Page 39 of Once Upon a Winter
“I know.”
Enzo shook his head in disbelief. “I feel like we should get your shoes bronzed or something.”
Cooper frowned in confusion.
“You know, baby’s first love.” He smiled proudly.
Cooper stared and said blandly, “Ouch. My sides.”
Enzo studied Cooper. “I don’t know. It’s been a long time, but I seem to recall being happy when I fell in love.”
“Happy? You were like a puppy with a Frisbee, just bounding around with a permanent smile.”
Enzo nodded. “I was pretty happy. Still am. I’m just too tired to show it.”
Cooper laughed.
“So, what are you going to do?”
Still feeling troubled, Cooper said, “Actually, we just did it.”
Enzo raised his eyebrows knowingly.
Cooper grimaced in disgust. “Not that!” He rolled his eyes. “We just returned the snow globe to the store.”
Enzo lifted his palms. “Great. Problem solved.”
Cooper let out a weary sigh. “I don’t know. That’s what we’re hoping, but we’ll see.”
Enzo leaned back. “To be honest, I don’t see the problem. So she’s obsessed with the snow globe. I used to be like that with cars.” He sighed wistfully. “I miss those days.” He stared off into the distance with a dreamy expression until his watch alarm interrupted his reverie.
Enzo glanced at the time. “Gotta go.” He stood as if ready to leave then turned back. “Oh, don’t forget Friday!”
With a blank stare, Cooper asked, “What’s Friday?”
Enzo opened his mouth in apparent disbelief then chuckled. “Oh, you’re hilarious.”
Cooper grinned. “See you Friday.” He waved his friend off and leaned back in his chair to ponder his Laura situation.
Laura shutthe front door and leaned against it with a tired sigh. The snow globe was back in Jessica’s hands, yet she didn’t feel the sense of relief she’d hoped for. All day, an unsettled feeling had lingered. She kept replaying their conversation with Jessica, unable to shake her cryptic warning.
As for Cooper, the snow globe no longer loomed between them. They were free to face the future unburdened. But the future was an unanswered question. What if Cooper’s feelings weren’t genuine? The thought gripped her heart with fear. If she lost him, her heart would break.
With a determined exhale, Laura tried to clear her mind. It was time to dig down and move forward.
Her phone rang. For once, she was grateful for the distraction. “Hi, Mom!”
“Hi, honey! I’m in town for the day to do some Christmas shopping. Care to join me?”
Laura hesitated, glancing at her growing to-do list on the counter. “Uh, sure.”
“Great! I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes.” Her mother’s voice held a hint of excitement that seemed a little excessive but sweet.
Once the two of them arrived in town and were wandering through the festive shops along Main Street, Laura’s mother steered the conversation toward Cooper. “Delia mentioned that things are getting serious between you two,” she began, holding up a sparkling ornament for inspection.
“Seriousmight be overstating it at this point, but we’ll see.”
“That’s nice.” Her mother hesitated. “We like Cooper, but when Delia told us it was serious, we were concerned.”
