Page 31 of The Christmas Fix
Jasper returned to the dining room, and Cat took a moment to check her messages. With Henry here now, he was fielding a portion of them so she wasn’t completely overwhelmed… yet. She could hear the team setting up the lights in the parlor for the first official rounds of one-on-ones. And the thunder of footsteps overhead. It was a gorgeous house. She’d been surprised to see Noah had chosen something with so much character, history. She itched to get her hands on it, scrape the paint from the moldings, re-plaster the walls, bring the floors back to their glory days.
It would be a lucky contractor who got his or her hands on this place. One day it would be a beautiful family home. A showcase, but a livable one.Well, if the kitchen were redesigned. Put in an island, one big enough for one of those built-in banquets. And the back porch—
“You do realize that putting a power tool in Jasper’s hands is like begging him to slice off a limb, don’t you?” Noah asked dryly from the doorway yanking her from her renovation fantasies. “It might not be his own, but it’s bound to happen.”
“Oh, you’re speaking to me again? How nice.”
His green eyes hardened. “I’m only pointing out that he could get hurt. Though I’m sure that would play for the cameras.”
Cat tossed her hair over her shoulder and arched an eyebrow. She wasn’t going to let him get her into a screaming rage. Nope. It would probably piss him off even more if she kept her cool. No matter what it cost her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, all peaches and cream with just a dash of arsenic. Her fingernails dug crescents into her palms.
“Ilivehere.”
No shit, Captain Obvious.“I meant, what are you doing lurking in the hallway?”
He entered the room, agitation pumping off him, and crossed to the bookcase. He adjusted a stack of hardbacks, a family photo, and gave a jerky shrug of his shoulders. “I don’t know what I’m doing here. It’s not even my home anymore. It used to be. Now I’m just lurking in corners while everyone else lives here. I even have a cat now.” He pointed as Felipe strutted past the doorway. “He didn’t belong to anyone before the flood. Had seven houses he’d visit like a time share cat, and now he’s decided this house is where he wants to settle down. I don’t even like cats.”
She wasn’t going to feel sorry for him.Nope. Ice Queen Mode engaged.
“I feel like I’m failing them.” Noah stuffed his hands in his pockets and stared unseeingly into his backyard.
His confession disengaged Ice Queen Mode.
“Noah, don’t be an idiot.”
“We were unprepared for the flooding. We’ve got residents displaced from their homes. There’s a possibility our major source of revenue will go bust. And I have to depend onyouto fix it all.”
She had a feeling that was the part he was most worried about. “You’re not failing anyone. No town can be completely zipped up and prepared for eleven-plus inches of rain. It’s not possible. Your residents are all going to get to go home. You’ll get your house back. And the Christmas Festival will kick ass.”
He didn’t look convinced.
“This town? These people? It’s my life and my livelihood. I grew up here. We’d be inventorying decorations by now getting ready for the day after Thanksgiving. I can’t imagine Merry without our Christmas. It… it was my favorite thing growing up.”
“It’s going to be different,” Cat acknowledged, joining him at the window. “But different doesn’t have to mean worse. If anything, it’s going to mean a whole hell of a lot more to people after what you’ve all been through.”
Noah sighed and said nothing.
“You’re right to be skeptical, to be protective. Not every show that could have come in here would have Merry’s best interests at heart. But we do.Ido.”
“I know what you were doing with Jasper,” Noah admitted. “I get it, and it’s nice of you.”
“What? Trying to get him to saw off his own arm for ratings because his family doesn’t have enough going on right now?”
“Sorry for that. I’m tired, stressed. I don’t usually take it out on people, but for some reason, your mere existence pushes my buttons.”
“Right back at you.”
“I wonder if I’d feel the same way in different circumstances?” Noah posited. Felipe padded into the room and rubbed up against Noah’s legs. Reluctantly, he bent to ruffle the cat’s ears.
“You mean if you didn’t have to watch me like a hawk to make sure I’m not ruining your town for advertising dollars?”
He straightened. “Pretty much, yeah.” His smile was wry, and when he looked at her like that, Cat felt a little hiccup zing through her blood. Noah Yates was a good-looking man. Too bad about the whole personality thing.
“Well, I guess we’re never going to find out, are we? Now let’s go get you mic-ed.”
“Mic-ed? Oh, no. I’m not participating.” Noah shook his head.
