On a Snowy Night: The Christmas Basket / The Snow Bride

NOELLE McDOWELL’S JOURNAL

December 21

5:00 p.m.

Everyone’s getting ready for the big dance, but my head’s still spinning and I’ve learned that it helps me sort through my emotions if I write everything down. I ran into Thom again. It’s as though we’re being drawn together, as though we’re trapped in some magnetic field and are being pulled toward each other from opposite directions. I can tell he doesn’t like it any better than I do.

It happened yesterday when I met Kristen for lunch at The Rose Garden. No sooner had our order arrived when in walked Thom and his mother.

Try as I might, I couldn’t keep my eyes off him. He apparently suffered from the same malady. Every time I glanced up, he was staring at me—and frowning. His mother was with him and I could see that he was trying to keep her distracted so she wouldn’t notice Kristen and me. I didn’t completely understand why until we arrived home and discovered that Mom and Mrs. Sutton had had another run-in while shopping for the Christmas baskets. That must have been something to see, although I’m grateful I didn’t!

After we left the restaurant, Kristen and I had a long talk about Thom. I told her far more than I meant to. I don’t think I’ve thought or talked this much about Thom in years, and I found myself experiencing all those pathetic emotions all over again. Kristen confessed that she’s been hurt and upset with me for staying away, and now that I’m home, I can understand her disappointment. It’s ironic, because after I told her how devastated I was when Thom and I broke up, she said she could understand why I’d stayed away. She even said she’d probably have done the same thing.

When I got back to the house, Mom was in quite a state. For a moment I thought she might have talked herself out of attending the dance, but our hopes were quickly dashed. Dad and I should’ve realized Mom has far too much pride to let Mary Sutton get the upper hand.

This Christmas-basket project is driving her nuts, but Mom’s determined to make Kristen’s wedding one this town will long remember, and she’s willing to make whatever sacrifice is necessary. I do admire her determination.

It’s time to get ready for the dance. Wouldn’t you know it? Mom came up with a dress, and just as Carley predicted, it’s pink. Pepto-Bismol pink. I can only hope Thom doesn’t show up, but at the rate my luck is running…

Four

The rest of the Christmas dance passed in a blur for Noelle. She danced with a constant stream of attractive men. She greeted longtime family friends and socialized the evening away, but not once did she stop thinking about Thom. They were finally going to settle this. Only she wasn’t a naive eighteen-year-old anymore and she wouldn’t allow his lies to go unchallenged. Thom claimed he’d been waiting for her in the park, but she knew otherwise.

At the end of the evening, the families trooped down the wide sweeping staircase. Noelle, Carley and their mother waited while Jake stood in line to collect their coats. No more than three feet away from them was Mary Sutton, who also appeared to be waiting for her coat. Noelle had to hand it to the woman; she did a marvelous job of pretending not to see them.

“Good evening, Mrs. Sutton,” Noelle greeted her, refusing to ignore Thom’s mother.

Sarah’s onetime friend opened and then closed her mouth, as if she didn’t know how to respond.

“Noelle.” Her mother elbowed her sharply in the ribs. “What’s the matter with you?”

“Nothing. I’m greeting an old family friend.”

“Former friend,” her mother insisted. “We haven’t been friends in almost twenty years.”

“But you once were.”

Her mother sighed wearily. “I was younger then, and I didn’t have the discretion I have now. You see, back then I took friendship at face value. I trusted in goodwill and forgiveness.”

“Hello, Noelle,” Mary Sutton said, moving closer. “I, too, was once young and I, too, believed in the power of friendship. But I was taught a painful lesson when the woman I assumed was my dearest friend lied and deceived me and entrusted a priceless family heirloom to another. But that was a very long time ago. Tell me,” she said, turning a cold shoulder to Noelle’s mother. “How are you?”

“Very well, thank you.”

Her mother clasped Carley’s arm and stepped back as though to protect her youngest daughter.

“You’re looking lovely,” Thom’s mother said, and her eyes were kind.

“Thank you,” Noelle said, although she could feel her mother’s gaze burning into her back.

Mary Sutton lowered her voice. “I couldn’t help overhearing your mother’s comments just now about friendship. I probably should’ve stayed out of it—but I couldn’t.”

“It’s so sad that the two of you have allowed this nonsense to go on for all these years.”

“Let me assure you, my grandmother’s tea service is not nonsense. It was all I had to remind me of her. Your mother lied to me about using it, and then lost it forever.” Her downcast eyes clearly said that the loss of her grandmother’s legacy still caused her pain. “You’re right, though. It’s unfortunate this has dragged on as long as it has.”

That sounded encouraging, and Noelle was ready to leap on what she considered a gesture of peace.

“However,” Mrs. Sutton continued, “there are certain things no friendship can overcome, and I fear your mother has crossed that line too many times to count. Regrettably, our friendship is unsalvageable.”

“But—”

“Another thing,” Mrs. Sutton said, cutting Noelle off. “I saw you dancing with Thom this evening. You two were once sweet on each other, but you hurt him badly. I hope for both your sakes that you’re not thinking of renewing your acquaintance.”

“I…I…” Noelle faltered, not knowing how to answer.

Noelle’s mother stepped forward. “I suggest your son stay away from our daughter.”

“Mom, keep out of this, please,” Noelle cried, afraid of what would happen if the two women started in on each other—particularly after the Value-X incident. This was the town’s biggest social event of the year, and a scene was the last thing either family needed.

Mr. Sutton returned with the coats, and Noelle’s father followed shortly afterward. The McDowells headed immediately for the parking lot, careful to avoid any and all Suttons. Everyone was silent on the drive home, but Noelle knew she’d upset her mother.

Fifteen minutes later as they walked into the house, she decided she should be the one to compromise. “Mom, I wish now that I hadn’t spoken to Mrs. Sutton,” she said quietly. And she meant it; she should have restricted her remarks to “Hello” and maybe “Merry Christmas.”

“I do, too,” her mother said. “I know your intentions were good, but it’s best to leave things as they are. I tried for a long time to make up with her, but she refused to accept a replacement set and she refused my apology.” Sadness crept into her voice. “Mary did make one good point, though.”

Noelle mentally reviewed the conversation.

“She said it’s a good idea for you to stay away from Thom, and she’s right.” She sighed, then briefly placed her palm against Noelle’s cheek. Her eyes were warm with love. “The two of you have a history you can’t escape.”

“Mom, it isn’t like that. We—”

“Sweetheart, listen please. I know you once had strong feelings for that young man, and it hurt me deeply.”

“It hurt you?”

Her mother nodded. “Very much so, because I knew you’d be forced to make a choice between your family and Thom. I couldn’t bear the thought of you married to him or sharing my grandchildren with Mary Sutton. You saw for yourself how she feels about me. There’s no forgiveness in her. Really, is this the kind of woman you want in your life and the lives of your children? That’s the history I mean.” She kissed Noelle on the cheek and headed down the hallway to her room. “Good night now.”

Noelle shut her eyes and sagged against the wall. She’d been just a moment away from explaining that she was going to meet Thom in order to talk things out. Her mother sounded as though she’d consider it a personal affront if Noelle so much as looked at him. It was like high school all over again.

The only thing left to do now was sneak out the same way she had as a teenager. She couldn’t leave him waiting in the cold, that was unthinkable. Besides, this might be her one and only chance to sort out what had really happened, and she wasn’t going to throw it away. She didn’t intend any disrespect toward her mother or his, but she had to be there. If she didn’t show up, she’d confirm every negative belief he already had about her.

Carley was in bed asleep as Noelle passed her room. She went in to drop a kiss on her sister’s forehead, then softly closed the door. Noelle changed out of her party dress, choosing wool slacks and a thick sweater to wear to the park. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she waited for the minutes to tick past. With luck, her parents would be exhausted and both go directly to bed. Then Noelle could slip away undetected.

Finally the house was dark and quiet. The only illumination came from the flashing Christmas lights that decorated the roofline.

Opening her bedroom door, Noelle was horrified by the way it creaked. On tiptoe, she carefully, silently crept down the narrow corridor.

“Jake.” Her mother was instantly awake. “I heard something.”

“Go to sleep, honey.”

“There’s someone in the house,” her mother insisted.

Noelle froze. She could hardly breathe. Just imagining what her mother would say was enough to paralyze her.

“Jake, I’m serious.”

“I don’t hear anything,” her father mumbled.

“I did. We could all be murdered in our beds.”

“Sarah, for the love of heaven.”

“Think of the children.”

Noelle nearly groaned aloud. She was trapped. She’d have to pass her parents’ bedroom in order to steal back into her own. They were sure to see her. She couldn’t go forward and she couldn’t go back.

“All right, all right,” her father muttered as he climbed out of bed.

“Take something with you,” her mother hissed.

“Like what?”

“Here, take a wooden hanger.”

“So I can hang him out to dry if I happen on a burglar?”

“Just do it, Jake.”

“Yes, dear.”

Noelle had made it safely into the kitchen by the time her father came upon her. “Dad,” she whispered, hiding in the shadows, “it’s me.”

“Why didn’t you say so?” he whispered back.

“I couldn’t. I’m sneaking out of the house.”

“This late? Where are you going?”

He wouldn’t like the answer, but she refused to lie. “I’m meeting Thom Sutton in the park. We’re going to talk.”

Her father didn’t say anything for a long moment. Then it sounded as if he was weeping.

Noelle felt dreadful. “Dad? I’m sorry if this upsets you.”

“Upsets me?” he repeated. “I think it’s hilarious.”

“You…do?”

“Go ahead and meet your young man and talk all you want. This thing is between Sarah and Mary. Greg and I have been friends for years.”

This was news to Noelle. “You’re still friends?”

“Of course. He’s the best golfing partner I ever had.”

“You and Mr. Sutton are golf partners?” Noelle thought perhaps she’d slipped into another dimension.

“Shhh.” Her father raised a finger to his lips. “Your mother doesn’t know.”

“Mom doesn’t know.” This was more unbelievable by the moment.

“Scoot,” her father ordered, and reaching for the keys on the peg outside the garage door, he said, “Here, take my car. It’s parked on the street.”

Noelle clutched the set of keys and leaned forward to kiss his cheek. “Thanks, Dad.”

He coughed loudly as she opened the back door. “You’re hearing things, Sarah,” he called out. “There’s nothing.” He gave her a small wave and turned back toward the hallway.

As soon as she was out the door, Noelle sprinted toward her dad’s car. It took her a moment to figure out which key she needed and then another to adjust the mirror and the seat. When she glanced at her watch, she was shocked to see the time. It was already ten minutes past one.

Thom would assume she wasn’t coming. He’d think she’d stood him up…when nothing could be further from the truth.

Thom expelled his breath into the cold, and it came out looking like the snort of a cartoon bull. An angry cartoon bull. That was exactly how he felt. Once again, he’d allowed his heart to rule his head and he’d fallen prey to Noelle McDowell.

He should have known better. Everything he’d learned about heartache, Noelle had taught him. And now, fool that he was, he’d set himself up to be taken again. Noelle McDowell was untrustworthy. He knew it and yet he’d still risked disappointment and worse.

Slapping his hands against his upper arms to ward off the cold, he paced the area beneath the trees across from the pool at Lions’ Park. This had been their special meeting place. It was here that Thom had kissed Noelle for the second time. Here, they’d met and talked and shared their secrets. Here, he’d first confessed his love.

A car door slammed in the distance. Probably the police coming to check out his vehicle, which was parked in a lot that was closed to the public at this time of night. He deserved to get a ticket for being enough of an idiot to trust Noelle.

He didn’t know why he’d hung around as long as he had. Looking at his watch he saw that it was twenty after one. She’d kept him waiting nineteen minutes too long. Her nonappearance was all the proof he’d ever need.

“Thom…Thom!” Noelle called out as she ran across the lawn.

Angry and defiant, he stepped out from beneath the shadow of the fifty-foot cedar tree.

“Thank goodness you’re still here,” she cried and to her credit, she did sound relieved. She was breathless when she reached him. “I had to sneak out of the house.”

“Sneak out? You’re almost thirty years old!”

“I know, I know. Listen, I’m so sorry.” She pushed back the sleeve of her coat and squinted at her watch. “You waited—I can’t believe you stayed for twenty extra minutes. I prayed you would, but I wouldn’t have blamed you if you’d left.”

The anger that had burned in him moments earlier evaporated so fast it shocked him.

“When did they turn Walnut into a dead-end street?”

“Years ago.” Of course she’d drive down the same street they’d used as teenagers. He’d forgotten the changes made over the last decade; it hadn’t occurred to him that she wouldn’t know. “You’re here now.”

“Yes…listen, I know I shouldn’t do this, but I can’t help myself.” Having said that, she slipped her arms around his waist and hugged him hard. His own arms went around her, too, tentatively and then with greater strength.

Closing his eyes and savoring the feel of her was a mistake, the first of many he knew he’d be making. She smelled like Christmas, somehow, and her warmth wrapped itself around him.

“Why’d you do that?” he asked gruffly as she released him and took a step back. He was trying to hide how damn good it’d felt to hold her.

“It’s the only way I could think of to thank you for staying, for believing in me enough to wait.”

“I wasn’t exactly enumerating your good points while I stood here freezing.”

“I know, I wouldn’t either—I mean, well, you know what I mean.”

He did.

Clearing off a space on the picnic table, Noelle climbed up and sat there just as she had when they were teenagers. “All right,” she said, drawing in a deep breath. “Let’s talk. Since you were the one to suggest we do this, you should go first.”

So she’d become a take-charge sort of woman. That didn’t surprise him. She’d displayed leadership qualities in high school, as well, serving on the student council and as president of the French Club. “All right, that’s fair enough.” She might be able to sit, but Thom couldn’t. He had ten years of anger stored inside and that made it impossible to stand still for long. “We argued, remember?”

“Of course I do. The argument had to do with our mothers. You said something derogatory about mine and I defended her.”

“As I recall, you had a less-than-flattering attitude toward my mother.”

“But you were the first…” She paused. “None of that’s important now. What we should be discussing is what happened afterward.”

Once again she was right. “We made up, or so I thought.”

“We made up because we refused to allow the ongoing feud between our mothers to come between us. Later that day, you wrote me a note and suggested we elope.”

Her voice caught just a little. He wanted so badly to believe her. It was a struggle not to. “I loved you, Noelle.”

She smiled, but he saw pain in her eyes and it shook him. For years he’d assumed that she’d used his love against him. That she’d stood him up just to hurt him. To humiliate him. He’d never really understood why. Was it vindication on behalf of her mother?

“We were going to confront our parents, remember?” Noelle said.

“Yes. I made a big stand, claiming how much I loved you and how I refused to let either of our mothers interfere in our lives. You should’ve heard me.”

“I did, too!” she declared. “I spilled out my guts to them. Can you imagine how humiliating it was to have to go back and confess that you’d tricked me—that you’d jilted me?”

“Me!” he shouted. “You were the one—”

Noelle held up both hands and he let his anger fade. “Something happened. It must have.” She pressed one hand to her heart. “I swear by all I consider holy that I’ve never lied to you.”

“You’re assuming I did?” he challenged.

“Yes. I mean no,” she cried, confused now. “Something did happen, but what?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I was here at three, just like I wrote you in the note.”

She frowned, and he wondered if she was going to try to tell him she hadn’t gotten his note. He knew otherwise because he’d personally seen Kristen hand it to her at school.

“The note said eight.”

“Three,” he insisted. Now it was his turn to look perplexed. “I wrote down three o’clock.”

“The note said…” She brought her hand to her mouth. “No, I refuse to believe it.”

“You think Kristen changed the time?”

“She wouldn’t do that.” She shook her head. “I know my sister, and she’d never hurt me like that.”

“How do you explain the discrepancy then?”

“I have no idea.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I remember it vividly. You’d sent it to me after your math class.”

His defenses were down. Time rolled back, and the events of that day were starting to focus in his mind. The fog of his pain dissipated. Finally he was able to look at the events with a clear head and an analytical eye.

“Kristen spilled soda on it,” Noelle said thoughtfully. “Do you think that might have smudged the number?”

“It might explain part of it—but not the nasty note you left on my windshield.”

She had the grace to blush at the reminder. “After waiting until after ten o’clock, I didn’t know what to do. It was pretty dark by then, and I couldn’t believe you’d just abandon me. I was positive something must’ve happened, so I phoned your house.”

He nodded, encouraging her to go on.

“Your father said you were out with your friends bowling. I went to the alley to see for myself.” Her voice tightened. “Sure enough, you were in there, boozing it up with your buddies.”

“Don’t tell me you actually thought I was having a good time?”

“Looked like it to me.”

“Noelle, I was practically crying in my beer. I felt…I felt as if I’d just learned about some tragedy that was going to change my whole life.”

“Why didn’t you call me? How could you believe I’d stand you up? If you loved me as much as you said, wouldn’t you make some effort to find out what happened?”

“I did.” To be fair, it’d taken him a day, but he had to know, had to discover how he could’ve been so mistaken about Noelle. “I waited until the following afternoon. Your mother answered the phone and said I’d already done enough damage. She hung up on me.”

“She never told me,” Noelle whispered. “She never said a word.”

“Why would she?” Thom murmured. “Your mother assumed I’d done you wrong, just the way everyone else in your family did.”

“I left that horrible note on your car and you still phoned me?”

He nodded.

“I can only imagine what you must have thought.”

“And you,” he said.

They both grew quiet.

“I’m so sorry, Thom,” she finally said. “So very sorry.”

“So am I.” He was afraid to touch her, afraid of what would happen if she came into his arms.

Noelle brushed the hair back from her face and when he glanced at her, he saw tears glistening in her eyes.

“It all worked out for the best, though, don’t you think?” he asked. He had to say something.

She nodded. Then after a moment she spoke in a voice so low he had to lean closer to hear. “Do you really believe that?”

“No.” He reached for her then, crushing her in his arms, lifting her from the picnic table and holding her as if his very life depended on keeping her close to his heart.

His mouth found hers, and her lips were moist and soft, her body melting against his. Their kisses were filled with hunger and passion, with mingled joy and discovery. This sense of rightness was what had been missing from every relationship he’d had since his breakup with Noelle. Nothing had felt right with any other woman. He loved Noelle. He’d always loved her.

She buried her face in his shoulder and he kissed the top of her head. Her arms circled his neck and he ran his fingers through her hair, gathering it in his hands as he closed his eyes and let his emotions run free—from anger to joy. From joy to fear. From fear to relief.