The Noel Bridge

Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

B y midday the next day, Alicia had organized most of Mitchell Ferguson’s desk, but she still had quite a bit of data to enter into the VeraPro system. With Christmas the next day, she wouldn’t get another chance to work on it until Thursday, and she was leaving Friday. That probably wouldn’t give her enough time to train the nurses.

Trying to get as much done as possible, she didn’t even stop for lunch, working her fingers to the bone with data entry. She’d texted Evelyn to let her know she’d need to go straight from work to Leo’s, since she was planning to stay with Dean. That way, she could work right up until Leo needed her. If she could just get all the information in the system, perhaps she could show Dr. Rose how it worked before she had to fly home. That would have to be enough.

The next thing she knew, Dr. Rose was standing beside her a couple of hours later. “Ready for the holiday?”

Alicia typed in a few more patient status codes. “I guess.”

“That doesn’t sound convincing.” Dr. Rose leaned against the newly cleared desk .

After a few more clicks, Alicia looked up at her. “I was hoping to be farther along with this, but it’s taking a while.”

“That’s all right,” Dr. Rose said. “We’ll figure it out.”

Dr. Mitchell walked into the office and paused to stare at the tidy space. “Wow, it looks a lot cleaner in here. You got all those files into that one computer?”

“Almost,” Alicia replied. “I still have more to do.”

“Well, not tonight,” Dr. Mitchell said. “It’s time to close down. The auxiliary staff is here, and I just finished wishing happy holidays to all the patients.”

“I love how you take time to see each of them,” Alicia said. “It’s rare to find that kind of service these days.”

“Isn’t that why we’re in this field? Service?”

“That’s why I’m here.”

Her colleagues in Savannah wanted to help people, too, but it wasn’t the same as what she’d experienced in Noel. The pace was slower, and people took more time with each other. Maybe she could initiate some changes when she went home and got back to work.

“Thank you for everything you’ve done for us. You’ve been beyond helpful.” Dr. Mitchell pulled his coat from the rack in the corner of the office and handed the other one to Dr. Rose.

“Of course,” Alicia said as she shut down the computer. She grabbed her coat and handbag. “Merry Christmas to you both.”

“Merry Christmas, Alicia.”

With that, she went out to the elevator and outside to meet Evelyn.

“It’s sweet of you to sit with Leo’s dad tonight,” Evelyn said when she got in the car.

“How could I say no? ”

They were quiet, listening to Christmas songs on the radio as they drove the short drive to Leo’s house.

“Text me when you want me to pick you up. I’ll be at my parents’. I left them with the roof of the gingerbread house. I’m hoping they can keep the walls from falling down while I’m gone.” Evelyn made a face.

Alicia laughed. “Godspeed,” she said as she opened the car door.

“Have fun!”

“You too.” Alicia made her way through the ice to the entrance and rang the bell.

Leo greeted her and let her in. “Thanks for coming.”

“Of course.”

When they entered the living room, Dean was sitting in the recliner in the corner, reading a novel. He brightened when he saw her.

“You look familiar,” he said, placing his novel in his lap.

“Dad, this is Alicia Silver,” Leo said. “You met her in the hospital the other day.”

Dean snapped his fingers. “Oh, yes. That’s right.” His face dropped and he looked at Leo. “Aren’t you leaving?”

“Yep. I have to go tie up some loose ends at the diner before we close for Christmas.”

“So why is she here?”

“Alicia’s going to stay with you for a few hours while I’m at work.”

“I actually used to live here,” Alicia told Dean.

His bushy brows pulled together. “In Noel?”

“Yes, but also in this house. This was my childhood home.”

“Do you need something from it?”

She smiled at him. “No, I’m just visiting from out of town,” Alicia said. “Leo’s been kind enough to offer for me to hang out with you while he’s at work. I don’t have anywhere else to go because the friend I’m staying with, Evelyn, is visiting her parents this evening.” She reached into her bag and pulled out the novel she’d always used when she was trying to avoid people in public. It looked different now, less like a prop. She pulled the bookmark from the middle and placed it at the front, deciding to actually give the book a shot.

“If you’d like to read your novel, I promise not to be intrusive. We can read together.”

Her explanation seemed to appease Dean, and Leo gave her an appreciative nod.

“I’ll be back in a couple hours,” Leo said.

Alicia took a seat on the sofa. “Sounds good.”

After a wink at her, Leo left and Dean opened his book, his brows pulling together as he dragged his finger down the page.

Alicia wriggled into a comfortable position and opened her own book. The words that used to blur in front of her began to take shape into phrases, the story behind the letters pulling her in. As she read sentence after sentence, she fell into the story, losing herself. She’d have been totally engrossed except for the distraction of Dean in her peripheral vision, sneaking glances at her. She tried to ignore them, but his curiosity drew her attention toward him. She placed her bookmark in her book and closed it.

“Do you like what Leo did with the place while you were gone?” Alicia asked.

Dean’s face lightened once more. “Yes. He’s been busy decorating for Christmas.”

“My friend Evelyn and I helped him. Evelyn baked the cookies. Have you had any yet?”

“Oh, yes. They’re delicious. Would you like one?” he asked, setting his novel on the side table, grabbing the arms of his chair, and hoisting himself up.

“Sure.” Alicia followed him into the kitchen.

Dean got a plate from the cabinet and then took the bag of cookies out of the pantry. He shook the cookies onto the plate and offered it to her.

“We should eat them in the living room,” she offered, before taking the plate from him.

Dean followed her back to his chair and took a seat. “He did so much for me.” Dean’s gaze fell on the presents under the tree.

“Well, I’ll bet he feels that you’ve done a lot for him over the years. He told me about the time you hung a tire swing for him on one of your fishing trips. Do you remember it?” When he didn’t answer, she added, “Leo said he was about six. And the two of you swung out over the river and dropped into the water.”

“Oh, yes, I do remember.” The recollection caused a sparkle in his eyes. “That was a long time ago… He’s all grown up now.”

Alicia set the plate on the coffee table and pinched a cookie.

“Where are you from?” Dean asked.

“I’m actually from Noel originally. We moved away when I was a teenager.” Alicia folded her legs under her and brushed a few crumbs off her thigh. “I live in Savannah now, but I miss it here.”

“It’s lovely—when one doesn’t get lost in the forest.” He took a bite of his cookie.

“Were you ever scared while you were out there?” she asked.

Dean smiled. “Lost, yes. Scared, no.”

“When you were lost, I talked with Leo about you. I worried that you wouldn’t have a way to stay warm. Leo said you probably had matches in your tackle box. Did you?”

“Of course I did. And a first aid kit.”

“What if you hadn’t found the fishing shack? What would you have done?”

He laughed. “I suppose I’d have kept walking.”

“And not knowing when you’d find shelter didn’t scare you?” Alicia asked, delighting in this moment of lucidity and wishing she could’ve known Dean earlier in his life.

Dean ate a bite of cookie and pursed his lips. “Our life paths are like invisible threads that tether us to our destiny. I just had to pray my destiny wasn’t in the freezing snow.”

“So you think life is already planned for us?”

“I think we always have the ability to change the path, and end up somewhere else, but the learning we’re meant to have on the journey will still happen.”

Even though this was the first time she’d been in her old house with Dean, it felt as if he’d always belonged there.

“I love to read,” he said, changing the subject. “But lately when I try, I lose my spot or I can’t remember what happened, and I have to read the page all over again. My outing to go fishing was a result of my frustration from reading that day. I wanted to do something that didn’t require so much mental strength. But my ailment got the better of me anyway.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like not to be able to trust your own brain. She took a bite of the cookie.

“One day, I fear I will forget everything.” He took in a long breath and let it out. “But I know Leo will be able to handle what life throws at him.”

“He’s a good man,” she said .

“He is. He’s always been an old soul.”

“Has he?”

“When his mother passed away, it was just the two of us. I swear, he managed better than I did. He grieved, sure, but he got his schoolwork done, went to his after-school job, and then came home and helped me make dinner.” Dean tipped his head toward the ceiling as if the memory were up there.

“Once, when he was around eighteen, he said, ‘It’s just the two of us, Dad. We’re the only two left to provide ourselves with the kind of life Mom would’ve wanted us to have.’ Until he said that, I’d never considered what kind of life his mother might have wanted for us. I was just trying to survive.”

Alicia let the story sink in. She understood Dean’s position. Until she’d come to Noel, she’d been trying to survive as well. What life would Bo have wanted her to have? When she looked back up, Dean had closed his eyes. She waited, but he didn’t reopen them. So she quietly took out her novel and pretended to read it. This time, for different reasons. She wasn’t pretending to be busy, she was busy contemplating what she wanted from her life.

The pay raise from her promotion in Savannah would provide a little extra money each month after she paid bills, which might give her more chances for trips like this one. What did she want to do in her free time? For so long, Bo had planned things for them, and she’d been perfectly content following his lead. But she didn’t want to follow anyone’s lead anymore. She’d actually made that decision before she was aware that was the case. She’d planned her trip to Noel to find answers.

She spent the rest of the evening thinking about her future while Dean dozed. By the time Leo returned, Dean had fallen fast asleep, as if the drama from all the days away were catching up to him.

“How did he do?” Leo whispered.

“Good. He slept a lot of the time,” Alicia replied.

“Easy night then.” Leo motioned for them to enter the kitchen. “I hope he didn’t talk your ear off.” He pulled out a chair for her and she sat down.

“He did chat a little bit. He told me that you’re an old soul.” She grinned up at him as he took a seat across from her.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. He said you handled your mother’s death better than he did.”

He peered into her eyes. He seemed tired after the late hours at the diner. “If he had a harder time than I did, he surely didn’t show it. He was so strong.”

“When my fiancé, Bo, died, I wasn’t very strong,” she admitted. “It’s not something we ever learn, but we’re expected to be masters of it when it happens.”

“I remember you saying you felt as though you were in quicksand.”

“Yes.”

“Everyone grieves differently. There’s no right or wrong way.”

“I understand now what you said about living with the hole that death causes. You don’t get over it, but you learn to go on with it. My life can’t stop because Bo’s did.”

“Exactly.”

“Your dad made me think about my life when he told me you said you needed to live the life your mother would’ve wanted for you. Our loved ones want us to be happy.”

“Yes, I believe that. My mother would’ve felt awful if I’d spent my life depressed and lost. I felt as though I needed to have a life for her . Eventually, the choices became my own and what would make me happy.”

“I definitely get that.”

“That’s why we get along so well.”

A fondness filled his words and she offered him a warm smile. A strong sense of gratitude flooded her, and she had an undeniable feeling that she’d been meant to meet Leo.

“I’m going back over to Mom and Dad’s tomorrow for Christmas,” Evelyn said once she and Alicia got back to the apartment that night. “Wanna come?”

Alicia took off her coat. “Would it be okay if I stayed here instead?”

“Sure. You okay being alone on Christmas Day?”

Alicia sat next to her friend, the tree twinkling against the dark of night through the window. “Yeah. I have to admit something to you, though,” Alicia said. “I wasn’t in a good place emotionally when I first got here. But now I have a new perspective. I’m not sure how I got it or what changed, but I just do.”

“Could the bridge have had anything to do with it?”

Alicia shrugged. “However it happened, I’ve had so much change since I got here that it would be nice if I had just a bit of time to myself to process everything.”

“Okay,” Evelyn said. “I just hate leaving you alone on the biggest family holiday of the year. Even though you’ve been gone, you’re still like family to me.”

“Thank you. I feel the same way.” Alicia leaned over and hugged her friend. “Why don’t I get a ride to your parents’ house later in the afternoon—the town bus or something? That way you can have your time with them, unwrap presents, and do all the family traditions before I get there.”

“That sounds great.”

They settled in for the night, cuddled under a giant quilt, and watched TV until they were both too drowsy to keep their eyes open any longer.