“It’s all thanks to you, Mom. If you hadn’t insisted I come home this never would have happened,” he adds.
“Not me,” she says. “Grandma Carol was the one who gave me the idea in the first place, actually.”
We all look towards the woman sitting next to Grams. She smiles at us and shrugs.
“You’ve been gone far too long, Nick. It was time you made a visit back to Evergreen. This is just a happy byproduct of your visit, I guess.”
She and Grams exchange a look that stirs up questions in my mind but I don’t have time to dwell on them long. Picking up her glass, Grams begins to gently clink it with her fork, causing the room to fall silent. All eyes turn to look at her when she pushes up from her chair to stand.
“Thank you all for joining us tonight for our annual Thanksgiving meal.” She pauses to allow people to clink their glasses in gratitude. “First, I’d like to give a huge thanks to our amazing chef, coming home from New York in time to cook us this delicious meal, Eve Barns.”
All eyes turn to where Eve is standing. She smiles widely and waves at everyone, bowing her head in thanks. Jack, without missing a beat, takes a few steps away from her so as to not steal any of her spotlight.
“And next, I would like to say thank you to my wonderful granddaughter for putting this meal on year after year. Thanksgiving at Holly House is a town tradition that I’mexcited to see her and her new husband, Nick Winters, carry on for years to come.”
My heart sinks as she lifts her glass knowing that only half of what she said is true.
“Please join me in celebrating the happy couple.”
People start clinking their glasses with their forks like they do at weddings, encouraging the newly married couple to kiss. Panic sets in knowing that everyone in the room is staring at us, waiting for us to do just that. We had a rule though, no kissing. I can’t break it now. But I can’t also not kiss him with the entire town and Grams watching us. That would cause suspicion that we can’t afford. My eyes dart to Eve who gives me a look from across the room. My heart races to the beat of the clinking glasses and I look at Nick who’s sitting beside me. I lean in and bring my hand to his face, feigning shyness in front of our audience.
“I’m going to kiss you but this doesn’t mean our rules are broken,” I say into his ear quickly.
He laughs and whispers back under his breath, “It totally does, sugar. What are you going to do?”
Looking at him, he smirks knowing good and well that not kissing him isn’t an option. The world seems to stand still for a moment before I make up my mind.
Fuck this.
Then I kiss him right there in front of everyone. One hand on his cheek and the other on top of his leg, my lips melt into his. Breathing feels impossible when he leans in harder, pushing me back. A few people in the room whoop and holler at the kiss until he finally pulls away. I feel the heat in my cheeks and I turn away from everyone watching us to wipe my now smeared lipgloss.
“To the happy couple,” Grams cheers. “The whole town is invited to the wedding ceremony happening this spring in the town square.”
The room erupts in claps and celebrations. Risking a glance at Eve, she’s already staring back at me shaking her head in disapproval. My heart can’t decide if it’s panicked by the fact that Grams is moving forward with planning a wedding that won’t matter since I’ll be divorced by then or floating on cloud nine after the kiss Nick and I just shared. It settles on floating on cloud nine when I feel him lean over and whisper in my ear, the feeling of his breath on my neck sending a chill down my spine.
“Thanks for breaking my rule, wife. Time to show you just how good of a husband I can actually be.”
I wrap my lips around my teeth and wonder what exactly that means. The only thing I know for certain is that it’s getting harder and harder to not let my feelings for Nick take over for good.
CHAPTER 17
Noelle
The week following Thanksgiving has been a whirlwind of people coming into the inn to congratulate me on my nuptials and trying to remind myself that all of Nick’s nice gestures are purely for show. Every day for the last week he’s come in to bring me coffee, ask me to come over for dinner, or stop in just to say hi or to check if I need anything. And every time he’s come in I’ve done what I could to fend him off or remind myself that all of this is fake. He’s only home for the holidays. There’s no sense in getting lost in the haze of his swoony gestures or caught up in all the wedding excitement the town is showering us in. This will all come to a crashing halt as soon as Grams signs the inn over to me anyway.
“I asked some of the guys to bring in the mats and rugs for the hallways. They’re calling for a major snowstorm this weekend,” Belle fills me in as I come in from straightening up the library. Every room is booked between now and the second week of January making it all hands on deck to keep this place running.
“Oh, thank you, I meant to ask them to do that. Iappreciate you.” I smile at her as I shuffle some magazines in order on the small table by the window.
“Something distracting you?” she asks with a half smirk. “Perhaps a dashing man with dark brown hair and eyes only for you?”
“Oh, stop it.” I look over my shoulder to make sure no one else is around. “You know it’s all pretend. He’s only doing it for show.”
She shakes her head and pushes her lips out at me. “I don’t know…seems pretty real to me.”
I roll my eyes. “Nick doesn’t have real feelings for me, Belle. He’s doing me a favor; that’s it.”
“It was a favor when he agreed to marry you. What he’s doing now is based purely on admiration and care. I know you aren’t ready to see it, but that man has it bad for you.”
