AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He loves it though! Don’t you, buddy?” she cooed to the dog, who was currently dancing between their legs.
Now that Noah actually understood how to interact with the pup, the two of them were getting along swimmingly, and Gus eagerly followed along with them both as they strode back out the door and made their way to Noah’s car.
Once in the car, she glanced at the back seat and decided to hold Gus in her lap instead, despite what Noah had said about not minding some fur. The pup was all too happy to curl up on her legs and take a snooze as they drove, so it worked out just fine this way.
Mindy looked out the window as they made their way through town, noting with interest that they were headed away from downtown and toward the south side of Snowy Pine Ridge. As they made turn after turn, she began to get an idea of where they were heading. And about twenty minutes of driving later, that suspicion was confirmed when Noah pulled off the road and down a long, tree-lined driveway.
What used to be his aunt Theresa’s house stood silhouetted against the early evening sky. The last rays of sunshine were slowly fading to the west, and as Mindy’s eyes raked over the entirely undisturbed snow, she wondered how long it had been since someone had visited the property.
She and Gus waited patiently as Noah unlocked the door, walking through the threshold and into the house the moment he swung the door open. It was warm inside, letting her know that the heat, at least, had been turned on recently. She took off her coat and hung it on one of the hooks beside the door before kicking off her boots.
“I’ve never been to Theresa’s house,” she said, her eyes wide as she looked around at the beautiful home.
It was a Tudor style house, and the inside wasn’t modern by any means, but it was truly gorgeous. The textured walls of almost every room they walked past contained built-in bookshelves that were filled to the brim with either books or knickknacks. The furniture, while clearly expensive, had a cozy feeling to it, as if it had been bought when it was at the height of luxury and then well-loved and lived in ever since.
“I spent as much time as I could here when I was a kid,” Noah explained, and Mindy turned to look at him, struck by the emotion that laced his words. “I loved it here.”
“I can see why,” she answered honestly.
They stepped into a brightly painted kitchen, and she gasped. The back wall was one big window, looking out over a beautiful backyard that also had a stunning view of the rolling hills that made up the ski runs to the south. She could just make out the dancing lights of the ski club, especially as the sky was becoming speckled with stars that rivaled the pinpricks of glowing light on the ground.
“She used to bake here all the time,” Noah said, walking farther into the room. Mindy watched as he absentmindedly trailed his fingers over the butcher’s block countertops. “I loved to come in and help her.”
She stepped closer, following after him. “Really? You never told me that before.”
“I didn’t really carry the hobby or the love for baking into my adult life,” he admitted with a shrug. Then, turning his gaze back to her, he gestured toward the staircase just off the kitchen. “Want to see the rest of the house?”
Mindy nodded, following after Noah as he led the way. They walked to the second floor as he told her stories of the times that he had spent here. With every room they visited, she learned more and more about him, and it filled her with an odd sense of regret to know that although she and Noah had once been so close, she hadn’t really known about this part of his life at all.
It made her wonder if maybe they’d both been so consumed by their own lives and their own ambitions that they hadn’t paid as much attention to each other as they should have. The love had absolutely been there, she had no doubt about that. Especially since the thought of him still tugged at her heart even after all these years. But perhaps, Mindy thought, there had been a lot more to fix than they’d realized.
He showed her the room that had been his when he’d visited, and she grinned as she saw the little remnants of the boy he had been. There was a shelf full of action figures, which he told her his aunt had collected for him. Mindy trailed her hands over them, imagining what it would have been like for him in another life if he had gotten to spend more time here, where his interests and passion were celebrated and cultivated, rather than stifled.
The sound of a phone ringing startled her, and she glanced toward Noah as he delved a hand into his pocket.
“Sorry,” he murmured.
She shook her head. “It’s okay.”
When he pulled out the device and glanced at the screen, he grimaced slightly.
“It’s my dad,” he explained, an apologetic look in his green eyes. “I have to take this. Feel free to keep exploring.”
She nodded and told him to take as long as he needed as he pressed a button on the phone and brought it to his ear. The sound of his voice faded as he walked out of the room, and she heard the creaking of the stairs as he went down to the first floor.
She stayed in the guest room for a few minutes, curiosity getting the better of her as she took a stolen peek inside the closet. But she found it empty, and not wanting to just stay put, she walked back out into the hallway.
Mindy could hear Noah talking downstairs, and she thought she picked up a hint of frustration in his tone as he talked to his father. His voice grew louder and then softer again, and she imagined him pacing as the two of them talked about whatever his father had called to discuss.
She was forced to admit that, more than likely, they were talking about Noah’s plans in Snowy Pine Ridge. And once again Mindy had to remind herself that no matter their past and no matter how good it felt to be spending time with him now, Noah’s ambitions were still a threat to the town and the people that she loved.
A door at the far end of the hallway caught her attention, one that they hadn’t gone anywhere near on their tour, and curiosity tugged at her once more. She walked toward it and turned the old brass knob to open it.
The space beyond the door was dark, but the light from the hallway illuminated just enough that she could see a stairwell going up to another level.
“An attic,” she whispered to herself, eyeing the walls on either side of the stairs for a light switch.
She found one relatively easily and was rewarded with a flood of bright light coming from the room above.
