Let it Snow!

❄️Forty-Two❄️

Martin brought Daniel to the reading group the following afternoon just as he had promised, bestowing a quick kiss on Nora's lips despite Clelia watching them inconspicuously from across the shop.

"We can go for a walk after, unless you have other plans?" Martin proposed, and she agreed.

She ended up having an early dinner with Martin and Daniel in one of the town's plentiful cafés, before they walked her back to the square later to help Clelia in the market.

Nora didn't see Daniel the day after, but Martin turned up at her door in the afternoon, in time to walk with her to Clelia's for the reading group, moments after her potted Christmas tree was delivered. He helped Nora to find the most appropriate, sheltered place for it on the porch, agreeing with her that it was best to leave it outdoors, unless it got too cold, until the moment she decided to decorate it.

"What have you done with Daniel?" she asked as they walked down the white meadow in the pleasantly snow-free afternoon.

"Lino and Magdalena took him sledging. I had to supervise the delivery of Christmas trees, and he always gets overexcited, and in everybody's way, when they arrive."

Nora smiled at him. "I suppose Daniel and I are in for super busy afternoons until Christmas, decorating all those trees will take time."

He smiled back, bringing their joined hands to his lips even as they walked by the stables, then spoke again as they passed by the castle's drawbridge.

"Are you happy to lead your first tour on Tuesday morning? There's usually one starting every full hour. We might need to schedule them closer together once the school holidays start, there's always more tourists then. You could do a couple of tours each morning before you pick up Daniel and then start doing full days once Adele is back?"

He looked at her questioningly, and she nodded her agreement; it sounded perfect to her.

Martin left her in front of Clelia's shop feeling weak in the knees after a long and very public kiss-- Nora was certain that she glimpsed several people who must have recognised Martin as they passed by on their way to the square, turning their heads towards them curiously, their attempt at being inconspicuous futile.

Whatever, she didn't care about anyone beyond Martin and Daniel, Nora decided, burying her face into Martin's chest, breathing in his scent trapped in the folds of his charcoal coat until she felt steady, and strong enough to leave him. The moments they spent apart had started to feel always longer and more forced at some point.

She felt overjoyed when he appeared in front of Clelia's stall in the market at midnight, her knight in shining armour coming to escort her home through the raging elements-- the howling of the strong northern wind was making the world beyond the square imbued in the christmassy mood and warmth feel dismal and eerie.

"Whenever you decide to stay with us instead of walking up the meadow on a night like this, you are welcome, Nora," he said after they walked through the park and reached the castle.

When she only shook her head in reply-- it just... still felt awfully early to her-- and he simply pulled her closer and wrapped an arm over her shoulders as they directed their steps towards the stables, she knew that he hadn't expected her to accept the proposal.

She would feel much... happier, and less awkward if he could spend the dismal night with her in her cottage. But the thought of him having left sleeping Daniel home alone, had her pushing him from her instead of pulling him inside when he pressed her against the door, their lips engaged in a kiss that made her melt into him, the heat of his large hands on her hips searing into her through the layers of clothing she wished she could discard to feel his touch on her bare skin...