Page 41 of Christmas Promises

They looked into each other’s eyes. How was it that he didn’t want to look away? He didn’t feel the need to hide his feelings around her, and that amazed him.

Laney gave him a quick peck before jumping from the stool. “I’m going to mash the potatoes, and then we can eat.”

Nolan set the table for two while she finished up their dinner and plated their food. A few minutes later, they were seated.

“Is it all right if I say a prayer?” Laney asked, flushing.

“Please do. My mother will love that about you. She chastises my brothers and me when we just start eating before we give thanks.”

They bowed their heads, and Laney thanked the Lord for the food and the company. Then they dug into the savory dish. He grunted in appreciation, enjoying the Italian herbs and garlic paired with the tangy tomato sauce. The chicken was so tender he cut it with his fork.

“I could eat this every night,” he said, tearing off a piece of a baguette to soak up more of the sauce.

“What’s your favorite Christmas memory?” Laney asked out of nowhere.

“What makes you ask?”

“I don’t know. I want to know everything about you.”

“I was just thinking the same thing about you,” Nolan said. “Okay, let’s see. Favorite memory? There’s a lot of them. My mother always made the holidays special. But one stands out. When I was eight, my family went Christmas caroling with our church. We weren’t great singers, but it didn’t matter. We sang our little hearts out, going from one business to the next and ending up at the gazebo. You know, in the square.”

“Sure.”

“Like it is now, it was all lit up. And we’d just started singing ‘Silent Night’ when I noticed a man dropping to one knee in front of his girlfriend. He proposed right there. When we finished the song, the entire town square started clapping and cheering for us and the couple. It touched my romantic soul, even at eight years old. I always imagined I would propose to someone special that same way.” Nolan paused. Should he reveal so much so soon? What the heck. This was Laney. She would understand. “Later, after that summer we spent together, I often imagined it was you to whom I proposed.”

Her eyes flew open wide. “Really? Oh, that’s so romantic.”

“Or pathetic, depending on how you look at it.”

Laney rested her chin on her hand, studying him. “There’s nothing pathetic about it. The truth is, we bonded in a way that summer that wasn’t easy to forget. I know I never did. There were times over the years I thought about asking my aunt for your number, but then I’d chicken out. I assumed it was only me who had trouble forgetting the way we’d felt about each other.”

“You weren’t.”

“Do you think it’s fate that brought me back here?” Laney asked.

“I could make a good argument for it. Maybe we were never meant to walk away forever?”

“We had to go live a little first. Grow up. And then find our way back to each other.” She sipped from her wineglass. “That day, after I threw a shoe at Josh’s head as he was running out of the bride’s room, I got down on my knees and I prayed to God, asking him what I should do. And I swear, clear as day, he told me to go with Aunt Edna. She hadn’t even asked me yet, but it’s what I knew I should do.”

“Amazing.”

“I know. And then, my first shift at the store, in you come.”

“It’s hard to explain it all away as coincidence,” Nolan said.

“There is one minor thing that could disrupt all of our holiday fun. My mother and father are coming for Christmas. Aunt Edna said it was okay.”

“Is something worrying you about it?”

“Yes. To be totally honest, I’m anticipating my mother being very difficult. She’s not going to understand any of this.”

“By this, do you mean me?”

“You. Staying in Sugarville Grove. Buying out my aunt and taking over the bookstore. And I’m going to have to fight my natural tendencies, which is to please her. I’ve been thinking about it since I got here—my people pleasing syndrome is out of control. In the past, I haven’t been able to tell what I want versus what I know others want. The last few days, I’ve connected with what I want, who I really am. And that person and the choices I’m about to make are not going to make any sense to my mother.”

“But you have to do them anyway.”

“That’s right. I have to be strong. I talk a good game now but the minute she gets here, I’m terrified I’ll crumble.”

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