Chapter 30 - Small Town Paradise
Chapter 30
Small Town Paradise
Noah typed The End on the last page of his first book. He loved writing. It didn’t seem like work at all. And he loved the little corner of his bookstore that was all his. He put his feet up on the old desk he’d moved down from the third floor. Even though he hadn’t known it was in the building, he knew the desk had always belonged here and not up there.
He hadn’t changed a thing on it. He’d kept the scars and scraps and the missing bottom drawer. It didn’t matter. The space was the perfect size for writing his manuscript. In the mornings in the winter, only a few people came into the bookstore. Some days he’d finish a chapter, but most of the time he’d only write a page as he watched his town wake up.
His eyes followed Cora waddling around, tidying up the bookshop. It was the perfect timing. The baby would be here in a few months, and his novel would be published by then. And Noah knew he probably wouldn’t have any more time for writing for a while. But it was okay. For once in his life, he was living not just watching.
The bookshop had become like Cora’s second home. She loved rearranging the bookstore, and Noah had a feeling he would be the next project. Every time his new sister-in-law would come in, Katherine would suggest Cora change something about him. Last week she’d been pointing out his hair. This week would probably be his baggy clothes. And Noah didn’t even want to hear about her changing his shoes. They’d been good to him for the past five years.
But he just smiled. He knew Cora didn’t care about his clothes. She loved him. And he didn’t mind his bugging sister-in-law. She just made his wife look more perfect.
Bear had torn out the walls of the three small apartments on the second floor of the mall and built them a space as big as a house, with windows facing Main and the town square and on the other side a quiet creek.
Katherine had decided it was her place to decorate the baby’s room. After all, she claimed she knew how to decorate, even if she didn’t really know what a baby would need. Eliza had painted a wall in the baby’s room with the characters from her favorite children’s books. Soon, they’d all be ready for the new arrival.
Noah smiled, imagining Bear as a grandfather. He knew his father-in-law would do great. Somehow Eliza had tamed the wild man. He’d even brought out his old suit for his youngest daughter’s wedding. Noah laughed as he remembered Bear saying that he’d bought it years ago for Katherine’s first marriage and worn it to every one since. But after Cora’s wedding, he was going to retire it.
Bear had told Noah after the arrests at Eliza’s farm that he’d seen the way Noah couldn’t seem to let go of Cora, even hours after the excitement was over. Noah remembered Bear standing up, pointing his fingers, and saying, “Marry my daughter.” And all Noah could say was “I plan to.”
Cora’s only answer had been a kiss on Noah’s cheek and a smile. Bear would know she’d already said yes.
Noah was watching the town let go of winter. The sun was shining and the Over the Hill walkers were restarting their circuit. He noticed their jogging suits were a little tight now. Eggnog and cookies in the winter and coffee and jogging the square in spring. The cycle was repeating.
He spotted Eliza’s pickup parked outside Bear’s shop and smiled. More and more she was coming into Honey Creek these days. She was slowly becoming part of their family and part of the town.
Once, one of the walkers asked her why she hadn’t married Bear. And Eliza had smiled and said, “He’s always been mine.”
Noah turned back to his desk and thought about how he’d run away from his parents and New York, and everyone thinking he was crazy. Who would have guessed that in this little town in the middle of Texas he would have found the love of his life? He knew, like many of the people in Honey Creek, he’d be happy here with Cora by his side. He didn’t need adventure or excitement. He wanted his life to read like a great book, one when you finished the last page, the story was complete.