On a Snowy Night: The Christmas Basket / The Snow Bride. Debbie Macomber
Noelle glanced toward the upstairs, and her stomach tensed. Thom was there. She didn’t need to see him to feel his presence. Why did he have to show up everywhere she did? Was this some kind of cosmic joke?
“Kristen!” her mother called. “Yoo hoo!” Anyone might think it’d been weeks since she’d last spoken to her daughter. “Hello, Jonathan.” She hugged her soon-to-be son-in-law.
“Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad.” Kristen paused in front of Carley, feigning shock. “This isn’t my little sister, is it? It can’t be.”
Carley rolled her eyes, but couldn’t hide her pleasure. “Of course it’s me. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Shall we go upstairs?” her mother suggested.
Noelle recognized the order disguised as a request. They were to mount the stairs on guard, as a family, in case they ran into the dreaded Mary Sutton.
Kristen cozied up to Noelle. “He’s here,” she whispered in her ear.
“I know.”
“Who told you?”
“No one.” She couldn’t explain how she’d recognized Thom’s presence. She just did. Like it or not.
The ballroom was crowded, and although this wasn’t the kind of social activity Noelle would have attended on her own, she couldn’t help getting caught up in the spirit of the evening. A six-piece orchestra was playing a waltz, the chandeliers glittered and she saw that it had indeed begun to snow; flakes drifted gently past the dark windows. On the polished dance floor, the women in their long shimmery gowns whirled around in the arms of their dashing partners. The scene reminded her of a Victorian Christmas card.
“Would you care to dance?” Jonathan asked.
Surprised, Noelle nodded. She’d only spoken once or twice to this man who was marrying her sister, and was anxious to know him better. “Thank you. That would be very nice.”
Just as Noelle and Jonathan stepped onto the dance floor, Kristen’s gaze met her fiancé’s. Noelle could have sworn some unspoken message passed between them. She didn’t have time to question her sister before Jonathan loosely wrapped her in his arms.
“I assume you heard what happened at the Value-X store,” she said, searching for a subject of conversation.
“Did you have as much trouble not laughing as I did?”
“More,” Noelle confessed with a grin.
“I’ve done business with the Suttons. They’re good people.”
“This feud between our mothers is ridiculous.” Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Kristen, who was dancing, too—her partner none other than Thom Sutton. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together, especially when she noticed that Kristen was steering Thom in her direction. Noelle marveled at her sister’s courage in asking Thom to dance with her. And of course she had. Thom would never have sought Kristen out, especially for a dance in the Women’s Century Club Ballroom with both mothers present.
The two couples made their way toward the center of the polished floor. When they were side by side, Jonathan stopped.
“I believe you’re dancing with the wrong partner,” he said.
Noelle didn’t need to look over her shoulder to guess Jonathan was speaking to Thom.
“I believe you’re with the wrong woman,” Noelle heard Kristen tell her partner.
Jonathan released Noelle, and Kristen stepped out of Thom’s embrace and sailed into her fiancé’s waiting arms, leaving Thom and Noelle standing alone in the middle of the crowded dance floor.
Slowly, dread dictating every move, Noelle turned and came face-to-face with Thom. He didn’t look any happier than she felt at this sudden turn of events. “I didn’t plan this,” she said in clear, even tones.
His expression implied that he didn’t consider her comment worthy of a response.
“Are you two going to dance or are you just going to stand there and stare at each other all night?” Jonathan asked.
Thom shrugged, implying that he could do this if he had to. Reluctantly Noelle stepped into his arms. She wasn’t sure what to expect. Actually, she hadn’t expected to feel anything, certainly not this immediate deluge of emotion. He kept her at arm’s length and gazed into the distance.
To Noelle’s horror, tears filled her eyes as all the old feelings came flooding back. She was about to turn and walk off the dance floor when his fingers dug into her upper arms.
“You’re not running away from me again.”
“Me?” she cried, furious at the accusation.
“Yes, you.”
His words made no sense, she thought grimly, but said nothing. The dance would be over soon and she could leave him behind. Or try to. Kristen would answer for this.
No, she decided, she had only herself to blame. Over lunch, Noelle had confided in her sister. Kristen, being idealistic and in love, had plotted to bring Noelle and Thom back together. She didn’t understand that reconciliation wasn’t always possible.
“I’d like to ask you a question,” she said when she could tolerate the silence no longer.
“Fine.”
“Why’d you do it? Did you want revenge for your mother so badly it was worth using me to get it?”
He stopped dancing and frowned at her. “What?”
“You heard me.” She couldn’t keep the pain out of her voice.
He continued to frown, as if he still didn’t understand the question.
“Don’t give me that injured look,” she said, clenching her jaw. “Too many years have passed for me to be taken in by that.”
“You were the one who stood me up.”
“Yeah, right,” she said with a mocking laugh. “After I made an idiot of myself in front of my parents, too. That must’ve given you a real kick.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Thom, I waited in that park for two miserable hours and you didn’t show.”
Not an inch separated them now as his icy glare cut into her. Dancing couples swirled around them, but Noelle was barely conscious of anyone else. For all she knew or cared, they were alone on the dance floor.
“I waited hours for you, too.”
His lying to her now was almost more than she could stand. “I beg to differ,” she said stiffly.
“Noelle, listen to me! I was there.”
“You most certainly were not.” Then, to prove that she wasn’t going to accept a lie, no matter how convenient, she added, “You think I just waited around? I was sure something had gone wrong, sure there was some misunderstanding, so I phoned your home.”
“I wasn’t there because I was waiting for you!”
He persisted with the lie and that irritated her even more.
“You were gone, all right,” she said, spitting out the words. “You were with your buddies bowling.”
His eyes narrowed and he began to speak.
But the music stopped just then, which was all the excuse Noelle needed to get away from him. He reached for her hand and pulled her back. “We need to talk.”
“No. It happened years ago. Some things are better left alone.”
“Not this time,” he insisted, unwilling to budge.
“What do you hope to accomplish by going through