Page 40 of Love Hollow at Last
“Must be nice to own your own place, though.”
He snorted.“Hardly.I’d say it’s really overrated.”
She sat up slightly, placing her coffee on the arm of the chair.“Well, I suppose if you can afford to decide, that in itself is a good thing.”
He put his own coffee down.“I guess.Theoretically.Breakfast?”
She nodded, getting unsteadily to her feet.“I’ll cook if you keep the coffee coming.I don’t even know what to make.Your family left so much food here.”
“Yeah,” said Noah.“It’s a crazy amount, right?”
A grin crept across her face.“I suppose.Noah, do you know whether your family checked the weather?”
“They didn’t.”
“My family didn’t either.Emi usually looks at her weather apps pretty constantly.Apps, because she has more than one.That’s how much she likes being up on the latest forecast.”
He heaved himself out of the chair then took her hand.They were both beset by laughter.
“I guess I should have realized,” he said.
“What?”
“What everyone else has realized.”He wanted to add, “I’m in love with you.”But he didn’t want to face disappointment, not yet.The beautiful woman standing next to him, laughing, might think he was crazy if he said something like that.
So instead, he squeezed her hand.“That you’re amazing.That being stuck in this cabin with you would be the best possible outcome of this meeting.”
It was the wrong thing to say.She moaned, closing her eyes.“The meeting.I completely forgot.”
He was disappointed in himself for getting things wrong, but he pulled her into the cabin.“I’m sorry.Let’s wait until we have breakfast ready.Then we can talk.”
36
Noah
Noah felt like he was floating when Emi dropped him off at his parents’ house.He’d gone up the mountain feeling the weight of his responsibilities, but his lens had shifted, and he couldn’t believe his good luck.Even his parents’ house, as humble as it was, looked beautiful to him.The garden was immaculate, the garage door freshly painted, and the gravel next to the basement windows neatly raked.
“Hi, Noah,” said their neighbor Stacy.She was in her sixties and had worked in one of the two public preschool classrooms for many years.Noah had heard enough about the way she’d been treating his parents to be wary of her.Stacy looked every inch the kind, respectable neighbor, wearing sweatpants and an old Love Hollow Bucks shirt as she worked in her garden.In fact, once upon a time, she used to be rather kind.Every time she talked about her work, she seemed both proud and angry, but apart from that, she was okay.She was strict about only letting the kids have one piece of candy each on Halloween, but at least she didn’t run out, and she never failed to say hello.
At the moment, though, Noah didn’t want to talk with her.He only raised his eyebrows and nodded, giving a dim imitation of a smile.It usually worked in LA when he wanted to stop talking to someone, but it didn’t seem to have the same effect in Love Hollow.
“The weather looks great for the festival,” she said.“My nieces are going, and I even got a senior ticket one day.”
Then you lied about your age,Noah thought.Either when you bought the ticket or two years ago, when you claimed to be in your fifties.
“Good to hear it,” he said carefully, giving her the smallest of waves before he let himself into the house.For a moment, his mood crumpled.He had pictured the festival as an event that would bring people together.And unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be a way of keeping people like Stacy out.He should talk to Grace about her ticket, though.If it had been a fraudulent purchase, maybe they could send her an email.Dear Valued Customer:It has come to our attention that there has been an error in the purchase price of your ticket.A discount that was meant to be applied only for senior citizens was added to your ticket.Lots of passive voice to make her think it had been generated automatically.
“Tadaima,” he said, his voice slightly hushed.
“Okaeri!” Since only his father replied, he imagined his mom must be off somewhere.
In the living room, which had apparently been converted into a baby room, his dad was on the floor once again.Baby Hana was drooling and smiling.
Noah, still unsettled by his brush with Stacy, frowned at the sight.
“So, are you and Mom the full-time help now?Does Nami ever s-see her kid?”
“She does” came a response from the kitchen.
