Snowflakes and Surprises (Evergreen Hollow Christmas #2)

Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

By that evening, Caroline still hadn’t been able to gather the enthusiasm she knew Nora was hoping for about the chandelier assembly party. She knew how thrilled Nora was at the possibility of it all coming together though, and she knew how upset Nora had been when the first chandelier hadn’t materialized. So she put her feelings aside, mustering the energy to help their mother put snacks together for the evening’s festivities. Rhonda worked on making a cookie platter, arranging various flavors along with other small dessert treats like peppermint bark and cranberry-orange scones on another plate, and Caroline assembled a charcuterie board. They had a variety of local meats and cheeses in the fridge, everything from duck prosciutto to venison salami, and goat and sheep cheese from a nearby farm.

She focused on that instead of her anxieties about Rhett, trying not to think about the fact that she still hadn’t called him back. By now he’d know something was wrong, but he would just think she’d changed her mind. That maybe she hadn’t enjoyed the impromptu at-home date as much as she’d said, and she was disappointed that they hadn’t stuck to the plans.

Which of course, wasn’t true. But he had no reason to think it was because she felt strange about the journal. He had no idea she’d had anything to do with the journal. If nothing else, he would just think that she’d found his pen-pal relationship with the mystery writer so strange that it had put her off. Which wasn’t true either, considering that she was that mystery writer.

It was a mess, and she had no idea what to do about it. So she stuck to what she’d always done, which was focus on something that needed to be done right that minute instead of worrying.

Right now, that was assembling meat and cheese in a way that looked nice, and putting mustard and jam in small dishes.

The others started to arrive, taking a seat in the main room as Sabrina laid out the wrapped crystal pieces that had been brought in. Just then, as Nora picked up the first one to unwrap, the front door opened.

Caroline looked up, and felt her heart stutter in her chest as she saw Rhett standing there.

She froze, unsure what to say. She’d thought that Aiden was going to be the only man at the party, since he’d helped build the base for the chandelier. But there was Rhett, in dark jeans and a cable-knit sweater in a cheery Christmas red, looking entirely at ease as he walked into the room.

It felt like everyone in the room was looking at her. Like they were looking at her looking at him , and vice versa. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so awkward. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife, and she was sure that everyone was uncomfortable.

Nora cleared her throat. “All right. Now that everyone’s here, we can start unwrapping! Everyone grab a piece and let’s see what we have to work with.”

The pieces were absolutely beautiful. Caroline could see that Nora was getting more and more excited with every piece that she unwrapped, her expression softening as she read the name of each person who had donated.

By the time they’d made it halfway through the donations, Caroline saw that Nora was starting to get misty-eyed. “These are so perfect,” she said softly, nudging the ones that were already laid out on the table. “There are little differences in them, but they complement each other.” She pointed to a pair of snowflakes that were different shapes, a few crystal teardrops that were slightly larger than the others. “They’re alike enough to fit, but different enough to bring out the best where the others might lack.”

Despite herself, Caroline looked up at Rhett as she unwrapped another piece, only to see that he was already looking at her from further down the table. His eyes met hers, and she couldn’t take it any longer.

She let the piece that she was holding drop to the table, getting up. The tension between them was too much, and the intense emotion of seeing him felt like it was driving her crazy. It was bad enough having him in the same room when she hadn’t been able to speak to him all day after what had happened, but knowing he was her mystery pen pal as well as the man who had swept her off her feet was too much.

Quickly, she walked toward the kitchen, muttering an excuse. But she really just needed a minute to be alone.

In the warmth of the kitchen, facing the window, she rubbed her hands over her face. She just needed to get it together. The night was about Nora, not her, and she needed to focus. It was a small town, if things didn’t work out between her and Rhett, she needed to be able to still function. There was no way to entirely avoid someone in Evergreen Hollow.

She heard footsteps behind her, and jumped, turning around to see Rhett standing there. He had a confused look on his face as he walked in, stopping a few feet away.

“I don’t understand,” he said quietly, low enough that the other guests wouldn’t overhear, even over the chatter in the living room. “Did I say or do something wrong on our last date at my house? I keep thinking about it, and I can’t figure out what might have gone wrong.”

Caroline’s heart sank. She couldn’t let him keep thinking that it was something he did, not when he looked so concerned. “No, it’s not that,” she admitted, letting out a long breath.

“I freaked out when you mentioned the letters,” she said quietly. “I didn’t want to let you see, so I left. But I did—because I’m the one you’ve been writing to.”

She looked at him as she said it, waiting for his face to fall, for him to look at her differently. For all of the worry and concern and caring to vanish, now that he knew she was the one who had all those doubts and insecurities. He wouldn’t look at her like he had before, like he wanted her, and no one else.

She braced herself for the disappointment. It shouldn’t be that difficult, she reasoned, she’d been disappointed when it came to love all her life. But for some reason, with Rhett, it felt so much worse.

But instead, as she grappled with the flood of emotion, he closed the distance between them. And he reached out, gently cupping her cheek.

“I felt weird going on our first date,” he admitted softly, his words low enough for only her to hear. “Because part of me felt like I was developing feelings for two people. My pen pal who was writing me these letters, and you, this beautiful woman who I had just met. But now that I know they’re one and the same?” He shook his head, laughing softly. “It only makes me like you more. I felt so torn about liking two people, when for so long I wasn’t interested in even one person. But now it makes perfect sense. I wasn’t interested in two different women. Both of the women I felt like I had a connection with were you . So you were the one I wanted all along, in every way.”

Caroline felt her eyes flood with tears as she looked up at him. Every word out of his mouth was the most romantic thing she’d ever heard. She’d never imagined anyone saying such beautiful words, and she couldn’t quite believe that he was saying all of those things to her .

“I thought you’d lose interest after you realized it was me,” she said softly. “I thought that once you knew how many things I’m insecure about, how many things I just haven’t talked to anyone about and kept inside, you’d go running in the other direction.”

“I would have thought the same thing about you,” Rhett murmured. “But I’m glad I know all of those things about you, and I’m glad you know them about me.” He brushed his thumb over her cheekbone, tipping her face up so that she met his eyes again. “I want to know all of you, Caroline. The good, the bad, the ugly—not just the mask you wear in public. That all people wear in public, really, not just you. I want to truly know you. Because I’m falling for you.”

Her heart raced in her chest, and she felt almost dizzy, hearing that. Seeing the way he was looking at her.

“I’m falling for you too,” she whispered.

He stepped an inch closer, his gaze fixed on her eyes, then on her lips. She could feel him leaning in to kiss her, feel herself going up on her toes to meet the kiss?—

And then the shrill sound of the smoke detector going off filled the room, shrieking and making them jump apart.

“Oh!” Caroline gasped, startled and more than a little annoyed. “Did it have to go off now ? There’s not even any reason for it! It just keeps going off randomly!”

Rhett started laughing, even as she glared at him. Caroline saw her mother walking toward the kitchen, and felt her flush deepen. Even with the space between them, it was hard to pretend that something wasn’t going on, and her mother could be very insightful. Particularly when it came to the love lives of her children.

“It’s a good thing we have a firefighter on hand,” Rhonda said, laughing as she poked her head in. “Any clue what’s going on?”

“I’ll look.” Rhett glanced at Caroline. “Want to come with me?”

She nodded, following as he scouted around the kitchen and the rest of the first floor, with no sign of anything wrong that might have triggered the smoke detector. They walked upstairs, eventually making their way to her room. She felt herself flush a little as they both walked inside, but told herself not to make anything of it. After all, it wasn’t like they’d come up there for any reason other than to cover all the bases when it came to the faulty smoke detectors.

“Oh.” Caroline frowned as they walked in, realizing how actually warm it was in the room—not just her face from bringing Rhett into her bedroom. “I left my fireplace on. Could that have done it?”

“Not just that, but—” Rhett frowned, circling around the fireplace, turning it off and looking behind it. She saw his face light up with sudden understanding. “This is it.” He motioned to the wiring, and she peeked around him to see what he was pointing at. “I have a feeling that the way the fireplace is hooked up, it slowly heats the wall behind it. That’s what is triggering the smoke detectors.”

He straightened, looking over at her. “Who set it up?”

Caroline winced. “Leon, when he brought it over and installed it. Was that not a good idea?”

Rhett chuckled at that. “Well, from what I hear, he’s not exactly a professional electrician. It’s probably best to leave the fireplace off until you can have a pro look at it.”

“That is probably a good idea,” Caroline agreed. “I’ll call someone tomorrow.”

They headed downstairs, Rhett pausing to tap the errant smoke detector as they passed it. “Good job,” he said jokingly. “And hey, thanks for bringing Caroline and me together. Maybe it wasn’t such a faulty detector after all.”

She couldn’t help but laugh at that, as cheesy as the joke was. His sense of humor never failed to make her laugh, and it was one of the reasons she was falling for him. Among other things.

He slipped his hand into hers as they walked back into the living room, and Caroline saw Nora’s gaze instantly flick to where their fingers were intertwined. Nora’s face lit up immediately, beaming at the two of them.

Normally she would have been embarrassed, but just then, she couldn’t bring herself to care. She couldn’t stop herself from smiling either.

She felt completely, incandescently happy.