When all that was done, she settled on the floor and played with the older kittens. They were alert and curious. As they hadn’t been around people before, they’d started out a little wary of her, but a rousing game of string had them crawling all over her and settling into her lap for a quick snooze.

Sometime after seven, Gabriel returned. He was chilled and breathing hard.

“The truck is clear,” he told her as he pulled off his cap and shrugged out of his coat. “The plow will be here in the next couple of hours. They’re already working on Mother Bear Road.”

She watched him as he spoke, hoping to see a smile or some sign that whatever was bothering him had worked itself out. But he barely looked at her as he shrugged out of his layers.

“There’s coffee,” she told him, pointing to the pot. “I’ve cleaned up and stripped the bed.” She was planning on taking the sheets with her so she could wash them.

He glanced around at the empty casserole dishes, the neatly tied trash and the folded sheets. “I would have helped,” he told her.

“You were busy.”

For a second he looked at her. She waited, barely breathing, hoping for something. A smile, a hint that what they’d had so briefly still existed. But then he turned away and the moment was lost.

* * *

Nine cats were not easily corralled. The smallest kittens protested at being put in the box, but couldn’t do much about it. The older kittens wanted to explore and scramble out. The mother cats had no interest in taking a drive. After several false starts, Noelle and Gabriel stood in the center of the cabin no closer to getting the animals loaded than they had been at the start. The difference was he was pissed and she couldn’t stop giggling.

“This isn’t funny,” he told her as he reached for one of the larger kittens again.

The animal went easily into the box, then just as quickly jumped out. Both mother cats were under the bed, yowling their protests at this kind of behavior.

Noelle laughed, then picked up the box. “Stop. Just stop. This isn’t working.” The truck was already loaded with everything else. They just needed to get the cats in order.

“I’ll sit in the backseat,” she said. “I’ll put the box of little kittens next to me. You can pass me the other kittens one by one through the window. Bring the mother cats last. I’ll keep them out of your way while we drive back to town.”

One of the mother cats poked her head out from under the bed, saw the box and promptly retreated. Gabriel rubbed his temple.

“That might work,” he admitted.

She put on her coat and took the box. He grabbed a couple of mobile kittens and started after her. When she was in the backseat, she reached for the kittens and held them on her lap.

Five minutes later all nine cats were in the rear cab of the truck, and Gabriel had gotten behind the wheel. The plow had been through, clearing the road. Noelle put on her seat belt and did her best to reassure the two families.

“This won’t take long,” she told them. “We’ll be home soon.”

Unfortunately, home was a strange place with no feline supplies, but there was no reason for them to know that. He started the engine, and they slowly drove down the freshly plowed road.

The trip back to town took less time than she would have thought. Once they got to the main road, he was able to drive quickly. In Fool’s Gold, the houses were covered with snow, as were the lawns. But the sidewalks were shoveled and the streets clear.

Gabriel pulled into her driveway and helped her inside with the cats. It took a few trips and then the family was safe. The mother cats and older kittens started exploring right away. She walked Gabriel to the front door.

“I’ll go to the pet store,” he told her. “Get what you need for the next few days. Food, litter, some dishes.”

“That would be nice,” she said. “Thank you. I’m going to take a shower, then call around and find someone who can check on them while I’m at work.”

They were strangers exchanging information, she thought sadly. It was as if the past two days had never happened at all.

“Just tell me why,” she said impulsively. “What happened? Why are you different?”

His dark gaze settled on her face. A muscle twitched by his mouth. She waited, hoping he would say something—anything—because that would give them a chance. If they could talk about it, they could fix it. Or at least deal with it.

“Everything is fine,” he told her. “We’re back. We have things to do.”

“All right,” she said quietly, knowing there was no point. Gabriel had to be willing to meet her halfway. Obviously, he wasn’t.

She took her shower and dressed for work. Gabriel returned with the promised supplies, and she set up two litter boxes in the laundry room, then put out dishes of water and dry food. After making sure all the windows were securely closed, she left for work.

The store was exactly as she remembered. Bright and warm, with all things Christmas. Just walking inside lightened her spirits. She didn’t know if she was going to see Gabriel again and tried to tell herself it didn’t matter. When she realized she was lying, she told herself that whether or not she saw him, she would recover. That this was only ever going to be temporary and she had survived much worse.

A little before ten Melissa arrived, her younger sister, Abby, in tow.

“I can’t believe you got snowed in,” Melissa said, hugging her. “That’s so scary. But you’re okay?”

“We were fine. We had electricity most of the time. Hey, Abby.”

The fifteen-year-old smiled at her. “I heard about the kittens. I can go by and check on them, if you’d like.”

“Thanks, but shouldn’t you be in school?”

Abby grinned. “It’s a teacher day. Those are my favorite.”

“They were my favorites, too,” Noelle admitted.

She gave the teen a spare key and they set up a schedule with Abby agreeing to stop by Noelle’s place right after school. They were discussing payment when the phone rang. Melissa answered it.

“That was Gabriel,” she said a couple of minutes later. “He’s not going to be coming in.” She drew in a breath and looked at Noelle. “So, we were wondering if Abby could work here. She’s really responsible.”

“I’d still look after the cats,” Abby promised, her fingers clenched and her eyes bright with anticipation. “Mom said I could work a few hours after school, but only through Christmas break. Once the new semester starts I have to focus on my studies.”

“Having you around would be great,” Noelle told her, ignoring the sense of being hit in the gut. He hadn’t even told her goodbye himself. Weak-assed jerk. Only calling him names didn’t make her feel any better.

“I’ll show you where to put your stuff,” Melissa said, leading her sister toward the back room.

Noelle walked to the front door and turned the sign to Open, then she unlocked the door and greeted her first customer.

* * *

Gabriel went back to his vacation rental and tried to sleep. When that didn’t work, he drove his brother’s truck up to his place and got his car, then went back to town. He passed by the store several times, but didn’t go in. He didn’t have to, he reminded himself. He’d called to say he wouldn’t.

Only that didn’t seem to matter. All he could think about was Noelle. He missed her and wanted to be with her. Only he couldn’t because he couldn’t give her what she wanted.

He waited until close to six, then parked where he could see her lock up and head home. She greeted several people as she walked the familiar streets, pausing to look at the window display in front of the sporting goods store.

Gabriel swore and pounded his fist against the steering wheel. The window, he thought. The whole point of their trip up the mountain had been to get the perfect tree for the windows. Because she wanted to win that stupid contest. Only somehow that had been forgotten.

The judging was in the morning. There wasn’t time to— Or was there? He reached for his cell phone and dialed.

* * *

“Dad, be careful,” Gabriel said, watching the older Boylan stretch up on a tall ladder.

“If I fall, you can patch me up,” his father said cheerfully.

Great, Gabriel thought, now his dad had a sense of humor. “Bones aren’t my thing.”

It was late, or early, depending on one’s frame of reference. His entire family was crowded into The Christmas Attic, working to make Noelle’s display as perfect as possible for the morning judging.

“Just have to get this power strip in place,” his father said. “Gideon, hand me that power drill.”

Gideon did as requested, then returned his attention to the laptop he and Carter had brought. Karen and Felicia were sharing another computer—or rather Felicia was working the keys while Karen pushed buttons on a remote-controlled robot, dressed to look like a Christmas elf.

When he’d put out the call to his family, he hadn’t known what to expect. But everyone had come through. They’d met at Gideon’s house a little after six to work out a plan, then had collected everything they would need for the window display and had descended on the store around nine. The idea was to combine an old-fashioned Christmas with high-tech innovation.

The tree was the centerpiece. There were presents, some wrapped, some unwrapped. But instead of a team of elves helping Santa, there were three small robots in jaunty Christmas attire. The background was a light show, synchronized to holiday music.

“Dad, where did you find these old songs?” Carter asked.

“They’re classics.”

“They’re not even from this century.”

Gideon typed on the keyboard, then glanced at the lights his father was mounting in rows. “Nothing good is from this century.”

“Hey, I was born in this century.”

Gideon paused to squeeze his son’s shoulder. “Okay, you’re right. You’re the one good thing.”

Karen held up a box. “Wrapped or unwrapped?”

Gabriel glanced at the make-your-own-plushy-elephant kit. “Weird, so we’ll leave it unwrapped.”

He glanced at his watch and swore. It was after four. Carter yawned.

“I’ve never been up this late,” the teen said with a sidelong glance at Felicia. “There’s no way I’m going to make it through classes today.”

She pressed her lips together. “Yes, I know. I should have made a bed for you in the storeroom so you could sleep.”

Norm climbed down the ladder. “You worry too much, woman. An adventure like this is good for the boy. I used to take my sons out in the middle of the night to look at a meteor going by.”

“Once we went into a deer blind and watched the does walk by with their newborn fawns,” Gideon said.

Gabriel remembered the stillness of the predawn hours and how the babies had been so delicate as they walked by. For once his dad hadn’t been yelling at him or complaining he wasn’t macho enough.

“That was a good night,” he admitted.

Carter and Felicia crawled into the window and began arranging the presents Karen handed to them. Gabriel and Gideon handed in the three robots, while Norm went outside with a walkie-talkie. He stood on the sidewalk, giving them direction on how to arrange the robots.

Gabriel and Gideon anchored the lights to the back of the window and tested the connection. When they all came on and stayed steady, Gideon plugged in his laptop and hit the enter key. Music played and the lights began to flash.

It took nearly an hour to get everything in place. Just as Gabriel was securing the window closed, someone knocked on the front door of the store.

Felicia hurried to let in the other woman.

“Patience!” she exclaimed.

Patience, a pretty woman with brown hair, held out two take-out trays with to-go containers.

“I heard you’d been at it all night,” she said. “So I opened up a little early to bring you your morning coffee. I have regular and decaf.”

“I’ll take the decaf,” Norm said. “Honey, you want the same?”

Karen nodded. “I’m going to try to sleep this morning.”

Patience passed out the containers. She handed one to Carter. “Hot chocolate with extra whip.”

“Thanks.” Carter flashed her a smile.

The rest of them took the regular coffees. Patience held out a bag of donuts. “Fresh from the bakery,” she said. “The window looks great.”

Karen took the bag and opened it. After drawing in a deep breath, she sighed. “I love this town.”

Her husband looked at her for a second, then turned to Patience. “Thank you for bringing this. I remember when I got up this early every day.”

“I’m used to it now,” she said with a laugh. “The first few weeks were tough. Now I need to get back to my store. I have a surprising number of regulars who are in line by five.” She started to leave, then turned back. “Oh, Police Chief Barns said to remind you to lock up before you leave.”

“Of course she did,” Gabriel murmured, thinking that was so like Fool’s Gold. Everyone looked out for everyone else.

Carter and Gideon went outside to watch the window display as it cycled through the five songs they’d programmed. Karen and Norm headed back for the house. Gabriel joined Felicia in the cleanup.

“Thank you for asking for our help,” his future sister-in-law said. “I like giving to my friends, and this was a unique opportunity.”

“I should be thanking you.”

Felicia smiled as she collected the leftover gift wrap. “You know, your parents are thinking of moving here permanently.”