Page 122 of Perfectly Matched: Harbor Falls Romance Collection

Just as Nora’s heartbeat kicked up a cadence…

Just as Rock’s lips descended and she anticipated the soft touch of his kiss… As she felt the blush of heat warm her cheeks and the rush of blood through her capillaries…

Just as everything in her world collided into a single moment of clarity, punctuated with a flash of emotion and an accelerated sense of awareness…

And just as Rock’s gaze peered into hers, pierced her soul, claimed her heart—

Nora’s world fell apart.

The cabin door flew open and banged against the inside wall. People rushed into the cabin. Shouting. Trampling all over everything.

Even her heart.

Especially her heart.

People! Suzie and her husband, Brad. Sam and Jack Ackerman. Then more people. Harbor Falls townsfolk from Rock’s church, she gathered, from the way they all rushed to him calling him Reverend. There were police officers from both Harbor Falls and Dalton Springs.

They all flooded the room, and in Nora’s brain, everything fast-tracked to high-speed, lickety-split and alternately slow-motion commotion. So much so that she had difficulty keeping up with everything. Talk and chatter. Questions and exclamations and more questions.

Her head spun.

She took in bits and snatches of conversation. Everyone, it seemed, was out looking for them with four-wheel drive trucks with plows, and anything else that could get through the snow. The storm had hit the mountain hard and more people than Nora and Rock had been stranded, she’d gathered.

Then she spied him coming in the door. “Dad?”

“Sweetheart! I was so worried.”

Her father’s arms folded around her in a bear hug so tight she could barely breath.

“Oh Daddy. I’m fine. Rock took good care of me. You shouldn’t be out in this weather!”

He clasped her close.

“How could I not come? You’re all I have.”

“Oh Daddy.”

She felt the sting of tears.

Pulling back, her father looked into her face, brushing hair out of her eyes. Nora took in the tears rimming his lower lids too.

He said.

“You have a bruise up here and some dried blood. We need to get that taken care of.”

Nodding, she replied.

“We will. Now that you’ve found us.”

He caught her up in another tight hug then and Nora thought he might not ever let her go. She could only imagine how worried he’d been. This had not been a good year.

She caught Rock’s gaze over her father’s shoulder and briefly held it. An EMT was talking with him and Rock, absentmindedly it seemed, nodded back. She couldn’t hear what either of them were saying but whatever it was, Rock’s gaze was still glued on her. The EMT looked to be checking him over—for injuries she guessed—but she noticed Rock kept gesturing toward her.

Then she heard him say a little louder.

“I am fine. Please check Nora. She took a quite a bump on the head and was unconscious for a while…”

He was putting her first. Had she ever dated a man who put her first? Well, yes probably, but his caring and empathy were endearing to her, and she had to admit that she liked that feeling.

“All right, Reverend.”

The EMT turned her way.

She took a stumbling step backward. Suddenly, she felt icky and weird. Her head pounded as she stood there, her knees feeling as though they could give way any second, her stomach queasy. Suzie swept closer and claimed her, saying words she couldn’t understand—saying them to both her and to Nora’s father. Although it sounded like a mini lecture about weather and safety, she wasn’t certain that it was. Perhaps those words were in Nora’s head, maybe in her subconscious. Still, the woman doted on her, coddling and wrapping a warm coat about her shoulders.

Suzie assured her father that they’d get her to the hospital as soon as possible. Her father didn’t move far from Nora’s side. The Dalton Springs EMT rushed closer.

“Let me check you out miss,”

he said.

“How are you feeling?”

“Dizzy.”

He eyed her then, studying her face, checking her pupils, and examining her temple. While her father hovered, Nora tolerated the EMT’s questions and prodding. Suzie watched her like a hawk.

“Miss Nora,”

the EMT said to her.

“you’re going to be just fine but let’s get you up to one of the vehicles and have you checked out at the hospital. Okay?”

Nora nodded, and realized that made her head hurt more. “Sure.”

“All right then.”

She saw the man motion to Suzie and then glance with concern toward her father. Suzie put an arm around Nora’s waist and shepherded her toward the cabin door.

“Let’s just get you the hell out of here and find her some medical care pronto.”

The EMT mumbled something too, and suddenly it seemed Suzie was also mumbling. Words. Gibberish. What were they saying?

Nora caught Rock’s last peek her way before he was swept up in a swarm of church people moving him in the opposite direction. Her world felt like it was moving in some sort of off-kilter, weird slow motion.

They were taking Rock away from her? No!

She snapped at Suzie. “Stop!”

Then seeing Suzie’s startled expression, she immediately apologized.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I….”

With her last bit of clarity and effort, she searched the room for Rock’s eyes. Couldn’t find them. And then, the sound of rushing blood to her head filled her ears and she started sliding into a dark tunnel.

“Nora!”

Suzie’s high-pitched scream ripped through the cabin.

Over the din, she heard Rock’s deep male voice echo, “Nora!”

She hit the floor, only half-aware of what was happening around her and powerless to do much about it.

Suzie fluttered over her, barking orders. Before she knew it, she was carried out of the cabin, and up the snowy lane toward the road—the same way she had arrived. She guessed.

Rock?

It was pitch dark but there were enough people with flashlights to light the way this time. And thank God, the snow and wind had stopped.

Nora tucked her head into the warm chest of whomever was holding her and closed her eyes. She sniffed for aftershave. Nothing. Her last thought was of Rock, and was he truly about to kiss her earlier, or was it only a figment of her imagination?

“Christmas magic,”

she mumbled.

“What sweetheart?”

“Are you my Christmas magic?”

The arms of the man carrying her squeezed her tighter and closer. She burrowed in too and found the spicy warmth she sought and the comfort of his arms.

“I hope so,”

came the soft words back. Her heart swelled.

****

Rock Peters had never in his life been so quickly and utterly smitten with a woman. Oh, he’d had a semi-serious relationship or two in his three-plus decades of living, but nothing to compare with the immediate and overwhelming spark of attraction and sense of rightness he felt for Nora. Why he had not met her yet, in this small town of Harbor Falls, he did not know—unless, perhaps, the Lord was saving their meeting for the precise time that they would both be ready and receptive to the idea of falling in love.

God does have a plan.

And he needed to remember that. Was Nora part of His plan for him, all along?

He trusted that was the case. For many years he had questioned why he’d not been coupled with the woman to share his life, his world. He knew it would have to be the right woman, one who could be with him, love him as he was. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, change who he was in life for any woman who didn’t understand his calling. And he would expect no woman to change for him.

Would Nora accept him? Understand his life’s work?

Time would tell, he supposed, and he simply had to keep moving. Keep putting one foot in front of the other and take the steps he needed to take in order to find out.

If, by chance, God had landed Nora in his lap at this moment… If he had placed her into his life precisely so… If it were that Christmas magic did exist a little… Who was he to question a plan that was greater than them both?

Conventional wisdom told him he could not fall in love so quickly, but his heart was ready, and he wanted nothing more than to absorb Nora and everything that went with her into his life. He could only hope she felt the same.

Perhaps that’s where the magic of Christmas would lend a hand. He certainly didn’t know how any of it would play out but what he did know, was that he would not let this opportunity pass him by.

As he sat beside Nora’s bed watching her sleep, her small right hand tucked between his two larger ones, his heart was full and, on some level, he knew the timing was right. That this woman was right. Whatever pasts either of them had didn’t matter—because at some point in the future, they would walk hand in hand, side by side.

He knew that with all his being.

She stirred, and his heart fluttered. Nora moaned softly in her sleep, and he reached to stroke her cheek and comfort her. He prayed that he’d have a thousand and more nights to watch her sleep. To love her and protect her and take care of her when she needed him most.

This night, was just the first.

This Christmas, was their beginning.

****

Hours later, after she’d been poked and prodded, examined and bandaged, medicated and hydrated, Nora slept. She blinked herself awake hours later and sat alone in her hospital room staring out the window at the cold, blustery, Christmas morning.

Merry Christmas to me.

The small digital clock on the wall told her the time was fifteen minutes after ten. The last thing she remembered was the doctor telling her she could sleep. He had also suggested a follow-up with her doctor as soon as possible after the holiday. That was about two o’clock this morning.

She remembered very little after that. Frowning to herself, she tried to figure out how she had gotten here. Well, she knew that, literally, but so much had happened the past day, it was difficult for her brain to take it all in.

Good news was, she didn’t have a concussion.

She did have a nasty bump on the head—complete with ugly bruising—which might eventually creep down to her eyebrow, the nurse had said. Her contusions were minor, and had been cleaned up, laced with antibacterial ointment, and deemed on the mend.

Her queasiness was from not having eaten much, even though she’d loaded up on sweets at Suzie’s. Hence, her blood sugar level may have been off, she was told. They drew blood to find out. Plus, she’d not had liquids for several hours, so she was a bit dehydrated.

Yes, everything accounted for and explained, except for the gnawing and escalating emptiness in her chest.

Her heart.

Nora sighed and frowned.

She missed Rock, and wondered just how could that be? She barely knew the man.

Maybe she missed the idea of getting to know him better. Maybe that was it.

All in all, she was happy for a little quiet time this morning to think. She would take advantage of these few minutes to think through all that had happened the past hours.

This encounter with Rock had shaken her—not physically, but emotionally. Her feelings for him were strong and she didn’t understand how that could happen so quickly. But was all of that simply given to the situation they were thrust into? There was a syndrome for that, right? When women fall in love with their protectors in a dangerous situation?

Of course, he had rescued her, and she was very grateful. In fact, she wondered how she could ever repay his kindness. But it was impossibly silly to think that she had fallen in love with the man in a few short, tension-filled hours. Right?

Sighing, she closed her eyes. Yes, it was all ridiculously impossible. She’d worked at falling in love for years and it hadn’t happened. Why would she think it could happen so easily and so quickly this time? And when she least expected it?

Maybe that’s where she’d gone wrong all those times before.

Maybe things happen when you least expect them to.

No matter what she was feeling, she was not in love with Reverend Rock Peters though, she reasoned. It was the situation. Right? It was just…

A slight knock rapped on the ajar door and her shoulders sank. There goes my thinking time.

“Yes?”

After a moment’s hesitation, she heard footsteps. Rock rounded the corner with a cup of coffee in his hand. Her heart jumped a little.

“You awake?”

His smile was broad, but a little hesitant.

“Oh, yes. Hi.”

Her lips twitched at one corner. Truth be known, she wanted to smile big too.

“How are you?”

Rock stood beside her bed, inching closer.

“I think the question is, how are you?”

“I’m fine. Had better days but I’m good now.”

He laughed.

“I hear all your tests came back fine.”

“Whew.”

She smiled and nodded.

“Last night was a blur. I’m not sure what all happened.”

He frowned.

“I hope you remember a little bit of what happened.”

She relaxed a little.

“I actually remember quite a bit. The end part was sort of the blur.”

Rock’s eyes twinkled.

“I think last night was one of those incidences where no matter how hard you try to steer the ship. It’s going to go in the opposite direction.”

She shifted to see him better.

“I couldn’t steer anything at all. And I lost sight of you.”

“I carried you to the road.”

“You?”

He grinned.

“Yes. You think I’m letting anyone else?”

Her face heated up.

“I— Well, thank you. For everything you did. I mean it.”

“You’re welcome. It was my pleasure.”

A long, silent pause fell between them. Finally, Nora spoke again.

“Did you make your service last night?”

“No. But we’ll make up for it next Christmas.”

“Seems like this wasn’t the Christmas for either of us, was it?”

Rock grinned and pointed to the side of her bed.

“Mind if I sit?”

“Of course not.”

She patted the blanket.

He sat the coffee cup on her bedside stand and moved to the bed. In the process of sitting next to her, he took both of Nora’s hands into his. A small and deliberate thrill raced through her.

“So, this wasn’t the Christmas you expected either?”

She searched his eyes.

“Not really. Not the one I wished, prayed for… Um. Well, maybe. You see, I—”

“I love when you talk in circles like that.”

Nora arched a brow. “What?”

He leaned closer.

“I adore you, Nora Patterson. Do you think we could spend more time together?”

“Time?”

“Yes. You and me. Like now. Talking and holding hands.”

Nora grinned and nodded.

“I’d like that.”

He smiled broadly. “Me too.”

Heaving out a pent-up breath, Nora added.

“I’m glad you came. Thank you. I know this probably sounds strange, but I missed you.”

Rock leaned closer and his voice lowered.

“I missed you too, Nora.”

Suddenly, Nora realized that Rock was wearing the same clothing he had on last night.

“Rock. Have you been home yet?”

“Not since yesterday afternoon.”

“You stayed here all night?”

He paused before responding.

“Nora, after the doctors and nurses were finished with you, I didn’t leave your side.”

“But Dad… And Suzie?”

“Suzie left for home after we learned you were okay. I insisted she go home to her family for Christmas morning and I assured her I would call her later this morning. A nurse found an empty room for your dad and I convinced him to sleep for a while. We just had breakfast together and I told him to finish his coffee while I came up to check on you. And yes, I stayed here all night, holding your hand while you slept. I told your dad I would take care of you.”

Nora felt the sting of tears. “Why?”

she whispered.

“Would you think it strange of me if I said that I always want to hold your hand?”

She had no response for him other than peering into the depths of his eyes. Finally, tearing up, she asked again. “Why?”

Glancing to their clasped hands then, Rock waited to respond. After a moment, he lifted his gaze to connect again with hers.

“I didn’t want you to be alone, Nora. Not on Christmas Eve. Or Christmas day. Not this time. And truth be told, I didn’t want to be alone either. I wanted to be with you.”

Nora beamed, and a couple of tears spilled over her eyelids. Little did he know her crazy friends and family would likely be converging on them any second. She also knew that wasn’t what he meant.

“I’m not alone, Rock. Nor are you. Not this Christmas. We’re together.”

Rock smiled, brought her hands to his lips, and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles.

“If I have anything to say about it, Miss Nora Patterson, you won’t be alone this Christmas, or any other Christmas to come.”

Nora smiled and her heart soared.

God does answer prayers.

****

Midnight, Christmas Eve, One Year Later….

This Christmas. The man standing at the front of the church was not Reverend Rock Peters. His name was Marshall Evans and he was the new minister at the First United Methodist Church of Harbor Falls, North Carolina. He had just closed the midnight candlelight service, moved out from behind the pulpit to face the congregation, and quietly asked his parishioners to stay seated for a few moments longer.

“Trust me,” he said.

The crowd twittered.

Then Reverend Peters appeared from a doorway to the right. He approached the new minister and stood to the minister’s left, facing his former parishioners.

The organist began playing The Wedding March.

The people giddily sighed, stood, and turned. Even though the ceremony had been kept a secret, everyone instinctively knew what was happening.

Nora Renee Patterson strolled down the aisle on her father’s arm and made her way toward her fiance. All eyes in the church were on her, and hers were on her future husband.

Her rock. Her love. Her life.

“We are gathered together this Holy night,”

Reverend Evans began….

Her father wept as he handed over his daughter to Rock and said.

“Her mother and I give her to you, to love and to keep and to cherish.”

Nora cried as she held her father, looked deep into his eyes, and turned back to face the man of her dreams. She cried again as Rock placed a band of gold on the third finger of her left hand. He shed tears as she placed one on his hand, as well.

“I do.”

“I do.”

“You may kiss your wife, Reverend Peters.”

He did. Thoroughly. And the parishioners cheered.

“To the congregation of the First United Methodist Church of Harbor Falls, I present Reverend and Mrs. Rockford Peters.”

Nora smiled and said.

“Just call me Nora Patterson-Peters,” she said.

Rock laughed and hugged her. Those sitting on the first row likely heard him say.

“I love you.”

“I love you too,”

she whispered back, and kissed him again.

Reverend Evans cleared his throat.

“There is a small reception in the basement for those who would like to attend. We welcome you to see Nora and Rock off, as they fly out early in the morning. Rock is taking a year sabbatical from the church, and Nora is entrusting the management of her bookstore to Becca Ackerman, so that they can explore a few new opportunities. We wish them all the luck and happiness in the world.”

The crowd clapped their approval.

“Please join us,”

Rock said.

“as we share this night with you.”

“After all,”

Nora added.

“there is cake and coffee by Suzie Hart and you definitely don’t want to miss that. Merry Christmas everyone!”

The congregation rose.

Then Rock led his wife down the aisle, and into their new life. Hand in hand. Side by side.