He had to laugh, despite the topic. "Worked in an idiom there, huh?"
"Yeah." She nodded quickly. "That was one, right?"
"I think so. But we'd probably have to ask your English teacher if it's an idiom or a, I don't know, cliché, or a phrase-"
"I don't have an English teacher," she said.
"You don't?" His forehead bunched. "Right. Because you're in kindergarten."
"I have reading workshop," Bella added.
As if they were discussing semantics in kindergarten. Or maybe they were. He had no clue. "Look, back to your mom. I'm always here, and I'm always going to get you."
"Because you love her."
"Yup."
"She was like my twin, like your grandma and my dad. Lainey and I did everything together."
"Like me and Will."
"Maybe so." He gave her a squeeze. "Anything else we should touch on before we go inside?"
Bella leaned back, deep in thought. "Yes."
"What's that?"
"You should know that there's a spot under the staircase. That's the best hiding place. And Will's room is cooler than mine. His pillows have arms that sit up by themselves. He can beat me eating more peanut butter crackers. But I can outdrink him in a water contest."
For all the words and idioms, she was just a little kid. "I'll teach you a couple tricks. You can take him in peanut butter crackers in a month. Easy."
"You sound like my mom." She wrapped her tiny arms around him. "Love you."
Then Bella popped up and rushed through the front door as he pushed off the stairs.
He rubbed his sternum, his mind heavy with the past as much as the present, as he followed Bella's path up the front porch stairs.
But it wasn't just discussing Lainey that had his chest knotted. Anxiety had unfurled the moment he turned his dually over and backed the truck out of the garage. About what, though? Teagan?
"We're-" He stepped into the warm hallway as Will whooshed past Noah, grabbing Bella in his wake. "Here."
When Noah looked over from the tailspin that was two quick kids, he was face-to-face with one beautiful and very in-the-know Teagan. And if her face wasn't trying to hide that she'd heard the gossipy details of a fire that had to have been blown out of proportion, Noah might've gaped a little longer at the sexy slide of her oversize sweater, draping off one shoulder. Hell, his mind would've wandered more than it was. For as modestly as she was dressed, her curves weren't well hidden, and his palms itched to learn how soft her sweater was. How quickly it would slide up off her torso and over her head.
Standing alone in the hall with a single mother who'd just saved his butt, he took a deep breath. He only half admitted to himself that she looked hotter in fuzzy socks and skinny jeans than the women he saw the last time he went on leave, chasing high heels and a short skirt.
Teagan had both hands wrapped around a mug, and she took a sip from it before she nodded him inside. "Careful, or they might plow you over."
"I can take it."
She led the way toward the kitchen, past a staircase where he eyed the best hiding spot ever and heard her laugh. "No comment."
He chuckled as well, breathing in the mouthwatering smell of melting cheese and baking dough. "I can only imagine what you heard."
She put the mug on the counter. "I can only imagine the entire back side of the house is gone."
He coughed out a laugh. Even that was a bit much for town gossip. "Man, that story grew legs. The town chatterboxes don't play around."
"Hildie at her best."
He snorted softly. "I know Hildie."
Teagan stepped to the side, waving him in. "A handsome guy like you? Of course you know who she is, because she knows who you are."
Handsome. He smiled. Again. As though he was the kid who left Eagle's Ridge fresh out of high school and hadn't had years of seasoning to cool his reaction to the pretty girl smiling at him.
Teagan's house was almost as Bella had described it. Based on how much fun she'd said she had there, Noah half expected to see slides coming through the walls and tic-tac-toe boards painted on the floors. It was decidedly Northwest and fresh. Natural wood and windows and the green from the outdoors met his gaze in every direction. "Nice place. I had visions of a carousel."
She checked the oven's timer. "Why's that?"
"This is her favorite place ever."
Teagan grinned. "Will would say the same about your place. Please don't burn the rest down."
"You've got jokes." He took a seat on a barstool at the counter that divided the kitchen and dining area. "It feels off to call Lainey's place mine."
She picked up her mug, but instead of sipping from it, Teagan held it toward him.
"Are you offering me your drink?"
"Nope." She laughed.
His eyes dropped to the mug. Giant tacos with a range of emotional faces decorated the face of it, and in the middle was scrawled WANNA TACO BOUT IT? He raised his chin. "Really?"
"If this mug doesn't get you talking, I can find a new one." She cocked an eyebrow and turned to a cupboard. "Speaking of which, do you want tea? It's decaf."
"I'm good, thanks."
Teagan placed an empty mug in front of him. "Then you can just keep it by you for now."
He picked up a mug showing a Lego man lying on a Lego bed, talking to a Lego shrink with a thought bubble. I keep having this dream that my feet are stuck. I can't move. Nothing around me changes. "If this is a psychological test or trick to get me to open up about my feelings, I rebuke you."
She laughed. "Just calling it like I see it. Stubborn."
"I just had an intense moment on your front porch. I'm emo'ed out for the moment."
Teagan paused. "Bella's okay?"
"I remind her of Lainey, apparently." Noah cracked a smile. "That and she schooled me in grammar, SAT words, and idioms between the time we left my front door and walked through yours. I had to do something to assert my … relevance?" He winked.
"If she's talking to you, you're relevant."
Maybe that was what he should have gathered from their heart-to-heart about people she didn't know and their consolations.
The timer buzzed, and Teagan grabbed mitts and opened the oven. A burst of heat and savory-scented goodness rolled through the kitchen.
"That smells great."
She slid the bottom rack out and removed two small pizzas.
"Can I help?"
She gave him a funny look then turned back to the top rack. "I've got it."
"What?"
"I've got it." Teagan slid the pizzas onto the counter, and ding, ding, he remembered that Eagle's Ridge gossip said he might never live down his kitchen incident.
"I didn't burn down that house." He scoffed. "Not a single wall is singed. Maybe let Hildie know."
Teagan tossed her oven mitts on the counter. "It's your house now."
"What'd I say?"
"That house."
Noah shrugged. It was Lainey's house.
Teagan walked to the counter bar and leaned on the end. "You'll find a way to change it from that house to your home."
Would he?
"If you don't believe me … " She mimicked his shrug in a playful manner that made her bare shoulder dip out of the oversized knit sweater. "Get through today and then talk to me again."
Teagan turned back to the pizza and pulled out a slicer from a drawer, leaving him to his thoughts. His aunt and mom had decided along with Lainey that it would be best for Bella to stay in the house she grew up in, and he wholeheartedly agreed with their decision. But now it felt funny to live there.
"House, home." He pushed off the barstool and went over to help. "I see what you did there."
"I figured out you weren't a fool." Teagan pointed at a cabinet. "Plates are in there."
"On some things." Noah grabbed four and followed her gaze to another cabinet and found glasses. "Roger that."
A minute later with his hands full, he found peace in setting the table. Some things never changed, whether he laid out forks and knives at home in Eagle's Ridge or doled out plates and glasses with teammates in a foreign land during downtime on a classified mission.
When he was finished, Teagan had a salad in a bowl on the table and pizzas as the centerpiece, ready to serve.
"Not bad, partner." She lifted her hand to give him a high five.
"It's been a rough afternoon, but I'm not fragile," he cracked. "No coddling needed."
She raised an eyebrow. "You don't have to assume I'm coddling." She didn't drop her raised hand, instead wiggling it for attention. "But if you protest too much, I'll assume you're in desperate need of pampering."
He chuckled. "Point made." He slapped her much smaller hand, and as their fingers brushed, his palm tickled with an urge to clasp her hand.