Sweet Noel

by Jeanette Lewis

  “Not likely,” Noel grumbled. “You haven’t seen my medical debt.”

  “Still, it can’t hurt. So get your butt in gear and go win this competition. You can always go back when it’s over.”

  Thoughts of Gina flashed through his mind, the feel of her body in his arms, her warm lips pressing against his.

  “Noel?” Tony demanded. “You’re doing the dragon again, right?”

  “I haven’t decided,” Noel admitted.

  “Look, whatever’s going on in your love life, this competition needs to come first,” Tony argued. “Besides, it’s only a few days. She’ll wait a few days, won’t she?”

  Noel rubbed the bridge of his nose. Of course Gina would wait. She wasn’t the type to dump him because he needed to go make a living. But … the question hovered in his mind. The relationship was so new, so fragile. What if he left and she suddenly decided it was just a fling? What if she didn’t want him to come back.

  “C’mon, man, where’s your focus?” Tony growled into the phone.

  “Maybe a near-death experience will do that to you,” Noel suggested.

  “Yeah, okay. I’m not totally buying it, but I’ll let this one pass. You need to be in New Orleans in working form by next week. Got it?”

  “I’ll be in touch,” Noel promised.

  They said goodbye, and he lay back down on the bed, lacing his fingers together behind his head. Maybe Tony was right. He did have a new outlook on life. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt this … true happiness, not just an approximation of it.

  He picked up his phone again and tapped through to the photo files, scrolling all the way to a file shoved clear to the bottom of the list and labeled only “E.” The file opened, and Noel drew a sharp breath at the sight of Eden. She was wearing a diaper and lying in one of those clear plastic hospital baby beds, hooked up to about a thousand machines. Her eyes were closed, and her skin looked almost translucent. Tiny hands clenched into fists.

  He and Maren had spent every moment by her side, willing her to live. Even though they’d known from the start, they hoped for a miracle. But a miracle never came, and he had to lay his little girl to rest in a cemetery in San Diego.

  They hadn’t been in love, he and Maren. Their relationship had moved too quickly to develop anything as important as love. They were already living together, and before he knew it, Maren was expecting and they’d married at the courthouse. His parents had been stationed in Germany at the time, and he hadn’t given them enough notice to try to come for the wedding.

  Then, it had all ended, as suddenly as it had begun.

  Noel flicked through the pictures of Eden again. In his lowest times—and there had been a lot—he sorted through them, remembering what he’d lost. Wallowing, one could say. Probably not the wisest thing to do, giving in to the sadness the way he did. It always ended badly, though never as badly as being hit by a car.

  There were no pictures of Maren. After the funeral, they’d gone their separate ways and he’d deleted her number from his phone. He’d heard she had remarried, but he hadn’t cared enough to find out more.

  But now, he wanted a photo of Gina sitting on the beach, busily helping her sons pile up sand for their sculpture, or beaming at him from over Arthur’s shoulder. Or sliding onto the swing with a ginger ale, her brown eyes burning, right before they’d kissed. Her knew her well enough by now to know that she wasn’t a person to give away her kisses or her heart lightly. There was something here, something that could stand a few days apart.

  He could go to New Orleans and win the competition, then come with more than a bum leg and a pack of wispy promises.

  15

  Noel sat on the couch, watching Gina scurry around the room with a dust cloth flapping in her hand. “Are we welcoming the Queen of England?” he asked, only half joking. He’d never seen her in such a flurry before. Marjorie kept the house spotless, but somehow, Gina kept finding more places to dust and more fingerprints to wipe off the walls.

  “Very funny.” Gina shot him a strained smile. “Lee is a perfectionist. The last thing I need is for him to find something to nitpick about.”

  Lee’s idea of a rain check for a ruined fishing trip had been to take the boys to Coastal Creations for an hour to paint ornaments for the town Christmas tree. It seemed like a paltry exchange to Noel, but he’d kept his mouth shut. It hurt, though, to see those two boys missing their dad and know the sentiment was only partially returned.

  What was he doing? Why did he care so much? This was crazy and way too fast and under extreme circumstances, and he was leaving next week anyway. But when Gina was there, couldn’t stop looking at her. Couldn’t stop smiling. Couldn’t stop reaching for her to pull her into his arms and hold her close. Gina made him feel like he could play a game of pick-up basketball with Jordan in the driveway and not feel a thing in his injured knee.

  Was this love, or at least the beginning of it? He wasn’t sure. He’d never felt this way before, but he liked it. The thought of having to climb in his van and leave Indigo Bay next week made his heart thud painfully. The only thing that made it better was knowing he’d be back. They’d talked about it. He’d go to the competition, hopefully win, then come back and see where this relationship could take them.

  “Whoa, hey. That’s going too far,” he said as Gina climbed up on a chair and began dusting the books on the top shelf. “Those are the look-at books, and I will not be held responsible for sitting here watching you wreck them.”

  She looked over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out at him. “Don’t you dare tell on me, Noel Hamilton.”

  “My silence comes with a price,” he said.

  Gina hopped down from the chair, landing lightly. “Let me guess, another knitted scarf?” She tossed the dust cloth onto the shelf and sauntered toward him with slow, measured steps.

  “You don’t have a knitted scarf,” Noel said. He reached out, beckoning her to come closer. “I believe we already established this as fact.”

  “Hmm. That leaves me in a bad spot.” Gina circled the table and sank onto the cushion at his side. “Whatever will I do?”

  “I’m sure we can think of something,” Noel murmured.

  He ducked his head, and their lips met, soft and sweet. Her skin was soft under his touch. He ran his fingertips up her arm, smiling through the kiss as she shivered with goose bumps.

  “Mmm, I like it when you do that,” he growled.

  “Your fault,” Gina whispered.

  Noel turned so he could put both arms around her, pull her closer. She moaned softly and clutched at his shoulders as he deepened the kiss. Heat spiraled through him, making him want more.

  The chime of the doorbell broke the spell. Gina sat back, a small grimace on her lips. “There’s Lee.”

  Overhead, the boys had heard the bell. They came thumping down the stairs, and Noel sat back and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart.

  “Be right back,” Gina said softly. She dropped a kiss on his forehead as she got up, meeting the boys as they flung the door open.

  “Dad!” Arthur hollered.

  From his spot on the couch, Noel couldn’t see the entryway, but he could hear the happy exclamations of the boys and a deeper voice answering. He heard Gina’s welcome die on her lips as a new voice pierced the air, high and sharp.

  “I’ve been waiting far too long to meet you,” a woman said.

  Noel took a quick breath. It had to be Kim, Lee’s girlfriend. And Lee hadn’t told Gina she would be coming. Anger pounded in Noel’s gut. He knew very little about Lee so far; Gina hadn’t shared much about her marriage. But he could form his own opinions, and from everything he knew, Lee was a dirtbag and more.

  They came into the living room, the boys crowding around Lee. Noel was surprised to see that Gina was the same height as her ex-husband and Kim was barely taller than Jordan. The look on Gina’s face told him everything he needed to know, and he threw her a quick wink of
support.

  “Lee, Kim, this is Noel. He’s staying with us for a while,” Gina said.

  Kim had long, dyed black hair and too much eyeliner. She wore a short, tight red dress and thigh-high boots, though Noel noticed they had no heels. Her sparkly gold earrings were the size of Christmas ornaments, so big they brushed against her shoulders. “Hi, Noel.” She smiled and sent him a small wave.

  “Hey.” He tipped his head. “Nice to meet you.”

  “How’s the leg?” Lee asked. His jeans and sweater, worn with a pair of Timberlands, looked wildly out of place next to Kim’s skimpy dress. It was like they were going to two different events entirely.

  “Good, never better,” Noel said.

  “Too bad Gina hit you with the car,” Lee said. “Thank goodness she’s not on my insurance anymore.”

  Kim giggled, and Noel saw Gina’s eyes go stony. She pressed her lips together and gave Lee a tight, totally fake smile.

  “Actually, the accident was my fault,” Noel said smoothly. “You can ask Ben.”

  Lee’s face registered surprise, but he shrugged it off. “Guess she got lucky.”

  “Dad, we need to go. All the good ornaments will be gone,” Jordan said.

  Thank goodness for Jordan.

  Noel watched from the couch as they grabbed shoes, jackets, and finally bustled out the door as noisily as they’d come in. In the sudden silence, he heard Gina sigh.

  “Well, that’s Kim,” she said as she came back into the room. She twisted her hands nervously, as if she couldn’t decide what to think.

  “Lots of makeup,” Noel said.

  “Totally.” Gina agreed. “And I’m not sure how I feel about her wearing that dress around my boys. Maybe I should have offered to lend her a sweater.”

  “Are you okay?”

  “I guess. I mean, I knew about her, but I didn’t think he’d bring her here.”

  The look in her eyes cut straight to his heart. She wasn’t just caught off guard, she was in genuine pain.

  He patted the couch cushions. “Let’s not worry about them right now. I believe we were in the middle of something pretty interesting before they got here. I’d like to revisit that.”

  A small tinge of pink appeared on her cheeks and Gina relaxed. “Oh, really? I wouldn’t mind revisiting that myself.”

  Noel reached for her. “Then, what are you waiting for?” Marjorie and Peter were out Christmas shopping, and the house was theirs. Noel pulled her into his arms, kissing her forehead, then her nose, taking his time in letting his lips travel over the ridges of her cheekbone. “You smell so good,” he whispered.

  “Mmm, so do you.” Gina wound her fingers into his thick hair, tugging gently to direct his lips across her skin. When their mouths finally met, she sighed softly, letting him pull her even closer.

  When they finally broke apart, his head was spinning. “How long does it take to paint a Christmas ornament?” he murmured into her hair.

  “Not too long,” Gina admitted. “But there could be a wait. The ornament painting is always very popular.”

  “Feel like watching a sappy Christmas movie?”

  She met his eyes, and he knew they were thinking the same thing. Being alone together was like a dream, but too much alone time could lead them to places they weren’t ready to go.

  “Only if we can make popcorn too,” she said. “With Parmesan.”

  He grinned. “Sounds good to me.”

  Gina made popcorn while Noel picked the movie. The house was quiet, the Christmas tree glowing in the corner of the family room. Out the windows, clouds scudded low in the sky across the ocean, and the breeze was turning colder. The weather set the perfect mood for Christmas.

  They were almost finished with It’s a Wonderful Life when the front door banged open and the boys came tumbling in, followed by Lee and Kim. Reluctantly, Gina eased herself out of Noel’s arms and went to meet them. “How’d it go?”

  Arthur held up the wooden Christmas tree he’d painted, smeared with green and red paint. “It was awesome,” he crowed. “Look what I made.”

  She admired the tree, then turned to give Jordan’s wreath the same amount of praise. Behind the boys, Lee and Kim stood watching. They were holding hands.

  A few months ago, the sight would have sent Gina into a tailspin, but now, the thought of Lee with someone else didn’t sting like it had, didn’t bring up the panic in her chest.

  “Do you want some hot chocolate?” she offered.

  Lee shook his head. “We’d better get back.”

  “But we’ll see you at the gala, right?” Kim put in.

  “Gala?” Gina’s head came up. The Indigo Bay Christmas Gala was on Saturday. This year, it was titled Barks and Bows, and the goal was to raise money for an animal shelter. Her mother was involved with the gala every year, but Gina had never attended before. Lee had never wanted to go. “You don’t go to the gala,” she said, looking at Lee.

  He shrugged. “Kim saw the flyers and thought it’d be fun.”

  “They’re auctioning off a motor bike,” Kim said. “How cool is that?”

  Pain knifed through Gina. Her mother was on the committee, so she’d heard all about this year’s gala—a fundraiser to help the Montgomerys expand their small pet shop into a real, true shelter. Gina had grown up hearing her parents talk about the annual gala—the one night a year when Indigo Bay society turned up in sequins instead of swimsuits. It was classy and formal, with a feeling akin to prom, but for grown-ups. She’d always wanted to attend, but Lee had refused. It was too expensive, he always said, and they wouldn’t be able to buy any of the auction items anyway, so what was the point?

  “So is that a yes, we’ll see you there?” Kim asked, breaking into her thoughts.

  Gina felt her cheeks warm. Lee wasn’t wrong; the tickets were expensive. Definitely not in her budget.

  “Wouldn’t miss it,” Noel’s voice came from the couch. He said it lightly, but Gina caught the underlying tension, the challenge in his voice.

  Lee’s eyes went to Noel’s brace, the crutches. “You’re going to the gala?”

  “Sure. Anything to support the animal shelter.”

  Surprise washed across Lee’s face, and Gina bit back a laugh. Her heart suddenly felt lighter. She could do this. She could move on.

  After Lee and Kim left, Gina returned to the family room. The boys sat by Noel, polishing off the last of the popcorn. Noel looked up and grinned at her. “So, wanna go to the gala?”

  “Of course, but how are you going to walk?”

  “Don’t worry about me,” Noel said. “I’ll manage it. But maybe we should worry about what we’re going to wear. I doubt they’ll look favorably on my cargo shorts.”

  Gina giggled. “Mom probably has my old prom dress around here somewhere.”

  His eyes lit up. “Perfect! I can’t wait to see you in it.”

  “Not a chance.” Gina shook her head. “It was pure early two-thousands glam, and I wouldn’t be caught dead in it now.”

  “I think you should do it. It’d be adorably retro, and maybe you’ll start a trend. Next year’s gala will be a retro party.”

  “I’m not going to be the sacrificial lamb so Indigo Bay can get a new theme.”

  “Uh-oh,” Noel frowned. “Did I get us in trouble? I guess we can just not show up.”

  “No way,” Gina said, remembering the glint in Lee’s eye. “We have a few days to figure it out. I’ll take the afternoon off and go to Charleston tomorrow. I’m sure I can find something in a bridal store to rent.”

  Noel broke into a smile, granting her the promise of adventure. “That’s my girl.”

  16

  Gina slammed on the brakes as the little white dog darted in front of her car. Her seat belt locked, pinning her to the seat.

  “Stop, stop, stop!” A bleach-haired woman ran into the street after the dog, holding up one hand to stop Gina’s already locked-up Honda. It was Miss Lucille, her parents’ next-door neighbor.


  Gina threw the car into park and turned off the engine. Memories of the Thanksgiving accident burned in her mind, particularly the sound of Noel hitting the bumper and the image of him crumpling to the ground. Her heart was in her throat.

  Miss Lucille had reached the dog, and she stooped to scoop it up. As usual, the dog’s collar matched Miss Lucille’s shoes, which today were red with a crocodile pattern.

  Gina took a deep breath and unlocked her seat belt, then climbed from the car. “Are you okay, Miss Lucille?”

  “Oh, yes.” The older woman waved away her concerns, seemingly unaware of Gina’s sweaty palms and rasping breath. “This naughty girl got away from me. She doesn’t usually dart off.” Miss Lucille planted several kisses on the dog’s nose. “Such a naughty little sweetheart, aren’t you, Princess?”

  “Yeah.” Gina wiped her hands on her striped skirt. Her heart was still jumping in her chest. “Well, I’m glad you’re both okay,” she said shakily. That was too close of a call, and the memories of hitting Noel choked her.

  She started back toward her car, but Miss Lucille zipped out a hand and clutched at her wrist. “I haven’t had a chance to talk with your mother yet, so you tell me what’s happening.”

  Gina always felt skittish around Miss Lucille. They’d been next-door neighbors when she was growing up, and the older woman had been kind, but formal. She didn’t like people shortcutting across her lawn to access the beach, and she especially didn’t like the thought of anyone being single. The fact she was single herself seemed to be of small consequence.

  “Now, that young man who has been staying here—what’s his name?”

  Gina had no doubt Miss Lucille already knew Noel’s name. First and last and probably middle. If pressed, she could probably come up with his social security number. She smiled. “His name is Noel Hamilton.”

  “Oh yes, that’s right. Your mother said something about him coming to stay after he broke his leg in the accident.” Miss Lucille pursed her lips, and a twinkle grew in her blue eyes. “Some very strong marriages have been founded on less, you know.”