Page 31 of The Christmas Reunion

And the longer they worked together, the more apparent it became just how much she had changed. She still definitely wanted to win. It was easy for him to read that in the determined set of her jaw and the way she was hyper-focused on every single detail. But she wasn’t so focused on it that she would do whatever it took to win, and he found that he quite liked this new version of Mindy.

“All right, everyone,” Julie called out an hour later, her voice ringing out over the hum of the competitors all murmuring excitedly as they worked on their houses. “We’re halfway there!”

Noah glanced at the clock, finding it hard to believe that a full hour had already passed. But sure enough, the digital timer was showing fifty-nine minutes and thirty seconds, and dwindling.

His heart began to race, realizing that they still had so much to get done. With a jolt, it dawned on him that if they didn’t win, Mindy was going to be disappointed. That thought, more than anything, spurred Noah into action. He finished piping some icing onto the chimney in record time, then followed Mindy’s carefully articulated instructions on where to place the sugar-coated gumdrops along the edges of the roof.

Although he would never have expected his knowledge of real estate to be helpful in a situation like this, Noah had always prided himself in having an eye for architecture and design, so he was pleased to be able to offer a few suggestions for decorating ideas as well, which Mindy gladly accepted.

They created a full scene, going above and beyond to decorate not just the house but the cardboard base it was set on, using candy and icing to make a little yard. Mindy used the frosting to build garden beds of lollipops instead of flowers, making them look like they were dusted with snow. Meanwhile, Noah added detailing to the windows that made them look beautiful and ornate.

As the host began counting down the final minute, they worked quickly to add their final touches.

“Three!” Julie called, and Noah realized that he had one final idea.

“Two!”

He swiped the piping bag with a flourish, allowing it to loop along the window so that it perfectly resembled a shutter that had been thrown open.

“One!”

Mindy added a tiny drop of frosting to the front door in the shape of a door knocker.

“All right, time is up! Put your tools down!”

Noah dropped the frosting bag onto the table, a triumphant grin spreading across his face as he turned to glance at Mindy. She was wearing an elated grin of her own. It had come right down to the wire, but they had finished. And as Noah looked at the work of absolute art that they had created together, he realized that although he hoped they would win because he wanted to see Mindy’s smile grow even wider, he honestly didn’t care about who came in first place. He had enjoyed the process of creating the house so much that it felt like its own reward.

As instructed, they wrote their names on the card in front of their house and then pushed their chairs back from the table, giving the volunteer judges space to move around the room and look at everyone’s creations. He and Mindy walked over to a stand in the far corner where another volunteer was doling out hot chocolate and Christmas sugar cookies.

“Okay, so I scoped out some of the competition,” Mindy whispered to him as they grabbed their drinks and walked away from the crowd.

“And?” Noah prompted, taking a bite of his sugar cookie.

“And there are some talented people in town, but they aren’t as good as us.”

She looked up at him and winked, and Noah noticed that she had a small smear of whipped cream dotted along her upper lip, a remnant of her hot chocolate. He laughed, and without thinking, he reached up a hand to brush it away.

Her skin was just as smooth and warm as he remembered, and for a split second he was transported into the past. All of the times he’d done this exact motion came flooding back to him, and for a moment, it seemed the same images darted through Mindy’s mind as well. Her eyes turned soft, and Noah could have sworn that she began to lean into his touch.

“All right, everyone, the judges have conferred, and we’ve picked our winner!” Julie’s voice came over the speakers once more, snapping both Noah and Mindy out of their shared past and into the present.

He jolted, jerking his hand back and shaking his head in an effort to clear it. Mindy was blinking rapidly, as if she too, was banishing the memories to the back of her mind as they both turned toward the center of the room to face the host.

“Everyone put in so much effort,” Julie continued. “And all of your houses were award worthy, as far as I’m concerned. But in a unanimous decision, there was one that stood out amongst the rest. Would Mindy Harvey and Noah Henderson please step forward?”

Applause broke out among the competitors, and Noah could’ve sworn he heard a whistle from the other side of the room as the people in front of them began to part so they could walk toward the mayor. The applause continued all the way until they stood beside Julie Chen and the panel of judges.

“Noah,” Julie said, looking directly at him. “I’ve heard you’re a visitor in Snowy Pine Ridge. What do you have to say about winning the gingerbread house decorating competition?”

The woman extended the microphone toward him, and his cheeks grew hot.

“I think it’s great,” he admitted, glancing at Mindy with a small smile. “But the truth is, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything without my partner. Looks like it pays to have such a world class baker as a teammate.”

There were a few chuckles around the room before Julie asked Mindy how she felt about the win.

“Noah can talk all he wants about my skill,” Mindy said, her brown eyes meeting his. “But he did more than half the work. So I couldn’t have done it without him either.”

“Well, congratulations, you two. And now, for second place…”

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