Chapter 11 Nora
NORA
The snow had turned Macon into something picturesque, with snowdrifts and icicles hanging over storefront windows. Lampposts dusted with white powder added with the holly and lights strung up along Main Street created a replica of every Christmas Hallmark movie ever made.
But it was absolute shit to work in.
“Nora, lift your arms higher!” Rae called from below, wearing white, fuzzy earmuffs, a long pea coat and a disgustingly bright engagement ring.
Lifting my arms so the lights would catch on the hooks Davis had set in place, I ensured the wire was secure.
“Why are you out here, anyway?” I groused, slowly climbing down the ladder one step at a time.
Rae flipped through a few papers on her clipboard while replying in a monotone voice.
“Why wouldn’t I be out here?”
Lifting the ladder, I made an unladylike noise as I dragged it to the next section where I had to hang another set of lights.
“Oh, I don’t know because you got engaged last night, and you should be off planning your wedding and not here.
” I tried hard not to let the smallest amount of bitterness through my tone.
Just because my evening had ended with my crush painting my face and chest with his release, only to then kick me out of his house, didn’t mean I couldn’t still be happy for my best friend.
She had loved Davis most of her life, so the fact that he had proposed last night was a big deal.
She should be off celebrating, not here, in the town square, working her fingers to the bone, setting up for another big event.
My best friend was single-handedly responsible for helping get this town back on its feet, and since then she’s tried to maintain and improve on that.
It wasn’t her job, and yet she’d become indispensable.
Now that the businesses were making profits, they were paying her for the ideas she’d think up to generate sales.
The town was having one last hurrah before the cold really set in, and tourism slowed down.
All the local shops were opening their booths, and a band was scheduled to set up for the winter carnival.
Since my mother wasn’t participating this year, I was looking forward to enjoying the festivities instead of having to help in her booth.
But it seemed my best friend was planning to rope me back in.
“I’m not planning this wedding until I’m sitting at a table with you, and a thousand notebooks with at least two packages of fresh Sharpie pens. You know I want to use black and gold at least once.”
I turned my back and rolled my eyes. I loved her.
I really did, but the girl needed to start using Pinterest, plain and simple.
She was stuck in the early nineties, and I had no idea how I was supposed to manage all that as her maid of honor.
She hadn’t asked yet, but it was already assumed.
Or was it? Had she asked someone else, did she have other friends?
Right as I was about to ask her if she’d picked someone, she piped up excitedly.
“Oh good, coffee is here!”
Still perched on the ladder, I heard the sound of familiar laughter drawing closer to our little spot in the square.
Searching the whitewashed world below, my gaze landed on Davis, wearing a dark beanie and a thick coat, and carrying two coffees.
The person next to him wore a forest green beanie over his golden, surfer hair, a brownish gold Carhartt jacket, and like Davis, he carried a coffee in each hand.
I took in the casual way they talked, and their long strides that didn’t seem hindered by all the snow, and wondered why Colson was with my best friend’s fiancé. Surely, he wouldn’t be joining us for the day…maybe he was passing by.
Davis stopped in front of Rae, handing her a coffee while leaning in to kiss her.
His companion bypassed the couple and headed straight for me.
Quickly averting my gaze, I acted incredibly invested in the construct of stringed lights while the man below me came to a stop and tilted his head back.
“You want to come down for some coffee?”
My gut somersaulted at the mere idea of Colson bringing me my own cup as though we were a couple, like our friends. My heart was thumping wildly, likely realizing the trail of red flags he’d left in his wake, and my brain was simply not having it.
“No,” I replied evenly.
His head remained tilted as he peered up at me.
“Nora…” He sighed as though I had exasperated him already.
I ignored him because the dude was an asshole. Plain and simple.
He was bossy, arrogant, and always treating me like a piece of luggage he could grab, fill with all sorts of emotional shit, then toss me out of the way when he was done with me.
Well, I was officially done with him.
“So, you’re not talking to me then, is that it?” he called in a reserved tone, almost as though he didn’t want anyone to overhear us…or like he was ashamed.
I ignored that too because I had no idea how to answer. I wasn’t so upset that I truly couldn’t speak to the man, I just had nothing to say.
What he’d done the night prior spoke volumes.
And I’d heard enough.
One could only feign interest in stringed lights for so long before they had to climb down and move to the next section. So, with a bit of a reluctant breath, I did just that.
Once my feet were on the ground, my nosy, grumpy neighbor crowded me.
“Look, about last night…” He leaned close enough that I had to tip my head back to see him.
The heat from the coffee pressed into my chest through the opening of my coat, but I felt the burn all over. He was too much this early in the day, and way too much after what happened last night. We needed at least a week before we could go back to acting like nothing happened.
“I was wondering if we could talk somewhere private?”
The audacity of this man.
I spent all night battling tears and hating myself for it because he’d treated me like a complete stranger who’d asked him for the hookup…like he did me a favor but was so reluctant to do so.
Right as I was about to lay into him, someone squealed from behind us.
“It looks like a Christmas movie!”
I peered around Colson’s massive stature to see Mila, Maddy, and Seraphina all walking toward us with wide eyes and gaping mouths.
Their dad walked up behind them, sipping from a cup of coffee, while looking at his cell.
The girls were bundled, head to toe in winter gear, but their dad looked like he was about to walk into a gym, with sweats, a beanie, and a light jacket.
“Oh good, you guys made it.” Colson said, stepping away from me and walking to greet his friend.
Rae and Davis walked over, closing our little circle.
Colson rubbed the top of Maddy’s head while addressing our group. “Hope you guys are okay with me inviting them along today.”
I was beyond confused, which I tried to convey to Rae, who seemed to be purposely ignoring me.
“Of course it is, the more the merrier!” Rae beamed happily.
Her gaze bounced once to me, but it flitted away before I had a chance to convey that I did not agree with, nor did I understand, what was going on.
“Okay, if you need to use the restroom, you better do it now. The coffee shop is right over there, otherwise you’ll be going in the snow when we get on the mountain,” Rae explained, while everyone talked among themselves. I took the opportunity to pull Rae away by her arm.
“Ow,” she whined, but I pinched her for good measure.
“You did not tell me that Colson was coming, or for that matter, his friend Liam.”
Rae rubbed her arm, glaring. “I knew you’d overreact if I told you about him, and as far as his friend goes, Colson asked last night if the girls could tag along because Liam has to work.”
Why did my stupid heart soften at that?
“You still should have told me.” I crossed my arms, being dramatic and immature.
Rae smiled and rubbed my arm encouragingly. “Try to have fun today.”
Not likely.
She returned to the circle, and after a few deep cleansing breaths, I did too.
The girls were all excited to see me and all ran up to me as soon as they saw me.
“Hi, Nora!” Maddy said, smiling at me. Her dark hair was tucked under her stocking cap, making her blue eyes pop and her cute rosy cheeks stick out.
“Hi, Maddy.”
Seraphina and Mila came up on my other side. “Are you Christmas tree hunting with us today?”
Smiling down at her, I nodded. “I am.”
“Yay! I hope you can ride with us.”
Oh shit, I hadn’t considered how that would go.
Rae was gathering us all back toward the center.
The snow had started falling again, coating our clothes with fat flakes. It was probably a sign not to head up the mountain for trees, I mean, honestly.
“Okay, we’re going to head out shortly. We have lunches, hot water, and coffee packed.”
I raised my hand like a little kid.
Rae smirked. “Yes, Nora?”
Hating that the focus was on me, I tried to push past it as I asked, “Um, sorry, I just wanted to ask what the ride situation was?”
“Oh, right!” Rae exclaimed like she’d forgotten something. “Oh crap, we’re in the truck today, which is a bench seat, so it only seats two comfortably.”
“Same with our truck,” Davis’s friend, Gavin, added needlessly—I hadn’t noticed him or his girlfriend pop into our circle, but they had appeared on the opposite side of me, all decked out in winter gear.
I wasn’t riding up a dangerous mountain with strangers. I hated feeling like I was at the mercy of everyone in the group. Without even realizing it, my face blushed right as someone’s hand landed on my back.
“You’re with me,” Colson said from behind me, and if I could pull out the arrector pili muscles from my body, so that I wouldn’t have to feel any more goosebumps when Colson spoke to me, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
“Yeah, ride with us, please!” The girls all sang in unison, as if I had a choice. I mean, the only real choice now was to abandon the trip and not find a tree.
But I had been planning this trip with Rae for weeks, and honestly, I felt like I had dibs.