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Since that afternoon in the rain, really.
“So you’re a carpenteranda dance instructor?” Nora teased lightly, closing her planner and setting it aside. He was surprised that she was putting up her work to talk to him. “That’s a very diverse skill set.”
“Ah, well, steady feet on the dance floor helps with ladder safety.” He saw Nora’s eyebrows go up and chuckled. “Not to suggest you need help with either, obviously.”
Aiden thought he saw her cheeks flush again, just a little. He realized too late that the statement sounded a little flirtatious, and he would have sworn he hadn’t meant it that way. But he also liked seeing that pink tint in her face.
“You’re really good at dance. I was surprised to see you teaching it, honestly. I wouldn’t have guessed. Did you learn that at trade school too?” Her tone was still teasing, and his heart tripped a little in his chest.
She’d been asking about him—or she’d at least mentioned him enough for someone to go volunteering information, if she knew about carpentry school.
“I like itbecauseit’s so different from carpentry, honestly.” He reached for his coffee, taking a hasty sip. “It’s something I picked up for fun. It’s just a bonus that I can make a little extra, getting paid to teach it. I like having a hobby that has nothing to do with my job.”
Nora smiled, and he thought privately that the expression that crossed her face then could almost be described as dreamy. “I don’t know what that would be like,” she admitted. “I’ve beensofocused on building my career, ever since college. It’s all I think about, really. What steps to take, how to best use my time, the most advantageous ways to keep progressing. Even most of my leisure activities have something to do with it back at home.” Nora laughed a little, but Aiden thought he heard a hint of chagrin in it. “I learned ballroom dance, in Boston, so I could be a better event planner. It all comes back to that, eventually.”
That’s no way to live.
It was the first thought that popped into his head, but he didn’t say it out loud. He couldn’t.
“That makes sense,” he said instead, and it did. For Nora, of course it did. He knew her well enough to know that, even if they hadn’t talked much in school. “You were always so ambitious, back then. Always set on doing big things. And it appears you have—which is impressive. Not everyone pulls off their goals so flawlessly.”
It was meant as a compliment. He truly had meant it sincerely. But to his surprise, Nora’s face fell a little as he spoke.
“I thought so, too, about a month ago,” she said quietly. She reached for her mug, taking a long sip, her expression going from vaguely sad to contemplative. “I’m really not so sure now though. Honestly, it feels like every part of my life is on uneven ground right now.”
Nora set her mug back down, glancing over at him. “I was engaged. Right up until the day before I decided to come back here.”
He knew he didn’t have any right to feel a stab of… some emotion that he couldn’t name. It wasn’t quite jealousy, but it was definitely close. He hadn’t spoken to Nora since high school. Since before they’d even beenoutof high school. He didn’t have any actual reason to hear that someone had put a ring on her finger, and feel his chest go a little tight.
Or a feeling of relief, once it sank in that she was talking about it in the past tense.
“My ex? He broke it off like that.” Nora snapped her fingers. “Easy. Like he’d been thinking about it for a long time. I thought he was surprising me, coming to grab a goodbye kiss before he left for a work trip, and instead he was dumping me while we stood on a curb after I’d just finished up a wedding. Ironic, really.”
She bit her lip. “Melanie convinced me to come back here for the holidays. A change of scenery. But it’s not all syrup and jolliness here either. Things have always been strained between me and Caroline—my older sister—but it feels like it’s even more tense now. She doesn’t even want to be in the same room with me, it feels like. I was hoping that helping to plan the festival would get my mind off of everything, but it really hasn’t.”
She paused as he watched her, visibly wincing as she seemed to realize how much she’d just said.
“I didn’t mean to unload on you like that,” she murmured. “Sorry.”
Her voice was chagrined, and she licked her lips nervously, tapping her fingers on the side of her mug. A tell, he thought, for when she was anxious.
“It’s just a rough patch,” Aiden said gently. “That doesn’t mean you haven’t been successful. Those are always going to happen, from time to time.”
Nora gave him a small, watery smile. “That’s true.” She bit her lip, turning her coffee mug around in her hands. “It’s been hard. But I’ll find my way back to steadier footing, I’m sure.” She laughed softly, looking up to meet his gaze. “After all, a wise person once told me that you only get one life. It should be lived on your own terms.”
The words hit him directly in the chest, making him feel briefly as if he’d forgotten how to breathe. It was a shock to hear those words come from her lips.
“You—you remember our conversation?” He could hear himself stammering out the question, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to care. He remembered it clearly, and even if he did make a fool out of himself, he wanted to know.
“Of course.” Nora’s smile brightened a little more at the shared memory. “I thought you were really nice that day,” she admitted almost conspiratorially, leaning forward over her coffee mug. “I thought maybe we’d hang out more after that, honestly. Or that maybe you’d ask me out. But I wasn’t sure if you really liked me or not, or if we’d just happened to get stuck together that day, and you tolerated me for a little while.”
Aiden nearly burst out with a shocked laugh at that, stopping it just in time.
She didn’t think I liked her? When I had such a massive crush on her?
The idea seemed preposterous. Impossible. But he looked at her face, calmly remembering the moment, and he tried to think of it objectively.
He neverhadtried too hard to actually talk to her, he supposed. He’d just assumed she wouldn’t want to talk to him, honestly. She was so popular, so bright, someone who everyone wanted to orbit around. He’d had her on a pedestal, and he realized in retrospect that she’d stayed there, all of these years. It had gotten in the way of seeing her as a person.
