Chapter 4

Four

Happy weekend! We’re all counting down until Thanksgiving break, but remember, homework continues to need to be turned in on our regular schedule. Mr. Bell and Mr. Winters are hard at work on our Lights Festival, and we can’t wait to see what they’re stringing together.

MERRY

“We need to bring the dog.” Legend made this sound like the most reasonable request of all time. However, while Barney did go many places with us, I wasn’t sure about taking him to the Bells’ house.

“We do not.” I tried to sound stern in the presence of three pleading faces lined up near the front door of our apartment.

“He spends all week waiting for us.” Ryder stuck his chin out, secure in the knowledge that his pout usually worked on me.

“We’re going to be guests at the Bells’ house,” I countered, sweeping my hands wide. “We don’t need to show up with our dog.”

“Please.” Ryder added a whine that made my teeth grind.

“Fine. I’ll text Nolan.” Nolan had thoughtfully provided his number yesterday, and I figured a fast no from him would shut the boys up. However, Nolan’s lightning-quick response resulted in me groaning.

If he’s well-behaved, sure, bring the little guy along.

Barney wasn’t all that little and behaved might be pushing it, but I knew when I’d been beaten.

He is probably better behaved than the twins.

Be there in fifteen minutes.

“Okay, he said we can bring the dog. Let’s load up, and please remember, I’m supposed to be working on the Lights Festival with Mr. Bell. No pranks, no problems.”

The Bells lived in a medium-sized house near the school and the base that I’d expect from an officer’s family. It was a two-story with a newer stucco-look in a neighborhood of well-kept homes. The front door had a cutesy sign next to it, similar to ones all over the island, asking for shoes off in the house. The boys were already kicking theirs off when Nolan answered the door with a big smile and a teeny baby strapped to his chest in the sort of contraption I remembered all too well from when the boys were babies.

“Hello! Oh, that is a dog!” His eyes went wide as he took in Barney standing next to the boys. “He’s rather…large.”

Compared to apartment dogs and the sort of purse-dogs theater people inevitably owned, Barney probably was slightly overgrown and hairy.

“But friendly.” I shrugged because the dog was way more enthusiastic about this meeting than I was. Barney was busy sniffing Nolan’s bare legs and looking for pets.

“Well, I suppose he can hang out with the kids. The pool area is this way.” He led us straight back from the tiled entryway to a living area with wide sliding glass doors that looked out on a small kidney-shaped pool with various toys and rafts already floating in it. “And Cara is napping, so let’s keep our voices down.”

“Okay!” Ryder bounced along, decidedly not whispering. “I like your pool.”

“Now the dog can stay—” Nolan gestured toward the patio area to the side of the pool only to cut himself off with an alarmed noise as Barney splashed into the pool, headed straight for a purple raft. “It swims?”

“And surfs,” Legend bragged.

“Badly.” I laughed as Barney hauled himself onto the raft, more out of experience than grace, with much splashing. “He loves to swim, but he’s lacking in coordination.”

“Like me.” Nolan gave a humble sort of chuckle. I doubted Nolan swam much. He looked more like the lounging type, what with his designer swim trunks with a crinkly texture and a crisp peach button-down. He looked like he’d searched what to wear to a Hawaiian pool party and then bought exactly that outfit, undoubtedly put together by someone who’d never left the mainland.

As the boys cheered Barney on, Stella arrived in a startlingly orange swimsuit to join them in the pool. Once the kids were settled, Nolan led me to a small patio table. We sat with Nolan bouncing in his seat slightly to keep the sleeping baby happy.

“I remember that dance.” I nodded at the baby. “There were plenty of times I wanted to sit so badly and almost dozed off bouncing one or both in a carrier on an exercise ball.”

“The twins must have been adorable.” Nolan smiled fondly as he glanced at the pool where the three kids played with pool noodles as swords.

“They’re lucky they were so cute because they were also toddler demons.” I laughed as Nolan opened a Christmas-patterned folder.

“I’ve added to my plan since yesterday.” He shuffled a huge stack of papers, which included drawings, program notes, scripts, and more.

“I see.” I nodded slowly, my brain already whirring with questions of feasibility.

“Don’t say no yet.” Nolan passed over a sheet labeled Master Plan with several bullet points and a table of contents.

“I’m not saying anything.” I was silently thinking it, and likely rather loudly. I thumbed through Nolan’s various sketches. “Are those dancing Santas in board shorts?”

“Yes! It’ll be darling!” Nolan clapped his hands, which made the baby make a fussy noise, so he lowered his voice. “Especially when the flying fairies?—”

“No one is flying.” Holding up a hand, I made my voice stern. “Principal Alana would have a fit over the potential liability issues.”

“Really? It’s a simple pulley system.” Nolan furrowed his forehead in an elegant manner he likely practiced in front of a mirror. “I, myself, flew for a production of Pan. ”

Of course. I blinked but didn’t allow myself to otherwise react. Instead, I drawled, “Well, if you’re willing to trust my rigging, I suppose you can do the flying.”

“I’d trust your rigging.” Nolan’s tone skirted dangerously close to playful flirting before turning more academic. “But this is about the students. Perhaps my fairies, which are really a nod toward pagan holiday spirits, can dance around instead.”

“Choreography would be a question for Mx. Lennox the dance instructor, but safer than rigging anyone.” I flipped through to a page with an alarming set of calculations. “Now, what’s this math?”

“The number of bulbs for the light extravaganza.” Swaying slightly for the baby, he threw his hands wide. “We’ll have lit-up animals, flowers, palm trees…”

“Uh-huh.” I narrowed my eyes, seeing dollar signs and hours of work. “We usually just outline the courtyard in some basic white lights.”

Nolan made a pouty, disappointed noise that sounded like something Ryder might try. “Think bigger! Better! Amazing!”

“Are you sure you’re an actor?” I tilted my head, considering him. He had the sort of earnest energy that could sell umbrellas to Arizonans. “Because you sound like a Broadway producer. Or a salesman.”

“I did do three different productions of The Music Man .” He preened, delivering this news like I should be very impressed.

“Of course you did.”

“Nolan! You let me sleep way too long.” Cara came out onto the patio, hands outstretched. She was tall with long, curly dark hair and pale, coppery tan skin. “And hi, Mr. Winters.”

Cara was wearing what appeared to be purple pajamas or a lounge set, but having had two newborns myself, I didn’t judge her for wearing pajamas in the middle of the afternoon. I stood to greet her.

“Please, call me Merry outside of school.”

“Will do.” She took the baby, carrier and all, from Nolan. “I’ve come to relieve you of your uncle duties, so you can discuss more of your fabulous plans.”

“Excellent.” Nolan rubbed his hands together as she retreated and proceeded to show me sketch after sketch of light ideas better suited to a city zoo project than a cash-strapped school production.

“We’re gonna need more lights.” I massaged my temples. “And decorating stuff.”

“Shopping.” Nolan continued to radiate glee. “Let’s make a list!”

“Mr. Bell, watch this!” Legend stood poised at the side of the deep end with Ryder next to him. Legend had long ago perfected the art of the front flip, even without a diving board, and did a nifty somersault into the water.

“Oh no!” Ryder did the fakest gasp in the world. “He’s not coming up!”

Legend had beaten me in many breath-holding contests in the pool at our apartment complex, and I had zero doubt this was another twin prank. Stella, for her part, let out a fake horrified shriek, and Nolan sprang into action.

“We need to do something!” Pen still in hand, Nolan raced to the pool.

“Wait—” I tried to stop him, but Nolan launched himself into the water, sunglasses, pricey shirt, and all.

And then, naturally, Legend surfaced, laughing uproariously, and Nolan didn’t, which meant I had no choice but to jump in since I had no idea how well Nolan could swim.

I hauled Nolan to the surface and dragged him to the side of the pool. Meanwhile, the three kids, undoubtedly sensing a lecture, raced back into the house.

“We’re getting snacks,” Stella yelled.

“It was a joke?” Nolan looked crushed that his superhero moment had been for nothing.

“Yup.” I nodded, painfully aware of how close our bodies were. Confident he wasn’t about to sink, I released him. Barney had long since abandoned the pool in favor of sunning himself near some low bushes.

“My sunglasses are gone.” He made a mournful noise that did something to my chest I didn’t like one bit.

“I’ll find them.” Why I volunteered, I had no clue, but I ducked under the water, combing the bottom of the pool until I found his pricey shades.

“Thank you.” Nolan fluttered his impossibly long eyelashes at me as I held out his sunglasses. I kept a respectable distance right up until Nolan let go of the pool side and sputtered under the water again.

“Can you seriously not swim?” I glowered at him.

“I can swim. I merely slipped.” Nolan’s tone was haughty, but his eyes were shifty. “I’ve been practicing since I arrived.”

“Yeah?” I had a feeling practicing involved a lot of using the raft and supervising from the side of the pool. “Let me see you float.”

Nolan carefully set his shades on the side of the pool and launched into the worst float in the history of swimming. “Maybe I don’t have enough body fat?”

Like I needed a reminder that he was perfectly lean and toned.

“You’ve got plenty.” I kept my tone curt. “Try again, and this time, I’m gonna help you.”

“I don’t need a lesson!”

“Well, you’re getting one,” I said grimly. However, I’d majorly underestimated the effect of putting my hands on Nolan to help him float and having our bodies so close together. I gave surfing lessons almost every weekend to supplement my teaching salary, and I’d never had the problem of being so aware of the other person. Like most of my surfing students, Nolan smelled like coconut and sunscreen, but something else there teased my senses. His scent, combined with his earnest half-smile as he tried to comply with my suggestions, was enough to have me thawing toward him.

And the last thing we needed was me warming up to him in any way. He was like the ghost of Christmas present, no future in sight, and keeping my heart and awareness in an icy deep freeze was only sensible. But I kept noticing little things. The birthmark on his neck. The definition of his Adam’s apple. The warmth of his damp skin.

“I’m doing it.” Nolan celebrated with a cheer as he finally managed a respectable float to complement his very rudimentary doggie paddle. “I’m really doing it. Look at me swimming.”

Somehow, I couldn’t help but get excited for him. “Yeah, you’re doing awesome.”

I went in for a high-five as he righted himself to standing in the water again, but my fingers lingered with absolutely no permission from my brain, skimming down his arm.

“Merry.” Nolan exhaled hard. “What are you doing?”

I leaned in, that same force pulling me closer despite my better judgment. Maybe one little?—

“How’s the holiday planning coming?” Athena burst out of the house, phone camera pointed at us. “I need an update for my channel.”

“No update.” I backed away from Nolan in a hurry. No big deal. So we’d almost kissed. So what? It wouldn’t happen again. I’d make sure of it.