Ian stood, relieved to have been gifted an easy way out of this conversation. “Pull your sled out while I put the tools away and then we’ll go see what she’s up to.”
What Maddie was up to was watchingIt’s a Wonderful Lifeon the TV in the front room. And she wasn’t alone. Nola sat on the couch with her, and there was a bowl of popcorn on the coffee table.
As he walked silently into the room in his thick wool socks, he watched them and it was obvious they were in the middle of an intense conversation. Maddie often waved her hands around while she talked, and they were both in mid-air.
“So what you’re telling me is if this one specific guy—who’s already shown he’ll take out his personal frustrations on her, by the way—hadn’t married her, that she’d have turned from a vibrant and fearless young woman into a timid little spinster who faints when a stranger talks to her?” Maddie rolled her eyes before grabbing a handful of popcorn out of the bowl.
“I always assumed it was less about having that particular man and more about the environment,” Nola said. “She was a vibrant and fearless woman when Bedford Falls had that small town charm and everybody felt safe. But any single woman in the much more toxic and dangerous Pottersville version of the town would probably be super timid. And alotmore fearful, especially if a strange man grabs her like that.”
Maddie made a low humming sound of consideration. “Okay, I guess I can see your point.”
Ian’s silent approach came to an end when he hit a creaky floorboard and they both turned to look at him. Nola’s smile and the hint of color on her cheeks made him feel as though she was happy to see him, and not just because she was saving him from the fact Maddie talked her way through movies. Rather than dissect them once they were over, his daughter preferred to give her opinions in progress.
“There you guys are,” Maddie said, standing up and setting the bowl of popcorn on the couch cushion next to Nola. “Here Dad, you can have my spot.”
Before he could tell her he’d seen the movie at least forty times and didn’t really love it, she moved to one of the armchairs. And he saw her nod her head at her brother, telling him to sit in the other. Which meant Ian would have to sit on the couch with Nola.
That didn’t seem so bad, even if he wasn’t a fan of the movieorof his kids playing matchmaker. He could probably let them get away with it just this once.
“How was work today?” he asked Nola once he was settled on the couch. It felt like a lame question, but being so close to her—and the pressure of his kids trying to pretend they were paying more attention to the movie than to him—frazzled him and he went with a standard small talk icebreaker.
“Slow,” she said. “People are focused on the holidays, so there isn’t much to do. I actually spent some of the day writing a grant request for the snowmobile club. We’ll have a rush right before New Year’s when people realize they lost track of time in the holiday haze and it’s the end of the month, but we’re making up busy work until after Christmas. Did you guys have a good ride today?”
“Yeah. We didn’t go far this time, but we had fun exploring some of the smaller, more local trails.”
Maybe two minutes of Ian looking at the television screen while wishing there wasn’t a cushion and a bowl of popcorn between him and Nola passed before Maddie stood up and held up her phone. “Charlotte’s trying to FaceTime me. I’ll be back.”
Ian was pretty sure she was lying since even when her phone was on vibrate, he could hear the subtle buzz. And his suspicions were confirmed when Jacob followed suit a few minutes later, claiming he wanted to take a shower before dinner.
Subtle, they weren’t.
While he was pondering how to shift from them being on opposite ends of the couch to Nola being closer to him—in his lap would be nice—he reached for some popcorn and his hand bumped hers.
He didn’t pull away. Neither did she. After a few seconds of their pinkies touching, he felt her hand turn over and slide under his. Their fingers threaded together and he felt jittery inside, like a teenager who’d just pulled off putting his arm around a girl in a movie theater.
Smiling while a man’s life totally unraveled on the television didn’t seem right, but he couldn’t help himself. And when he turned to face her, she chuckled.
“Your kids worked so hard to get us alone in here,” she said. “The least we can do is hold hands in the popcorn.”
He laughed, but he felt his cheeks get warm. “I should probably apologize for them, but since it worked, I don’t want to.”
“I think it’s sweet. And funny, because they think they’re being stealthy about it, and they’re really not.”
“No, they’re really not.”
On the screen, the people of Bedford Falls were making it rain in the Bailey house, and Ian was thinking about how he could segue from holding hands to holding Nola in his arms when the clattering of a metal pan from the kitchen caught their attention.
And the uncharacteristic string of curses from Rosie—loud enough to be heard over the television—had Nola on her feet. “I’m sorry to bail on you, but I should give Rosie a hand.”
Ian stood, too. “Can I help?”
“We’ve got it. If she made a mess, she’s not going to want a guest helping clean it up. I’ll see you at supper.”
He wouldn’t be able to pull her onto his lap and kiss her until they were out of breath at supper, though. And as good as Rosie’s cooking was, his baser appetites were all he could think about now.
Looking for a distraction and not finding one after a few minutes of channel surfing, he turned the TV off and went to see what Jacob was up to. As he passed by Maddie’s room, he noticed her door was ajar and he didn’t hear any voices, so he tapped lightly on the wood and—after getting permission to enter—pushed it open. Maddie was on her stomach on the bed, picking at imaginary fuzz on the quilt. At least he hoped it was imaginary fuzz and not a loose thread she was going to pick at until she’d completely unraveled a priceless family heirloom.
“Is the movie over?” she asked, but without the curiosity he would have expected from an amateur matchmaker trying to sleuth out how well her scheme was working.
