Chapter 32: Chapter 32
Saturday was a beautiful day. Noelle awoke to see the snow had stopped overnight, and while it was cold enough outside to keep the ground from becoming wet and sloshy, it wasn’t frigid either.
She was up bright and early, headed to the shelter to take care of the animals before she went to the downtown area to help with the Christmas decorating. The kittens were thriving, Goldie was almost one hundred percent healed, and Pooch was his adorable self. She almost spent too much time playing with him, which would’ve made her late, but she was able to pull herself away from the cute pup in time to make it downtown by 10:00, the time her mother had asked everyone to arrive.
In the backseat, Noelle had several boxes of Christmas decorations to donate to the cause. She’d stopped by the local hardware store the night before to buy a few boxes of lights and plastic ornaments, on top of the ones they’d generously donated, but she also had a few decorations from her own stash that she decided she could part with, even though she loved every single Christmas item she’d ever seen.
It was easy to find a parking spot that early in the morning before anyone was downtown shopping for the afternoon, though the parking lot she pulled into did seem a little more full than usual. She was fairly certain this was the one that Brady had mentioned Mayor Jenkins wanted to turn into a parking garage. She honestly didn’t see the point, but if that’s what it had taken to get the Christmas events approved, so be it. At least, there would be other companies bidding on it this time, instead of just his dad.
Noelle grabbed a couple of the boxes out of the back of her car, thinking she’d have to come back for the other two, when she heard a familiar voice say, “Need some help?”
Turning to see Brady standing behind her, Noelle couldn’t help but smile. “Good morning,” she said. “Fancy meeting you here.”
He grinned back at her. “I don’t think your mom would’ve been too happy if I’d have missed it.”
She laughed. “No, probably not.” Handing him the two boxes she had, she reached back in for the other two, glad to have the help. “I think she left before the sun was up.”
“I believe it. I know she said to be here at ten, but she’s already gotten half of one side of the road decorated, and now that she’s got help, she’s moving down the other side pretty quickly, too.”
Noelle arched an eyebrow, not sure how to respond to that. Her mom was a force of nature.
Doris’s voice hit her before she saw her mom. She was busy digging through boxes. “These will be lovely on the light poles,” she was saying. What she was talking about, Noelle couldn’t be sure. There was a crowd around her, taking the items she approved and carrying them off to be attached wherever Doris suggested. “Oh, let’s save these for the tree!” she gushed, holding something up. Noelle worked her way through the crowd to see her mom holding up a couple of large, golden bulbs that glittered in the sunlight.
“Those are beautiful,” Noelle said, admiring them along with the rest of the crowd.
“My late husband bought them in France.” Irma, the neighbor who’d come to check on Pooch had a large smile on her face as she responded to the compliment.
“Are you sure you want them out here in the weather?” Doris asked.
“Oh, yes,” the woman replied. “I just put up a tiny tree these days, and they don’t fit properly. Something so lovely deserves to be seen by everyone.”
“I agree,” Doris said. “Noelle, will you take these and put them in that plastic bin right there? Those are the decorations I’m saving for the tree.”
“Sure, Mom.” She’d set her boxes down so her hands were free to take the ornaments. Carefully, she carried them over and put them in the bins. There were all sorts of beautiful decorations here. The town tree was going to be spectacular.
Doris gave Noelle and Brady their marching orders, assigning them a lamppost on the other side of the street and letting them know how she wanted it to look. The two of them dug into the ornaments she had already approved and looked for the perfect garland, decorations, lights, and bows. Brady did most of the carrying, and they set out across the street, their boots crunching through the snow as Christmas music serenaded them, piped through the downtown speaker system.
Several ladders had been brought by townsfolk. Brady grabbed one and carried it over to the lamppost, volunteering to climb it while Noelle stayed on the ground, which was fine with her. Her mother’s words about a man having the willingness to climb a ladder in the snow came to mind, and she smiled. “Let’s put the lights on first,” she said, handing up the ones they’d chosen, a battery operated white strand that was supposed to twinkle.
“I’m not much of a designer,” Brady admitted. “Let me know how it’s looking.” He started at the top, at the hook of the light, fastening the strand so that it wouldn’t blow off by working it into a knot, and then winding it around the pole.
“That looks good,” Noelle assured him. “Maybe a little looser through there.” Brady adjusted his wrapping accordingly. “Perfect!” Noelle said. Once she could reach it, she took the strand and wrapped the rest, securing it to the bottom of the pole. “Let’s do the garland next.”
Brady worked the garland around the lights, and they secured it with bows at the top and the bottom before hanging the ornaments and some snowflakes her mother had another volunteer bring to them. When it was done, the two of them backed up to admire their work.
“What do you think?” Brady asked, smiling at the light pole like it was a piece of art.
“I love it!” Noelle said, truly meaning it. She’d seen some nice light poles in her day--in fact, there were several beautiful ones around them--but this one took the cake.
All around her, the little town she’d lived in her whole life was starting to come to life. At least a hundred people had shown up to help, and there were so many decorations, they would have plenty to decorate the large town Christmas tree as well. Smiling faces, an occasional snowball, people singing to the Christmas carols--it was all so perfect, it reminded her of a Norman Rockwell painting. All they needed was some old cars in the background.
“Wow,” Brady said, also looking around, his arm around her. “This sure is an amazing place to live, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is,” Noelle agreed. “The perfect place to settle down and raise a family.”
Realizing what she’d said--what she’d implied--Noelle felt her face turn red. She turned to look at him, and Brady was trying to hide a grin. Rather than trying to stammer through some sort of an explanation, Noelle blew out a hot breath and said, “Someday.”
He laughed. “Right. If a person is lucky enough to find someone to start a family with. Someday.”
She turned and looked at him, raising an eyebrow, wondering if he was just teasing her or if he was implying that she might be the right person.
Without a word, Brady leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, and Noelle had all of the answers she needed.
Pulling back, Brady took her hand. “Come on,” he said, “let’s go get some hot chocolate from that stand over there and then find another light pole.”
“Sounds good,” Noelle agreed, her hand in his, a smile on her lips, and a Christmas song in her heart.