“Are you all right?”
Noel hadn’t heard Chris come up alongside her and jumped at his question.
“Yeah, I’m good. Just letting them catch up.”
“You don’t have to hang on the outskirts. Get right in the thick of it! You’re family.” Chris pulled her in for a hug and a hefty pat on the back. “One of my girls.”
Noel kissed his whiskered cheek, even as her stomach twisted in emotion. If her parents hadn’t made a will years ago, she would have ended up in the system instead of moving in with the Winterses. They helped and held her through the bad spells in her adolescence and she would always be grateful to them. Times like this were still bittersweet though.
“I know that. Sometimes I just like to hang back and watch. I’m creepy like that.”
Chris chuckled. “Okay, kiddo.” He squeezed her face between his big warm hands. “I just don’t want you feeling left out.”
Noel didn’t tell Chris it was unavoidable. Being around the warmth of the Winters family was a blessing and a curse. Especially this time of year, when the loss of her parents weighed heaviest on her.
Instead she covered his hand on her cheeks and pushed, making a squishy face at him and talked through her fish formed lips. “Is this the face of a lonely person?”
Chris opened his mouth to respond, but Victoria tapped her spoon on the counter, interrupting them. “Breakfast is ready. Everybody, grab a plate.”
Chris released her face and gave her a gentle push toward the kitchen. “You better hurry and get yourself a plate.”
“I think your son is going to beat me to it,” Noel said with a smirk.
Nick was the first to jump up off the couch, his tall muscular frame graceful as he slid into the kitchen.
Chris huffed. “Wasn’t hungry, eh?”
Noel burst out laughing and Nick glanced up from his heaping plate, watching them suspiciously. “What are you two going on about?”
“Nothing, son.” Chris winked at her before heading to the kitchen sink to wash his hands, bumping his son gently with his shoulder as he passed.
Nick came around next to her, pausing with his brown eyes narrowed. His sandy hair was buzzed short, but Noel knew when it grew out it would have strands of gold and mahogany. In his red plaid flannel shirt and blue jeans, he looked good. Grown. Hot.
She stole a bacon strip from his plate and bit into it, ignoring his huff. “Whatchu looking at?”
“A bacon thief and co-conspirator. What were you and my dad discussing?”
“Nunya.”
Nick rolled his eyes. “So mature.” When she went for his plate again, he smacked her hand away. “Get your own, mooch!”
Noel laughed, watching Nick head into the living room, admiring the wide shoulders of his back. Yeah, all right she could admit it. Her best friend was a bona fide hottie, which unnerved her a bit. She still remembered the five-foot-seven string bean who’d left for boot camp. Two months later, she’d hardly recognized him. A late bloomer, Victoria had called him. He’d grown several inches and put on fifty pounds of muscle. He was even taller now and it didn’t mean anything that she’d noticed. Just that she had two eyes and a brain.
Besides, even if she’d been genuinely attracted to Nick, she’d never make a move. No use destroying twenty-plus years of friendship when she already knew marriage and kids weren’t in the cards for her. Two things Noel knew her best friend definitely wanted.
Probably why he’d held onto this pseudo relationship with Amber for so long. His parents were married young and still very much in love. She couldn’t blame him for wanting the same thing.
While her parents also shared a deep and abiding love, the thought of marrying anyone left Noel sweaty with panic. It’s why she kept things casual and easy. Like what she had with Trip Douglas. Hot, heavy, and no complications. All of her relationships were this way and she enjoyed the simplicity. If you didn’t get attached, you couldn’t get hurt.
Noel checked the clock on her phone. She’d wanted to stay and eat with them, but she had a mandatory staff meeting at the hospital in an hour. Afterwards, she’d be free. Most weeks she worked 6:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, but after Thanksgiving she’d be on nights. At least she had the next two days off. Noel was supposed to hang with Nick and the guys tonight and she couldn’t wait to get the gang back together.
Unless Nick wants to hang with his girl instead. Or invite her to tag along.
Noel wrinkled her nose at the thought. Since the end of high school, Noel and Amber kept their distance unless unavoidable. The fact that she had to share her two favorite people, Nick and her closest girlfriend, Gabby Montoya, with the bane of her teenaged years, burned her potatoes.