Chapter 28
Noelle
“Noelle, dear. You don’t even have a kitchen.”
Ida’s words brought me back to reality, and I lowered my raised hand.
It was Tuesday night, and the crochet club was about to begin.
Minutes earlier, Ida had burst in, bearing news.
Her daughter had gone into labor a month early, so she was leaving town and wouldn’t be around for her Christmas Calendar event.
Which was the Pulla Appreciation Day.
“But I’ve been really, really looking forward to it.” My voice wobbled, and I set down my half-crocheted Santa hat. “My grandmother was Finnish, and when we visited her, we’d eat so much pulla! I even have my grandma’s recipe. She gave it to us just before she died.”
Ida offered me a comforting smile. “Oh, trust me. There’s no one else I’d rather hand this over to. But you’d need a kitchen. A big one.”
“Then mine’s out,” Felicity said.
Erica shot me an apologetic look. “I’m quite busy too, but maybe we can find a day that works?”
I couldn’t ask her. It sounded like she was baking for half the town already.
Lola was running late, and Astrid’s kitchen was probably being used to make tinctures.
Eileen had arrived with her assistant, Lucy, a gorgeous woman in her twenties with long, curly hair.
I’d seen her in the café. Yesterday, they had a special on cappuccinos, a really good special, and the line was out the door.
They must have both been exhausted. I couldn’t bother any of these people with my kitchen issues.
I caught Kailee’s eye, and she mouthed Fredrik’s name, giving me the push I needed.
“I’ll ask Fredrik!”
He had a huge, unused kitchen. And we were friends. What was one more benefit?
I’d overslept that morning, after a night of wandering the town, doing my good deeds, and had only seen him in passing as I rushed to open my store.
He’d brought me a sandwich for lunch, though, and we’d agreed to meet for dinner tomorrow night.
I couldn’t wait. My store was busy, yet the hours felt longer than ever.
Sweet and agonizing, with a hint of underlying fear.
If I fell for him, I’d ruin everything. Even if Spencer stayed out of it, I’d mess it up.
I’d change his surroundings, get too involved, and freak him out.
I’d become that girl again who slipped into someone else’s life and lost sight of herself.
Instead of Spencer, I’d be molding myself to Fredrik.
I’d live in his house and drive his car and worry about his reactions. How was that any different?
If I had any hope of navigating this, I had to stick to our agreement. We were friends. And friends didn’t rearrange friends’ kitchens.
But maybe I could use his kitchen, very discreetly, when he wasn’t there.
“Do you think we could have it at my store? Maybe right outside if the weather’s okay?” I asked Ida.
“It would have to be outside. You can’t fit more than five people inside,” Kailee pointed out.
Ida tilted her head, peering at the ceiling, her crochet-hook hand moving independently from the rest of her body. “Well, it’s just hot drinks and pulla. If we got some trestle tables…”
“I have four,” Felicity inserted. “And a van to transport them.”
“That’d be perfect!” I clapped my hands.
“Your store is tiny,” Ida cautioned. “You’d be spilling over to block the entrance to other stores.”
She was right. But would Fredrik be okay with us using the outside of his store? I couldn’t ask him that. I could spill over to the other side, in front of the empty real estate office they were still renovating.
“You sure you can get Fredrik onboard?” Astrid asked. “I saw you had to take down the lights.”
“I loved that window display!” Erica echoed. “Shame it didn’t last.”
I swallowed. Of course they’d all seen it. “Yeah. He took it pretty hard, so I decided it was best to pull back.”
Erica raised her crochet hook. “Honey. If that’s his reaction when you touched his store… how do you think he’s going to react if you take over his home kitchen?”
“He doesn’t even use that kitchen! Everything has a thick layer of dust.” The words slipped out before I could stop them.
A huge, dreamy smile spread across Eileen’s face. “You’ve been to his house?”
They were all staring at me, grinning like lunatics. Before I could respond, Felicity jumped in. “He took you in on Saturday night, right? I called him about the power cut. Jackson messaged me about the whole block being dark and asked if you were still staying in the Christmas store.”
“Yeah,” I said, grateful for the explanation. “It was a really cold night. Thank God Fredrik has a sauna.”
The word instantly triggered an X-rated memory, making my face burn.
“Sauna?” Felicity raised an eyebrow.
“Love is in the air!” Eileen clutched her chest. “I had a feeling about this.”
I didn’t know what to say. They all leaned in, watching as my face got hotter and hotter.
“Wait? What have I missed?” Felicity demanded. “Are you two…?”
I turned to her, suddenly worried. She was his sister. What was she going to say? “A little bit since Saturday. Or technically Sunday.”
The entire table erupted in cheers. I held my breath, watching Felicity. She looked emotional, equal parts happy and sad.
“I really hope it works out,” she finally said. “I hope we get to keep you.”
My stomach clenched. “We haven’t talked about the future.”
I couldn’t exactly tell them about our friends-with-benefits deal. This was the ‘town of true love’—I’d seen the slogan on The Almanac. They’d chase me out with pitchforks.
“I bet Fredrik is already planning a proposal,” Eileen said firmly. “He’s not the casual type.”
“Eileen! Can we not?” Felicity shot her a look. “They haven’t even been on a date.” She turned to me. “Have you?”
I shook my head, my face on fire. “We talked about going to the Harbor Tree Lighting on Saturday. I’ve never seen a Christmas tree made from lobster traps before.”
Even that was a panic-fueled lie I shouldn’t have told. What if it ended up in that gossip column in The Almanac? Nobody knew who Lady Lovewatch was, but odds were she was either at this table or close to someone who was.
“Can we… keep this between us?” I asked, catching everyone’s gaze. “It’s very new, and I’m worried about him. If there’s too much pressure or expectations…”
Awkward silence filled the room. Finally, Erica spoke. “Oh, honey. It’s Hideaway Harbor. How would you keep something like this a secret?”
As she spoke, the door opened, launching a tinny melody of “Jingle Bells.” “Keep what a secret?” Lola asked, heaving her purse on the table.
“That Noelle and Uncle Fredrik are doing it,” Kailee supplied.
“They’re in love!” Eileen amended.
I held my breath, waiting for the doorbell to finish its musical number. I’d sold it to Eileen, not realizing how annoying it was. Lucy’s face told me she was quite over hearing it hundreds of times a day.
“I won’t say anything,” Felicity promised. “But people are so nosy… they are already talking about seeing you two buying whoopie pies. It was in the last Almanac.”
“What?” My pulse jumped. “Do you think Fredrik’s seen it?”
Felicity gave me a wry smile. “Are you asking if I read it to him against his will?”
Of course. Fredrik didn’t consume gossip.
Eileen smiled reassuringly. “Don’t worry! Everyone’s moved on to talking about the Santa Speed Dating disaster.” She winked at Lucy, who looked furious. “And soon they’ll move on to something else.”
“What disaster?” Ida asked.
“Beard lice,” Felicity summed up. “False alarm, though.”
“We were sabotaged,” Lucy added.
The doorbell went off again, and we all turned. A wiry young guy with a clown-worthy head of curly red hair stepped in. “Hello, ladies! Am I late?”
“Hi, Ralph!” Eileen called, echoed by the others.
“It is seven fifteen,” Ida told him, straightening her crocheted vest. “And I have to leave early tonight. I’m catching a six o’clock bus tomorrow morning.”
Ralph smiled, undeterred. “Oh, surely you have time to teach me all that you know before then!” He wedged an extra chair between Kailee and me, then peeled off his puffer jacket, whipping us both with his sleeves.
“I read about these guys who started knitting woolly hats, and it became a million-dollar business.”
“We’re not knitting, we’re crocheting,” Kailee corrected.
Ralph waved his hand. “That’ll be my point of difference!”
“And it would take me years to teach you everything I know,” Ida grumbled. She handed Ralph a hook and a roll of yarn. “But I’ll do what I can in half an hour.”
“I’m a fast learner!” Ralph assured us and promptly dropped the roll, looking alarmed as it unraveled across the floor.
Kailee fetched it, but he barely noticed her. Instead, he turned to me. “Hey, you’re the girl from the Christmas shop!” His grin spread wide. “How would you like to go out with Hideaway Harbor’s most eligible bachelor?”
“You mean Dr. Handsome?” Lola teased.
“I wouldn’t mind,” Astrid agreed. “I tried to go back for my annual checkup, but apparently, he was too busy. Too busy with his receptionist, I bet. She’s gatekeeping him.”
“How many annual checkups can you have in a year?” Felicity muttered.
Ralph ignored them, jerking two thumbs at himself. “Forget the doctor! You are looking at this year’s Larry the Lobstah!”
Felicity’s hand flew over her mouth, but a very unladylike snort still escaped. The others tried harder to hide their amusement.
“Larry the Lobstah is the town mascot,” Lola clarified, biting back a grin. “He looks… spectacular. Another great reason to come to the Harbor Tree Lighting. Larry will be there.”
“Don’t mind them, dear,” Erica said soothingly, smiling at Ralph. “You’ll do a wonderful job.”
“You will! You have just the right coloring!” Eileen added, without a hint of irony.
Ralph turned back to me with that goofy grin. “So how about it? Drinks at The Shore Thing after Tree Lighting? I think my mom would really like you. She loves peachy colors.”