Noah

by Cristin Harber

  She smiled, disarmed, and he’d done what he’d intended—as always. “You’re good, I’ll give you that.”

  “What?” Noah asked, pretending he hadn’t just used some SEAL psych-ops tactic to put her at ease.

  “I know enough to know you can disarm me.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Maybe I just want to know what’s on your mind. And maybe it hit me hard in the chest that I thought you compared me to your ex-husband who walked out on you. Both because I liked the idea of being your man and because I hated that you thought I could leave.”

  Teagan’s lips parted. He’d stunned her. There was no coming back from admissions like that. But she didn’t want to. Her heart soared with possibilities and certainty that he was so much different than Spencer had ever been.

  “I’m not saying rush anything,” he continued. “But what I am saying is however this works out, it works out for the long term. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  God, she had no idea and too many ideas at once. Her stomach jumped into her throat. And just yesterday, she’d been wishing for one more kiss from him. “I think so.”

  “SEALs taught me not to predict the future, but they showed me something from very young.”

  “What’s that?” she asked quietly.

  “I always knew I was destined to be part of that team. I had no doubt. Just like Lainey had no doubt that I’d come home when it was time for me to re-up. She didn’t waiver. She knew. Maybe it’s in our genes. But that’s the same as right now. I know.”

  “You know what, Noah?”

  “That I’m supposed to be with you and Bella and Will, and that I’m falling in love with you.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  The garage bays at Nuts and Bolts were lined with black silhouette cutouts of witches stirring cauldrons and of zombies with outstretched arms who were walking toward tilted graves. Noah’s fingers were scrubbed clean, but pumpkin-orange acrylic paint had stained his close-cut fingernails. Maybe that would be his Halloween costume. Single dad, auto mechanic, artiste.

  An old pickup rolled up and pulled Noah’s attention from what had to be his greatest artistic feat. The door opened, and his old friend Ford Garrison jumped out.

  “If I didn’t see it with my own eyes, I would’ve called BS.” He strode forward and stuck out his hand. “You’re in town.”

  Noah did the same, shaking hands and embracing him with slaps on the back. “Good to see you, man.”

  “Not for long, and it’s good to see you too.”

  They turned to survey all that Noah had put together for Nuts and Bolts.

  “The witches’ legs hanging out of that old charger”—Noah nodded toward the spot—“I think it’s a nice touch. But not too much.”

  Ford cackled. “You’ve put a lot of thought into this. I’m really impressed.”

  Pride filled his chest in a much more distinct way than it had when serving his country. Both kinds brought him satisfaction, yet they met different needs. “What can I do for you? Something wrong with the pickup?”

  Ford headed toward the stacked pumpkin-orange-painted tractor tires that overflowed with straw and decorations. Noah would use them as candy towers later, and he held out his hands, showing off fingernails stained the same colors as the tractor tires. “I’m not sure how long I’ll have this orange reminder. But at least it’s a good story.”

  Ford shook his head. “Did you forget how to use a paintbrush?”

  Noah looked at the freshly healed scratches and Band-Aid–wrapped cuts. “Turns out there’s only so much paper I can shred with an X-Acto knife before I get frustrated and start slicing.”

  “Do I even want to know?”

  Noah chuckled, motioning for his buddy to follow. “Bella had a very specific person she is dressing up as for Halloween. Margaret Hamilton.”

  “Never heard of her.”

  “Yeah, me, either. That’s a whole other conversation, but now I have, and the costume involves a nondescript dress, basic glasses, and…” They rounded the corner into Noah’s office, and he held his arm out. “A couple of dozen reams of paper, hollowed out to reduce the weight and made to look like 1960s coding journals.”

  Noah gave his creation a tap, and the stacked books taller than Bella eased from his fingertips on the well-greased wheels attached to a base.

  “You did all that overnight?” Ford asked.

  Noah reached down to pick up the clear, high tensile line he’d attached to the base and secured throughout the tower. “I didn’t realize how long it would take, but yeah, not too bad, if I say so myself.”

  He gave the line a tug and handed it to Ford.

  “Perfect weight distribution. And this is heavy enough that she could bring it along the parade route, but you hollowed it out?”

  Noah nodded, letting a small amount of smugness scratch that. “Solid, right?”

  “Dude, you realize what you’ve done, right?”

  “Yeah, I built a badass prop for a badass historical figure that more people should know about.”

  “Tell me who she is in a second, but there will be a slew of mothers, and maybe fathers, who take this costume parade way too seriously and who will have you in their sites next year as a target to take out.”

  “Wouldn’t be my toughest enemy.” Noah snickered at the PTA-type drama that he planned to avoid at all costs. “And Margaret Lord Hamilton wrote the code for NASA that launched the Apollo.”

  “Bella came up with that?”

  “Yeah, she did. I suggested a princess or a fairy.”

  Ford shook his head. “Sheesh, I wish you good luck. She’s a helluva lot smarter than you.”

  Pride swelled in Noah’s chest. “She is.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  Teagan slowed her Subaru into the parking lot at Nuts and Bolts. By the time she shifted into Park, she could almost feel Will exploding with energy for the Halloween parade. This year, she had allowed him to choose his own costume, and it ended up being a smorgasbord of all things scary and ghoulish.

  Their plan was to meet Noah and Bella at Nuts and Bolts then walk to the start of the parade. From there, Teagan didn’t know if Noah would head back to his shop or stick with them, but either way, her insides warmed at the thought of the community outing with him.

  She and Will unbuckled, and her son waited impatiently for her to get out. Soon as her hand rested on the door lever, he split.

  “I’ll be with Bella.”

  Teagan smiled as she caught sight of Bella stepping from the office entryway. Her costume was spot-on. The 1960s A-line dress was of period-piece quality, and Teagan wondered where Noah had come up with such a pint-sized look.

  Bella’s glasses were just like the picture Teagan had sent to Noah, but it was the straight-ironed brown hair that Bella wore with the dated outfit—including the tights and strapped Mary Janes—that completed her very serious look.

  Will ran across the parking lot, still in normal clothes, and Teagan reached into the backseat for the large bag filled with random Halloween accessories that would become his costume. Then she grabbed her purse and backpack and followed the kids inside, taking in the fantastic job Noah had done with the backlit silhouette scenery and tire towers painted pumpkin orange.

  When she walked inside, she half expected just as much effort put into the over-the-top decorations, but Noah had simply covered the waiting area and hallway with a gauzy spiderweb that reached every corner and worked its way down the hallway and over the front counter.

  It was perfect.

  Nuts and Bolts had its own personality already with a clock made out of wrenches and license-plate lampshades. Adding anything else would have been too much. Sometimes, Teagan wondered if Noah knew that he had such a killer instinct.

  Noah was dressed as an astronaut in a gray suit, with an American flag and Apollo patch on his sleeve and a helmet over his head. As he walked down the hall, Teagan couldn’t wipe away her smile.

  He wasn�
��t just an astronaut. He was Margaret Hamilton’s astronaut because that was not a modern costume. The helmet looked older and likely matched the late 1960s and early 1970s launches she influenced. Same with the suit. Teagan clapped as he came closer.

  “If you two do not win the Halloween costume contest, I call foul.” She walked up to him, and Noah removed his helmet.

  “Hey, beautiful.” He wrapped an arm around her waist and gave as chaste of a kiss as they could manage with the kids nearby. “I love your costume too.”

  “What are you talking about?” She made a face, inspecting the clothes she’d had on all day. The black leggings and Halloween-inspired shirt were in no way a costume. At least, she hoped.

  “I don’t know, it looks like you’re dressed up as a miracle worker or…” He put his hands on her shoulders and held her out, moving her side to side as though inspecting. “I’d say a model, but that doesn’t seem like your type of costume. You’re damn gorgeous, though. Maybe a—”

  Teagan wrapped her arms around him, pulling Noah back for another kiss that was less chaste than they’re not-so-chaste kiss before.

  “Mom,” Will called from the front of the shop. “I need help with my costume.”

  She drew back, letting her hands slide down the front of Noah’s chest. “Halloween duty calls.”

  “Oh, I know what you’re dressed as. That lady they make all those magnets and mugs for.”

  She turned around while walking away. “What lady?”

  “The world’s greatest mom.” He winked then donned his astronaut helmet.

  Teagan could’ve used a helmet of her own to mask what had to be the gooeyness that melted across her. If he wasn’t melting her with a kiss, the man was stealing her heart. She had no idea that his complimenting her parenting would be as endearing as it was intoxicating. Nor did she know that the little things, details like his matching costume and antiquated astronaut helmet, would cause her heart to latch onto his.

  It was one thing to swoon over a Navy SEAL who could play with a toddler or hold a baby. An image like that was sure to make anyone’s heart pound.

  But a tough guy like Noah, so far out of his league and doing whatever it took for a young girl who didn’t fit into the category of normal? There were easier ways to do what he was doing, and truthfully, Bella wouldn’t have noticed the difference. Teagan never would’ve known; the day would’ve gone fine.

  But he really cared. And so did she—about him, for him, and for them. He made it so easy to fall in love.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Will walked through the empty garage bay, wearing what Noah could only describe as everything. A cape hung down his back, and a panel of lights and gadgets lit up his chest. He had the leg of a werewolf but the shield of a superhero and the baton of a space galaxy defender. His wizard hat rested crookedly on top of a ghoul’s mask.

  “Will, that is, by far, the most clever costume I’ve seen,” Noah said.

  Bella whirled around to inspect her friend then turned to Noah, pulling behind her the stack of books that easily bested her by several inches. “I thought you said I would be the smartest recreation.”

  He stepped forward and wondered if one day, Bella would do something as great as Margaret Hamilton had done. No doubt she would. “There’s a difference between clever and smart, and categorically, the two of you are in vastly different costumes.”

  Bella’s head tilted as though she were funneling the definitions of clever and smart through her brain, then Will bopped her on the head with his glowing baton.

  “Categorically,” she said, “we are different, but the same level of smart and clever.”

  Noah nodded, agreeing because sometimes that was best with a woman, or girl, with arguments he didn’t completely understand and that had no long-term repercussions. At least, that was what he decided on the fly. “Sounds good, ladybug.”

  Will and Bella simultaneously cried out that she wasn’t a ladybug, as if they’d never heard his nickname for her before. On that note, Noah took his astronaut helmet and put it on his head, having nothing redeeming to offer to the conversation, and Bella turned as the bathroom door opened and Teagan emerged.

  Her skirt was long and flowing, as was the gauzy white shirt that clung to her figure. Necklaces gathered down the center of her shirt, and slender chain belts wrapped around her waist, dangling off her hips in a way that caught his eye, mesmerizing him with her every step. She clinked and jingled, as though soft bells played as she walked, and her wrists were decorated in bangle bracelets. Teagan had tied back her thick hair with a brightly woven scarf, and Noah had no word for her costume except entrancing.

  “Do you like?” Teagan spun. Her skirt flared, and the jewelry jangled.

  He loved it far more than he would admit in front of the kids. “Yup, but what are you? A pirate?” He had no idea.

  She pulled out the skirt, and her jewelry clinked. “Hmm. You’re in the right neighborhood.”

  “Spin again,” Bella cooed, seemingly enamored with the flowing skirt and colors.

  Teagan took a handful of her skirt, held it out, and swayed her hips side to side as they all laughed and enjoyed her costume. “Any guesses? I’m not a pirate, and it might have something to do with work. Or at least people chattering with me at work.”

  “You’re Hildie,” Noah announced.

  Teagan’s costume fit the bill. Brightly colored, check. Would scare Zane’s dog, check. Liked chatter, major check.

  She tipped back and howled. “That may be the funniest, most Eagle’s Ridge thing you have ever said.” But Teagan righted herself, giving him a quick headshake. “But no.” She turned to Will and Bella. “Please don’t repeat what Noah just said.”

  Oh yeah. Whoops. He’d never live that down. “Let’s keep those lips zipped. Please.”

  Neither kid seemed clued in, and they agreed.

  Teagan wriggled her jewelry again. “I’m a psychic! Don’t I look like those ladies who show up on late night commercials?”

  Both kids took turns jumping up and down and calling out “You do, you do.”

  Noah’s confused glance at them didn’t slow down their reaction. He was positive neither had seen a middle-of-the-night television commercial.

  Teagan wryly twisted her lips. “So many parents assume I can predict the future that I thought a little bit of school counselor humor would be fun.”

  “I love it,” he said.

  “It’ll be lost on the people who might be offended.” She crossed her fingers. “I hope.”

  There wasn’t anything about Teagan he didn’t adore. Even the way she worried about the people who drove her crazy. Noah walked toward his grinning psychic and took her hand in his. “Time to go?”

  “Yes! It’s time! Can we go now?” Will asked. “Please!”

  “Please?” Bella pulled her stack of books toward the front door. “I think it already started without us.”

  “It didn’t,” Noah said.

  The kids weren’t sold on that answer and peered out as though they could see through the dark and down the block to the start of the parade. He leaned close to Teagan. “What, pray tell, does this psychic foresee in the near future?”

  Her fingers intertwined with his as they ambled behind the kids. “A long walk for me in the dark with two awesome kids and then a long night for the two of us warming up.”

  “Is that what you think?” She didn’t know he planned on walking with the three of them. Nuts and Bolts used to hand out candy to the parade goers and people along the sidewalk. Hell, Teagan was the one who reminded him. But there was no way they were walking in that parade without him. He squeezed her hand tight. “Wait outside for me. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  Will and Bella were already outside and racing around, Will chasing Bella’s books on wheels, and Teagan pressed up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “Sure thing.”

  Then Noah walked behind the counter and pulled out two large buckets full of candy, stac
ked one on top of the other, and took his keys and cell phone from a shelf. He slipped them into one of the pockets of his astronaut costume.

  He lifted the heavy containers of candy and pushed out the front door of Nuts and Bolts, surprising Teagan.

  “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “Get ready.” He made way to the first orange tower of tractor tires and dropped the heavy container of candy to the ground.

  Teagan stepped closer. “For what?”

  He hoisted the first bucket, wondering how many pounds of chocolate, licorice, suckers, and taffy it took to fill each, and placed it on top of the straw-covered tower. Then he grabbed the second one, carried it to the other side of the parking lot entrance, and did the same in the other tractor tire tower he’d made to hold the candy.

  Noah dusted off his hands and looked at the two tire towers, topped with enormous buckets of candy. “That’ll do the trick.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Her excitement made his orange-painted fingernails worth it.

  “Nope.” Noah space-walked to the sound of the kids’ laughter toward the side of the shop where he’d painted “Help yourself” on the front of two rusted-out, abandoned car hoods. He moved each one to stand by a tire tower, securing them with the metal poles he’d attached.

  Teagan jingled and clinked her way to meet him in front of Nuts and Bolts, and he hooked his arm around her. “I don’t know about you, but I think it gets the point across.”

  “I can’t believe it.” She laid her head against his astronaut arm. “You’re not staying here?”

  He kissed the top of her head. “You’re going to have to work on your fortune-telling if you want to be the Eagle’s Ridge psychic. Because I’m walking with you all night long. And I’ll be up with you tonight too. All night long.”

  She swung in front of him so that their torsos touched, and her smile was sweeter than any of the sugar he had put out.

  “Is Teagan your girlfriend?” Bella called from across the parking lot.

  A grin cracked on his face, and he chuckled at their pint-sized audience and the commentary. There was no use trying to tell Bella that Teagan was his world because Bella would take him literally, and they’d never make it to the Halloween parade if Noah had to explain that he understood that Teagan was a person and not a planet. Nothing like a five-year-old who was smart as hell except when the topic wasn’t quite at her level yet. “I don’t know, Teagan. How do you feel about titles? Are you my girlfriend?”