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Her heart fluttered at the sight of him. Granted, it did that all the time now. It was a little fact that was getting harder and harder for her to ignore.
“What if they plug everything in and go to press the button or flip the switch or whatever it is that they’re doing and just… nothing happens? Or what if some of them light up and some of them don’t?”
Mindy considered this for a second before answering. “Derek and Lacy checked all the strands for burnt out bulbs or faulty wires before we even got started on everything. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“But what if?” Noah insisted, and when the corner of his mouth curved up in a grin, she realized that he was just being a contrarian and trying to get a rise out of her.
She rolled her eyes. “Then we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Have a little faith!”
“If you say so,” he said, still grinning as they turned off the main road and onto the driveway that led to the large house.
The lights were on inside, the warmth of them spilling out through the windows and making the snow glisten on the lawn.
“It’s going to be beautiful,” Noah commented as he parked next to Clark’s truck.
“Yeah.” Mindy tilted her head to get a better view of the place. “It really is.”
As always, he told her to stay put as he climbed out of the driver’s seat and walked around the front of the car to pull her door open for her. They had been inseparable over the last week and a half. Every single night after the bakery closed down, Noah showed up to go on a walk with Gus and then take her out to St. Nick’s Place to help with the preparations.
When he had first offered, Mindy had been a bit skeptical. But now, this many days into it, she couldn’t deny the fact that he seemed to be really enjoying it. Noah seemed to be fitting in well with Derek and Clark, and on the few occasions where Zach had been able to slip away from the gallery, the two of them seemed to have gotten along very well too.
And the more time Mindy was spending with Noah, the muddier it was all becoming for her.
She grinned at him as she slid out of the passenger seat, loving the way the warm glow from inside the house cast shadows across his sharp jawline. He closed the door behind her, and just as she was about to walk past him toward the house, Noah grabbed her hand.
She felt him give it a tug, turning her to face him. Her heart began fluttering even harder as he pulled her into his arms, wrapping them around her in a tight embrace.
“I haven’t gotten to hug you all day,” he said, his voice muffled as he pressed his face into her hair.
Mindy snuggled her face into his chest, the smell of cinnamon, clove, and sandalwood enveloping her as she squeezed him tighter.
“Yeah, I missed that too,” she responded truthfully.
When they separated, she felt his fingertips on her chin, guiding her gaze up so that she was looking at him. With a smile, his lips came down to meet hers. She sighed as she kissed him, loving the familiar way his mouth moved against hers.
It had been crazy to her how quickly they had been able to find their way back to each other despite the years that had separated them. And while so much of Noah was familiar—the way he smelled, the way his thoughts raced and she had to work to keep up with them, the way he made her laugh—there was also so much about him that seemed entirely new as well.
And it was those new parts that Mindy was finding to be the most dangerous, because they were the most enticing. She had to keep reminding herself that this wasn’t going to last. That his wants were working directly against what she wanted for herself and for the town and the people that she loved.
But when he kissed her like he was doing right then, she found she wasn’t quite strong enough to stop it. She had long since accepted the fact that it was going to crush her when he left, so she would just have to soak up every bit of time with him that she could before then.
Their lips broke apart, both of them smiling in the aftermath as Noah nodded toward the house.
“You ready?” he asked, intertwining their fingers as they started walking toward the front door.
“Always,” Mindy answered with a grin.
As they pushed open the door, they could hear everyone’s voices coming from the study about halfway down the long hallway that served as an entryway. Mindy and Noah kicked the snow off their boots and hung their coats up before heading toward the noise.
They turned the corner, finding Derek and Clark piling up the last of the boxes in the center of the study.
“What’s going on?” Mindy asked, her brows knitting together in confusion as they stepped through the threshold.
“We’re all done!” Clark announced, adding the last empty box to the pile. “We’re going to leave the boxes in here and close up this room during the party. That way we don’t have to lug everything back out when it’s all over.”
“Good call,” Noah said with a grin. “Does that mean it’s lights time?”
Derek nodded, looking even more excited than Clark, Zach, and Noah, if that were possible.
