Page 11 of Once Upon a Winter
What brought that up? That was three years ago. Besides, Cooper is nothing like Alan. It’s time to let go.
She thought she had, but getting rejected by her boyfriend had been enough to sour her on seeking another relationship. However, she wondered whether that had contributed to her desire to transform her life.Maybe it’s time to get out there and start dating again.
Laura got up and went to her snow globe. In the short time she’d had it, it had become a symbol of her new life. She gazed at the miniature Christmas village inside and absently wandered back to her chair, snow globe in hand.
Until it wasn’t.
Laura tripped over the ottoman and watched the snow globe slip from her fingers and fly in an arc to the overstuffed chair, where it bounced off the back and landed on the seat cushion. Heart racing, she stood staring, catching her breath.
It’s okay. Nothing’s broken. It’s fine. Breathe.
With great care, she returned the snow globe to the safety of its home on the mantel. As she stood processing what had just happened, her phone rang, jolting her from her state of shock. It was Cooper.
Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of his voice—probably some residual adrenaline from her snow globe’s near miss.
“Your car’s ready.”
“Great!” She thought back on their garage conversation. Had he even told her the exact location? “You said it’s off Main Street, right?”
“I can give you a ride.”
She calculated how long it would take to walk there, although she still didn’t know precisely where it was. Before she could ask, he said, “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
Laura said, “If you’ll tell me where it is, I could probably walk.”
“See you then. Bye.”
But…Why did he do that? She couldn’t be annoyed. He was doing her a favor. She just wished she didn’t always feel like they existed in different cosmic dimensions.
She had her hand on a fleece jacket when she glanced outside and saw what looked like an ominous storm on the way. Dark clouds approached from the distance, while dead leaves swirled about. Leaving the fleece on its wall hook, she went to the closet and pulled out her parka. With a mixture of relief and apprehension, she went to the garage to make sure there was room for the car, then she returned to her door and propped a snow shovel beside it. Bad weather was on the way. If it brought snow, she would be prepared. She had just pulled out her phone to look at the weather forecast when Cooper pulled into the driveway.
As she climbed into his truck, she thanked him for the ride.
He smirked. “Have you looked at the weather report?”
“No, not yet.”
“There’s a storm out at sea that unexpectedly changed course and is headed our way.”
“Oh.”
“I couldn’t leave a city girl wandering through town in a snowstorm.”
City girl?She turned and drew in a deep breath, about to unleash her opinion of what he could do with his city girl comment and his country boy attitude, when he turned and flashed a broad smile that completely disarmed her. That smile combined with the specks of light in his brilliant blue eyes left her dumbstruck. She settled on a feeble frown, which, judging from the slight motion of his chest, drew a silent laugh. At least he had the good sense to suppress it.
After two full blocks of silence, Cooper brought up the topic of paint color for the bathroom he was repairing. “You’ll want new paint and new floor tiles, but they’ll have to blend in with the existing shower.”
“Okay.” At the moment, she couldn’t envision what all that would mean.
As if reading her mind, Cooper said, “Do some research online, or go old-school and look at some magazine pictures. When you find a few things you like, show them to me as soon as possible. That way, we can have all the materials by the time it’s dried out.”
“Which will be…?”
“A week. Maybe a day or two less. With any luck, we’ll have you fixed up by Christmas.”
“Really? That would be perfect!” She forgot every doubt, every moment of frustration she’d ever felt toward Farley Cooper. If he finished fixing her house before Christmas, she would have her perfect Christmas again.
He pulled into the garage parking lot. Laura opened her door to get out, assuming he would be on his way.
