And forgot how to breathe. There it was, in all its finely wrought glory. The delicate wings, the elegant shape of the angel with head bowed as though in prayer. Julie traced the shape of the ornament, the identical twin to the one that had broken.
With tears blurring her vision, she looked up at Nolan and whispered, “Where did you find it?” Her voice almost broke.
He gave a one-shouldered shrug as if the answer didn’t matter. “We had it in storage. Remember how I said I recognized it?”
“It was your family’s? This belongs to—” Instinctively, she held her hands out with the ornament between them.
Nolan shook his head and raised one palm. “It belongs to you. My family doesn’t decorate anymore. It means so much more to you.”
She couldn’t argue with that. Instead, she stepped into his embrace and hugged him, careful to keep the ornament where it wouldn’t be crushed. He hesitated a moment before his arms encircled her. His aftershave was no more than a light, teasing hint of spice and pine. He was warm despite his time outdoors. Solid. She couldn’t find the words to thank him, but tucked into his chest, she didn’t feel the need to fight for those words. He understood. It was why he’d given her the ornament to begin with.
When she stirred and started to pull away, he let her go immediately. She lingered, not wanting to step out of his protective circle. But she was being mushy and sentimental, and as much as she wanted to kiss him right now, in this moment, he hadn’t given her any clue that he wanted to do the same thing. So, she stepped away and approached the stepladder.
At the base, she glared at the two animals, currently curled up on separate ends of the room. “No funny business this time.” Her voice was still a little hoarse with emotion, but Nolan didn’t mention it.
He chuckled and stepped forward to steady the ladder. “Ready?”
She nodded. It felt almost anticlimactic to place the angel on top of the tree without the animals throwing a ruckus. But as she stepped down, off the ladder, and looked up at her handiwork, she choked up.
“Now it’s perfect.”
Nolan didn’t argue with her. He just laid his hand over hers, where it still gripped the rail of the stepladder. She didn’t pull away.
As the silence between them lengthened, she remembered she had something she’d been meaning to give him as well. She only hoped it would mean as much as what he’d given her—a Christmas miracle.
“I have something for you too.”
When she started to move away, he caught her hand. “You don’t have to. I didn’t bring you the angel hoping for a gift in return.”
“I know. I had this for you anyway. Wait here, I’ll go get it.”
She slipped from the room before he could protest.
When she’d removed the Christmas photo of his parents from the album, she’d put it in a drawer in the kitchen for safekeeping. It didn’t take her long to retrieve it.
While she was there, Ned pulled his head out from under the sink. “There we are. It was a good thing I came today in case I needed another part and the storm held up delivery. But you should pass inspection with flying colors.”
Julie was too distracted by Nolan waiting in her living room to even feel relieved at that news. “That’s great. So, you’re all done?”
“Yes. Just cleaning up, and I’ll be on my way out.”
“Great. I hope you don’t mind, but I left Nolan in the living room—”
The old man cracked a smile. “The Miller boy is here, is he? Give him my best. I haven’t seen his grandpop for months! I wonder how that old bear is getting on.”
Of course he knew Nolan. In Pinecone Falls, everyone knew everyone else. But the look of pure joy Ned wore reminded Julie of all the benefits there were to a tight-knit community. When everyone knew everyone else, everyone also cared about everyone else.
“I’ll pass along the message.”
When she returned to the living room, she found Nolan perched on the edge of the rocker with Kringle in his lap and Snowball doing her best to displace him. Nolan looked up when she laughed.
“You look popular.”
The corner of his mouth raised in a wry smirk. “I can’t pay attention to another living creature without Snowball wanting in on it.”
He gave the cat one more stroke along his back before standing and placing Kringle on the chair. Kringle immediately vacated it, causing a small scuffle when Snowball tried simultaneously to follow him and put herself in between him and Nolan. She was certainly a jealous dog, though she hadn’t seemed to mind when Julie had been that close to Nolan.
“Ned’s in the kitchen. He says hi to you and your grandfather.”
