The Christmas Cookie Crush (Arcadian Falls Christmas #4)

Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Austin

I’m nervous all day waiting for dinner at the Daniels’ house. I keep trying to remind myself that I’ve had dinner at their house countless times growing up.

This is different, though. And my brain won’t let me forget it, no matter how many times I try to tell it that it’s not that different.

It absolutely is. I’m going as Nora’s … date? Boyfriend? I’m not sure. We’ve only been out twice, so we haven’t had any kind of conversation about defining our relationship or what will happen when she goes back to school. Will we continue long distance? Is that something she would even be interested in?

I think I would, given that’s an option.

I thought she was pretty, of course, but dinner the last two nights have allowed me to get to know her even more. She’s funny and smart and witty, and while I know the open question of her future after graduation is a sore spot, the fact that she’s not locked into any specific plan might work in my favor.

I know she feels like coming back to Arcadian Falls would be a step backwards, and I totally understand why, but might she be willing to move at least closer if I’m still here? She could find a job in Inglewood or one of the other towns that’s close-ish. If she were an hour away, that wouldn’t be so bad. We could see each other on weekends more easily, maybe even weeknights depending on her schedule and what she’s doing.

I’m getting ahead of myself, though, and I’m trying not to do that. Going too hard, too soon is a sure way to scare her off.

I’ve made that mistake before—my last girlfriend in college hated that I wanted us to plan our future together post-college once we were officially in a relationship. In my defense, we’d been dating for six months at that point, and while we didn’t have the “exclusivity” talk until a month or two in, we were exclusive the whole time. So it didn’t seem like such a reach to me. But she freaked out and broke up with me, and I don’t want to make that mistake again. Especially since Nora and I aren’t even officially anything at this point.

We enjoy each other’s company.

And I’ve been invited to a family dinner.

That’s where I’m getting tripped up, I guess. The family dinner invite feels a lot more serious than taking her out for dinner a couple times. Like there’s a big jump in relationship level between our first date the day before yesterday and now.

“She wants you there,” I mutter to myself for the fiftieth time as I pack up an order of cookies for a customer.

“What was that?” the guy says, his bushy eyebrows crawling toward each other as he peers at me through his thick-rimmed glasses.

“Nothing.” I give him a smile. “Just reminding myself about something I have this evening. Here are the cookies.”

We complete the transaction, and I do my best to stay focused on the present while I finish my workday.

Nora comes by during her afternoon break, which brightens my day. With the counter between us and a long line of customers, I can’t kiss her like I want to, and from the way her eyes roam over me, it’s clear she’d like to do more than look as well. But she grins and orders a cookie. “I think I’ll take Santa this time,” she says. “My dad’s been a pain today, so getting to bite his head off, even if it’s just metaphorically, will make me feel better.”

I laugh, handing her the cookie. I still hate charging her for anything, but I have to.

She grins as she pays.

“Won’t the little kids get upset that you’re eating Santa’s head, though?” I ask before she can leave.

She shrugs. “I guess it’s a risk we’ll all have to take. But considering the kids know you sell cookies here, I think they’ll figure it out.” With a wave of her fingers, she leaves. I stare after her until she’s swallowed by the crowd before turning to the next customer, a woman in her twenties who’s smiling at me like that’s the cutest thing she’s ever witnessed.

Fortunately, she doesn’t comment, just orders what she came for, and I fall back into the rhythm of work.

The nerves kick up again at the end of the day, though. Nora comes by the kiosk as I’m closing everything up. She’s already changed out of her elf costume.

“Got done early today?” I ask, accepting her hug and dropping a quick kiss on her lips. I like that we’ve progressed to easy kisses so quickly.

“We ended reservations a tiny bit earlier tonight than normal so Mom can get home and finish getting dinner ready. Dylan, Ty, and their girlfriends are supposed to be putting the finishing touches on everything, but Mom doesn’t really trust anyone else to make it right. She might trust Sarah more than anyone, but Sarah was working just as late as us, so …” She shrugs, then leans in for another kiss. “I have to go, because I’ll be corralled into helping too. See you there?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Of course. See you soon.”

She gives me a big smile, one more kiss, and then she’s gone, leaving me feeling like a whirlwind just came through and tossed everything everywhere—discombobulated and out of sorts. For some reason I thought we’d ride to her place together, even though that was never stated. So I’m thrown off by the realization that I’ll have to drive myself, walk up to the door, knock, and wait for someone to answer, like some kind of messed up version of roulette. Will Nora answer? God, I hope so.

I can’t decide if it would be worse for it to be Ty, Dylan, or their dad.

Do either of her brothers even know I’m coming? Obviously her parents do, but what about anyone else? If they don’t, Dylan will probably think I’m there to see him. Ty will just be confused. But if they do …

They might decide to pull the protective older brother schtick. I saw it a time or two when we were kids. Well, not from both brothers, because Nora was still young and Dylan’s favorite pastime was picking on her. He encouraged my active participation. But I did witness Ty hassle some guy who came to pick up Sarah for a date. And that was when he was a teenager. I don’t even want to know what that treatment is like from him as an adult. And if Dylan gets involved …

Fingers crossed that Nora answers.

The moment of truth comes far too soon—but also not soon enough, because I want to see Nora, even if I won’t have her all to myself.

But the person who opens the door isn’t anyone I expect. It’s a man, but I don’t know him. He’s tall, dark hair, and has a beard. He looks a little familiar … I think he was at the open house? But I was a little distracted, so I’m not sure. I didn’t talk to him, though. I’m sure I’d remember if I did.

“Who are you?” he demands, arms crossed, a scowl firmly in place.

“Uh, I’m Austin?”

One of his eyebrows arches up in disbelief. “You don’t sound so sure about that.”

“Ha. Yeah. I’m Austin.” I try for a laugh, but it fails miserably. Who is this guy? “Is, uh …” I crane my neck, trying to look past him, but he’s blocking the door pretty effectively. “Is Nora here?”

“Shane, what are you doing?” calls a woman’s voice, then Nora’s older sister appears, elbowing him aside. “Nora!” she calls, and I let out a sigh of relief.

It might be too soon for relief, though, from the way Sarah’s eyeing me. “Look at you. Little Austin Stanton, all grown up.”

“You know this guy?” The man who answered the door—whose name is Shane, apparently—hooks a thumb in my direction.

Sarah bats his arm and chuckles. “Be nice,” she commands.

His scowl is replaced by a grin as he wraps his arms around her. “I’m always nice.” That makes her laugh.

I shift on my feet, uncertain what to do because I’m still standing on the doorstep and haven’t been invited in yet. And they’re both blocking the door.

“What are you—?” Nora elbows past her sister and Shane. “Ugh. What are you guys doing? Will you please let Austin inside?”

Still smiling, they move out of the way, and Nora reaches for me. “I’m sorry about them. I was in the bathroom when you knocked. Come in! Come in!”

Grinning with a mix of relief that Nora’s taken over and the involuntary response I have every time I see her, I follow her inside.

“Here. Let me take your coat,” she offers.

“Oh, uh, sure.” I’m not sure why this surprises me, but it does. I shrug out of my coat and hand it to her, watching as she stashes it in the coat closet by the front door.

Then she turns to face me, her chest rising and falling with a deep breath. “Hi,” she says softly.

Stepping forward, I reach for her waist. “Hi.”

She lets me pull her close, lifting her face for a kiss.

But the moment of peace doesn’t last long. “Ew. No. That’s not allowed.”

I look up to see Dylan standing in the living room, his girlfriend standing next to him. “He’s her date,” she says to Dylan. “Of course it’s allowed.”

“Nope.” He makes a T with his hands. “Nuh-uh. Flag on the play.” He points at me. “That’s my friend.” Then Nora. “That’s my sister. Not. Allowed.”

“Pretty sure that’s not your call,” Nora says. “And anyway, it’s not like you guys still hang out. When was the last time you even saw each other?”

“The other night!” Dylan protests. “Right here in this room!”

Nora scoffs. “Before that.”

“That’s not important.” Dylan scoffs too, marching over to me. “He’s my friend.”

I’m biting the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing or smiling. Having Nora and Dylan fight over me was nowhere on my bingo card for tonight.

“Then why am I the one who invited him?” Nora shoots back.

“Touché,” says Dylan’s girlfriend. What was her name again? I think Lydia. “I think she’s got you there.”

Scowling, Dylan turns to her. “Whose side are you on, Lydia?”

Yessss. I got her name right. Score for me. Not that anyone’s keeping track of points. Except me, apparently.

She holds up her hands. “I’m not on anyone’s side.”

“That’s right, Dylan,” Nora quips. “She’s on the side of right and truth. And right now, that’s my side. You’re the one being ridiculous.”

“She has a point,” Sarah says from the doorway that leads to the kitchen and dining room. “Dylan, you have a girlfriend. Stop trying to cockblock your sister.”

Dylan immediately launches into a series of retching noises. “Gross! Sarah! I can’t believe you said that.”

She shrugs, entirely unbothered. “You’re the one making it weird, man. Get a grip. Nora’s allowed to date Austin. Austin’s allowed to date Nora. The fact that you were friends when you were babies doesn’t have anything to do with anything. And wouldn’t it mean that you have good taste in friends? And Nora has good taste in guys?”

“But she doesn’t!” he protests, and Nora flinches.

I look down at her, and her smile is gone.

“Hey, man,” I say, trying to keep my voice light but knowing I’ll do whatever I need to do to shut Dylan up before he goes any farther down this road. He will not make Nora unhappy on my watch. It was playful teasing before—or I think we all assumed so—but this clearly crosses a line. “Are you trying to insult me? Or is that just a happy accident?”

He turns a confused look on me. “What? No. I’m just saying?—”

“Maybe you shouldn’t,” Nora says, her tone biting.

Sarah points at her. “That part. Shut up, Dylan. No one’s really interested in your opinion here anyway.”

“You can tell me all about it later,” Lydia whispers, though we can all hear her.

Dylan’s face looks almost mutinous, but Nora’s uninterested in waiting around to see what comes out of his mouth next.

“Come on,” she says to me, lacing her fingers through mine. “Let me properly introduce you to Shane and Sophie. Shane’s married to Sarah, and they’re Sophie’s guardians.”

In a whisper, she quickly fills me in on the bare bones of their story—Sophie’s actually his sister, but he became her guardian after their parents passed in a tragic accident a few years ago. “So she’s basically my niece,” she finishes. “Mom and Dad dote on her like she’s their grandchild.

“Wow,” is all I manage to say. “That’s … wow.”

“I know, right? It’s a lot. But it helps if you understand the dynamics a little. Anyway, Shane’s sort of appointed himself an honorary big brother. Hence his door-answering behavior. Again, sorry about that. I had no idea he was going to do that.”

Grinning, I pull us into the dining room so we have half a second before we come face to face with everyone else. “You have nothing to apologize for,” I tell her quietly, dropping a kiss on her nose. “I’m glad I’m here. And I was semi-prepared for one of your brothers to answer the door with that kind of energy. Or maybe your dad. It was the random stranger that caught me by surprise.”

She laughs, and that sound summons the others.

“What are you guys doing in here?” a gruff voice demands, and I look up to see Ty standing there, the resemblance between his scowl and his younger brother’s kind of uncanny. He’s a little taller and lankier than Dylan, but they’re clearly brothers, with the same dark hair and level brows that mark all the Daniels kids.

“Just having a moment to ourselves before the craziness really begins,” Nora says.

“Smart,” he answers, his face clearing as he steps forward and holds out a hand to me. “You must be Austin. I’m Ty. I saw you at the open house, but I don’t think we had a chance to talk.”

“Ty,” Nora says. “You’ve met Austin plenty of times before. He was here all the time when we were kids.”

Ty shrugs. “I was a teenager. I wasn’t paying attention to my youngest siblings’ friends. And anyway, that was half a lifetime ago. It’s okay to reintroduce myself.” He turns his scowl on her. “I’m being nice. Would you rather I acted like Shane or Dylan?”

She holds up her hands. “No. God, no. Please continue.”