Page 61 of The Holiday Grump
“Yeah. Did you not notice?”
“It was dark.” He winced. “Now I feel worse.”
Warmth swelled in my chest. I leaned over the island, close enough that my fingertips nearly brushed his. “Fredrik. I mean it. I went too far. And I’m trying hard not to make the same mistake again.”
He looked wrecked, sitting there in corduroy slacks and a brown long-sleeved shirt that hugged him in unfair ways. The slice of his muscled forearm that showed made my stomach dip. I wanted to touch it.
I gripped the egg carton instead. “I’m going to open all your drawers until I find a frying pan. Is that okay?”
CHAPTER 20
Fredrik
Iwas despicable. Instead of helping her feel at home, I’d made her so worried that she’d taken down all the beautiful decorations and was now tiptoeing around my kitchen like she was expecting a slap on the wrist at any moment.
“Please touch and move anything you want,” I said. “I mean it. I’m not that picky, I swear. I just have a complicated relationship with Christmas. It was this time of year, you know…” I made a helpless gesture with my hand, and Noelle nodded.
“It’s fine.”
I watched in silence as she familiarized herself with my kitchen, holding back any instructions so I didn’t spook her. After a while, she seemed to relax, and the happy skip in herstep returned. Humming a song I didn’t recognize, she made scrambled eggs on toast and brewed a pot of coffee.
Seeing her in my kitchen made a lump rise in my throat. There was so much life in her that she filled the entire room with it. For a moment, I wasn’t alone or sad or angry. She’d taken over my usual vibe, orchestrating this perfect Sunday morning atmosphere. One I didn’t deserve.
When she handed me a plate and a cup, I struggled to find my voice. “Thank you.”
“Do you use milk?”
“I don’t have milk.”
“Black it is,” she concluded, clinking her cup with mine. “I’m good either way.” She took a sip and grimaced.
“How do you do it?” I asked. “How do you settle into someone else’s kitchen… or store? You look so at home.”
You make my house feel like a home.
It took her a few seconds to deduce that I wasn’t criticizing her. I was marveling at her.
Her smile took on a hint of sadness. “I’ve been on the move for a while,” she said. “Your personal space becomes very small, and everything outside of it is just… facilities.”
“I can’t even imagine.” I shook my head and forked some eggs into my mouth. “This is delicious. It’s been a while. My ex… my wife… she didn’t cook that much, but she loved to eat out. Sunday brunch, that sort of thing.”
“What happened?”
Her question caught me off guard. “With what?”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry,” she said, looking worried again. “Or maybe I do. But nobody’s told me anything, and I can’t stop imagining scenarios. Like really weird andhorrific ones. If you told me, I could maybe stop scaring myself.” She shot me an apologetic look.
It made no sense.
“Are you serious? You’ve been hanging out with my sister, Eileen, and the rest of the town’s busybodies, and nobody has told you about my past?”
She shook her head so hard a piece of egg went flying from her fork. “No! I swear. They’re super secretive about it and keep saying it would be best if I heard it from you.” Her blush told me the rest.
Of course. The ladies had decided to set us up. It was the only reason anyone in Hideaway Harbor would withhold gossip. The town of true love, blah blah blah.
“You don’t have to tell me anything, though!” Noelle rushed to add. “You don’t owe me anything. I’m just?—”
“Curious,” I finished for her.
