Page 34 of The Christmas Reunion

Mindy nodded, sadness entering her eyes. “She passed right before I moved to Snowy Pine Ridge.”

Her voice had become thick with emotion, and Noah’s heart lurched at the obvious pain losing her grandmother had caused.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” he responded honestly. “She was an amazing woman. I always liked her every time I met her. We don’t need to talk about it anymore if it’s too painful.”

“No.” Mindy shook her head. “It isn’t too painful. It’s just…” She gave a small shake of her head as if to clear it before continuing. “I still think about baking with her, you know? About spending time in the kitchen with her. She always encouraged me to have fun and to keep trying new things. I miss her.”

Noah nodded. “That’s what Aunt Theresa was for me too. She was an inspiration, and someone I always admired, even if we grew apart as I got older.”

“It’s a shame I never knew she was your aunt while she was alive.”

Noah blinked in surprise. “You met her?”

“Of course I did,” Mindy said, giving him a quizzical look. “It’s a small town. Granted, I only met her a couple of times. But she was always so sweet the few times she came into the bakery.”

He sat still, letting that information wash over him. For some reason, he had never stopped to consider the fact that Mindy might have met Theresa. In his head, they had always been two entirely separate entities—the two women that had helped forge him into the man that he was today. And to find out that they had their own connection, one that didn’t really have anything to do with him, felt strange. But strange in a way that he kind of… liked.

It had him feeling so off-kilter that Noah didn’t really stop to consider what he was about to say next.

“Do you ever think that if we both hadn’t been so consumed with our careers and our own ambition, we would have been able to make things between us work? That we would’ve stayed together?”

The words fell from his lips quickly, before he realized the impact they might have on the woman in front of him. To her credit, Mindy’s eyes just turned pensive as she considered her answer. A few moments passed before she spoke, and when she did, her voice was quiet.

“I don’t know,” she said simply. “Maybe. But we both had a lot of growing to do. So maybe not.”

He nodded. It was the answer he’d expected, and a part of him was certain she was right. She was definitely a different person than she had been back then, and he liked to think that he had grown and matured too, although he still felt far too imperfect when he considered himself through Mindy’s eyes.

“I don’t know why I’m going to say this,” he admitted, bringing up his hand to rub at his chin awkwardly. “But I haven’t really dated much since you. Not seriously, anyway.”

Mindy’s eyes widened, and Noah’s heart began to race. Had that been the wrong thing to say?

CHAPTERFOURTEEN

Mindy stared at Noah as she processed his words, trying to make sense of what he’d just told her.

Somehow, this handsome, incredibly put together man was sitting across from her, admitting that he hadn’t dated seriously since their breakup over five years ago. She didn’t pay attention to the small thrill that the words gave her, pushing that deep down inside her as she finally found the courage to speak.

“Same here,” she admitted with a shrug, hoping that her words came out sounding somewhat casual. “Don’t get me wrong. I’ve had a boyfriend or two, if you can even call them that. But none of them ever lasted very long.”

A look that Mindy couldn’t really read flashed across Noah’s face before he rearranged his features into something more neutral.

“I’m sorry that you haven’t found anyone yet,” he murmured. “You deserve the absolute best. You deserve a man who will treat you like a queen.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, blushing so deeply that she was sure she could walk outside into the blizzard and melt every single snowflake. Glancing away, she shifted the conversation. “So, tell me about your life now. You’ve seen mine during the tour of the town. Now I want to know more about you and what you’ve been up to.”

She nudged him with the toe of her boot, eliciting a chuckle from him, a deep sound that rumbled in his chest.

“It’s pretty boring,” Noah admitted, raking a hand through his dark hair. “I work all the time. I usually steal maybe an hour to myself each day to go to the gym or for a run. But some days, I can’t even do that.”

“That sounds like a lot,” Mindy murmured, and Noah gave her a quizzical look.

“You mean you don’t have your hands full with the bakery?” He snorted and gave her a slight eye roll.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.

“To hear your friends, or really anyone who has met you, tell it, you’realwaysworking.”

“Correction.” Mindy held her finger up in the air. “Iusedto always work. But I got some help at the bakery, and I take days off when I need them. I’ve learned to delegate.”

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