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“Wow. That’s impressive.” He grinned at her, clearly letting her know he was teasing, and she returned it with a smile of her own.
“I thought so too,” she said with a satisfied nod. “I do put in a lot of hours at the bakery, although it hardly feels like work sometimes, since I love it so much. But I’ve definitely learned to have a better work-life balance.”
“You know…” Noah leaned back in his chair a bit, crossing his arms over his broad chest as he regarded her. “I’ve been wondering, how did it go when you set up shop in Snowy Pine Ridge, anyway? Like, how did this all go down?”
“Well, you know about the girls’ trip already,” she began, and Noah nodded. “When I first moved here, oh, Noah, I was so miserable. And not in an unhappy way. I was miserabletopeople.”
She shuddered, thinking of how her arrival in Snowy Pine Ridge had gone down, and Noah sat patiently as he waited for her to continue.
“I was so competitive when I first got here. When Baking Fiend opened, I thought for sure I was going to be the best in town, to bake absolute circles around Sweet Thing, Sarah’s bakery, and eventually it would be just me left. I was determined to be the best.”
Slowly the whole truth of her story came out. She filled Noah in on that first Christmas in town, the one where she’d nearly ruined any shot she’d had at being friends with Sarah by viewing her only as competition and not as a potential friend. They’d even gone so far as to have an actual bake-off to try to determine who was the better baker, and Mindy had broken down when she’d had an unexpected disaster with one of her recipes. But Sarah, as always, had been so incredibly gentle and understanding, giving Mindy much more grace than she still felt she deserved.
She told him how her friendship with Sarah had evolved since then. How they’d made it a point now to run sales and specials that complemented the other one’s business, even going so far as to having a shared rewards program that gave you discounts at either store. She told him about how Sarah helped her through her most recent breakup, even if it hadn’t exactly been a huge emotional turmoil since she hadn’t been seeing the guy for very long.
By the end of it, Mindy was filled with so much gratitude and love for the town and the people within it that her cheeks hurt from how hard she was smiling.
“I know it is a bit of a step down from the ambitions I used to have,” she said softly, locking eyes with Noah and thinking of all the times she told him about the bakery she’d own in New York City or some other glamorous place. “But I love it here. My dreams have changed, my wants have changed,Ihave changed. And it’s now to the point that I can’t really see myself calling anywhere else home.”
Noah shook his head, pushing himself forward so he was perched nearly on the edge of his seat, making it so that they were only a few inches apart.
“For what it’s worth,” he told her, his voice low and husky. “I don’t think you gave up anything at all. The bakery and the life that you’ve created here is amazing, Min. I never thought I’d see you this happy. And I’m just happy that I get to witness some of it.”
Mindy’s cheeks flushed under the heat of his gaze, and the air between them became thick with tension. She was finding it hard to breathe as Noah began to lean forward. She wet her lips as, inch by inch, they both moved to close the distance between them. He was so close, close enough that she could feel his breath tickling against her cheek. Another inch, another centimeter, and their lips would—
The door to the kennel was pulled open, and Noah and Mindy shot away from one another as Lacy strolled inside. The sound of dogs barking in greeting rose up around them, and Lacy’s eyebrows rose at the sight of the two of them.
Mindy could barely meet her friend’s knowing gaze. Despite the fact that she and Noah were no longer leaning toward each other and gazing longingly into each other’s eyes, their chairs were angled toward each other, their knees nearly touching. And the flushed, embarrassed look on Noah’s face was also a dead giveaway as to what had happened… oralmosthappened, Mindy corrected herself.
“We got caught in the storm,” she said hastily, her voice a bit high as she jumped to her feet. “We were on our way here so I could show Noah the dogs, and then the storm came out of nowhere and we had to dip inside. Derek said we could hang out with them for a bit.”
“Of course.” Lacy’s eyes were still filled with amusement, but she didn’t comment any further on what she’d walked in on. “Well, they always love the company. I’m making some coffee in the office if you’d like to drink some and warm up a bit more.”
“Thanks, that’s sweet of you,” Mindy said, shooting a look at Noah. He nodded, and the two of them followed Lacy into the office.
It took another hour or so for the storm to pass, and to her surprise, Mindy found herself having a wonderful time hanging out with Noah, Derek, and Lacy. The four of them chatted like old friends, and Mindy was shocked at how easily Noah got along with the couple, bantering with Derek as if they’d known each other for years.
He didn’t just seem like a different man than he had when they’d dated five years ago. He almost seemed like a different person than he’d been when he had arrived in Snowy Pine Ridge not that long ago. His whole demeanor was softer and more open now, and Mindy found it impossible to resist him when he was like this.
By the time the bad weather cleared, they had opened a package of Christmas cookies as well, and Noah and Mindy were well-fed and well-caffeinated as they bid goodbye to Derek and Lacy and stepped outside.
Mindy and Noah began walking down the sidewalk, their shoulders brushing as they fell into an easy stride together. The storm had faded, leaving a fresh blanket of snow over the town that glinted in the streetlights.
The sun had started to set, painting the white, downy powder a beautiful, sparkling orange as the Christmas lights began to flicker on. They walked toward the town square, the top of the gorgeously decorated Christmas tree beckoning to them.
As they stepped into the square, a speaker fired up somewhere nearby, and Bing Crosby’s voice began floating to them.
Mindy turned, looking at Noah. She was about to say something, but when she saw the way he was looking at her, his green eyes lit with an emotion that she couldn’t quite place but that had butterflies erupting in her belly, the words died before they could ever reach her lips.
“Dance with me,” Noah murmured, extending his gloved hand to her.
She knew that it was likely a bad idea. Their past, along with the reason Noah had come to Snowy Pine Ridge in the first place, combined to make their situation complicated at best. But his face was so open, so filled with hope, and so heart-achingly familiar and comforting that even with the knowledge that it would likely be a mistake, Mindy couldn’t bring herself to say no.
She placed her hand in his, a rush of emotion rising inside her as he pulled her close. Noah’s large hand rested on the small of her back, holding her carefully as she rested her cheek against his chest, and they began to sway. Small, fluffy snowflakes still fell from the sky, wrapping them in a cocoon of silence, broken only by Bing Crosby crooning a Christmas song.
So much had happened since Noah’s first appearance in Snowy Pine Ridge, and Mindy’s mind and heart were having a hard time keeping up with it all. So she decided to think about it all later. For now, she was content resting her head against Noah’s solid chest and hearing the steady, comforting thump of his heart beneath his coat as they danced in the town square.
Mindy promised herself that there would be plenty of time to be worried about mistakes being made later.
