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She grinned at him, surprised that he was having such a normal reaction to this. Years ago, he would have gone on a long, drawn-out rant of how silly it was to rush something that was as important as a marriage. She chose not to comment on the change in him as she continued on.
“It’s going to be a big effort on our end to get everything ready,” she explained. “We’re changing quite a few of the decorations around to be more wedding appropriate but still very Christmas oriented, and Sarah and I are going to work together on a wedding cake. All the things.”
“I can pitch in.”
Now it was Mindy’s mouth that dropped open in surprise. “You’re offering to help?”
Noah nodded, and she shook her head, trying to make sense of this out of character offer of assistance.
“You’re sure?” she said, emphasizing her words. “Really, really sure?”
Noah nodded again, eyeing her like she’d lost her mind.
“Yes,” he answered, saying the word as if the answer should have been obvious. “I’m invested now. I was there for the proposal, after all. Might as well help see it through to the wedding.”
Mindy gaped at him, astonished at what had just transpired.
Just as she was about to open her mouth to say as much, while also thanking Noah profusely, a voice rose up over the din of conversation in the room, announcing that it was time for the competition to start.
CHAPTERTWELVE
Noah rubbed a hand over the back of his neck as he tried to stop the blush from creeping into his cheeks at Mindy’s clearly shocked gaze. Thankfully, a woman was tapping into a microphone at the front of the room, demanding everyone’s attention.
“Thank you all for coming today,” she said, beaming at all of the people seated at the tables. “This is going to be, I hope, a fantastic evening for everyone involved. For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Julie Chen, owner of Happy Memories Antique Shop down the way. And I’ve been partnering with Mayor Thornton to bring this all to life.”
She launched into an explanation of the competition, saying that people could compete individually or in pairs, as long as only one house was submitted. And they would have only two hours to complete it. Noah darted a quick glance around the room, noting that people were cracking their knuckles, stretching their arms, and apparently taking things much more seriously than he had imagined they would.
“Now, on the count of three,” Julie announced, pointing to a giant digital timer mounted on the wall that was set for two hours.
Everyone in the room chimed in for the countdown, a cacophonous riot of, “Three, two, one!”
The final word reverberated off the walls as the timer started, and the room exploded into a flurry of activity. Noah turned and stared down at his gingerbread house, not knowing at all where to begin.
He glanced next to him where Mindy sat, noticing that she was already expertly combining icing with some of the food coloring to make her own beautiful colors inside the piping bag. As he watched her, he realized with a sinking feeling that he didn’t stand a chance.
She must have felt his gaze on her because her brown eyes turned toward his.
“Everything all right?” she asked.
Noah nodded, hating that he was feeling suddenly so self-conscious. He was a man who prided himself on being good at things. It was embarrassing enough for him to have to admit to being afraid of crowds, but apparently, when it came to decorating a gingerbread house, he was entirely out of his depth.
“Everything’s all right,” he answered, but he must not have sounded very convincing because instead of going back to the task at hand, Mindy just arched an eyebrow at him and continued to stare. He sighed, realizing that she wasn’t going to let this go. “This might have been a bad idea. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
He waved his hand over the table, gesturing vaguely at all the tools and instruments laid out before him. Mindy’s eyes began to dance with humor as she realized what his problem was, but he had to give her credit for not actually laughing.
“You can work on mine with me,” she offered, pointing to the house in front of her.
Noah cocked his head to the side. “You sure?”
“Yeah. Julie said we could compete in pairs. It’s no trouble at all.”
He hesitated for only a second, studying her face for any sign that she wasn’t sure about this, but there was none to be found. He nodded, a bit surprised that she would offer at all. The Mindy that he had known all those years ago had been highly competitive, most of the time to a fault—just like he had been. But as they moved his supplies out from in front of him and shifted the house she was working on to the center between them, there was a much more relaxed air to her than he’d expected.
“Okay, so here’s how you’ll pipe the icing,” she said, demonstrating to him exactly how he should pinch the bag and move it back and forth to create swirls of lavender along the edge of the house.
After a few strokes, she passed the bag to him, watching carefully as he repeated the steps. She gave him a few patient critiques before moving on to decorating the bottom of the board, using a fluffy white icing dabbed with blue food coloring to look like shimmering snow.
As the time continued to tick down, he couldn’t help but marvel at how well they were working together. It had been a very long time since he and Mindy had been a team, but they fell into the old habit of it all rather seamlessly.
