Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The Monday before Christmas, Nora had taken Madison and gone to visit a couple of her cousins in Burlington, wanting to see a Christmas light show. It had been a fun day, out on her own, getting a bit of a breather now that the flurry of wedding planning was finished. There was plenty of holiday planning left to do—gifts to wrap and parties to go to, her own annual Christmas party to host, and shopping to finish. But she could get a good bit of that shopping done in Burlington, and she’d bundled Madison up, grabbed her list, and headed out for a refreshing day out of town.
Caroline had agreed to watch Chessie for the day, letting the puppy tear around her own small cottage. Jay had been thoroughly enthused by the idea, excited to run around in the snow with Chessie, and Toby had seemed as immediately taken by the small dog as Madison was. Nora had high hopes that by the time she got home, Chessie would be thoroughly worn out from playing with Jay all afternoon.
Her own day had been absolutely lovely. She’d gotten a peppermint mocha to go from The Mellow Mug before heading out, chatting with Melanie for a few minutes about holiday plans and Christmas parties, and sharing their excitement over the holiday. Nora was particularly excited for this Christmas, now that Madison was a little bit older, and could enjoy the holiday more. She was still very small, but Nora could see her getting excited about the lights and music and smells of Christmas, pictures with Santa and the sleigh that came through Main Street occasionally this close to the holiday for the children, with reindeer antlers on the horses’ bridles.
Driving to Burlington on the crisp, sunny winter day with Christmas music playing and the whole afternoon ahead of her had been wonderful, as well. She’d crossed off almost all of her Christmas list—a new pair of well-made leather work gloves for her father, a new hardback release that Rhonda had been excited to read, a travel journal for Margo to take on her honeymoon and a gift card to L.L. Bean for Caroline. That last one had become a bit of a tradition between the sisters—Caroline avoided shopping whenever possible and Nora loved it, so since she’d come home, they’d made an annual excursion of going shopping to refresh Caroline’s wardrobe after Christmas, using the gift card that Nora always got her. Otherwise, Caroline would always come up with something that money needed to be used for more, and would never actually go.
She’d picked up a video game for Jay and new toys for Toby, as well as an adorable little snowsuit that she couldn’t resist. She’d gotten Rhett a subscription for monthly flavored coffee beans, knowing Caroline had gotten him a new, fancy coffeemaker that he’d wanted, and for Spencer, she’d gotten an array of hot and barbecue sauces from a local place in Burlington, since he’d been trying to cook more for himself and Margo. For Aiden, she’d found a new watch, carved out of maple from a local jeweler, and she knew he’d love it. He’d only ever wear it out for special occasions, she knew, but it was a nod to his lifetime love of carpentry, and a special gift. She’d even had it engraved, inspired by Margo engraving her and Spencer’s wedding rings.
It was the last thing she picked up before heading to the light show, and her heart flipped a little when she saw the engraving carved underneath the face.
I found you at exactly the right time. Their wedding date was underneath it, and she smiled, thinking of the look on his face when he unwrapped it at Christmas.
She’d had a lovely lunch, just her and Madison, at a little Irish pub that she’d been to before with her mother and sisters. There had been a table open by the fireplace, and she’d gotten a lamb wrap with Dijon maple sauce and a glass of cider, people-watching as she luxuriously enjoyed her lunch with plenty of time to spare.
Her cousins had met her at the light show, which was a huge event, complete with live Christmas music and food trucks, as well as stations serving hot apple cider, mulled wine, and hot cocoa. They’d reminisced over how wonderful Margo’s wedding had been, and Nora had enjoyed getting to describe all the little details she’d labored over for so long planning it. There were bigger weddings, bigger events that she’d planned when she lived in Boston, but none of them had ever felt as special to her.
After the light show, they all hugged farewell, and she headed back home to Evergreen Hollow, packages all piled up in the backseat. She’d enjoyed the day out, but she was eager to get home and see Aiden. And she was also a tiny bit concerned that Chessie would be driving him mad. Caroline would have dropped her back off at the house by now, and while Nora was hopeful that the puppy would have gotten her energy out, she also knew that it was sometimes seemingly boundless.
She walked in, setting her bags down as she knocked the snow off of her boots and shed her coat and gloves. The house was quiet other than the low hum of the television turned on as background noise, and as she carefully stepped into the living room, she saw that it was empty.
Aiden must have gone up to bed, she thought, switching off the television and dampening the fire, storing her shopping bags in the linen closet until tomorrow when she would go through and wrap them all. There were no sounds of barking or other life, the kitchen entirely clean, and she smiled fondly as she realized that Aiden had spent some of his evening cleaning up for her. He would have come in late, finishing up the last of his projects before he took a break for the holidays, and she imagined he’d probably brought home takeout for himself from the Grill. But still, there were obvious signs that he’d cleaned the kitchen and tidied the living room for her, and she felt a wave of affection at the thought.
Carefully, she carried Madison upstairs, staying as quiet as she could as she put her daughter down to sleep. She turned on the monitor and nightlight, waiting for a few minutes until Madison’s breathing was soft and even before slipping back out into the hall, heading to the master bedroom.
As soon as she stepped inside, she saw Aiden. He was sleeping peacefully atop the covers, Chessie curled up with one paw over her nose on the pillow, buried in the crook of his neck.
It was an utterly adorable sight. Nora stood there for a few moments, taking it in, enchanted by the picture of her handsome husband and the adorable puppy cuddled up there together, snoozing away. She couldn’t quite pull herself away, not until Chessie heard her shift against the doorframe and opened her eyes, tail immediately wagging enthusiastically as she saw Nora.
The puppy twisted around before Nora could head to get her, licking Aiden’s cheek as if to wake him up and say look, Nora’s home! He groaned at first, but Chessie didn’t stop, and his eyes flickered open a moment later.
“Stop that, you,” he grumbled teasingly, grabbing the puppy and putting her in the crook of his arm as he rolled over. He saw Nora then, walking toward the bed, and a broad smile creased his handsome face.
“You know,” Nora said with a small smirk, “Bethany talked us into fostering Chessie—and into continuing to foster her when she was being such a pain—because she convinced me it would be good for Madison. But I think she’s good for you .” She couldn’t help but smile, seeing Chessie tuck herself closer to Aiden’s broad chest. “Looks like you need her as much as Madison does.”
“She’s charming,” Aiden admitted, ducking his head to avoid another lashing from Chessie’s tongue. The puppy squirmed out of his grip, bounding across the mattress toward Nora as she headed to the dresser to change for bed. “But we’ve all gotten attached to her, I think.” A smile played across his lips. “We should just adopt her already. Tell Bethany that we’re keeping her. I think she assumes as much—she still has the pictures up at the groomer’s, but I think she’s all but given up on finding Chessie a different home. One time I stopped by the general store and mentioned it, she said she thought Chessie had already found one.”
“She said the same thing to me,” Nora admitted. “But Aiden, she’s disrupted our schedule so much. We had everything down perfectly with Madison after last Christmas, and things were so peaceful all year. We really got into a rhythm. Now it’s all been upended, and I’m falling behind, chasing both of them around all day. What about when I start adding more to my planning calendar after the new year? Now that Margo’s wedding is finished, I planned on taking a couple more clients from here, or nearby. I met one woman tonight at the light show in Burlington who was interested in having me plan a graduation party for her son.”
“That’s fantastic!” Aiden smiled at her encouragingly. “We said there’d be more time for you to get back to work next year, with Madison being a little older. It sounds like that’s all falling right into place.”
“Right—but it’s all hectic now because of Chessie. She’s not as crazy as a second baby, but she’s a little tornado. She gets into more trouble than Madison sometimes, and she can certainly be just as loud,” Nora pointed out.
“It’s just a learning curve,” Aiden said confidently. “There was one with Madison, finding a rhythm with her, and like you said, we did it. We got into a groove, and everything was fine. We can do the same thing adding a puppy to the mix. Besides,” he added with a grin. “It’s good practice. For Madison, sharing her time and our attention, and for us—you know, in case we decide to have another baby.”
Nora rolled her eyes playfully. “Bethany said the same thing in regards to that too.”
“She’s very smart.” Aiden nodded sagely. “We should take her advice.”
He broke off, turning to look curiously under his pillow. “What is that—why is there a sock under my pillow?”
Nora started laughing. “It’s from Chessie, I’m sure,” she said between giggles. “She upended that laundry basket and took it all over the house before I caught her. I’m going to be finding what that little rascal scattered through the house all the way until next Christmas.”
Aiden chuckled. “It’ll be like shopping. Finding items we forgot we had all year long.”
Nora was still laughing as she sank down onto the edge of the bed, Chessie immediately clambering into her lap. “Okay,” she said after a moment, scratching behind the puppy’s ears as she looked over at Aiden. “I give in.”
Aiden grinned, reaching for her to pull her back against the mound of pillows with him, Chessie still in her lap. “Does that mean…?”
“Yes.” She leaned over to kiss him, Chessie jumping up to lick her face at the same moment. “We can keep the puppy.”