Mistletoe Reunion. Anna Schmidt

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СКАЧАТЬ surprised at you, Isabella,” Tom said now. “I thought it was important to you to abide by the rules of your faith.”

      “Our faith, Dad. You used to belong to the same church and Mom still does.”

      “You know what I’m saying. How could you lie to your mother?”

      “I didn’t,” she protested. “Not really.”

      “A lie of omission is still a lie,” Tom reminded her.

      Bella sighed and slumped back in her chair. “But where’s the harm? I mean, how cool is it going to be to surprise Mom with the fact that we’re all going to Normal together? Even I never imagined we’d actually be able to hook up here—though I have to admit I hoped we might.”

      “As I recall, your mom is not overly fond of surprises,” Tom reminded her as he set his carry-on and computer bag on the small table next to her chair and tried to figure out the next steps in the farce his only child had created.

      Isabella blinked. “Yeah, well…Too late now—she’ll be back any minute.” She eyed Tom warily. “Are you going to like disappear?”

      “No, I’m here. You’re here. Let’s see how it goes.”

      Isabella grinned and stood up to clear a chair for him. “Okay, so come over here and sit down,” she instructed. “Have you got something to read? No, better yet, open your computer—that’s good.” Isabella danced around him choreographing the surprise for Norah. “Here she comes,” she whispered and giggled as she buried her face in a fashion magazine.

      Norah was still several yards away, but he instantly picked her out of the masses and time reversed as he recalled the moment he’d realized he was in love with her. She had been a high school junior and he was a senior. She had lived just down the block from him her entire life. They had waited together at the same bus stop, attended the same church, seen each other countless times in all seasons because their parents were the best of friends. And yet, had he ever really looked at her until that winter’s day when he stood shivering next to his broken-down car waiting for his dad to come and rescue him?

      She’d been with a gang of her girlfriends, laughing and gabbing the way teenaged girls did, when one of them had spotted him. That girl had nudged Norah and nodded in his direction. Norah had peeled away from the others and headed his way.

      “Problem?” The way she said it he thought she was getting a kick out his misery.

      “Not if you’ve got a set of jumper cables in your backpack,” he fired back.

      Her eyes had widened in surprise. “You don’t have jumper cables?”

      Tom had seen no reason to respond to the obvious. Instead of moving on, she had leaned against the car with him. “Want me to call my dad?”

      “No.”

      “Well, no need to be rude,” she’d muttered, then, “Oh, you called your dad.”

      His father had pulled up then and produced the necessary cables to jump-start Tom’s car. “You okay from here?” he asked when the car fired and continued to idle. “I have to get back to work.”

      “Yeah. Thanks, Pop.”

      Norah had still been standing there after his dad drove away. “You need a ride or something?”

      “Are you going home?”

      Tom had sighed. “No, I thought as long as I got the thing running I’d take a drive to California. Yes, I’m going home. Get in.”

      She had and then just after he’d pulled into traffic, she started laughing. This girl was laughing at Tom Wallace—student council president, varsity quarterback, on his way to university. “What?” he’d barked.

      “Your ears are like Rudolph’s nose,” she’d managed. “I mean they are seriously red. They have these things now called hats, you know.”

      He’d glanced at himself in the rearview mirror. She had a point. He found himself grinning and then they were both laughing.

      “Here,” she said and pulled off her own knit stocking cap and pulled it over his hair and ears. Her warmth was still there in the yarn.

      He’d dropped her off at her house, handed her back her hat and asked if she had a date for the winter dance. And she had answered by asking a question of her own. “Are you asking me to go with you?”

      “Yeah.”

      “Then ask,” she’d said.

      That was Norah—straightforward, self-confident, and sometimes too sure that she was in the right. Like when she refused to even consider the move to San Francisco.

      “She’s coming,” Bella hissed. “Look busy.”

      Over the open cover of his computer, Tom watched Norah approach. Five years. Suddenly it seemed like forever. What would he say to her after so much time? It wasn’t as if they hadn’t spoken. The one thing they had both agreed upon was that Izzy’s welfare and happiness came before any conflict or battle scars they might have with each other. But what to say face-to-face?

      It had been so long since he had seen her and yet he would have recognized that graceful walk anywhere. The smile given so freely to total strangers. It suddenly struck him how much he had missed that smile. It had been hard to come by as their marriage had crumbled. Not that he had been giving her his best either. He’d been angry and hurt and looking hard for somewhere to lay the blame and guilt he felt creeping over him. He felt a little of it now, but maturity made him recognize it for what it was. Trying to make the fact they hadn’t seen each other for five long years her fault.

      And now here she was not ten feet away, stopping to retrieve a child’s toy and return it with a goofy face that made the kid laugh. He had less than a minute to figure out some snappy line. His hands were shaking slightly. She looked great. She was one of those fortunate women who would age beautifully. He saw a couple of male passengers in the waiting area glance her way and felt a prick of the jealousy mixed with pride he’d always felt whenever they went somewhere together.

      “Any updates?” she asked as she moved Isabella’s backpack to the floor and started to sit. He could smell the familiar perfume of her hair, her skin. He could see the little scar that ran just in front of her left ear. She glanced at him and was prepared to nod pleasantly when her eyes went wide and her body froze.

      Tom gave her an uncertain smile as he basked in the sheer pleasure of being near enough to touch her after all this time. Same dark hair—different style. Sort of a tousled cap of curls. Skin—unblemished except for the two spots of high color that currently dotted her cheeks. Eyes? Ah, those eyes. The blue-green color of a clear water lake—deep enough to swim in, get lost in.

      “Surprise,” he said quietly as he closed the cover of his computer.

      Chapter Two

      Norah could not have been more surprised if the president himself had been sitting next to her. Her lips twitched, but her voice seemed frozen as a number of catchy comebacks rocketed through her brain.

      Gee, obviously СКАЧАТЬ