Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

Noelle

I expect to be wrung out and tired after telling Nick the whole miserable story about Dante, but to my surprise, it's the opposite. Sharing my shameful secret feels like slipping off a heavy backpack after a long hike. I feel lighter and freer. I am exhausted, though. Also, ravenous and ready to shovel mac-and-cheese into my face with wild abandon.

As we walk from the guest cottage to the main house, Nick grabs my hand. I lace my fingers through his and take a deep breath to inhale the sweet jumble of scents from the flower garden. The fire pit and patio are aglow under string lights, and fireflies wink off and on in the trees. Clusters of guests mill around with beers and cocktails. Nick greets everyone in our path with a cheerful word and a handshake. He remembers names and hometowns, and several regulars offer him hugs and condolences. I can feel their curiosity as they look me over, but Nick makes no move to introduce me, and, for that, I'm grateful. Let them wonder. I just want to eat.

When we walk into the kitchen, I expect him to drop my hand, but he pulls me closer. I give him a sidelong look.

"You're not planning to tell your daughters we're … whatever we are … tonight, are you?" I whisper.

"Why not? They're adults."

"It's a family holiday," I counter.

"You're basically family," he shoots back.

"We don't even know what we are ," I point out. "And there's the small matter of the guy running around town threatening to kill me. Maybe this announcement could wait until, say, next week?"

"Nah."

I'm about to argue further, when Merry bustles into the room and shoos us into the family dining room. The table is set, wine and water are poured, and the biggest casserole dish I've ever seen rests on a tile tray, steam rising from a perfectly browned mountain of macaroni and cheese. An even bigger salad bowl holds a green salad.

"Sit," Merry instructs taking the chair that used to be her mom's—the one closest to the kitchen, in case she needed to run out to check on a dish.

The others have left two chairs together at the far end of the table. Nick pulls one out for me, and I sit down next to Sage. He takes the chair on the end and reaches for my hand under the table.

"Everything looks delicious," I tell Merry .

She beams. "Let's dig in."

We pass the dishes family-style. Once everyone has a mound of mac-and-cheese and a salad, Nick raises his wine glass.

"Thank you to my amazing daughters for taking charge of the open house. You were right, and I was wrong to want to cancel. And thank you to the best nieces a guy could ask for. You three came through for us, and that means a lot."

They chorus ‘hear, hear' and clink glasses.

When the table falls silent, I clear my throat. "I also want to thank you for letting me crash your party."

Holly turns to me, dead serious, and says, "Crash the party? Aren't you our new mom?"

I gape at her.

After a moment, she burst out laughing. "I'm kidding, Noelle. Oh, you should have seen your face."

"Stop it," her father admonishes her through his own laughter. Then he clears his throat. "But you might as well know, Noelle and I are …" He throws me a look. "Dating?"

"Sure. Dating."

"Duh."

I look at Ivy. "Duh?"

She nods. "It might not have been obvious to you two, but to anyone with a brain, this was inevitable."

Her sisters nod vigorously.

Thyme interjects, "I mean, we've only been here since Tuesday, and we knew."

Oh.

"We're all happy for you—for both of you," Merry assures me. "Now, eat before the food gets cold. "

"Don't have to ask me twice," I tell her, digging in.

The meal passes quickly. We go around the table saying three things. Mine are that I'm grateful for their kindness and love (squeezing Nick's hand under the table as I say this), I regret that I didn't put the pieces together about Dante sooner, and I'm going to get a good night's sleep so I can be helpful at the open house tomorrow.

When the food is gone, and everyone has ruefully agreed we're too full for one of Merry's desserts, Nick says, "A quick word about tomorrow before you all scatter."

They fall silent and turn to their dad.

"We want our guests to have a memorable, wonderful experience, like always. But we need to be alert. Dante Bianchi is a threat to Noelle. We have to take that seriously. So if you see anyone or anything that looks out of place, let me know right away. Understand?"

They nod in unison.

Rosemary holds up a finger.

"Yes?"

"Dave called me right before dinner. He said Bianchi has an active European Arrest Warrant in the system for kidnapping. So, basically, the entire Western Hemisphere is under a BOLO notice on him."

"BOLO?" Merry asks.

"Be on the lookout," several people explain at once.

"That's good, right?" she wants to know.

"It can't be bad," Rosemary tells her.

"Thanks for getting that information," Nick says. "I'll pass it along to Deputy Wells."

She wrinkles her nose. "Dave already did. Hope you don't mind. He said the sheriff's department might take it more seriously coming from another law enforcement officer."

"Of course we don't mind. Thank you, and thank him for me," I say. I finish my wine and shake my head. "I'm not surprised he has a criminal record. But I am surprised he turned up here. I can't imagine how he found me."

"I can," Sage says.

We turn to look at her.

"You can?"

"Yeah. That article in the library lobby about the children's wing said you garnered international industry attention for the design and the program. If he's still in library sciences or whatever, he probably saw it."

My heart skips a beat. Of course. And The Journal of Library Innovation ran a long, glowing piece, complete with a stupid picture of my stupid face.

"I'm sure that's it," I tell her. "I got careless."

Nick lowers his chin and gives me a ‘you've got to be kidding' look. "You didn't get careless. You were living your life. There was no reason to think some creep would see the article and travel across the globe to terrorize you."

He's right. Intellectually, I know he's right. But I can't help feeling like I brought this on myself.

Rosemary leans across the table. "Hey, not to change the subject. But what was that box you had when we picked you up? Did you finish the scavenger hunt?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you. Yes, we did." I smile at Nick.

"Dad helped?" Ivy asks.

"He did. "

"Well, what was the surprise? And did you figure out who set it up?"

I look at Nick. This is his story as much as mine.

He refills his wineglass and says, "Your mother did, last August. Apparently, she got Griselda to hide the clues for her."

"That's just like Mom," Merry says.

"The surprise was two things," I tell them. "Your mom's Mrs. Claus dress was in the box along with a note asking me to play the role this weekend."

Ivy claps her hands together and squeals. "You're gonna do it, right?"

I nod. "I am."

"Yesssss."

"What was the second surprise?" Thyme wants to know.

"Carol wrote me a letter. She wrote one for Nick, too. I don't know exactly what his says, but, um, she wanted me to know it would make her happy if your father and I … dated."

"In broad strokes, that's what my letter said, too," Nick confirms.

Holly shakes her head and says fondly, "Isn't that just like Mom? She's a control freak even from beyond the grave."

Just then, her watch beeps. She glances down at the time, then jumps to her feet. "It's T minus eighteen hours until the open house, people! Does everyone have their assignments? Any questions?"

Loud laughter drowns out the rest of her instructions.

She turns to me with a confused expression. "What's so funny?"

I give her a gentle smile. "I think it's that you're the living embodiment of the expression the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."