Chapter Twenty-One
NOAH WAS HAPPY to watch Rachel work at a craft she obviously loved.
She hadn’t said she was his—yet. But he couldn’t be more proud to see her accomplishments manifest right here in Service with the folks who loved her best. He’d forgotten the joy they once shared in building together.
Witnessing her create for this wedding, hearing her enthusiasm for the redesign, affirmed his belief that Rachel belonged here in Service with him by her side.
Perhaps when he retired from the firehouse, they could start a business and work for themselves.
He knew she enjoyed her work in San Diego, but home came first in his book. It was past time the hometown crowd saw her talent. Back when they were kids, her skills with wood, textiles, and mud pies had been undervalued. Anyone with eyes could appreciate her skill with a tool belt and design.
The real magic happened as Rachel transformed the barren patch of grass into a rustic wedding postcard of white-painted wine barrel tables, burlap-wrapped mason jar centerpieces, and soft earth tones to add a touch of casual elegance.
Not everyone shared the joy of working together with their fellow neighbors.
He grinned as Cheyenne stomped to her girl truck, a speckled trail of red gel polish dotting the construction site like a crime scene.
Pete didn’t appreciate Rachel soiling his custom shirt, either.
She showed more mercy than Noah possessed.
His friend, far from stupid, had acted with the intention of making Rachel jealous. But why? Noah had enough friendship to spread on both sides of the bread, best friend and best girl. Besides, no one, not even Pete, could distract Noah from his mission of making Rachel his, forever.
“I can’t believe you intentionally dirtied up two of our fellow citizens of Service.”
“Believe it. Cheyenne had it coming. Showing up on my farm, talking about helping hands and my spots. Who does she think I am?”
“I love your freckles. And who do you want her to think you are?”
“Rachel ‘Not to be toyed with’ Johnson.”
Noah chuckled. “Bit long for a name tag. How ’bout, ‘Noah’s girlfriend’?”
“Are you seriously trying to distract me right now? Do you see this hammer in my hand?”
“You’ve been distracting me for days. Turnabout’s fair play. Right, Six?”
“I swear you’re worse than Ricky when he gets his tail feathers in a ruffle.”
“Like Ricky. A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.”
“Is that a Calvary man motto?”
“It is when I want someone.”
“Noah.” She glanced over in warning. They’d made progress on the wedding arch. Rachel had opted for a square over a round for ease of construction. The latticework would be added before they raised the structure and anchored it in place.
He gave her a wide-eyed stare. “Rachel.”
She sighed. “Can we just agree that we’re still sexually compatible, that it may be a lifelong affliction, and then ignore it?”
He narrowed the distance between them. “Now, what good would that serve? All I’ve been thinking about is kissing the ever-loving, poured-into-those-jeans curves out of you.”
She bent at the hip, tempting him with her derriere. “These jeans?”
“Aa ha, that would be them,” he said, hooking her around the waist.
A trio of ladies from the Black Bear staff chose that second to walk by the open barn doors, carrying rectangular pans covered in foil wrap.
One stage-whispered, “I guess last night wasn’t enough for him.”
“Gracie Lou, you and Caleb were doing the same thing in the storeroom not two hours ago,” came Mrs. Lois’s tinny soprano.
Noah turned, waving at their audience. “Afternoon, Lois… Gracie Lou. We’re working on the new redevelopment plan after this. Any suggestions?” Not that he fully embraced Rachel’s plan, but he had agreed to work as a team. To her credit, the town needed more than two upgrades.
Laughter from both women reached them. “Another restaurant,” Gracie Lou shouted, then added, “You two have fun redeveloping each other.”
Rachel buried her face in his chest, her skin blushing a beautiful rose behind her freckles. “Noah.”
She said his name with all breathy vowels and heated syllables.
“I’m listening,” he whispered, lowering his nose to brush along the shell of her ear.
“I’ve been working hard all day,” she whispered.
“So have I.” He’d lifted, rolled, tossed, and raised more hay bales and wood, all the while trying to keep his own under wraps. Watching Rachel dispatch Cheyenne’s shenanigans with a determined scowl had him crowing louder than Pretty Ricky.
She leaned closer. “I’m sweaty, too.”
“Even better,” he chuckled.
“You’re not going to give up?” It was a question, but Noah had one of his own.
“Are you gonna give in?” He knew her answer, but—
“Maybe.”
His breath caught like fine cotton on a rusty nail. He met her eyes. “Don’t tease, Six. I swear I’m not strong enough to fight what I’m feeling.”
“Have I ever led you on?”
“There was that thing when you dumped your taco down my shirt in junior high for talking with Prudence.”
“I’ll do real damage if I catch those haunted hazel eyes on anyone but me, Noah Calvary.”
“Of that, you have nothing to fear.”
“Don’t I, Noah? Thousands of miles have a way of making relationships messy. A part of me has always considered you a friend. Let’s not jeopardize our friendship for a couple of feel-good days in a fantasy.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Whatever. You know what I mean.” She went back to her task.
“Six, do you remember the time you designed our future house out of mud and popsicle sticks?”
She stopped hammering a nail into place. “I remember having to stop construction because you vomited after the tenth popsicle.”
“True, but I didn’t quit.”
She laughed then. “After your mother found you hurling down by the plunge pool, she marched me up the mountain…” she trailed off, but Noah knew the rest.
“You spent the next week under punishment for force feeding me. Your dad forbade you from coming to the plunge pool,” he mused. Noah had cried when his mom informed him that Rachel would have to stay home for seven whole days.
“My dad woke me up an hour early every morning to milk the cow and feed the horses before school.”
“I remember,” he said, brushing one stubborn curl away from her face to tuck it behind her ear. She turned her head to look at him. Gosh, he wanted to kiss her… he wanted to run away, just the two of them. “What happened next?”
“I wanted us to run away together.”
“Some days, I wish we had, Six.” Then he never would’ve lost her.
She took his hand in hers. “You didn’t want to leave Calvary land because you’d promised me a house,” she whispered.
“That I did.”
“And a Calvary man keeps his word.”
“My word is my bond.”
She squeezed his hand. “You emptied your savings and bought us walkie-talkies.”
“And you had to climb on the roof to use yours.”
“Every night.” She smiled more to herself than to him. “I’d wait till my dad turned off my bedroom light, then tiptoe to my window and ease outside.”
“And I’d be standing in my bedroom with those General Store binoculars, waiting.”
“Yeah, you never missed a day.”
It was true. Even after their breakup in high school, he’d look north, searching the roof for his Rachel.
“Is that why you looked for me Saturday night?”
She dropped her head, as if his question embarrassed her. Noah knew better. He waited till she was ready to give him an answer.
“Yes,” she sighed. “Yes, I climbed out on that new roof looking for…” Looking for the boy she loved and the man who still loved the ground she floated above.
“Let’s go home.” She paused as if his words had a paralyzing effect. “Six?”
“You want me to come home with you again?’
“Saturday night doesn’t count.” He smirked. “You showed up under emergency circumstances.”
“You’re cheating, Mr. Calvary.”
“At least finish the tour of the house that I built… in our spot. No mud piles and construction paper. The house is real. How I feel is real.”
“Noah, don’t say stuff like that. It’s either going to fill my head with wild ideas or set me up for the biggest crash when it’s time to leave here.”
“You say ‘fill your head.’ What about your heart? ’Cause I want the place in your heart. And I know my grammar isn’t the best, but I’m talking your whole heart, not a piece. I want the whole nine. Make that ten.”
“Nine is enough,” Rachel corrected.
Ricky strutted up, releasing an indignant squawk, as if personally offended by Noah’s questionable math skills.
Rachel laughed. “See… even Ricky knows it’s ten is more than you can handle.”
“For you, I’d find a way.” Rachel swallowed at the intensity of his stare. He was serious. Words of protest escaped her, so she nodded. That seemed to satisfy him. “Tonight, you come home with me. Plan to stay.”
“Just one night.”
“For starters, yes.”
“Oh, don’t try to sweet-talk—”
He didn’t wait for her to finish. Instead, he covered her lips with his. When he pulled up for air, he asked, “What were you saying about don’t…? ”
She tangled her fingers in his hair and tugged until his lips brushed hers. “I said, don’t stop.”
“Mooooo,” Bessie, Matt’s milking cow, lowed in the background, followed by something large stepping into something with a wet, splat.
“Bessie had awful timing.”
“Hmm.” Rachel shrugged. “I think she’s right on time.” And then Rachel Johnson pulled Noah in for the kiss he’d worked for all day.