Page 27 of Once Upon a Winter
“Well, no, not routinely. But I just saved Blair’s life.”
Delia grumbled, “Not that she deserved it.”
Cooper shook his head slowly. “Think about what you’re saying.”
Laura winced. “Believe me, I have.”
With a pained look, he said, “You’re saying the snow globe is magic?”
Laura rubbed her forehead. “Yeah.”
Delia leveled a sober look at her sister. “And what about Santa Claus? Is he real too?”
Laura scowled. “Very funny.”
Delia raised her shoulders. “I’m just trying to sort out the Christmas magic.”
Laura tried to overlook the tone of voice her sister usually used with young children. “I know you don’t believe me. I also know that things have happened that I can’t explain.” She let out a loud gasp. “Cooper!”
He thought she had lost it. There was no other way to interpret the look on his face.
“Never mind.” She tried to appear calm, but she’d almost blurted out that the snow globe had brought Cooper to her. That assumed that he was, in fact, with her. They hadn’t acknowledged that yet. Whatever they were to each other, bringing the snow globe into the mix would only complicate things, so she deflected. “They could’ve been coincidences.”
Cooper’s questioning look troubled her because she didn’t have any answers. Delia unwittingly saved the day when she got up and went to the snow globe. “I wish Philip and I could go back to the way things were when we were happy.”
Although Laura suspected Delia was making fun of her, she was glad to have the focus on somebody else. Delia’s phone rang. She glanced up and whispered, “It’s Philip.”
Laura couldn’t look at Cooper, but she felt his eyes on her. Delia answered the phone as she headed upstairs for some privacy.
Cooper said, “Tell me more about this snow globe.”
There wasn’t much she was willing to tell him. “I bought it at Jessica’s shop in the village.” Laura shook her head and shrugged as if that were the end of the story.
Cooper said, “It’s the season. The month leading up to Christmas throws our lives out of balance. Our routines are disrupted by shopping and parties. Add to that moving and the rain damage to your home, and a few coincidences seem extraordinary because everything ordinary feels out of sync.”
“I suppose.” But as much as she wanted to, Laura couldn’t buy into Cooper’s explanation.
Delia came downstairs. “I’m going home. Philip has agreed to go to couples’ counseling, so we’re going to try to work things out.”
“Good.” Laura hoped it was good. She didn’t know whether it was the right move for Delia, but it wasn’t Laura’s call. Delia believed she and Philip could get past his unfaithfulness, so Laura would support her. She gave her sister a hug and told her she loved her.
Minutes later, Laura watched Delia drive away then went back inside and stood at the fireplace and stared at the snow globe. Was she imagining its enchantment?
Cooper finished loading his tools into his truck then came back inside to join her. “You’ve got your house back now. I’ll work up the costs and get that to you tomorrow. If it goes over the insurance appraisal, we can work something out.”
“Thanks, Cooper. You did so much. I don’t know how to thank you.”
Cooper’s eyes filled with warmth. “You do owe me a lunch, but I’d settle for dinner.”
“I’d like that.”
Twelve
Cooper tookLaura to a restaurant on a hill, where they sat at a candlelit table overlooking the sea. Fresh evergreens wrapped in Christmas lights and red velveteen bows garlanded along the chair rails and beams lent a festive aura to the room.
Over dinner, Cooper said, “I moved back home because city life wasn’t for me. I missed the tight-knit community, the familiar faces, the friends you can count on, and the pace.” He paused, looking thoughtful. “It’s not so much the pace as it is the fact that people savor the process of living.”
Laura smiled. “That’s why I moved here. I’m still close enough to family, so I think I’ve found the best of both worlds.”
