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Mindy was perched on a tall ladder, her blonde curls glinting in the soft, warm light of the room while Noah stood at the foot of the ladder, holding it steady while she put ornaments on the large Christmas tree.
It had been all hands on deck for the past few days as they rushed to get everything ready in time for the wedding and Christmas party, and Mindy and Noah had both been helping out a lot. They showed up every day whenever Mindy wasn’t at the bakery, helping out with random tasks as needed.
Valerie watched the two of them speak to each other in low voices, noting the happy glow in Mindy’s face. She wasn’t quite sure what was going on there, but it had been a while since she had seen Mindy smile quite like that. She liked seeing her friend so relaxed and joyful, although it still worried Valerie a bit when she thought of the reason that Noah had come to town.
She had no idea if he would end up moving forward with his plans for the industrial complex, and what that would end up meaning for the town, or for her friend, if they did. But she was trying not to worry about it.
From what she understood, the time that Noah was required to spend in Snowy Pine Ridge before being allowed to take full control of his inherited property was dwindling. But if the look he was currently giving Mindy—the one filled with admiration and something that looked a lot like love—meant anything, Valerie wondered if Noah might find himself staying longer than anticipated.
With a grin, Valerie finally stepped into the room, the sound of her footsteps grabbing the attention of those in the room. Mindy gave her a quick wave, careful not to disrupt her balance, and Clark whirled to beam at her as she approached.
He hung up the last bit of garland he had been draping around the mantel above the big stone fireplace, then turned to face her fully. When he extended his arms out to her, she stepped into them gratefully, pressing her face into his chest and inhaling the familiar scent of him. The one that now meant ‘home.’
“It’s looking great, isn’t it?” he asked excitedly.
“It really is.”
Valerie squeezed her fiancé tightly, love swelling in her chest when he squeezed her back. Her wedding day was fast approaching, and she decided to push any worries about Noah’s intentions and plans for the town out of her mind for the moment, holding on to hope that it would all work out.
Because if there was one thing that Valerie Bernard knew well, it was the way that this town and all of the people in it could wrap themselves around your heart unexpectedly.
And maybe, just maybe, that was exactly what was happening to Noah.
* * *
The Christmas music continued to play in the large ballroom as Noah held the ladder for Mindy. Across the room, Valerie and Clark were dancing, swaying together to the music, but Noah’s attention was firmly on the woman with wild blonde curls—and more specifically, on what she’d just told him.
“What do you mean, I’m not dressing like a yuppy anymore?” he asked with a frown, throwing a glance down at the jeans and sweater that he’d put on earlier that morning.
“It isn’t a bad thing!” Mindy insisted with a grin, playfully tossing a fake, decorative snowball down at him before she stepped off the ladder.
“I just don’t understand what you mean,” he insisted, but he couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped him at the amused look on her face.
“You’re usually so buttoned up,” she answered with a shrug. “But you’ve started dressing a bit more casually since you’ve been here, and I like it.”
“I’m not buttoned up.”
Mindy shot him a pointed look. “The entire time you’ve been here, you’ve worn a suit every single day except for one.”
“I’m not wearing one now,” he argued, and when one of her eyebrows quirked up even higher, he chuckled sheepishly. “Oh. That’s what you meant.”
“Yup. But I like this side of you. It makes you look like a rugged mountain man.”
He rolled his eyes at that, playfully tossing back the snowball she’d thrown at him just moments before, eliciting a laughing yelp from her as her hands shot up in front of her face to block it from hitting her. Noah liked this side of Mindy too—the one that was relaxed and joking and so full of life that it made his heart feel like it might burst.
When they had been together previously, there had been playful moments, certainly. But nothing compared to the carefree nature she’d seemed to develop while living in Snowy Pine Ridge. This place, the bakery, the people—it had all seemed to lighten her somehow. Like she had become moreherselfwhile living here. And Noah found the person she had become irresistible.
The music shifted to a new song, and Mindy glanced over to where Valerie and Clark were standing in the center of the room, dancing slowly underneath the large bundle of mistletoe they’d hung from the chandelier as Nat King Cole played over the record player.
“They’re so in love,” she murmured wistfully, and all Noah could do was nod.
He had loved getting toknow Mindy’s life here, had adored every single moment he’d spent over the last few days getting everything ready for Valerie and Clark’s wedding.
He had never been a part of a community before, or at least, nothing like what he had experienced while in Snowy Pine Ridge. And he was experiencing it all as an outsider. Someone who had come into town with an agenda of their own that was in opposition with the people who lived here. He could only imagine how much the community would welcome him in if he truly became a part of it.
That thought brought Noah up short, and he blinked, freezing in place. There had been a wistfulness attached to the thought, a sense of longing behind it that made him feel suddenly off-kilter. Did hewantto become a part of the Snowy Pine Ridge community?
Mindy had turned her attention back to Noah and was eyeing him with curiosity. She could clearly read something in his face that gave away a hint of what he was thinking, but before he could shake the strange sensation rocketing through him and assure her that everything was fine, his phone began ringing loudly.
