over, more content than he had been ten minutes ago.
“I’m glad you’re reopening it.” She fidgeted with her purse against the arm of the love seat. “Are you going to change much?”
Noah chuckled. “You mean all the cutesy auto stuff?”
She prayed he wouldn’t change the decor. “Yup, all that.”
“Wouldn’t dare touch a thing. My mother would never let me hear the end of it.”
“Just another reason why Marlene Coleman is a good woman.”
“Do you know my mom well?” he asked.
“I mostly chatted with Virginia but sometimes Marlene. They have very high opinions of the warrior in their family. Thank you for your service.”
He gave a curt nod as the kids tore out the front door with Will leading the charge. “We’re hungry! Can we have a snack?”
Noah hooked an arm around Bella’s hip. “I’m starving!”
Knock, knock.
“Someone’s at the door.” Bella spun free as Will followed her to the front door.
“That’d be a delivery from my buddy’s girlfriend.” Noah stood up.
Teagan stood as well. “On that note, we should probably head out.”
A chorus of nos came from the kids, and Teagan cut them off with a look. Bella gave Will a quick hug, then they raced out the front door.
“Hang on a second,” Noah said, following them. He returned less than a minute later. “I thought Bailey was going to drop this off.” He headed into the kitchen and returned. “That wasn’t her. Just a delivery guy. But—” He stood next to her in the hall and shook his head. “I want to learn that trick of yours.”
Teagan paused on the way to the door. “What trick?”
“The look.” Noah crossed his arms and made a funny face.
She tapped his forearms. “I do not look like that.”
He chuckled, uncrossing his arms and shrugging. “I don’t know. I almost had it down.”
“Nowhere in the neighborhood of the look.”
He opened the front door, and their arms brushed as he guided her out, letting his hand slide from her shoulder blade a few inches. Nothing wrong with a touch. Maybe other than the fact that it made her realize how warm his hands were—and wonder how strong they were too.
Teagan drew in a quick breath as they stood on the small front porch, watching Will and Bella spin and hop as if they might never run out of energy.
“Go hop in the car, baby,” she called to Will, then she and Noah both laughed at the spectacle of them leapfrogging to her Subaru, clamoring to open the back door, and the animated discussion that ensued as Will hooked into his booster.
Noah propped an arm against a cedar pillar, leaning to her side. He wasn’t in her space, but the area was small. Teagan’s cheeks heated when she noticed how his muscles bunched with his arm overhead. They were close enough that his warm, woodsy cologne caught on the ever-present slight breeze, so subtle that she didn’t know what made her take a quick breath until her mind registered how mouthwateringly handsome he was.
“I’ll figure it out.”
She s
napped out of it. “What? I’m sorry…”
He deepened his smile, and sun lines at the corner of his eyes gave him a smolder. “The look.”
She tossed her head back. “Ha!”
“What? Too much?” Noah laughed too.
Thankful he’d turned his good looks into a smoking hot but funny moment, she had nothing but a headshake. “Bella’s a doll. You’ll rarely need the look.”
“I still want all the weapons in my arsenal.” He made grabby hands. “That’s the only way this learning curve flattens.”
Balling her fists loosely, she batted away his hands, like a boxer and coach practicing. “You’ve got this, slugger.”
“Wrong sport. Rocky.”
Bella trotted over and jumped up on the porch. Noah tucked her to his side. They were cute and the family resemblance strong. She rocked from heel to toe, back and forth. “Drive safely, Teagan.”
“I will, Bella. Thanks for the reminder.”
Noah blinked, dropping to stare at Bella.
“It’s fine that she calls me Ms. Shaw at school and Teagan outside. We’ve known each other for too long.”
“Yeah.” Noah’s confusion hadn’t waned. “Thanks for the explanation.”
“Are we leaving soon?” Will yelled from the Subaru.
“Gosh, yes.” She was chatting with Noah as if they didn’t have to run to the store and knock out errands. “In a second.”
“Got any other pieces of advice to share, ladybug?” Noah asked Bella.
Then it clicked. Noah hadn’t seen Bella’s gifted idiosyncrasies in action. It was one thing to know she was bright. It was quite another to hear her drop very adult-like statements into a conversation. Teagan winked at Noah. “I’ll text you a couple tricks. Who knows if you’ll ever need to throw a Hail Mary. What’s your number?”
“Third sport, same conversation.”
“Boxing, baseball, football.” She fished it out of her purse. “I’m raising a son. I’m not clueless—though I’m positive I’d still know that if I was raising a daughter.”
He rattled off his number while she had her cell in hand, then she hit Send. “Now you have me. Anything comes up, I’m always around.”
Noah lifted his chin. “Appreciate that.”
“And I’m off.” She waved as she headed for her car.
“Now racing too?” Noah laughed.
Teagan turned but kept walking backward. “What?”
Bella giggled. “Off to the races!” Then she galloped into the front yard.
“That’s a stretch.” Teagan pointed at him and shook her hand, then she turned and shut Will in before opening her door to slide in the driver’s seat. Teagan buckled in with a smile on her face.
“Why do you look like that?” Will asked from the backseat.
Her cheeks heated, and the grin that couldn’t stop fell into hiding. “Like what? I don’t look like anything.” But yes she did. Had she been flirting with Noah Coleman? Oh, that was such a bad idea.
“Like your smile makes you smile.”
Out of the mouths of babes. “Maybe it did, hon. I’m not sure.”
Her text message pinged, and before she put her car into reverse, she checked it.
NOAH: Just wondering. Did Bella say…
NOAH: Drive careful, Mrs. Shaw?
NOAH: Or
NOAH: Drive careful, Ms. Shaw?
The smile that made her smile came back in full force, and Teagan glanced toward the front porch. Noah waited, watching.
Her stomach somersaulted a hundred times before she remembered to take the next breath. She tapped out “Miss.”
He lifted his chin then focused on his phone, typing for a heart-stealing second before he waved good night and called Bella in. The front door shut behind them, and Teagan slipped the Subaru into reverse. Her cell phone pinged.
She drew a quick breath, daring to look.
NOAH: Good to know. Drive safely, Miss Shaw.
CHAPTER THREE
Bailey’s casserole was in the oven, and Bella was at the table with her water bottle from school. Smooth sailing. Noah snapped a hand towel at her chair, and Bella laughed, trying to catch it. “All right, ladybug.”
“What do we do now?”
He ran through his mental list of action items. “What do you say we clean out your backpack and pick clothes for tomorrow?”
“Now?”
When else would they do it? He had to feed her. Make sure she showered. According to every parenting blog on the internet, the key to a happy life was planning clothing the night before school. Noah had zero intention of questioning professional mothers. “That’s affirmative, kid.”
Bella saluted then searched over his shoulder.
“What?”
Her brown hair tipped over her face. “Is that all we’re going to have for dinner?”
“Phshh. Of course not.” Except, yeah. That had been his idea after the initial pizza plan got shot down. He replaced pizza with the casserole, and what else was he supposed to serve with pizza? She was short a few years for a six-pack, so this was the plan—casserole. “I was going to make…” He’d hit the grocery store but didn’t have a plan. He pulled open the freezer and scowled at his options, including what his mom and aunt left. Nothing looked good as he removed the green beans to see what might be behind them. Were pizza rolls too much to ask?
“Ohh, those! Yes!” Bella bounced in her seat. “Please. With butter and salt. Please.”
“The green beans?” he asked and stared at the bag in his hand like it sprouted alien arms.
“Yes!”
Okay. That was easy. Not pizza-rolls easy, but he could heat veggies. “Sure thing.” He shut the freezer and twisted to the cabinet for a container. “You know, I didn’t eat anything green until I was in high school. And only because coach made me.”
Not finding the plasticware, he dumped the green beans into a glass bowl and perused the directions. How long was he supposed to nuke these things?
Noah pivoted and turned in the other direction, but he came up short. He put down the bag and glass bowl and double-checked the counter. What the… “Hey, ladybug?”
She tried to snap his towel, but it fell to the floor. “Yes?”
He scooped up the towel and tossed it over his shoulder. “Where’s your microwave, hon?”
“We don’t have one.”
Noah had expected a hundred responses that revolved around her pointing out the obvious. That wasn’t one of them. “Did… your grandma break it?”
“Nope. We don’t have one.”
“You don’t have one,” he repeated. “At all?”
“Never ever,” Bella added. “People rush too much.”
He cocked his head. “They do, huh?”
“And are they really healthy?” Bella mocked his tilted look.
Noah made a mental note not to say anything he didn’t want her to repeat. “Most people would say they’re fine.”
Bella shrugged, clearly having no idea what she was talking about.
“Okay, no microwave.” He stared at the green beans, wishing like hell he could rib Lainey over her lack of a perfectly safe microwave.
Damn the irony. Cancer had taken her life before she hit her thirty-fifth birthday, and she’d done nothing but eat blueberries and avoid microwaves. Noah pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Are you feeling okay, Uncle Noah?”
His eyes sank shut. “Yeah, ladybug.”
“It’s healthy to be sad sometimes.”
His eyes squeezed shut. “I know.” Pulling in a quick breath, he turned and repeated himself, “I know.”
“Teagan says so.”
He ran his hand over his face. “She’s right. I’m just going to…” He eyed the stove where he’d just shoved the casserole into the oven below. “Master this contraption. This is how your mom makes green beans?”
Bella giggled. “It’s not a contraption. It’s a stove.”
“And I’m going to
cook on it.”
“With butter and salt.”
He winked. “Got it.”
After semicareful consideration, Noah dunked what looked like enough green beans, butter, and salt into a small pan. Too bad he’d torn through the stovetop directions. But how hard could it be? Heat, stir, serve.
He set the pan on the stovetop and pulled the oven open. A steamy, cheesy burst of heat rolled out. “That smells—”
“So cheesy good!”
“Agree.” He flipped the hand towel over his other shoulder. “Maybe these need some water.”
He threw a cup of water into the pan and snapped off the hand towel, tossing it into the drawer under the oven, then he eyed the counter. Everything seemed orderly and clean. At least his commanding officer would approve.
“Time to go do backpack and clothes.”
Bella bit her lip. “Are you sure we should do that like that?”
“The clothes? Yeah.”
“No, the contraption.” She lowered her voice like his.
“The stove and oven will be fine.”
She didn’t look convinced.
“I promise.”
“Oh-kay!” Then Bella skipped out of the kitchen, and Noah followed her down the hall, ready to knock more items off his to-do list like a boss.
CHAPTER FOUR
With every excited bounce from Bella down the hallway’s cedar wood floors, Noah was convinced that his niece was less of a kid and more of a forty-pound lightweight. He caught up with her as she scattered the contents of her pink, green, and blue multicolored backpack on her bedroom floor and sat in the middle of an organizational nightmare.
Noah eyeballed her surroundings as if he was taking stock of a potential enemy’s arsenal. Glitter hand sanitizer, a partially open lunch box, two empty snack bags, a mini hairbrush that looked as though it’d never been used. He was nearly one hundred percent certain that his mother could be blamed for the hairbrush. As if a five-year-old would be styling her hair at kindergarten—but maybe she did. He had no idea.
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