Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Noah
At twelve thirty I picked Nellie up for our date. I had texted her after getting home from my parents’ house and asked if she’d wanted to start our date earlier, so we could have lunch and explore some shops downtown, and she’d seemed into the idea.
She was dressed casually in a pair of thick leggings and a long, cable knit sweater. Her winter coat was unzipped, and her hair was straight. She wore her red toque and matching scarf.
“You look warm and cozy,” I smiled when she stepped outside, tugging the door to her apartment shut behind her. She turned to face me, giving me a hesitant smile.
“Thanks, I didn’t know what we were doing…”
“What do you want to do?” I asked. I hadn’t booked a reservation this time. I figured there were enough places to eat downtown that didn’t require a reservation.
“I don’t know. Let’s start with getting lunch, then we can figure it out? Tabitha and Sage were talking a lot about Juan In A Million, and I’ve been craving that ever since.”
“Juan in a Million it is.” I loved pretty much everything on their menu, plus service was quick. We walked down the stairs and out to my truck, my hand on the small of Nellie’s back.
I opened the door for her, and she used the holy-shit handle to pull herself up and in. I grinned; there was nothing more attractive than a girl that knew how to climb into a lifted truck without assistance, even if I’d been hoping to offer a little assistance in the form of my hand on her ass.
There’d be plenty of time for that, I reminded myself, thinking about when she’d be further along.
Her rounded belly would make it harder to climb up for sure.
Then I started thinking about how I should probably invest in a more family friendly vehicle, but I forced myself to stop getting ahead of the situation.
Sure, I had long-term plans to keep Nellie and the baby in my life, but I didn’t need to go trade in my truck.
That would probably freak her out more than me telling her we had to draw up some official paperwork of our relationship, just in case, and tell Damien about her situation, since he would now be overseeing any day off requests.
My smile slipped a little as I walked around the front of my truck, but Nellie didn’t seem to notice.
Resolving to put those thoughts aside at least until later, I drove downtown, finding parking in one of the downtown lots. We had a bit of a walk to Juan In A Million, but it wasn’t too far.
Grabbing a hold of Nellie’s hand, I lead the way through the walkway between two buildings. A mural had been painted along the side of the one building, which housed the art gallery. The mural depicted a historic Hartwood Creek with witchy vibes, encompassing the folklore of the town.
“The downtown core is so cute,” Nellie remarked with a smile, taking it all in. “It reminds me of Guelph, a little.”
“How so?”
“It’s got the historic vibes, but it’s cozier,” she lifted her shoulder in a shrug, the movement lifting our hands.
“I guess that’s true, but I’ll have to take your word for it. I’ve never actually been to Guelph.”
“Really? Where’s the furthest you’ve been?”
“Probably Ottawa, for a hockey game,” I answered. “Haven’t had much of an excuse to travel.”
“Did you go to college?” Nellie asked, looking at me.
“Yeah, I took Business and Management at Springwood College, and I have a degree in accounting.”
“I guess I figured you didn’t have any formal training, since it seemed like you’ve always had a guaranteed job in the industry,” Nellie said, going for a teasing tone.
“I did have a guaranteed job,” I nodded, not denying it.
“It was important to my grandparents that the resort stayed in our family, but they made sure we understood that we needed to know what we were doing ahead of inheriting. If we hadn’t shown that we were determined and responsible, I don’t think it would have passed down to us.
Grandpa used to say that we were responsible for continuing the legacy in an honourable way, since we provide jobs to the locals.
All of us—Damien, myself, and Easton—had to go to college.
Damien took Hotel and Resort Management, and Easton has a diploma in Tourism. ”
“That makes sense,” Nellie nodded. “It must be nice, to have inherited such a legacy.”
“Sure, it is. But it’s not all fun and games. We have a lot to live up to. My grandparents were a cornerstone around here, giving back whenever and wherever they could to help Hartwood Creek to continue to grow while retaining its small-town charm.”
“Are they…” Nellie stopped herself, as if reconsidering asking that question.
“They passed away about five years ago, almost one after the other,” I replied.
I still missed them both, but I was thankful they’d lived until their late eighties and had gotten to meet Aria and Rowan before they passed away.
I was also relieved that neither one had to live long without the other, since my grandparents had always been so in love and had done everything together.
“I’m sorry,” Nellie sent me a sympathetic look, and I squeezed her hand in response.
Death was hard, especially when you loved someone, no matter how old that someone was.
“I’ll miss my grandparents for the rest of my life, but I’ll always cherish the memories I have with them. I was blessed to get so many years with them.”
“You are lucky,” Nellie said softly, glancing at me. “I never knew my grandparents.”
“No?”
“Nope. I have no childhood memories of them coming over for Christmases, or to birthday parties. My parents were older when they had me, and their parents had already passed away.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” My heart ached for Nellie.
We reached the doors to Juan In A Million, and I held it open for Nellie to walk in. The delicious scent of Mexican and Spanish cuisine wafted over to us, immediately making my mouth water.
Juan In A Million was decorated to embrace Mexican culture, with bright, vibrant colours and bold murals.
There was a glowing sign that read feed me tacos and tell me I’m pretty, and the focal point of the establishment was a beautiful floral dahlia mural of Frida Kahlo painted onto the far wall.
“Woah,” Nellie said, taking in the restaurant with wide eyes. “This place is amazing!”
“Wait until you try the food,” I whispered in her ear as the hostess approached us.
“Hello! Welcome to Juan In A Million!” the hostess, Lucia Lopez, said with a big, welcoming grin.
She led us to a booth near the front windows and took our drink order as we slipped out of our coats and sat down on the bright yellow booth seats.
“It smells amazing in here,” Nellie practically moaned, picking up the menu. She flipped it open, her eyes scanning the options. “I don’t know what I want, it all sounds so good.”
“I’m going to go with an order of beef chimichangas,” I told her. “I’ll share, if you want to order something else to try.”
“Chicken enchiladas?” Nellie asked, looking up at me hopefully.
“Sure. They give you massive portions, so we’ll be able to split everything and still probably have leftovers,” I chuckled.
Lucia chose that moment to reappear with our two ice teas. “Have you decided what you’d like to get?” she asked.
“Sure have, Lucia. We’ll take a plate of beef chimichangas, and the pretty lady will have chicken enchiladas. Extra sour cream, guacamole, and salsa, please.”
“Coming right up,” Lucia said, finishing taking down our order and heading to the kitchen.
“The mural is so beautiful,” Nellie said, taking in the beautiful artwork on the walls.
“Freyja Durand painted it. She owns the art gallery in town and has done a lot of the murals around Hartwood Creek. She painted the one in the alley, too.”
“That’s so cool!” Nellie’s face lit up with excitement. “Is it open today?”
“I’m sure it is, she usually offers classes on Saturday mornings and evenings. We could go check it out if you’d like.”
“That would be great. I love art.”
“Are you an artist?” I asked, thinking about the elaborate makeup she’d done for her Halloween costume.
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“Could have fooled me, your costume makeup was incredible. So incredible, I had a hard time recognizing you without it.” I smirked.
“I mean, I’m decent with face painting, special effects, and makeup, but I don’t draw or paint or anything.
I just…like art, I guess. Guelph had a lot of art galleries near where I used to live, and sometimes I’d go to shows to do something.
They always had wine and cheese, and I could pretend to be cultured for an evening.
” Nellie’s lips twitched, fighting a smile.
“Well, we’ll check it out.”
Nellie
After lunch, we put our leftovers in Noah’s truck and walked around downtown. Noah gave a more guided tour than the one I’d gotten from Sage. She’d mostly shown me her favourite stores, but Noah gave me a thorough history lesson on the businesses and the people of Hartwood Creek.
Our first stop was the art gallery since it was closest to where we parked.
Before we went inside, Noah filled me in on the history of it.
It was apparently opened by Mrs. Durand in the nineties, who happened to be Sage’s neighbour in the apartments above the hardware store.
I hadn’t met her yet, but Sage had shared a few funny anecdotes with me.
Her grandniece, Freyja, ran it now that Mrs. Durand had retired.
It was open, and Freyja was busy cleaning up from her morning art class with kids, and preparing for a paint night class. She came from the backroom when the door chimed, drying her hands on her smock.
“Can I help you? Oh! Hi Noah.”
Freyja’s face lit up at the sight of Noah. He gave her a returning smile and put his arm around me.
“Freyja, I’d like you to meet Nellie. She wanted to come check out the gallery after she found out you did the murals in Juan In A Million. Nellie, this is Freyja. We went to high school together.”
“And middle school, and public school.” Freyja laughed.