The Noel Bridge

Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

B y 9:00 a.m. the next morning, Alicia had changed her flight to Saturday, extended her rental car agreement one more day, and arrived at the hospital to talk with the Fergusons about the hospital director position.

“The salary isn’t big-hospital pay, but we can offer $290,000 with benefits,” Dr. Mitchell said as she sat across from his desk. Dr. Rose looked on from beside him, a glimmer of anticipation in her eyes.

Just as Alicia thought, the pay was still more than her director of nursing position.

“We’re hoping the smaller setting of St. Francis West will give you a similar number of people to the scale of nurses you’d oversee in Savannah,” he continued. Dr. Mitchell then dove into the job description and the various responsibilities of the position.

After hearing her duties, Alicia felt confident she could handle the job. There would be more administrative work than in her other position, but given the size of the hospital, she’d still be able to see patients if she wanted to .

“What do you think?” he asked.

Taking the director position at St. Francis West would not only pay her more, but it would be an incredible addition to her résumé. And best of all, it would allow her to stay in Noel.

“I accept.”

Dr. Rose sprang from her seat and clapped her hands.

Excitement filled Alicia. This was the start of something great.

“I still need to give notice at my old job,” she said. “I’ve got a condo to put on the market, and I’ll need to find somewhere to live in Noel.”

“We’ll work within your timeframes,” Dr. Rose said. “We’re just so thrilled to have you.”

“I’m thrilled for the opportunity,” Alicia said.

She spent the rest of the day familiarizing herself with the hospital and talking with the Fergusons about how they handled things. She ran through a few ideas she had and both doctors seemed delighted by her viewpoints. This job was going to be a great fit.

When Alicia got back to Evelyn’s apartment that evening, she went into the guest room and called her Savannah supervisor, Katy Woodruff, to tell her about the job offer.

“While I hate to lose you,” Katy said, “I’m overjoyed for you.”

“Why?” Alicia asked.

“You don’t sound like you have the last several months. You sound like you again. Your voice is vibrant and full of life. How can I be upset about that?”

Katy wasn’t wrong. Alicia had changed after coming to Noel. She felt whole again, and she realized she’d asked for just that one of the times she’d gone to the bridge.

“You’re the best,” she told Katy.

“May I ask what changed you for the better? I’d love to hear.”

“It was lots of little things that all added up,” she replied, but her first thought was Leo. He’d been there on night one, as if he’d been waiting just for her, and with every second that ticked by in Noel, her future was being mapped out. A future full of possibilities. “Thank you for forcing me to take time off,” she said.

“You’re welcome. You can fill me in when you come home, okay?”

“All right.”

She ended the call with Katy and went into the living room to talk to Evelyn, only to find her friend all smiles with her phone in her hand.

“You look happy,” Alicia said, sitting down next to her.

“Andy asked me to meet him at Deloris’s Pie Shop. She just made a new batch of salted caramel apple pie.”

Alicia pulled a throw pillow into her lap to keep warm. “That’s wonderful.”

Evelyn hugged her phone. “If you hadn’t come into town, I wouldn’t have been inspired to do something for myself, and I wouldn’t have texted him. Now look at us. You were meant to come to Noel this Christmas.”

“I think you’re right,” Alicia said. “And you had just as much of an effect on me. Your positivity is contagious.” She was so thankful she’d run into her old friend.

“You need to tell Leo.”

“I know. I think I’ll go down to the diner and tell him, but first I’m going to call my parents and give them the news.”

Evelyn hopped up. “I’m going to freshen up and head out. Want me to bring you a piece of pie if there are enough left?”

“No, thanks. I’ll have lots of opportunities to get Deloris’s pies.”

Evelyn let out a happy giggle. “Yes! That’s right.”

After her friend left the apartment, Alicia called her family and told them all about the job opportunity.

“You’ve always loved Noel,” her father said on speaker. “I felt terrible taking you away. I kept telling myself you’d make new friends and settle in, but there was always that little voice that made me wonder if I’d done the right thing.”

“Everything happens for a reason,” she said. “If I hadn’t moved, I might not have gone to nursing school, and then I wouldn’t have got the chance to work at St. Francis West.”

“You sound so confident,” Camille said.

“I am.” She couldn’t believe how confident she was.

Over an hour later, Alicia hung up the phone. She’d had the best conversation with her family, and they’d decided to get together to plan another trip with all of them—including Alicia. With the thrill of the job offer and reconnecting with her family, Alicia checked her watch. The diner was closing soon, and she wanted to try to catch Leo.

She grabbed her coat and the key to the Tahoe and ran out the door of the apartment. She drove straight to the diner. Just as it had been the night she’d arrived, the open sign was still lit.

She went up to the front door and knocked on the glass. Leo’s dark form walked toward her. This time, there was no mistaking him for Bo. She knew exactly who was on the other side by his gait and the roundness in his shoulders. She suppressed the smile working its way around the edges of her lips as he neared her.

Leo opened the door, a sparkle in his eye. “Hello, miss,” he said. “Sorry, but we’re closed.”

“I’m not here for the food,” she said.

His eyebrows rose. “Oh?”

“See, there’s this guy I really like, and I think he wants me to stay here in Noel, and I just wanted to stop by to let him know that, while I have to go home to tie up some loose ends, I’ll be packing my things as fast as possible and moving here.”

He stared at her, his eyes wide with delight. “You’re moving to Noel?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“What? How?”

“I was offered a job at St. Francis West that I couldn’t turn down. Noel is really the only place I’ve ever wanted to live, and I feel more strongly about that knowing you’re here.”

He smiled at her. Then, with a wild laugh, Leo scooped her into his arms and spun her around. He set her down, took her face in his strong hands, and kissed her. She decided then that she’d never tire of the feel of his lips on hers.

“How was the pie?” Alicia asked Evelyn when they met at the door of the apartment after getting back at the same time.

“Not nearly as good as spending time with Andy. But we managed to get an extra slice of the salted caramel.” She held out a box as she unlocked the door, and they entered. “And I brought you a piece too.”

“Thank you,” Alicia said, lifting the lid of the box. The sweet, sugary smell tickled her nose. She took the pie into the kitchen and washed her hands at the sink. “I suppose I need to find a place to live.”

“I could call my rental company. I’m sure they have a few open units in this complex. Wouldn’t it be fun if we were down the hall from each other?”

A wave of nostalgia crashed over Alicia. “Just like we planned as girls.”

“Yes!” Evelyn said, her face alight. “We’ve come full circle.”

“Indeed, we have.” Alicia scooped her pie onto a plate, got a fork from the drawer, and went around the small bar separating the kitchen from the living room.

Evelyn took a book of matches from a dish on the coffee table and lit a candle. Then she turned on the TV, and they settled on the sofa.

“Oh, look,” her friend said, pointing the remote at the TV and turning up the volume. “It’s another story about the bridge.”

If she was being honest with herself, Alicia could call up the news station with a massive story about how the bridge had seemed to grant all her wishes too.

“I think the bridge has no power at all,” a woman said into the news reporter’s microphone.

Alicia set her plate on her lap and turned her focus to the program.

“No power at all?” the reporter asked. “How do you explain the wonderful things that have happened to people who sent up their prayers and wishes at the bridge?”

Alicia hung on the tick of silence between the reporter’s question and the woman’s answer. She had been on both sides of the argument for the bridge.

The reporter tipped the microphone toward the woman.

“I think our loved ones and everything we need or wish for are available to us all the time. The bridge just gives our soul a place to put our energy into what we need. We have the magic within ourselves to get whatever we’re looking for. God gave us the gift of being able to follow our dreams, make that phone call, change our minds… We don’t need the bridge to do it.”

“I hadn’t thought about it like that,” Evelyn said.

“I hadn’t either.”

Was Bo really there, helping her move on, showing her the way? It was true she’d been the one to take each step, to follow her heart, the way her mother had suggested. And now, like some sort of God-given superpower, she knew that whatever she wanted was right at her fingertips. All she had to do was reach for it.