Chapter 23 Nick
Nick
“Come in,” I say over my shoulder towards the door. Looking to see who it is, I get up to greet Chris when he steps inside and kicks the snow off his boots. “Hey, I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”
“Well, it’s the busiest time of year around here, what do you expect? For me to come over every afternoon for tea and cookies?” he grumbles.
“Uh oh, someone’s cranky.” I spin around on my stool to face him. “What’s wrong?”
Shaking off the frigid winter chill, he walks towards the fireplace and stands in front of it, arms crossed over his chest, glowering.
“Nothing.”
I nod my head once and press my lips together.
“That was really convincing, buddy. A plus.” He glares at me as I step down from the stool and move towards the kitchen. “I’m making a pot of coffee, do you want a cup?”
“I’m fine. Thanks though.” When I turn to eye him he drops his hands to his sides. “A cup would be nice.”
“That’s what I thought,” I comment, turning away from him so he can’t see my smirk. Once the plastic machine starts to bubble and gurgle, I turn to look at him again from across the cabin. “So what brings you to my humble abode?”
“This is not your abode; this is my family’s rental that you’re living in for the time being. Time that is quickly running out, I might add. What are you doing once the holidays are over?”
“Uhhh, I haven’t really thought about that,” I say honestly.
“Well, what’s going on with you and Noelle?” He raises a brow at me and moves to take a seat at the counter. “Love that you blatantly ignored my request to leave her alone, by the way.”
“Hey, she came to me, okay? And things between us are fine, great actually.” I smirk to myself. “She told me she loved me.”
“Nick, she’s never stopped loving you, you moron,” he bites. “The question is not if she loves you, it’s if you are willing to stick around long enough to love her back.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I say with a defensive edge to my voice. “I told her I wasn’t leaving and I’m not.”
“You’re not?”
“No.”
“Did you happen to forget about your big, fancy firm back in Boston and your old historic home you’ve spent the last few years restoring?
You have a life outside of Evergreen, remember?
I know it can feel like living in a snowglobe here but there is a very real reality out there and it’s about to suck you back into it.
Living this little fake married life isn’t going to last much longer. ”
I force out a breath because I know he’s right.
I’ve had the same thoughts swirling around in my head since Friday night when I promised her I wouldn’t leave.
Making that kind of promise was reckless to say the least, seeing as how I do have an entire life outside of Evergreen Hollow to get back to.
“I know, dude. I know. I’m working on it.” I swallow hard and look when the coffee machine beeps that it’s done. Grabbing two mugs, I set one in front of him and then myself, pouring both of us a cup. He takes a sip and slumps into his seat giving me a contemptuous look.
“You better work fast, buddy. Christmas is next Thursday and the clock is ticking.”
Yeah. Don’t I fucking know it.
“I brought cookies.” Her voice sings as she steps inside holding a Christmas platter full of delicious looking treats.
I take the plate and kiss her before closing the door to shut out the freezing wind that’s whipping through the farm.
She’s staying over for the night like we talked about and has just gotten done at the inn for the day.
“These look amazing, did you make these?”
“God no,” she laughs, taking her coat off and hanging it up. “I stole them from the kitchen. Eve is trialing different recipes for Santa next week.”
I smile at the fact that she said they’re for Santa instead of for Christmas in general. Even at nearly thirty, I love how she still holds onto her childlike Christmas spirit.
“Eve. She’s a funny one,” I chuckle. Setting the plate down on the kitchen counter, I take one off the top and bite into it. “Holy shit, this is so good.”
“Aren’t they? She’s not convinced but that’s how she is.
Very much a perfectionist, that girl. Especially when it comes to what she makes.
” When I look at her sitting on the couch and smiling at me, I grab two more cookies and head to sit next to her.
She takes the one I offer her and moves closer to me once I’ve sat down.
“How was Holly House today?”
She nods and finishes her bite. “Good. People are in and out all week. Some people are checking in and staying through Christmas. Some are here for the weekend before going home just in time for their presents to be delivered. It’s busy but I love this time of year for exactly that reason.”
Wrapping an arm around her shoulder, I take another bite of my cookie and stare into the fireplace.
“I can’t believe Christmas is next week.”
I see her turn and look at me out of the corner of my eye.
“Yeah, me neither.” Her voice is small and I wonder if we’re on the same brainwave.
I turn and give her a reassuring smile. “Only another week until you become the new owner of Holly House. How do you feel?”
Her face suddenly becomes green and she grimaces at the fire. “Like I’m going to be sick.”
I laugh not because she’s worried but because she still doesn’t believe she’s ready for this. She’s been ready to run Holly House since we were in high school. The fact that she doesn’t see that is crazy to me.
“You’re going to do amazing, sugar. You love that place more than you love anything else. It’s going to be amazing.” I pat the top of her leg to reassure her and seal it with a kiss on her cheek.
“You think?” Her eyebrows pinch together as she looks over at me.
“I know,” I say with conviction.
We hold one another’s stare for a beat and I wonder if she’s going to bring up the elephant in the room.
Since Chris left earlier today, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about what happens after the holidays come to an end.
I want to stay here in Evergreen with her and show her how much I can be the man she deserves to have in her life.
But I also know I have a life back in Boston that I can’t keep on hold forever.
She finishes her cookie and lets out a long sigh. “The holidays always fly by. I feel like we wait and wait for them all year and then poof. They’re over in a heartbeat.”
“Then I guess we need to savor every second we have, don’t we?”
Her face morphs from a look of sadness into one of forced optimism, perfectly depicting how I feel in this current moment.
“Yeah, I guess we do.”
Wiping her hands on her jeans, she twists her hair around her shoulder and swings a leg over my lap.
She gives me a sultry smile before pressing her lips to mine.
As the fireplace roars behind us and another round of snow falls silently outside, we fall into one another, choosing to pretend like everything isn’t going to come to a crashing halt before we know it.
After finally peeling ourselves off the couch long enough to cook dinner and get cleaned up, we crawl into bed and fall asleep next to one another.
She’s stayed at the cabin with me a few times, each time resulting in some of the best sleep I’ve ever had.
Tonight is no different until an idea strikes me in the dead of night, pulling me from sleep.
Sitting up, I blink a few times and wonder why I haven’t thought of it until now.
I’ve heard a few times that the whole ‘sleep on it’ saying has some truth behind it.
After literally sleeping on what I should do and coming up with an almost perfect idea, I’m starting to believe it actually works.
I stand up from bed to go and grab my computer, the movement causing her to stir.
“Nick? Where are you going? Is everything okay?” I love how raspy her voice is when she first wakes up. Walking around the bed, I lean over and kiss her.
“Everything’s fine, sugar. I’ll be right back,” I whisper.
“Do you need my help? Here, I can get up.” I press my hand to her shoulder to stop her when she starts to stand.
“Go back to sleep, it’s a work thought. Nothing you can help me with. I promise, I’ll be right back.”
“Okay, you don’t have to tell me twice.” When she flops back down and closes her eyes, I press a kiss to her temple and move towards the living room.
Sitting down at my sketch table where I left my laptop, I crack it open and squint when the blue light shocks my eyes.
Opening an email, I type in my business lawyer’s contact and fill in the subject line.
Once it’s drafted and I read it twice, I send it off with a smile before heading back to my room to crawl in bed next to my wife.