‘Twas the Love Before Christmas

27. Catherine

Chapter twenty-seven

Catherine

A s shocked as I was to learn that Noah still loved me as deeply and truly as he had in high school – even with Tiffany’s insistence that she was his special friend – I wanted to see how this would work. Even with the discussion we had had before about how this could lead to us being a couple again, discussing what it really meant hadn’t crossed my mind.

“Initially, we’re going to be in the same spot we were in years ago,” Noah said. “The time difference. The distance. But sooner than later, we need to be together – either here in Indigo Lake or in California.”

“I hate to think about the past in that respect,” I replied. “I don’t want it to end that way again. I remember a few days where we were both so busy that we couldn’t even call or text,” I reminded him. “I remember feeling so frustrated with our schedules those days.”

“I was frustrated, too, Catherine,” Noah said as he took my hand gently in his. “I’m sure that this time, we’ll be able to understand a little more fully. What do you think about making plans to come back to Indigo Lake? I would offer to try and go to California, but I don’t know if I could get the kind of job out there that I want. Or even, you know, where to begin. I have connections here, but very few in California.

I pursed my lips.

That idea had been tumbling around in the back of my mind for a few days now. Since Tiffany’s appearance at the Christmas Dance, it hadn’t been as prominent. However, I was beginning to realize that I really did want to move home. I’d have to check to see how my online freelancing was going; it wasn’t something I needed to be active in. Not yet. The classes sold for a set price, and since I had posted pre-recorded videos on the site, they were available to everyone who bought the class. I just hadn’t bothered to check in to see how that or my book sales were going.

“Catherine?”

Noah’s voice interrupted the list in my head. I cleared my throat.

“I’d have to do some math,” I said. “Did I tell you about what I’ve started doing and haven’t checked on since I came out here for Christmas?”

“When we were setting up my parents’ Christmas tree,” he told me. “The freelancing and the creative writing classes, right? Do you think that you could get enough money from that to justify moving out here and continuing with that?”

“Not immediately,” I said. “Freelancing is one of those things where you have to be willing to put in the work on the side when your main work for the day is done. I’d have to do some things in the evenings and on weekends, but I’m willing to put in the work. I’ve just left it to see how successful what I have up so far is. As a baseline, I suppose.”

Noah nodded slowly.

What was going through his head? I stopped myself from opening my mouth and flooding him with questions before he was ready. Instead, I let him think about what I had just told him. Perhaps there was something more for him to do or say about the situation if I let him think.

We remained on the footbridge for a moment, but he took my hand, pulling my gaze away from the frozen river beneath us to his face. He looked at me with a gaze that I hadn’t seen in his eyes since we had been in high school or our freshman year of college. I couldn’t remember the last time he had given it to me, honestly.

“Well, whatever we decide to do and however we handle the distance and the time difference, I can say with confidence that it’s going to end better this time than it did when we ended our relationship in college,” he said. “We weren’t nearly as experienced then as we are now. I hope that experience will be of good use to us as we navigate this new relationship.”

“Me too, Noah.”

I moved closer and gave him a hug. His arms wrapped around me, enveloping me in the warmth I had missed from his hugs for so long. There was something about how he hugged me that left me questioning why he held on for so long. Did he fear losing me now that we were committing to another try? Considering we had only decided to do that after straightening out what had happened concerning Tiffany, another reason being present underneath all of the good feelings gnawed at the back of my mind.

I eventually pulled away so I didn’t risk slipping on the snow and ice beneath us.

Noah pouted at me slightly. I smiled a little.

“I didn’t want to slip and bring you down with me,” I said. “If that happened, we’d both be in for it, especially if one of us got hurt.”

He nodded slowly but then turned to look at the river and put an arm around my shoulders. I snuggled into his side. We used to do this when we were younger, just to watch nature around us. I was happy that he had remembered it, too. As we stood there, simply watching and listening, I couldn’t help but notice that the sound I heard most clearly was Noah’s heart pumping underneath his coat.

At that moment, I realized that the last thing I wanted was to go home to California. As much hemming and hawing as I was making at the moment about returning to Indigo Lake, there was something so idyllic about the town and returning to be with Noah that I couldn’t help but feel that there had to be a way to make this freelancing work. In the meantime, it was nice to know that Noah wouldn’t be mad about having to do the long-distance thing for a little while.

Noah cleared his throat. I turned to look at him. He had turned his face away from me to do that, but I didn’t mind. He looked just as handsome as he had always looked in the sunlight.

Without much warning, he pressed a kiss to my lips. I couldn’t deny how right it was. I put my arms around his neck and melted into his kiss, pressing against his body with practically everything I had.

After a few seconds, we both pulled away. A slight smile played on Noah’s lips, and I couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh. It was, perhaps, reminiscent of the giggle I used to make when I was in high school. Noah smiled at me for it, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“That was a kiss worth waiting for,” I said.

Noah nodded.

“Indeed. Oh!” His eyes suddenly widened, and he pulled a note from his coat pocket. “I forgot I got this last night.”

“Who gave it to you?”

“Coach O’Keefe, last night after the service. He’s now the area athletics coordinator,” he said. “I haven’t read it yet, so… we’ll both be learning what’s in his note firsthand, I suppose.” His smile had widened ever so slightly.

He opened the note and started to read it aloud.

“I’m so happy to have caught you in person,” he started. “When I heard from some professional contacts that you were retiring and looking for a sports job, I worried I wouldn’t get a chance to make contact with you over the holidays. But, on to the reason I wrote this. I’d like to offer you a job to help oversee the schedule and training for the baseball league here in Indigo Lake. It’s a great bunch of kids, and I know how well you worked with kids during the winter camps at Brighton. We can talk more about the duties of the position if you’d like to have a conversation sometime soon.”

Noah almost dropped the note. I grabbed the bottom of it to make sure that it didn’t fall into the snow. “That's a big responsibility for sure,” I said. “What do you think about it, Noah?”

“It sounds like a great job. I’ll call him up tomorrow once Christmas and all of the festivities are over,” he said. “And it sounds exactly like what I’ve been looking for. My retirement won’t be hitting the news until the season starts, so it’s nice to know I’ve found a job before all the questions start. I can tell my friends I don’t want all the press, but they can find me in Indigo Lake if they want to come see me.”

I smiled and hugged him. “Noah, that’s wonderful news. Congratulations!”

“Thank you, Catherine,” he said, with a hug in return.

“With that good news, why don’t we head home?” I suggested. “I think it’s getting close enough to noon that we need to head back.”

This caused Noah to pull his phone out and show me the time. It was just after ten-thirty in the morning. If he wanted time to get ready, then we needed to go back to the houses. Without another word, he simply nodded.

Wally had, during most of this, been rolling around in the snow because we had been too busy talking to pet him despite feeling the pawing at our legs. Noah had never let go of the leash, so getting Wally out of the snow and on our way home was easy enough.

I walked with my hand in his free one, and Wally walked ahead of us, checking behind every two steps to make sure we were both there. It made me chuckle. What this dog wouldn’t do to make sure that we were there, right?

As we approached our homes, Noah remarked, “Thank you for listening to me. I wasn’t sure that you would give me a second chance. I appreciate that you did, now that you know everything.”

“Tiffany is a smart woman, though very bold, but you’re a smarter man and know better than to allow her a chance to make all that fuss at the dance,” I stated. “But I’m glad to see that you didn’t mind putting yourself in a difficult situation to make sure that she understood your feelings.” We were at my house. “I’ll see you around?”

“I’ll text you,” Noah said with a soft blush on his cheeks. “See you soon.”