Chapter 13

Thirteen

Welcome back, ohana! I trust you all had a good week off, and now comes our big December push to end the year. Yes, our holiday festival is forefront of our minds, but academics are also key as we strive to finish the year strong! No missing work!

MERRY

After the Thanksgiving weekend on North Shore, returning to school on Monday was painfully hard. And okay, that wasn’t all that was hard. Every private moment was now filled with flashbacks of Nolan and our time together. Surprisingly, I didn’t simply remember the sex, him blowing me or our couple of sneaky make-out sessions, hot as they had been. I also thought about the endless talking, the walking on the beach, the waking up early, the eating my mom’s pies, and the snuggling in bed. We’d said this thing was only for the holidays, but I had no idea what our little fling might look like back at work, with real-world responsibilities and deadlines bearing down on us.

Case in point: I was presently supervising eighth grade carpenters in set construction.

“Please watch the hammer.”

“Not so fast with the drill.”

“Put down the putty.” I moved around the room, giving what I hoped were gentle instructions, but this was class four on my harder B day of our A/B alternating schedule, and my patience for impulsive middle schoolers was wearing thin. Two girls whizzed by, dripping blue paint, and I sighed. “Someone find the rags, please. Monica, watch those brushes.”

“Wouldn’t it be faster to weld the arches?” Liam K. looked way too eager to use fiery blow torches versus the combination of wood and wire I’d designed to meet Nolan’s wish for lighted arches in the courtyard.

“And trust you with a blow torch?” I laughed because the kid usually had a good enough sense of humor and I could get away with some teasing.

“Hey, I’d be careful.” He stuck his tongue out at me, and everyone nearby laughed.

“Keep dreaming.” I shook my head and moved on to the builders assigned to making trees and foliage.

“That palm tree looks like a—” Apparently bored with arch-making, Liam had followed me over and cast a critical eye on one unfortunate outline of a giant tree. At least, it was supposed to be a tree, not a phallus.

“Don’t say it,” I warned him. “We can fix it.”

“I’m not sure that’s possible.” Liam wandered away as I looked over some other palm trees that were, thankfully, less phallic in nature.

“Do we have any more green paint? I don’t care for this shade.” Kaitlyn was as picky as ever.

“Can you go ask Mr. Kekoa?” I gave a tight smile and sent a silent apology to Ken for sending Kaitlyn his way.

Finally, the class ended. My classroom was a disaster, but a quiet one, waiting for me to put it to rights before tomorrow started all over again. As I worked, I took a breath, an unfamiliar feeling filling my chest. Lonely. No, that wasn’t quite it. This was a specific sort of loneliness. I missed Nolan , missed what we’d had at North Shore, and right as I was debating seeking him out, he appeared in the doorway like magic.

“I hoped I’d find you here.” He grinned at me as he sauntered in.

“Here I am.” I grinned back as he shut my door with a firm click.

“No twins?” He looked around like they might be lurking behind a set piece.

“Nope.” I motioned him closer. “They said they wanted to play soccer with some friends before we headed home. Which gives me a chance to clean up.”

“I see.” Nolan stepped close enough to kiss, so I did. And a second time because once was never enough with Nolan. He tasted like coffee and sugar cookies, and I went right for a three-peat because why not? This one was long and sultry, probably a bit much for on school grounds, but damn, I’d missed him all day. Squinting, Nolan pulled away to stare at the palm trees. “Why does that palm tree look like a?—”

“I know.” I groaned. “It’s one of several things I have to fix before the boys are done with soccer.”

“What else?” Strolling to one of the workbenches, Nolan picked up a cordless drill. “Maybe I can help.”

“Do you know how to use that thing?” I tilted my head, considering whether a city boy like him had even seen power tools before.

“Honey, your tools are safe with me.” Nolan turned on the charm while deftly switching the drill bit for a screwdriver tip. Marching over to the arch Liam K. had abandoned, he tightened several screws. And why I found that ridiculously hot, I had no clue. “I was a theater major, remember? And I’ve been in more Off-Off Broadway shows than I can count. Helping build sets is part of theater life.”

“I feel bad putting you to work. You didn’t stop by to get roped into helping.”

“Who says?” Nolan scoffed. “The kisses were a nice bonus, but I’ve got time before helping Cara with dinner. The girls already walked home without me. Also, I’m invested in our festival being a success.”

The our hit me square in the chest, a warm, weighted blanket of cozy pleasure.

“Me too.” I held his gaze a moment too long. Looking away, I fetched a staple gun. “In that case, can you stretch canvas? I need several big ones for backdrops.”

“I thought you’d never ask.” Nolan took on a fake, flirty tone that made me laugh. “And just so we’re clear, I like spending time with you, and I don’t have to be kissing you to do it.”

“Oh.” I paused from fetching a giant roll of canvas. “So we’re friends then?”

“I think we are.” Nolan patted my cheek. “Is that okay, or would you rather go back to hating me?”

“I never hated you,” I admitted. My neck tensed at having made him think that. “I’m not sure such a thing is possible. Misjudged you, yeah, and some inaccurate assumptions, for sure. But now…”

“Now?” Nolan prompted as I trailed off.

“Now we’re friends.” I leaned in for a fast kiss.

“Friends who are going to make this festival a success.”

With far more glee than I would have thought possible, Nolan applied himself to building frames and then stretching the canvas, all sexy and competent with tools in his hands. It took a fair bit of restraint to not pull him into a corner of my supply room and have my way right there.

Working with Nolan was fun, and I lost track of time until the boys appeared sweaty and out of breath.

“We’re starving,” Legend announced.

“I’m making spaghetti with Cara and the girls. There will be plenty if you want to join us.”

“We shouldn’t invite ourselves,” I hedged, not wanting to cook but also not wanting to make Cara entertain with a newborn.

“You’re not. There’s almost always an extra kid or two over, and Cara enjoys the distraction of adult conversation. She texted me exactly that when I asked if it was okay to invite you.” Nolan grinned, likely because he knew he’d won.

Dinner was a loud, chaotic affair, much better than the nights I spent trying to put together something both boys would eat. And while there was little romantic about it, not with four middle schoolers, a newborn, and a watchful sister-in-law, there was something…comforting about the shared meal.

I liked watching Nolan around his family because it was clear how much he enjoyed being an uncle. This extended visit wasn’t a burden to him. I’d meant what I’d said earlier about making a lot of wrong assumptions about him. Being proven wrong was both wonderful and painful. He might be a far better man than I’d given him credit for, but he was still leaving.

“Here. Let me have a turn with the baby,” I demanded as Nolan tried to juggle a fussy baby and loading the dishwasher. Cara was helping Athena with pre-algebra homework while Stella and the boys watched TV in the family room.

“You?” Nolan looked at me like I’d suggested running off to Vegas.

“I had two babies at the same time,” I reminded him as I scooped up the tiny, angry bundle. “Holding only one is a luxury.”

Instinctually, I did what had worked with the twins, a swaying march while humming low. Miraculously, the little angry man quieted.

“Oh, he likes you.” Nolan’s whole face softened at the calm baby.

“Most babies do,” I said, echoing Nolan’s line about mothers. “They haven’t figured out yet how grumpy I really am.”

“You are not.” Glancing around the empty kitchen, Nolan stepped toward me, expression still soft and open.

Oh. It hadn’t been for the baby after all. It was for me. My skin heated. I was a grumpy, loner surfer at times, but in that moment, Nolan made me feel more accepted than I could remember.

His eyes flickered like he might be thinking about kissing, and I might have risked it, but then Stella barged into the kitchen at top speed and volume.

“Mr. Winters, did you see our Christmas tree?”

“I did.” It had been hard to miss as I’d entered the house, a gaudy, green fake tree with white flocking and dozens of kid-made ornaments.

“Why don’t we have a tree?” Legend followed Stella into the kitchen, swiping a cookie from the platter on the counter.

“Yeah, I want a tree this year.” Ryder’s voice was that sort of near-whine that made my last nerve vibrate. “One of those shiny ones.”

“Oooh, a foil tree! That would be spectacular.” Nolan, apparently, wasn’t nearly so irritated by whining. “What do you usually do?”

“Dunno.” Legend shrugged. “Stockings. Some lights in the window, along with our art from school. A lot of people around here don’t do trees.”

“I have no idea where one would find a foil tree on the island,” I added, not wanting to agree to a hopeless hunt.

“Leave it to me.” Nolan beamed, expression brighter than any lit-up tree. I should have been worried as that was the same look he’d had at the market, but surprisingly, I was reassured. If anyone could make Ryder’s Christmas wish come true, it was Nolan.