Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Noah

I didn't mind Thanksgiving. It was actually my favorite holiday behind Halloween. Pie, deviled eggs, leftover turkey sandwiches. I was here for it.

But I could tell Lu was sensitive to the occasion with the changes happening in her life, namely the ultimatums she'd issued to her dad and stepfamily weeks ago.

We were attending the friends-and-family Thanksgiving luncheon at the Cozy Creek Lodge. The restaurant was closed until service this evening, but the owners let the restaurant staff invite relatives and close friends to celebrate the holiday in the fancy-schmancy dining room in the hotel, which was roped off from the public for the next few hours.

Lu and I thought it would be fun to attend as Cody's guests and moral support. We briefly entertained the idea of spending Thanksgiving on our own, but part of me worried that Lu would feel her father's absence that much more if it was just the two of us.

Benjamin Billings had called Lu to invite her to Thanksgiving dinner at his house with Kimberly and Ginny—like nothing had changed. I wasn't sure if the man was in denial or nonconfrontational, but he hadn't made much effort to carve out a space for his daughter in his own life. Lu had politely declined, but I knew she was taking it hard.

So we were making the holiday a celebration and spending it with Cody and a whole dining room full of people—a lot of them were locals and residents, many of whom Lu was already well acquainted. I was determined to make sure she didn't miss out on anything. And I sincerely hoped her father got his shit together by Christmas.

Today, we planned to enjoy the luncheon and then hit the Cozy Creek Christmas Parade on Saturday. Megastar and Hollywood actor Grayson Ames was grand marshaling the event, and I figured I needed to see it to believe it. Plus, my buddies at the fire brigade were taking part, and Lu and I were nothing if not supportive.

"Does he always get so flustered when he talks to the head chef?" I whispered against the shell of Lu's ear.

"Oh yeah," she confirmed. "Cody has been crushing on him for years. It's the only time he lacks confidence. He becomes a totally different person."

I winced as Cody tripped over . . . air apparently, and then laughed awkwardly. "And clumsy, too. Yikes."

Cody turned, escape embarrassingly obvious on his features, and made his way toward us. Looking up, he saw us watching and made a face like he was in visible pain.

"It's okay. Don't freak out. Just come sit." Lu was already murmuring when Cody joined us at the table, his cheeks flushed pink. No, something brighter than pink. At this point, his skin would probably glow in the dark.

But instead of watching Cody struggle into his chair at our four-top table, my attention snagged on head chef, Gavin Wilson, who was staring after Cody with a wistful and resigned expression on his face that made me wonder if all of Cody's nervous energy and crush-worthy feelings were one-sided after all. Gavin visibly swallowed and turned to a young woman who'd arrived and put her arm through his.

"Is that his girlfriend?" I asked quietly.

Lu gave a discreet glance in their direction. Cody seemed unable to lift his mortified gaze from the tabletop as he gathered himself.

Finally, Lu replied, "No, that's his sister, Charlotte."

Lu rubbed soothing circles on Cody's upper back. "It'll be fine. You just need to figure out how to be yourself around him—your real self—and then he'll be helpless to resist."

"Yeah," I echoed. "You'll be shouting ‘yes, chef' before you know it."

Lu glared incredulously at me, but Cody took a deep breath and said, "Thanks, Noah."

I held up a hand for a high five, and he dutifully bro-slapped it despite a marked lack of enthusiasm.

Lu shook her head at us, but I smiled and kissed her cheek.

"Ew. None of that," Cody whined. "I cannot handle cutesy couple crap right now when I cannot even stand successfully in front of Gavin without making a fool of myself."

Standing, I said, "Come on, Cody. You'll feel better after you have some carbs."

Cody dragged himself to standing. "Thanks, Noah. You always know how to make me feel better."

Lu scowled, affronted. "Excuse me. You've known him all of?—"

I shook my head and fought the urge to laugh as Lu looked on in annoyance. I put a reassuring arm around Cody's shoulders and guided him past her to the buffet.

I felt a sharp pinch on my backside and didn't even try to stop the grin that came over my face. If Lu was getting annoyed with me and focusing on Cody, then she wasn't thinking about her first holiday without her father. Maybe Thanksgiving lunch at the Cozy Creek Lodge would be a new tradition for us.

But hopefully next year, Cody wouldn't be such a sad sack about Gavin Wilson. Maybe by then, things would have turned themselves around. Only time would tell. Things were changing for Lu and me, too. You never knew what the future had in store. I hoped Cody's journey was one that brought him happiness though. The guy deserved it.

Lu and I had the house closing coming up soon. The owners had been eager for everything to go through, and the cozy three-bedroom ranch would be ours at the end of next week. We'd been spending our nights together anyway, but it would be nice to have one space that was ours instead of switching back and forth between our apartments. The house was the start of something new for both of us. I was ready, and I knew Lu was too.

"Noah!" Lu called, following the sound of the front door opening and closing. "Are you in here?"

I'd picked up the keys to the house this afternoon while she'd been at the first holiday market of the season selling her wares. I grinned as I thought about how she'd react if she heard me call them her wares again.

"In the living room," I finally answered, stepping out of the lime-green tent onto the hardwood floor.

The house was empty. The movers wouldn't be loading everything up until tomorrow, but we'd both been eager to visit the house on closing day.

Lu stopped short when she turned the corner into the living room and got a good look at the space. I'd picked up a two-person tent at the sporting goods store. It was set up with an air mattress and blankets inside. Bright flames crackled in the fireplace, and two camp chairs were arranged nearby, with a bag of Skytop Diner takeout sitting between them.

"Noah," she breathed, taking in the room.

"Welcome home, Lululemon."

Her gaze found mine, and she smiled. This bright, luminous thing that punched a hole in my chest and made me absurdly pleased to be the one who put it there. Her blond waves were trapped under a striped toboggan with a white puff ball on the top. Her tights were orange today and the friendship bracelets she wore for work peeked out from beneath the sleeve of her peacoat.

"I brought champagne. It's not cold, but I like this brand." She held up the bottle in her arms as proof. "Oh shoot. I forgot an opener."

I walked toward her and said, "Don't worry. I have a trick for that." Saw it on a Youtube video after some romance author couldn't get into her white wine.

She slipped her arms around me, cold from being outside. I thought I might like to be the one who warmed her up for the rest of our lives.

Chin tucked over my shoulder, Lu's voice emerged unsteady. "I can't believe you did all this."

My arms squeezed a little tighter. "I thought it would be fun."

And it would be, with Lu. She was my best friend and made any situation better just by being there. We had fun together. Happiness wasn't some elusive thing I was chasing anymore nor was it a looming threat I expected to abandon me at any moment. My life with Lu was joy, plain and simple.

I wasn't naive enough to think there wouldn't be hard times or disagreements or miscommunication. We were people, not robots. We weren't immune to bad moods and necessary compromise. Relationships would never be totally perfect—that was unrealistic. But she and I were in this, committed to loving each other and listening to each other every day.

I was done questioning my better judgment or the luck that had fallen into my lap. I was going to hold on to Lu just as hard as she was holding on to me.

"This is our house," she sort of squeaked against my neck.

I grinned into her riot of hair, tugging off the toboggan in the process. "This is our house," I confirmed. "We can leave the Christmas lights up till January."

She giggled and leaned back to look at me. "Okay, show me this tent. Survival skills are important, and I need to make sure you're a proficient partner."

"Well, it's a little late for that. You're stuck with me. But please direct your attention to the fire I made."

Lu peered around me. "Those are gas logs."

"Yes, but I had to light the pilot, and it made that scary whoosh sound when I turned on the gas."

She shook her head but I could tell she was trying not to laugh.

Leaning down in front of the tent, I unzipped the flap and the netted layer and tied them back so she could climb in.

Lu set down the sparkling wine and her body bag purse, shucked her peacoat and her boots, and climbed inside. "Ohhhh," she said, voice echoing and impressed from inside the tent. "This is cozy."

"Champion hunter-gatherer right here."

"Come on over. Let's make sure we both fit."

She didn't need to tell me twice. I found her lying on her back, arms behind her head as I ducked in and climbed up the inflatable mattress. I hovered over her, arms and legs straddling the line of her petite body.

Lu grinned wickedly and wrapped herself around me, drawing me in for a kiss. "It's awesome. I love it. Thank you."

"Good," I murmured, placing an open-mouthed kiss along her jaw. "I want to make you happy."

Cupping my cheeks, she brought my attention back to her face. Her smile had softened, and she gazed at me with sincerity shining in her beautiful gray eyes. "You're doing pretty good so far."

She brought her lips to mine as her quiet, earnest affection seeped into my bones.

Slowly and carefully, I lowered my body to hers. Lu spread her thighs wide as I settled my hips between them. The air mattress shifted as I pressed myself fully against her.

My fingers drifted into her hair as they often did, seeking that wildness that I loved so much. Lu's hands worked their way beneath my hoodie, leaving gooseflesh in their wake as her nails scraped up and down my torso. With some careful maneuvering and shaking nylon, she managed to get my shirt over my head and my jeans unbuttoned.

"Shit," I hissed when Lu's clever fingers wrapped around my length, hard as fucking stone inside my boxer briefs. Before I could even blink, she'd produced a condom from somewhere and was sliding it on. We worked together to get her orange tights and underwear off without throwing one of us off the unstable mattress.

Somehow, Lu ended up shirtless on top of me, her corduroy skirt still on and bunched up around her waist. Her bra was another sheer number that made her nipples look pink and lickable. She rocked over me, hot and wet and entirely mine. The sensation of her sinking deep onto my cock had my eyes rolling back as I thought more and God and fuck, yes .

With a hand on her back, I urged her to lean forward so I could suck on her tits through the delicate fabric of her bra.

I was never going to get enough of this girl. She would be the center of my universe until the day I died. Whatever path—whatever journey—we were on, we'd take it together.

Visions of the future danced behind my eyelids amid sparkling lights as we moved together. Birthdays and holidays. Watching Lu from across whatever room we were in. Celebrations with friends. Movie nights on a blue velvet sofa. Working side by side in our home, me on a laptop and Lu at an easel. The Cozy Creek Fall Festival every year. Us in the fenced-in yard with a dog. Painting every room in this house to make it our own. Turning that third bedroom into a nursery when the time was right. Thinking up a new nickname every single day for the rest of our lives.

Blond hair fell all around us as Lu brought her lips back to mine, urgent and broken as her breathing spiraled. She was getting close, and I was hanging on by a thread.

We were tucked away in our own little world. The only thing I could see was her. Her on the sidewalk, waiting for the Bronco and jolting me back to life. Lu in my back seat, red lips laughing and hair blowing in the wind. The absolute comfort of her beside me, in the dark, in the light, consuming my thoughts and burrowing so deep inside my heart, she'd never get out.

"Noah, look at me," Lu breathed, voice rasping softly against my kiss-swollen lips.

I emerged from a dream where the future and past swirled and collided. We locked eyes as the world broke apart around us—shimmering bright and bold in the present tense, this woman I loved held tight in my arms.

Lu settled on her side next to me as we both worked to catch our breath. I needed to get up and take care of the condom, but I also needed a minute to get my bearings. Lu's fingernails stroked gently over my chest. I pressed a kissed to her damp forehead.

She hummed sweetly against me, content, before saying, "I'm glad you thought of the tent."

My eyes were drifting closed against my will. "Why is that?"

"Because we don't have curtains yet, and that was not how I envisioned meeting our new neighbors."

My laughter was a warm weight inside me. Or maybe it was Lu and that sunlamp glow she always made me feel. "And by that you mean . . . "

She shifted, and the air mattress dipped again. "You know, topless and riding you in the living room."

I cracked an eyelid. She was propped on an elbow, grinning down at me.

"Ah, yes. That ," I murmured, turning and burying my face in her neck.

Lu squealed and laughed as I tickled her, the mattress shaking and jolting us together. She couldn't get away.

After a moment, she braced her arms against mine and wheezed out, "Wait." I paused as she arched to get a better look outside the tent flap. "Do I smell burgers and tots from Skytop?"

Rolling flat on my back, I closed my eyes and groaned. Now I'd lost her. "Maybe."

She peppered kisses all over my face. It was her turn to tickle me with blond waves cascading everywhere. "Thank you, Noah. You're so good to me."

I wanted to argue and say it was her that was good to me. Far better than I ever deserved. It had been Lu who'd been patient. Lu who'd brought me back to life. Lu who'd put her faith in me. Lu who'd forgiven me.

But I knew she wouldn't tolerate any one-sided claims, so I spoke the bigger truth. "We're good to each other."

She grinned. "Yeah, we are, beekeeper." She delivered one last lingering kiss before she said, "Now, let's go eat some burgers."

And so, we did.

It seemed to be a fitting first meal for our life together in our new home. It had been the thing that started it all. I would always be grateful for that blind date who'd stood Lu up all those months ago. And for every douchebag who'd missed out on the best person they never got a chance to know. Because she was mine and I was hers.

It started with a phone call and a ride request. A twist of fate in an unexpected place.

I was just glad she was driving off into the sunset with me.