AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It does have that.” Nora took another sip of her tea. “It’s an every year thing, so they really just have it on autopilot at this point, I think. Although it does sound like there are some new ideas being pitched this year. I’ve mostly stayed out of it.”
“Stayed out of it?” Linda snorted. “Really, you should be the one putting it together, with all your experience. I bet they’venever seen arealevent planner before. I’m joking, obviously,” she added in a hurry, as if worried that Nora might take offense.
Nora didn’t though. If anything, the comment struck her, taking her aback for a moment. She knew Linda hadn’t meant it as a challenge, but she couldn’t help having the same thought that had sprung into her head at the meeting—she could spruce up the festival, if she wanted to. It definitelyneededsprucing up, just like the event center that Melanie had said that handsome carpenter had made improvements to, but everyone seemed perfectly happy to keep doing things the same old way. If anything, they were making itmorehomey and rustic. What it really needed was a facelift, and Nora knew she could do exactly that.Ifshe wanted to, of course.
She might not have any interest in staying in Evergreen Hollow in the long term, but she was a professional event planner. She could makeanyevent successful, if she wanted to.
“That’s an interesting idea.” She found that it perked her up a bit, oddly enough, saying it out loud.
Linda laughed, more loudly this time. “Iknewyou wouldn’t be able to sit still for long out there. You’re too much of a go-getter for that place.”
“It does feel like there are forty-eight hours in the day here, instead of the usual twenty-four.” Nora bit her lip, picking off another piece of the banana muffin. “I should probably go. My tea is getting cold out here.”
“You’re sittingoutside?” The shiver in her voice was palpable. “They really have gotten to you already.”
“Just getting a little of that color in my cheeks is all. I’ll catch you up later,” Nora promised.
Just as she was hanging up the phone and tucking it back into the pocket of her cardigan, she saw Bethany’s car pulling into the driveway. Bethany got out a moment later, as Norawas standing up with her plate and tea, retrieving a box of decorations from the trunk.
“Oh, Nora!” She flashed her a smile as she came up the stairs. “I was going to see what Rhonda’s thoughts on these were. Sabrina left some at the store this morning, and I thought we might go through them.”
“I’m sure she’d like that.” Nora opened the door, letting Bethany and her armful of decorations walk in first. “She’s in the living room, going over some things.”
Nora tried to hide her expression as Bethany walked past. The decorations themselves weren’t even out of the box yet, but Nora could see that they were mismatched, and a little rough around the edges. Definitely not what she would have chosen.
She carried her plate and mug into the kitchen, rinsing them off, and by the time she came back out to the living room, she saw that Bethany had started unpacking them. Rhonda was making small approving noises, but it was clear from the look on her face that she didn’t really like them any more than Nora did.
Nora winced, sitting down across from her mother. She didn’t want to say anything, but the decorations looked tacky to her. Popcorn garlands, a wreath done up with fake holly covered in gold and silver glitter, and faux mistletoe that would look like plastic even from yards away. That didn’t begin to cover the strings of Christmas ball ornaments, or the miniature reindeer that didn’t have the best paint job.
“These are—nice,” Rhonda said, looking at the string of ornaments. “Where are we thinking of putting these, exactly?”
The question at the end of the sentence was clearly enough to break Bethany. She let out a sigh, sitting back in her chair. “Iknowthey’re awful.” She shook her head, looking between Nora and Rhonda, clearly as aware as the other two women that they all knew the decorations were bad. “But Sabrina is in charge of decorations. And she’s so busy with getting the articles togetheraboutthe event for the newspaper that she’s not going to have time to replace them with all new decorations. You know how on top of that place she always feels like she needs to be. Really, she’d have to be in three places at once, and you know she can’t do that.”
Linda’s words from earlier echoed in Nora’s head. She’d sat back so far and watched, but it waspainfulto see people making such rookie mistakes, when she knew she could step in and easily put it all to rights. They were stumbling around in the dark, and she could clearly see the path forward.
But she knew that wasn’t all there was to it.
Linda was right. She was a go-getter, someone who liked to keep busy. She needed a project to focus on while she was in town, or she’d go crazy. She’d tried to give herself one by helping Melanie out with her staffing issues at The Mellow Mug, but Melanie had remained so steadfast in her insistence that Nora couldn’t lift a single finger on her vacation that it had come to nothing.
“I’ll help,” Nora said quickly, and she didn’t miss the surprised look that her mother shot her. “I can see about some different decorations. It’s easy enough for me to figure it out—I’ve got tons of experience sourcing this kind of thing. Really, it’s no trouble at all,” she added, before Bethany could argue.
Bethany didn’t seem all that inclinedtoargue. “That’s amazing, Nora. Really. You’re a lifesaver. If you don’t mind, could you stop by theGazetteto give Sabrina the good news? Let her know that you’re happy to take something off of her plate. And I hear the event center is basically good to go, so if you want to stop in there, you could look around and get some ideas for what you want to do.”
The beaming smile on her face felt like a balm to Nora.Thiswas what she enjoyed, taking someone’s vision and turning it into the best possible version of that.
She returned Bethany’s smile. The festival might not have beenexactlywhat she had had in mind, when she came back to Evergreen Hollow for the holidays, but she was glad to have something to focus on.
It would make the days pass, at the very least.
CHAPTER TEN
That morning, Aiden had slept in a little past his alarm, and he decided it was one of those days when maybe he should stop in to The Mellow Mug for a coffee and breakfast instead of making it himself. He threw on his usual jeans, sweater, work boots, and heavy Carhartt coat, and went out to the truck, considering the possibility of something sweet. Most mornings he had eggs and sausage, but a pastry sounded nice. A treat, since he’d gotten the work on the event center done ahead of schedule, and could now focus on his other projects for the town.
The coffee shop was quiet when he walked in, empty other than Melanie standing behind the counter, and smelled of roasting beans and sweet, yeasty baking. He walked up to the counter, giving Melanie an affable smile as he looked up at the menu. There were several holiday drink specials available, and as usual, Melanie had named the signature Christmas drinks after beloved Evergreen Hollow residents.
“Hey there, Aiden,” she greeted him. “Is there something I can get for you?’
“An Americano and a cinnamon roll will do it, I think.”
