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Noah wrapped his coat more tightly around himself as he stepped out into the cold. The snow that had fallen the night before crunched under his newly acquired snow boots as he walked toward the town square.
There had been a snowstorm the previous day, and he had been ill-prepared for the weather with what he’d packed with him. So, when he’d gone to meet up with Mindy clad in loafers and sharp dress pants, shivering under his coat, she’d chuckled at him and said that she was changing their plans.
They’d spent the first part of their evening at a clothing store, looking through thick jeans, snow pants, and snow boots for him to wear while he was in town. Mindy had laughed at the way he’d balked at the design of everything, telling him that he’d be thankful for it as he spent more time in the town. And although he’d never admit it to her, as his toes remained nice and toasty and his hands were warm in the gloves that he’d bought yesterday, he had to confess to himself that she’d been right.
When Noah turned the corner to the town square, he immediately spotted a crowd surrounding the massive tree in the middle of the square. It was the same one that they’d visited during his first day with her, and now it was decorated from top to bottom.
There were tents and vendors set up along the edges of the square, selling everything from hot chocolate to novelty Christmas items. Kids screamed and giggled as they ran through the snow, pelting each other with snowballs as others around them built snowmen. Noah looked at the joy around him, feeling suddenly more content than he had ever expected to feel in Snowy Pine Ridge.
“There you are!”
A familiar voice from behind him prompted him to turn around. Mindy was walking up, her blonde hair glinting in the glowing lights and flickering fires from the warming station nearby them.
“I couldn’t find the gazebo,” Noah fibbed, not wanting to admit that he’d been so caught up by the festival that he’d forgotten to look for the place she’d indicated in her text.
“It’s okay!” Mindy waved a dismissive hand in the air. “I saw you right when I walked up, anyway.”
She turned, grinning at the tree and at the chaos around them.
“What do you think so far?” she asked, and he could hear the excitement in her voice.
“I think it’s… a lot.”
When she’d texted him earlier that day, she’d invited him to come with her to the tree lighting ceremony, a festive event that many of the town’s members came out to celebrate every year. He had agreed a bit grudgingly, since he didn’t usually enjoy holiday events, but he had wanted to spend more time with Mindy—and he also knew he needed to make a clear and verifiable attempt to get to know the town as his aunt had requested.
“This place is pretty much a carnival,” Noah observed, his head swiveling from side to side as he took it all in.
“And carnivals are fantastic.” Mindy beamed at him.
Before he could answer, reminding her of the way he’d always felt about carnivals and fairs, the sound of singing filled the air. Mindy turned, both of them coming to stand shoulder to shoulder so that they could look out into the crowd, immediately identifying a small group of carolers.
The other people in the crowd were beginning to take notice, forming a small circle around the performers as their voices rose higher and higher. The sound of it was beautiful, filling Noah’s chest with warmth in a way that he hadn’t experienced in quite some time, especially as all of the voices fell into a perfect harmony.
“Do they do this often?” he asked, leaning close enough to Mindy that he didn’t have to speak above a whisper, not wanting to disrupt anyone else around him.
He saw her nod from the corner of his eye while both of them kept their gazes fixed on the singers.
“There’s almost always some sort of caroling going on throughout the whole month of December,” she explained, keeping her voice equally low. “There are different groups that do it. There’s a senior’s choir, one for the kids, one for the teens. And so on.”
“Like I said.” Noah shrugged one shoulder. “This is a lot.”
She huffed a breath but didn’t respond as the carolers finished their song and everyone around them clapped.
“We’ve got about an hour before the tree will be lit up,” Mindy said, and Noah glanced down to see her checking her watch. “Want to walk around a bit?”
He shifted nervously, not really wanting to venture farther into the crowd of revelers, but Mindy reached out and rested a gloved hand on his arm.
“I know how you feel about festivals,” she said, her voice soft and coaxing. “Unless that’s changed?”
He shook his head, thinking of the way that the abrupt noises and the press of bodies always made him feel lightheaded and like everything was pressing in on him. No, his feelings on that definitely had not changed.
She nodded. “I didn’t figure it had. We’ll steer clear of the super crowded areas. And besides, this isn’t like the big street festivals in Boston. Things never get as crowded here, and people all look out for each other. And the whole point of you being here is to have fun and get to know the town. Right?”
He chewed the inside of his cheek, but when he caught sight of the hope shining in the depths of her brown eyes, he found that the one thing that sounded worse than spending time at a carnival was seeing disappointment crowd her features. Noah sighed, allowing the rush of air to clear the anxiety that was spiking in his body.
“Right,” he said with a nod, and he was rewarded when a beautiful smile lit up Mindy’s face.
“If it gets to be too much, just tell me.”
