Chapter 40
In the past, Christmas had pretty much passed Noah by without too much of a fuss. Sometimes he had gone out for a festive drink with any co-workers but otherwise, he would normally be found on Christmas Day working on a boat. Real-life Christmas wasn’t like it was portrayed in the movies.
And yet, there at Maple Tree Lodge, he could slowly feel himself succumbing to a touch of magic.
Everyone had decorated the hotel from top to bottom and so he was constantly surrounded by the aroma of pine, orange and cloves.
Holly and fairy lights were everywhere and he had never seen so many Christmas trees inside a home before.
There was one in every room, including the snug where he was having a drink with Ben and his friends.
Even the bar where Frankie was serving up various drinks had fake red felt stockings hanging from the front.
Now that the last guests had left and the hotel was closed for Christmas, everyone could finally relax after a busy few months of hard work.
Not that everyone appeared to be getting into the spirit of peace and goodwill to all men.
‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ Ella was saying to Jake. ‘Did I roll my eyes too loudly for you to hear?’
Ella and Jake had a relationship based on mutual loathing, although it appeared to be heavily weighted towards Ella. Jake always seemed to shrug off the barbed comments that she directed at him.
‘Listen,’ he replied, giving Ella a cheeky grin. ‘Don’t get your tinsel in a tangle. I’m just saying that I see no good reason to act my age.’
‘Well, you never have done before now,’ snapped Ella, taking her drink from Frankie and walking away to the far side of the room.
Jake laughed as he picked up his set of darts. ‘Now, what was the score before we were so rudely interrupted? Oh, yes, I was winning.’
‘Don’t get used to it,’ Ben told him, standing nearby.
Noah had to admit that he was enjoying himself. Also that he was beginning to enjoy the company of the other men. Not used to having friends, he still remained a little reserved in the group but if the others noticed, they certainly didn’t say anything.
Having worked on the lodges almost every day for the past two months, Noah and Ben had grown closer, getting used to each other.
Ben had told him about the struggles of the past few years, as well as how meeting Lily had completely turned his life around.
In turn, Noah had opened up a little about how nomadic his life had been so far.
Ben had asked about the different places where Noah had lived but if there had been any judgement from his cousin, Noah hadn’t detected it.
Noah had also begun to get to know Alex a little better and had even begun to join him and Tiny occasionally when they went for their morning walk around the lake.
He liked his quiet nature, certainly in stark contrast to Jake’s more exuberant personality.
Alex had told Noah about his previous career as an athlete and how the water sports centre he had set up near the boathouse had given him much more satisfaction than any sporting competition.
Not that he wasn’t competitive, thought Noah as Alex won the game of darts with a hearty cheer.
Jake shook his head. ‘There was some blatant cheating going on there, I’m sure,’ he said. ‘Right. As it’s not a school night, shall we have another beer?’
Jake was the man that Noah knew the least. He had a dry wit which meant, according to Ben, along with being an extremely talented chef and good-looking, Jake had no problems attracting the opposite sex.
He was also a flirt, thought Noah, as he watched Jake wander over to the bar to chat and laugh with Beth who was also getting herself a drink.
‘I’m just saying that you should be more naughty,’ he was telling her. ‘Save Santa the trip.’
As Beth laughed along with Jake, Noah suddenly found his good mood fading. She was bright and beautiful. Of course Beth would attract guys wherever she went.
‘He does that with every woman he comes across.’
Noah spun around to find Alex standing next to him.
‘He would never do anything to take it further with her,’ carried on Alex in a soft tone so that only Noah would hear him. ‘Beth’s like family to him. We all are.’
Noah nodded but he didn’t like Jake flirting with Beth and he didn’t want to dig too deeply into why that might be.
They had grown close and he had trusted her with pieces of his past that he had never told anyone.
They were just good friends, despite the chemistry that had passed between them all those weeks ago when they had kissed.
And yet he had found himself yearning for something more, which confused him.
He had never wanted a permanent relationship in his life.
‘Jake’s never been serious about anyone,’ added Ben, also coming to stand with them. ‘His parents’ awful divorce pretty much scared him off any relationships.’
Noah looked from Ben to Alex. ‘Okay,’ he said. ‘No worries.’
As usual, he shrugged off any concern or attempt to get him to open up about his innermost feelings. In that respect, he was the complete opposite to Beth.
Ben studied him for a moment longer before suggesting they all play a game of snooker. Noah relaxed once the men had wandered away, grateful that they hadn’t pushed him.
Perhaps it was true and they had no reason to lie. Perhaps Jake was just a big flirt with everyone except perhaps Ella. But Noah didn’t like it all the same.
He couldn’t stop himself from watching Beth for a while longer, even after Jake had walked back over to the snooker table.
Chatting to Frankie, Beth suddenly spun around on the bar stool to survey the room and spotted Noah watching her. She broke into such a wide smile that it made the breath catch in his throat.
They exchanged a smile before she spun back around once more. He finally blew out a breath, wondering why it made him feel so much better knowing Beth wasn’t a flirt.
As he turned to head to the snooker table, he glanced once more at the bar and looked at the row of fake red stockings along the front. He thought back to Beth telling him that she’d had to make and fill her own Christmas stocking growing up and his heart went out to her.
She had done so much for him, listened and not judged him when he had opened up to her. How could he possibly repay her kindness? Then he realised what he could do.
He quickly excused himself from the game and went to find Faye to ask her a favour.