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Everyone in the room nodded, and Mindy’s brows drew together. Maisie worked as a secretary at Hugh Brockton’s law firm, and although Mindy didn’t know her well, she saw her at Frosty’s Shack fairly often.
“Well, Maisie told Louise just today that she overheard Hugh talking to Noah. When Theresa passed away, she apparently put a clause in her will that in order to inherit anything at all, Noah has to live here in Snowy Pine Ridge for at least three weeks. And not just live here—he has to spend time out in the town to get familiar with it.”
Mindy felt her eyes go wide. “What does that mean?”
“It means you’re probably going to be seeing a lot more of him,” Shelley said sympathetically. “For the next few weeks, at least.”
Mindy’s heart began to hammer as she thought about seeing him time and time again over the course of the next three weeks. There was a brief pause in the conversation, and the movement of Sarah cocking her head to the side grabbed Mindy’s attention. She glanced at her best friend and noticed that Sarah’s eyes had taken on a far-off quality and her nose was scrunched up. It was her “thinking face,” the expression she normally wore when she was hatching some kind of plan.
“What is it?” Mindy asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
“I’m thinking…” Sarah drew out the words hesitantly. “It might be a good idea for you to be the one to show Noah around town.”
Mindy immediately shook her head. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Sure it is!” Lacy lit up, glancing between the two of them. “I think Sarah is on to something here. Considering the fact that you and Noah have a history, he’ll likely want to learn about the town from you more than anyone else. And who knows? Maybe you can convince him that his proposition is a bad one and get him to drop the idea of building that industrial complex.”
Mindy highly doubted that, but she didn’t say as much. Especially not since all of her friends were gazing at her with wide, hopeful eyes. She didn’t want to disappoint them, and more than that, she definitely wanted to save her town from the monstrosity of an idea that Noah had proposed earlier that day.
Everyone seemed to wait with bated breath as Mindy took a few seconds to consider Sarah’s proposal before finally letting out a sigh.
“Fine,” she agreed. “I’ll do it. I’ll reach out to him and volunteer to be his tour guide in Snowy Pine Ridge for as long as he’s here.”
Her friends all nodded excitedly, breaking into an animated conversation about how this was going to be great and how Mindy could use her past connection with Noah to get him to see reason.
But Mindy didn’t hear nearly any of it.
The only thing she could hear was the sound of her own heartbeat thundering in her ears as seven words repeated themselves in her head over and over in a loop.
What did I just get myself into?
* * *
Noah had to fight the urge not to roll his eyes as he walked into the Warm and Bright Hotel. Like everything else in this town, it was decked out for Christmas. But this establishment had gone above and beyond anything else he had seen so far, and it was positively dripping with ornate lights, wreaths, and garlands.
He hadn’t planned to stay in town this long, so he’d had to scramble for a place to stay after being informed of the stipulation in his aunt’s will by Hugh.
“Can I help you?”
An elegant older woman behind the front desk greeted him with a smile, and he nodded politely to her.
“Yes,” he said. “My name is Noah Henderson. I called just a short while ago to book a room.”
“Ah, of course! It’s lovely to meet you. I’m Evelyn.”
She quickly checked him in and led him to a room on the second floor, telling him to let her know if he needed anything. Then she slipped out, leaving him alone in the room. Fortunately, Noah had initially planned to travel to New York for several days after visiting Snowy Pine Ridge in New Hampshire, so he had a suitcase with plenty of clothes with him. He would have to cancel his meetings in New York, but at least he had everything he would need for his unexpected stay in this little town.
He set his suitcase on the bed and began to unpack, carefully hanging his clothes in the closet. Although his movements were methodical, his thoughts were chaotic. His mind couldn’t stop churning over the events of the day, and he kept flashing back to an image of Mindy and how she had looked when she’d stormed into the town hall meeting.
She’d been as beautiful as ever, even as her eyes had flashed with anger and dislike.
His phone let out a loud trill, announcing that he had an incoming call, interrupting Noah’s thoughts. There was so much going on in his mind that he considered just letting it continue to ring, but it would be irresponsible to ignore a call. So he shook his head to clear it, then walked over and grabbed the cell phone from the table where he’d set it when Evelyn had brought him up to the room.
He caught sight of his father’s name on the caller ID as he swiped across the screen to answer before bringing the phone to his ear. Noah didn’t even have time to give the customary “hello” before his father began speaking.
“Noah.” Brett Henderson’s voice was as gruff and deep as ever. “How are things going in that town? Did you get everything squared away with the will?”
“Well…” Noah cleared his throat, running a hand over his dark hair as he sat down on the bed. “It wasn’t as cut and dried as I hoped it would be. It turns out I’m going to have to be here a little longer than I expected.”
