“It’s not—it wasn’t—just—” He sank onto a stool. “It was more than that. And I don’t want to screw this up.”
Aileen said nothing but went over to the coffee machine and poured them both a mug. She slid his toward him. “You won’t.”
“How do you know?”
“Because,” she said, leaning her hip against the counter, “you like him. Youreallylike him. And because you’re already worrying about messing it up.”
He rubbed his hands over his face. “What if he thinks that’s all last night was? What if I’m reading?—?”
“Eli.” She nudged his shoulder. “He invited you over during a snowstorm. That’s not casual, not in Mapleford.”
He laughed weakly, then sobered.
“You were in the shop this morning. You heard them. Everyone’s talking,” he said quietly. “People were asking me where Noah was, as if they expected him to be joined to me at the hip. What if all this attention makes him panic?”
Aileen shook her head. “Noah Carter doesn’t panic when people look at him. He only panics when he cares.” She peered at him. “And you know that, don’t you?”
He couldn’t deny it.
Aileen sipped her coffee. “Do you want more with him?”
Eli’s voice cracked on the answer. “Yes.”
“Then tell him,” she said simply. “He deserves to know he’s not the only one falling.”
He almost choked on his sip of coffee. “I—wait—he?—?”
“Oh, please.” Aileen rolled her eyes. “You should see how he watches you. It’s embarrassing.”
Eli buried his face in his hands, his cheeks burning.
“Yeah,” she said softly, rubbing his back. “You’re a goner.”
“Aileen!” Sam called out from the shop, a note of desperation in his voice.
“And we’llbothbe goners if we don’t feed the horde of locusts out there.” She set down her mug and picked up a tray of rolls. As she headed for the door, she gave him a warm smile. “Save your mental cogitation for when we get a moment to breathe. Then you can go help him with whatever he has planned for today.” She kissed his cheek. “It’ll work out, Eli. Just let things take their course.”
But which way are we headed?
Chapter Fourteen
The sun was already slippingbehind the pines when Eli reached Main Street, the sky shifting toward soft lavender. Volunteers bustled around with boxes of lanterns, climbing small ladders, threading twine through hooks above storefronts. A lazy drift of snowflakes floated down, and Eli prayed it wouldn’t develop into another storm.
He tugged his scarf tighter and scanned the volunteers. Aileen had told him she was helping out at the supply table. Sure enough, he spotted her talking to Elsie. Both women turned their heads at the same time, identical smiles spreading across their faces.
“Ohhh,” Elsie said softly.
“He’s here,” Aileen whispered back, elbowing her.
Eli sighed. “I can hear you, you know.”
“We meant you to.” Elsie passed over a handful of lantern ribbons. “Noah’s down by the bookstore, pretending he’s not checking it’s you every time someone walks by.”
Eli’s breathing became a little ragged. “He isnot,” he muttered.
“Oh yes, he is. He’s been useless for the last thirty minutes.”
Aileen snickered. “Which kinda describes Eli most of this morning.”
