Chapter 11

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Aiden hummed lightly to himself— God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen— as he worked on sweeping up the floor of the event space. The roof was entirely re-shingled, new and improved, and cleaning up the bits of sawdust and leftover detritus was the last task before the job was officially done.

He discarded it all into a black garbage bag that held the rest of the wood shavings and leftover trash, and headed into the front room to get his tools and ladder. He'd load them into the truck, take the bag to the dumpster, and then turn in early for the day. Maybe take another of those hikes, since that recent one had done a lot to clear his head.

Humming the last few bars of the song, he strode into the front room—only to stop short.

Someone was on his ladder, almost all the way to the ceiling. His heart stopped for a second before he even saw who it was. It certainly wasn't safe to be up there, unless the person knew what they were doing, and from the look of the heeled boots they were wearing…

"What on earth are you doing?" His heart thudded again as he took another look at those boots, and the shiny fall of dark brown hair, and realized it was Nora. "You shouldn't be up there."

Nora turned sharply to look at him, startled, and the ladder rocked precariously.

"Be careful!" He lunged toward her without thinking, instinct kicking in. He quickly assessed the situation as he moved, looking for where the ladder might tilt if it fell, and how he might be able to catch her without injury.

Nora clung to the ladder, her face going a little pale, but her lips were twitching in a smirk. " You're the one who yelled and startled me," she pointed out wryly, as she gingerly started to feel her way for a means to get down.

Any other time, he'd have been quick to banter back, but he couldn't think of a single thing to say. He was too worried. His mind was blank except for thoughts of what might happen if Nora slipped, or if that ladder came down, and his chest tightened all over again. "Get down from there," he said, a little more harshly than he intended, stepping forward. Nora started to climb down as he said it, and he reached for her waist without thinking, intending to lift her down the last little bit.

Nora swatted at his hands immediately, and he noticed her fingernails were done with light pink polish, rounded off in a way that was definitely artificial. Another thing that made her stand out. No one here could make fake nails last a day.

"I'm perfectly capable of safely descending a ladder," she said, making her point as she pushed him away and climbed the last few rungs down. "So long as people aren't scaring me and making me lose focus, that is."

She was far too close for comfort. Aiden breathed in, seeking out the relaxing scent of fresh wood and clean floors, and instead got a deep whiff of her perfume. It smelled like vanilla and sandalwood, and he winced inwardly, trying not to think about how good it smelled. He stood a step back, releasing the light grip he still had on her waist, and trying to ignore the allure of her big blue eyes. They seemed, unfortunately, to have the same effect on him that they always had.

He'd always wanted to lose himself in them. It seemed twelve years didn't really make a difference, when it came to that.

"What on earth were you doing so high up?" he asked, trying to distract himself from all of that. And really, it was his business to know what someone might be doing, scaling his ladders when his back was turned.

"Getting ideas for decorations." Nora put her hands on her hips, turning around to look at the space. He noticed she was wearing a red and black checkered shirt—very festive, but as always, it stood out. Anyone in Evergreen Hollow would have been wearing real flannel—thick and not all that flattering to a feminine shape. Nora's shirt was flimsy as tissue paper and looked just as soft, clinging to her over the black tank top she was wearing beneath it, every bit as inappropriate for her surroundings as the high-heeled boots she was wearing. "I thought I should take a look up there to see what kind of hooks I might need to purchase."

Aiden folded his arms over his chest. Nora had been the one on the verge of sliding off the ladder a moment ago, but he felt as off-balance as ever. Face-to-face with her, alone in the event center, it was hard to think straight. He'd thought he was well on his way to brushing off his old crush, reminding himself just this morning of how far apart the two of them were in everything they wanted, but it seemed that only lasted until she physically showed up again. Now he was back to feeling like there wasn't quite enough air in the room when she was standing in front of him.

"So, what I'm hearing is that you want to drill holes in the ceiling I just repaired." He tried to inject some dry humor into his voice, but he wasn't sure if it quite got there. He thought he just sounded a little strangled, and she was likely to misinterpret that.

Nora arched one perfectly-groomed eyebrow. "I know how to make sure the ceiling isn't damaged. I'm a professional event planner. In Boston. I'm familiar with keeping venues pristine."

"If you're so successful doing this in Boston, what are you doing organizing the ‘Evergreen Snowman Festival?'"

He regretted the words the moment they came out of his mouth. He'd said it without thinking—because he couldn't seem to think around her—and he knew as soon as he said it that it was the wrong thing. But he hadn't expected the sudden hurt that flashed across her face.

He hadn't meant to be rude. But he'd always thought she was disinterested in the small-town stuff, and he'd never heard or seen anything to suggest he was wrong. It felt like a bit of whiplash, to suddenly see her climbing ladders in pursuit of crafting the perfect festival.

Before he had time to say any of that, Nora seemed to recover from her shock. "I'm just doing this as a favor." There was a crisp tautness to her voice that hadn't been there before. "Now, do I have permission to look around the rest of the place?"

He didn't miss the faint sarcasm that tinged the crisp, businesslike tone. He wanted to go back to a moment before, when she'd been lightly joking and his hands had been on her waist. That felt better than the sudden chilly distance between them, in the wake of his ill-advised comment.

Aiden cleared his throat, stepping back and nodding. Better not to say anything else, he figured, than stick his foot in his mouth again. "You can go anywhere you want, so long as you don't go climbing up on things again." He winced inwardly as he said it, hoping that she didn't take that the wrong way too. He wasn't trying to tell her what to do, exactly; he was just worried about her.

Nora walked past him without a word. She cast her gaze around the space again, standing there thoughtfully, and then turned back to look at him. He saw, with surprise, that there was a softer look on her face than before.

"You look extremely familiar." She cocked her head slightly, looking at him in an appraising way that made him go warm all over, despite the chill in the room. "Do we know each other?"

Aiden's heart lurched into his throat. From the moment he'd driven past The Mistletoe Inn and thought he saw her sitting on the front porch, he'd been waiting to hear her say those words. Every encounter, he'd been poised for her to recognize him, to ask exactly that, at the very least.

He was tempted to tell her yes. To explain to her that they'd passed each other now and again in high school, even had a conversation once. But that would mean admitting that he remembered things she'd obviously long since forgotten. That he'd remembered her since she'd shown back up in town, and even before, whereas she was looking him right in the face and still wasn't sure.

Aiden cleared his throat again instead, blaming it on the wood dust. "It's been a long time," he said, as casually as he could. "I'm not surprised you don't remember."

A look of clear confusion crossed Nora's face, and she opened her mouth as if to say something. But before she could, Aiden strode past her, heading for that black bag, his tools and the truck, and his way out of here.

All the way out, he could feel Nora's eyes on his back, staring after him.