One Silent Night (Romeo Family Romance #9) - Jennifer Youngblood Page 0,43
Your ex seems like a piece of work, running off with that actress.”
“Thanks,” she mumbled. Would Noelle ever get used to everyone knowing her business? She’d grown up that way, but after living in the city, it was hard to get used to being in a fishbowl again.
Jeanine touched Noelle’s arm. “You deserve to be happy with a man who cherishes you. Take advantage of every ray of sunshine this life offers.” She grunted. “Heaven knows we all have our fair share of rainy days, like it or not.”
A woman holding a baby on her hip with several smaller children in tow stepped up to the table. Noelle smiled. “How may I help you?”
Holden returned carrying a large box of cupcakes. The line picked up as they waited on customers. All the while, Jeanine’s words kept running through Noelle’s head. Jeanine offered a perspective that Noelle hadn’t considered. Had Holden’s troubles made him stronger? It had taken a lot of strength for him to straighten out his life. Noelle thought of her own life. Was she stronger because of all that she’d been through? She certainly didn’t feel stronger. What she was going through was hard, like constantly walking against the wind.
Holden’s arm brushed against hers, sending quivers of awareness tracing through her. “How ya holding up, Noe?” he asked with a smile.
“Fair to middling,” she quipped. “How about you?”
A grin tipped his lips. “Fine as frog hair.”
She came back with, “I’m hanging like a hair in a biscuit.”
“Or a booger on a tissue.”
She winced. “Gross! Okay, we’d better stop there.”
He chuckled as they kept on working. A short while later, two women were standing over to the side of the booth, deep in conversation. Hearing the words “fires” and “Knox Romeo,” Noelle cocked her ears.
“I heard the fires were started because of faulty wiring,” the dark-haired woman said.
The other woman’s tone turned juicy, “I heard that Dylan hired a fly-by-night outfit to do the wiring for dirt cheap … that he was pocketing some of the money and gambling with it.”
“How terrible,” the woman with dark hair cooed, but it was sickeningly obvious that she was lapping up every last word of the gossip like a cat going for cream. “It sounds like the Romeos have a few skeletons in their closet, if you know what I mean.”
“I hear ya. You wouldn’t catch me paying a million dollars for a house out in the Swallow’s Creek area, especially if the workmanship is shoddy.”
The hair on the back of Noelle’s neck bristled.
“How much are the brownies?” a teenage boy asked.
“Two seventy-five,” Noelle answered. “Excuse me for a minute,” she said to the boy as she walked over to the edge of the table, near where the women were standing. “Excuse me,” she called loudly.
They turned to her. Noelle caught a flash of recognition on the women’s faces. She could tell that they knew who she was, even though she didn’t know them. “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation about the fires.”
Their expressions radiated mortification at having been caught gossiping.
“What you’ve heard is an outright lie.” Blood pumped like a piston through the vein in Noelle’s neck. “The fires were started by an arsonist. It wasn’t caused by faulty electrical work. Knox Romeo is a fine, upstanding man. Anyone should be proud to have a house built by Knox or his brother Dylan.” She eyed the women, daring them to disagree.
Holden stepped up beside Noelle and touched her arm. “Is everything okay?”
“Yep.” Noelle lifted her chin. “Just clearing the air.”
Holden smiled. “Hey, Maggie … Betsy.”
“Coach Hunt,” the dark-haired woman acknowledged, her expression tight.
“If you’ll excuse us,” the other woman said before they hurried away.
“What was that about?” Holden asked.
“Coach Hunt, how much are the cookies?” the same teenage guy cut in, irritation seeping into his voice.
“A buck fifty or three for four dollars,” Holden answered.
“I’ll take three cookies—two chocolate chip and one oatmeal raisin. Oh, and I also want two brownies.”
“Step down here, and I’ll ring you up,” Jeanine piped in, giving Holden and Noelle disapproving looks for holding up the line.
“They were talking about the fires,” Noelle answered in a low tone as she turned her attention to the group of teenage girls standing at the front of the line. She forced a bright smile. “How may I help you?”
After Noelle and Holden gave the girls their baked goods, several more people filed through. Finally, there was a break in the