“I can’t believe it.” She bounced up the steps and stopped beside me.
One hand ran the length of the lighted garland, then up my forearm. “You’re decorating for Christmas. It looks amazing.”
“Thanks.” I finished the strand and plugged it into an extension cord that I ran to the outlet beneath the window.
Had Rafe thought to grab some timers so we didn’t have to turn the lights on and off manually every day?
Noelle bounced on her toes, her hands clasped beneath her chin. “How mad is Rafe going to be?”
“What do you mean?” I checked the box for more garland and waited for her explanation.
Sunlight glinted off the snow and reflected in her eyes.
The dark jeans and boots contrasted with the bright white sweater with a reindeer face on the front.
Her hair curled over the reindeer’s antlers, making the deer look like it wore a wig.
I didn’t comment on that.
She was too adorable in her Christmas sweaters.
“What will Rafe think when he sees that you’ve been decorating?”
18
NOELLE
Bishop’s calmness created a storm of emotion in my belly.
He unraveled the roll of lighted garland and glanced toward the clubhouse door.
“Wasn’t my idea. Rafe was on a ladder stringing lights when I drove up this morning.”
“Really?” I had no doubt Bishop told me the truth, but it seemed so impossible that I questioned him anyway.
He concentrated on wrapping the garland around a section of the porch railing instead of looking at me. “Really.”
I couldn’t help it. I leaped toward the door and burst into the clubhouse.
I had a few minutes to spare before I’d be late for my meeting with the captain.
I stopped in my tracks when the smell of pine invaded my senses.
Rafe stood in front of an enormous Christmas tree that stretched all the way to the ceiling.
He held a string of lights in his hand, and his face… good God, his expression held so much bewilderment, I choked up.
“Rafe?”
He whirled to face me and he resumed his typical non-expression of drawn down eyebrows and flat lips. “What?”
“Did you decorate because of me?” I should ask anything else, but again, I had no choice.
My brain and my mouth and my heart were all separate entities as all three tried to figure out what the hell was happening.
He tossed the strand of lights into an overflowing box of new decorations still in their packaging. “Figured the kids would like it.”
The hell with it.
