32. Nora
32
NORA
T hat was pretty much the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. I never would have expected a single guy to be able to put together such a thoughtful gift that, frankly, almost any little girl would love. Heck, I’d still like to have a reading tent with cozy blankets and fairy lights. It would be the centerpiece of my apartment and I’d never want to come out—who needs a job?
The party moved inside once the gifts were opened and the food cleaned up, everyone ready for a few minutes in the air conditioning. I lean into Alex’s side and pat his chest as we watch Olivia walk by, wrapped in one of her new fuzzy blankets.
“Good job, Xander. I think you impressed the birthday girl with your gift.”
“Thank you, Rose. I aim to please.” He tightens his grip on my hip and shoots me a look that makes me wonder if there’s any double meaning to his comment.
“I was thinking,” he says, leaning down so only I can hear his quiet words. “We should go on a date.”
I glance up at him, a slow smile curving up my lips. “I think that sounds like an excellent idea. When did you have in mind?”
“My birthday is next week,” he tells me, and I try to act surprised. This is exactly what Maddy said would happen.
“Oh, really? I didn’t know that.”
“So I was thinking we could go out for a birthday dinner after I get off work.”
“I can’t,” I say quickly. “I’m working late.”
He gives me a bemused smile. “You didn’t even hear what day it is yet.”
“I guess I didn’t,” I say, forcing a chuckle to cover my discomfort. I won’t be pursuing a career as an undercover operative anytime soon. I don’t know how I kept that secret from my parents for so long. I’m about to blow this surprise party in less than two hours. “But I have the late shift every day this week.”
“Oh, sure,” he says. “Yeah, no problem. Maybe next weekend?”
“Yeah, that should work.” I stifle a sigh of relief. Disaster averted, although my deception did cost me. I actually have the early shift on Monday and Wednesday, and now, thanks to my big mouth, I won’t be hanging out with Alex those evenings. But it will be worth it to see the look on his face when he walks through the door on Friday.
“But then that means I won’t see you all week.” Alex frowns. “Maybe we could have a breakfast date instead. How about Monday? I know a place that makes fantastic eggs benedict.”
Thank goodness, because a week sounds long to me too. “I can’t wait.”
We stay a little longer, chatting with Alex’s family, and just as we are about to take our leave, Olivia reminds Alex of his promise.
“Are you ready for your ice water, Uncle Alex?”
Alex cringes. “I was kind of hoping you’d forget about that.”
“Well, I didn’t,” she sings. “I’ll go get it right now.”
Chris claps Alex on the shoulder. “I’ll make sure she sticks to her end of the bargain to only fill a glass and not a bucket.”
“Thanks,” Alex says ruefully. “I’ll go await my fate outside.”
“And I’ll get my camera ready.” I lift my phone with a grin and follow him out the front door. He seats himself on the bottom porch step, and I back down the walkway, kneeling to get the perfect angle. I flash him a thumbs up. “All set.”
He rolls his eyes. “I’m glad you’re enjoying this.”
The door opens behind him, and Olivia pops out with a large plastic cup filled with water. More interestingly, she’s closely followed by Rowan and Seth who are lugging two five-gallon buckets. Apparently, the volume restriction only applied to Olivia. I press my lips together and tap my screen to start videoing. I don’t want to miss this.
She stops behind Alex. “Okay, here I go.”
“I’m read—” Alex’s claim is cut off by a wall of water soaking every part of him as all three kids dump their vessels simultaneously. The look of shock on his face as he sputters is priceless.
Alex stands up and shakes his head like a dog, spraying water across his niece and nephews who leap back with shouts and squeals of mirth. “Okay, okay, y’all had your fun.” Then he turns and lunges for me, pulling me in for a very wet embrace. “I can’t believe you let them try to drown me like that.”
I laugh and try to wrestle away from him, but he holds me fast. “Really? It definitely seems like something I would do.”
“Your true nature is slowly being revealed, and it is devious,” he says. “But you’re in luck. I like sassy women. It’s a prerequisite in this family.” He releases me with a grin.
“I’m not sassy! I just didn’t want to ruin a little girl’s fun on her birthday.” I pout at him. He leans in and presses a quick, firm kiss to my pout that cheers me right up.
“Get a room!” Maddy calls from the front porch, and all the adults laugh.
Alex waves her off. “We’re leaving before anything else happens to me. Thanks for the tacos.”
“Anytime, bro. See you again soon, Nora?”
“See you soon,” I promise, wondering if Alex’s surprise party next week will be as lively as this one.
Alex opens the door of his SUV for me, and I climb inside and buckle up. The driver’s side door opens and Alex drops something into the floorboard behind his seat before sliding his very shirtless self into the car. I cut my eyes away, not wanting to be caught admiring his toned torso, but my gaze drifts back after only a few seconds. Alex smirks as he buckles up, clearly not concerned with his modesty.
“Some party, huh?” I can’t help filling the silence with the inane comment as he backs into the street and starts toward his house.
“Mmhmm. Hope you had a good time.”
“I did. Your family is great.”
“Meh. They’re okay.” His fond smile belies his indifferent words.
We pull up in front of his house, and I jump out, clicking unlock on my car and slinging my bag across the console to the passenger seat. I turn and look at Alex, who stands with his hands in his pockets. He leans one hip against my car with one foot crossed over the other, looking casual, alluring—and still shirtless. His eyes bore into me and his lips quirk up in a half smile, somehow both tender and expectant.
“See you Monday?” I ask, taking a step closer.
He nods, withdrawing one hand from his pocket to run down my arm and entwine our fingers. He tugs me forward and leans in, angling his head to skim his lips gently over mine once, twice, before pulling back and resting his forehead against mine. “Monday can’t come soon enough.”
My heart swells with contentment as I get in my car.
As soon as I get home, I arrange to work a double shift on Sunday in order to get Friday off for Alex’s birthday.
Both shifts fly by in anticipation of our upcoming breakfast date, and despite the long weekend, I feel surprisingly energized on Monday morning as I drive across town.
Alex texted me yesterday, giving me an address and telling me to wear walking shoes because he’d rethought his eggs benedict idea. I plugged the address into my GPS app without looking to see where it would lead and now I’m regretting that lapse of attention. It looks like I’m supposed to turn here, but the road approaches a stone monument of some kind that looks like a piece of an old castle, then curves to the right past a large building with the words “Fort Negley Visitors Center” on the side. I’m about to follow the lefthand turn that will take me back out onto the main road when I spot Alex’s SUV parked to the right. He steps out of his vehicle as I pull in beside him. I pop out and sling my crossbody bag over my shoulder.
“What are we doing here?” I ask, puzzled. “I was promised breakfast.”
He leans in for a quick peck on my lips and grins. “I’m a man of my word. I brought your breakfast to you. Fingers crossed you won’t be disappointed.”
He’s wearing a t-shirt and cargo shorts, and I admire the outline of his muscular calves on display as I follow him to the passenger side where he rummages around in a white paper sack and produces a chocolate croissant and an iced coffee. I reach for them with a smile. “I approve. So what are we doing here?”
“I got to thinking, and all we seem to do when we’re together is eat and talk.” He balances his own coffee and croissant in one hand while he shuts his door with the other. “So I decided today we would eat and talk and walk . Have you ever been to Fort Negley before?”
“No.” I take a bite of my croissant and look around with renewed interest. Now that I know I’m at the right place, I’m curious.
“C’mon, I’ll show you around.” I follow Alex as he walks past the visitor’s center and through the stone columns at the entrance. “It was built in 1862 after Union troops captured Nashville, and there’s not a lot left, but there are paths going past what there is.”
It’s a beautiful morning to be out walking, the temperature still comfortable at this time of day. A thin haze of fog hangs in some of the low-slung areas, but I know it will melt away quickly as the warm, golden rays of early sun currently caressing us strengthen to a hot blaze.
We chat quietly as we trek through the fort, sipping our coffee and lingering over educational plaques positioned beside the asphalt trail. It’s remarkably peaceful here, and I can see why this spot was chosen for a fort. The view is incredible. You could see someone coming from miles away.
After an hour, we return to the parking lot and sit in Alex’s car, squeezing in a few more minutes before he has to leave for work.
“Thanks for bringing me here. We should go out and do stuff more often.”
“We should,” he agrees with a smile. “Where else would you like to go? Have you been to the Parthenon? The Hermitage?”
I shake my head. “No. I’m embarrassed to admit that I haven’t done many ‘touristy’ things since I came to Nashville. At first, I was busy with school, then with work, and then…the truth is, I didn’t want to go do things by myself.”
“You didn’t have any friends to go with?”
I look out the windshield to avoid his eyes. “I don’t make friends very easily. I had a few friends in school, but then when all that recipe stuff went down, well, I guess they didn’t think it was a good idea to stay associated with me. I’m friendly with my coworkers, but I’m not really friends with any of them. I do have Annie, Maddy, Kayla—all my book club friends.”
“How did you get connected with them anyway?” he asks.
“Kayla invited me. I was in the waiting room at my dentist’s office, and she came up to me to tell me I was reading one of her favorite books. We got so into our discussion that the hygienist had to call her name three times before she finally went back.” I smile at the memory.
He chuckles. “That sounds just like her to walk up to a perfect stranger like that.”
“She’s a good friend. But we don’t get to hang out a lot because she’s busy with work and being a wife and soon a mother. Same with Annie and Maddy. It’s fine, though,” I hasten to add, lest he think I’m angling for a pity party. “I don’t mind being by myself most of the time.”
“Hmm. Well, you have me now,” he says, holding out a hand. I place my hand in his, and he grips it gently, rubbing his thumb over the back of it. “I have all kinds of places I want to take you. I’ll be your Nashville tour guide.”
“I can’t wait. You know, I never really intended to stay in Nashville.” I look at Alex and find him listening quietly, his gaze fixed on mine. I’m not even sure why I’m telling him this. I guess I just like letting him know me. “My plan was to get my certification and move on. That’s probably the main reason I didn’t make friends, now that I think about it. Why create ties in a place you don’t plan to stay in?”
“And what about now?” His voice is low and intense, and I know what he’s asking. Am I still planning to leave? Especially now that we’re together?
“I find I’m feeling more at home here than ever before,” I reassure him with a smile. “I have a boyfriend now, and with the video channel and blog growing—let’s just say I like the direction I’m headed.”
He grins. “Good.”
He lets go of my hand to cup the back of my neck and pull me in for a kiss that gets my whole body tingling. I’ve only been kissed a handful of times in my life before Alex—if you don’t count that mouth bump with Sammy, which I don’t—and none of them were ever like this. Every time our lips meet, even if it’s only for a second, electricity jolts through me and I feel inexplicably drawn to Alex. Whenever we touch, whether it’s a hug, kiss, or just holding hands, it feels like two magnets snapping together. It feels…right.
Alex pulls back with a sigh. “I really need to get to work. I have a call scheduled first thing, so I can’t be late.”
I pat his cheek. “Thanks for the fun morning. We’ll have to do this again soon.”
“Definitely.”
I climb out of his car and into mine. He doesn’t pull out until I do, following me to the road where we part ways as I turn right and he goes left.
I can’t stop smiling and sighing happy sighs as I drive to work for my shift until I pull into the parking lot. My mood sags a bit as I prepare to walk inside. The minor discontentment that I’d felt with my job a few months ago has been steadily rising parallel to the growth of the From Couch to Potatoes audience. It’s getting harder and harder to go in there and make the same meals over and over, and I’ve been finding myself more and more distracted as I work, my mind occupied with ideas and lists for things to try or that I need to work on for the video channel and blog.
For the gazillionth time, I think about the question my mom asked me. Could I make content creation into a full-time gig? In some ways, it seems too good to be true, but it also is beginning to feel like something that might be within reach if I stand on my toes and carefully stretch for it. These last few months of working on a project I’m passionate about alongside a guy I’m crazy about have begun to restore the confidence and hope that I lost when I got booted from the culinary program. I’m not proud of the way I let that experience get me down and put a lid on my ambition and dreams, but now that the lid has been removed? It feels like anything could be possible.
I still need this job to fund my life while my side hustle is growing. But one day? Maybe that won’t be the case. I decide to let the dream of something more carry me forward through today.