“What are we building?” Eli asked.
“Festival photo props. This one’s a ‘Winter Market’ stall. There’ll be fake snow, twinkle lights, the whole nine yards. People stand behind it for pictures.”
“You built all this?”
“I cut the pieces earlier,” Noah said. “I need to sand, assemble, and paint before the weekend. And since the tree tried to kill you, I figured I owed you a lower-elevation task.”
“How generous of you. And what about this one?” He pointed to a tall, arched frame.
Noah rubbed his neck. “That’s the mistletoe archway. For the couples’ corner.”
Eli stared at it for a beat too long.
“This town’s very into photo ops,” Noah said quickly. “The committee saw something like it online and now they want their own.”
“Right,” Eli said. “For… couples.”
“Or friends,” Noah added. “Or dogs. Last year a golden retriever got more action than anyone.”
“That tracks.”
Noah grinned. “Want to help me sand?”
He chuckled. “I can’t believe you just asked that in a flirty tone. But yeah, show me where to start.”
They fell into a rhythm.
Noah showed him how to work the sanding blocks, how to smooth the rough edges without rounding off the design. The steady back-and-forth motion, the soft rasp of sandpaper, the dust catching in the air… It was oddly meditative. Outside, snow tapped at the windows.
They worked on opposite sides of a panel.
Noah cleared his throat. “You can tell me now. How bad was the tree, on a scale of one to ten?”
“Emotionally or physically?”
“Both.”
“Emotionally? Eight,” Eli said. “Physically, we’re talking a seven. My thighs hurt more than my soul.”
“Good to know. I’ll put that in my event notes. ‘Ladder-induced existential crisis: moderate.’”
“Add ‘volunteer whined a lot,’” Eli said. “For accuracy.”
“You whined less than most.”
Eli glanced up. “Is that a compliment?”
“Absolutely.” Noah grinned. “Whining is part of the process. But you whined and kept going. That’s the good kind.”
“Wow,” Eli murmured. “Way to make stubbornness sound noble.”
“I have many skills.”
Eli didn’t sayI knowout loud.
They finished one panel and moved on to the next. Noah flipped it onto its side with an easy strength that did not help Eli’s ability to form coherent thoughts.
“Where’d you learn all this? Carpentry, I mean.”
