Free Christmas on 4th Street (Fool's Gold Romance) by Susan Mallery Page B

“Hey,” he said, staring into her green eyes. “I love you. Carter loves you. We have a home and a dog and family. It’s one dinner. Get over it.”
    Noelle knew about Felicia and Gideon’s relationship, but she’d never had much of an opportunity to observe it firsthand. Now, as Felicia visibly relaxed in her lover’s arms, Noelle felt a twinge of envy. While she was happy for her friend, she wanted that kind of love for herself. The safety and sense of belonging. Life was short and it was important to hang on to whatever happiness was available.
    Her gaze wandered to Gabriel and she sighed. While he was nice eye candy and a surprisingly efficient stock person, he wasn’t anyone she could have a long-term relationship with. He was leaving and she was staying. She had no sense of him wanting to connect in any way. He wasn’t close to his family and according to Ana Raquel and his mother, had nearly reached the age where an explanation on the question “Why aren’t you married?” was going to get awkward.
    All reasons to remind herself that he was not good boyfriend material. Not that he’d been, you know, asking.
    He turned and caught her studying him. One eyebrow rose in inquiry. The movement was oddly masculine and very sexy. It made her wonder if she was worrying about the wrong thing. So she wasn’t going to marry Gabriel. Big whoop. Maybe she could simply mention they could do the wild thing while he was in town.
    Before Noelle could decide if she was being incredibly contemporary in her thinking or simply delusional, Felicia stepped out of Gideon’s embrace.
    “You’re right,” she said firmly. “The dinner will be fine. I understand the safest temperature for our dinner, so no one will get food poisoning. Everything after that is simply a bonus.” She glanced at the clock. “We need to get to town or we’ll miss the parade.”
    “I thought you were in charge of the festivals,” Karen said as they all moved toward the front of the house.
    “I am, but this isn’t technically a festival, so I don’t have to worry about it. However, I will be dealing with the Christmas tree lighting on Saturday.”
    Gabriel moved next to Noelle and held out her jacket. “Not a ‘holiday tree’ lighting?” he asked.
    “No. Here in Fool’s Gold we’ve decided to throw political correctness to the wind and call it a Christmas tree. I know because there was a very vigorous discussion about that exact topic at the last business association meeting. We took a vote.”
    He nodded slowly. “You voted for calling it a Christmas tree.”
    “I did.”
    The large group was sorted into two cars. Gideon stayed behind to watch the turkey. Noelle saw Felicia whisper something into his ear before they left. She suspected it had nothing to do with cooking.
    The trip down the mountain didn’t take long. Felicia directed Norm to a parking lot a few blocks away from the parade route, and they walked the rest of the way. Noelle found herself next to Gabriel, which was nice. She told herself it was because he was tall and broad, so he could block the wind, but in truth, she liked speculating about him. And if that caused a tingle or two, all the better for her.
    They stopped by several street carts and bought hot chocolate and popcorn. The sidewalks were crowded with families. Because it was Thanksgiving, there were fewer tourists than usual for a parade, but plenty of residents. It was as if most of the town had turned out to watch.
    “Over there,” Felicia said, leading them to a viewing area by the Fox and Hound. The corner spot allowed them to see down two streets.
    “Nice,” Norm told her. “You are good at logistics.”
    Carter settled on the sidewalk. Karen sat next to him. Norm and Felicia were behind them. Noelle noticed that Gabriel did his best to keep his distance from his father.
    She wondered about their relationship. Gabriel hadn’t said that much, but there was obviously tension. Despite the fact that