"You did all that overnight?" Ford asked.
Noah reached down to pick up the clear, high tensile line he'd attached to the base and secured throughout the tower. "I didn't realize how long it would take, but yeah, not too bad, if I say so myself."
He gave the line a tug and handed it to Ford.
"Perfect weight distribution. And this is heavy enough that she could bring it along the parade route, but you hollowed it out?"
Noah nodded, letting a small amount of smugness scratch that. "Solid, right?"
"Dude, you realize what you've done, right?"
"Yeah, I built a badass prop for a badass historical figure that more people should know about."
"Tell me who she is in a second, but there will be a slew of mothers, and maybe fathers, who take this costume parade way too seriously and who will have you in their sites next year as a target to take out."
"Wouldn't be my toughest enemy." Noah snickered at the PTA-type drama that he planned to avoid at all costs. "And Margaret Lord Hamilton wrote the code for NASA that launched the Apollo."
"Bella came up with that?"
"Yeah, she did. I suggested a princess or a fairy."
Ford shook his head. "Sheesh, I wish you good luck. She's a helluva lot smarter than you."
Pride swelled in Noah's chest. "She is."
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Teagan slowed her Subaru into the parking lot at Nuts and Bolts. By the time she shifted into Park, she could almost feel Will exploding with energy for the Halloween parade. This year, she had allowed him to choose his own costume, and it ended up being a smorgasbord of all things scary and ghoulish.
Their plan was to meet Noah and Bella at Nuts and Bolts then walk to the start of the parade. From there, Teagan didn't know if Noah would head back to his shop or stick with them, but either way, her insides warmed at the thought of the community outing with him.
She and Will unbuckled, and her son waited impatiently for her to get out. Soon as her hand rested on the door lever, he split.
"I'll be with Bella."
Teagan smiled as she caught sight of Bella stepping from the office entryway. Her costume was spot-on. The 1960s A-line dress was of period-piece quality, and Teagan wondered where Noah had come up with such a pint-sized look.
Bella's glasses were just like the picture Teagan had sent to Noah, but it was the straight-ironed brown hair that Bella wore with the dated outfit-including the tights and strapped Mary Janes-that completed her very serious look.
Will ran across the parking lot, still in normal clothes, and Teagan reached into the backseat for the large bag filled with random Halloween accessories that would become his costume. Then she grabbed her purse and backpack and followed the kids inside, taking in the fantastic job Noah had done with the backlit silhouette scenery and tire towers painted pumpkin orange.
When she walked inside, she half expected just as much effort put into the over-the-top decorations, but Noah had simply covered the waiting area and hallway with a gauzy spiderweb that reached every corner and worked its way down the hallway and over the front counter.
It was perfect.
Nuts and Bolts had its own personality already with a clock made out of wrenches and license-plate lampshades. Adding anything else would have been too much. Sometimes, Teagan wondered if Noah knew that he had such a killer instinct.
Noah was dressed as an astronaut in a gray suit, with an American flag and Apollo patch on his sleeve and a helmet over his head. As he walked down the hall, Teagan couldn't wipe away her smile.
He wasn't just an astronaut. He was Margaret Hamilton's astronaut because that was not a modern costume. The helmet looked older and likely matched the late 1960s and early 1970s launches she influenced. Same with the suit. Teagan clapped as he came closer.
"If you two do not win the Halloween costume contest, I call foul." She walked up to him, and Noah removed his helmet.
"Hey, beautiful." He wrapped an arm around her waist and gave as chaste of a kiss as they could manage with the kids nearby. "I love your costume too."
"What are you talking about?" She made a face, inspecting the clothes she'd had on all day. The black leggings and Halloween-inspired shirt were in no way a costume. At least, she hoped.
"I don't know, it looks like you're dressed up as a miracle worker or … " He put his hands on her shoulders and held her out, moving her side to side as though inspecting. "I'd say a model, but that doesn't seem like your type of costume. You're damn gorgeous, though. Maybe a-"
Teagan wrapped her arms around him, pulling Noah back for another kiss that was less chaste than they're not-so-chaste kiss before.
"Mom," Will called from the front of the shop. "I need help with my costume."
She drew back, letting her hands slide down the front of Noah's chest. "Halloween duty calls."
"Oh, I know what you're dressed as. That lady they make all those magnets and mugs for."
She turned around while walking away. "What lady?"
"The world's greatest mom." He winked then donned his astronaut helmet.
Teagan could've used a helmet of her own to mask what had to be the gooeyness that melted across her. If he wasn't melting her with a kiss, the man was stealing her heart. She had no idea that his complimenting her parenting would be as endearing as it was intoxicating. Nor did she know that the little things, details like his matching costume and antiquated astronaut helmet, would cause her heart to latch onto his.
It was one thing to swoon over a Navy SEAL who could play with a toddler or hold a baby. An image like that was sure to make anyone's heart pound.
But a tough guy like Noah, so far out of his league and doing whatever it took for a young girl who didn't fit into the category of normal? There were easier ways to do what he was doing, and truthfully, Bella wouldn't have noticed the difference. Teagan never would've known; the day would've gone fine.
But he really cared. And so did she-about him, for him, and for them. He made it so easy to fall in love.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Will walked through the empty garage bay, wearing what Noah could only describe as everything. A cape hung down his back, and a panel of lights and gadgets lit up his chest. He had the leg of a werewolf but the shield of a superhero and the baton of a space galaxy defender. His wizard hat rested crookedly on top of a ghoul's mask.
"Will, that is, by far, the most clever costume I've seen," Noah said.
Bella whirled around to inspect her friend then turned to Noah, pulling behind her the stack of books that easily bested her by several inches. "I thought you said I would be the smartest recreation."
He stepped forward and wondered if one day, Bella would do something as great as Margaret Hamilton had done. No doubt she would. "There's a difference between clever and smart, and categorically, the two of you are in vastly different costumes."
Bella's head tilted as though she were funneling the definitions of clever and smart through her brain, then Will bopped her on the head with his glowing baton.
"Categorically," she said, "we are different, but the same level of smart and clever."
Noah nodded, agreeing because sometimes that was best with a woman, or girl, with arguments he didn't completely understand and that had no long-term repercussions. At least, that was what he decided on the fly. "Sounds good, ladybug."
Will and Bella simultaneously cried out that she wasn't a ladybug, as if they'd never heard his nickname for her before. On that note, Noah took his astronaut helmet and put it on his head, having nothing redeeming to offer to the conversation, and Bella turned as the bathroom door opened and Teagan emerged.
Her skirt was long and flowing, as was the gauzy white shirt that clung to her figure. Necklaces gathered down the center of her shirt, and slender chain belts wrapped around her waist, dangling off her hips in a way that caught his eye, mesmerizing him with her every step. She clinked and jingled, as though soft bells played as she walked, and her wrists were decorated in bangle bracelets. Teagan had tied back her thick hair with a brightly woven scarf, and Noah had no word for her costume except entrancing.
"Do you like?" Teagan spun. Her skirt flared, and the jewelry jangled.
He loved it far more than he would admit in front of the kids. "Yup, but what are you? A pirate?" He had no idea.
She pulled out the skirt, and her jewelry clinked. "Hmm. You're in the right neighborhood."
"Spin again," Bella cooed, seemingly enamored with the flowing skirt and colors.
Teagan took a handful of her skirt, held it out, and swayed her hips side to side as they all laughed and enjoyed her costume. "Any guesses? I'm not a pirate, and it might have something to do with work. Or at least people chattering with me at work."