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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
It took Nora a moment to realize that she was humming to herself as she made her coffee the next morning. She felt more light-hearted than she had in a long time, flitting between the coffeepot and the refrigerator for the creamer, her planner and notes spread out on the small kitchen table. She was so caught up in her own thoughts that she didn’t even hear her mother walk in at first.
“You’re certainly cheerful this morning,” Rhonda remarked as she walked to the basket of muffins on the counter. “The date must have gone well.”
“It did,” Nora admitted, reaching for a banana nut muffin and retreating to the table with her coffee. “I really didn’t expect to go out on a date with anyone so soon after Rob and I broke up, honestly. I wasn’t sure if I should even really think of it as a date, but it definitely was.”
“Oh?” There was a small smile on Rhonda’s face as she sank down in the chair across from her daughter. “Tell me more.”
“I like him a lot.” Nora twirled her pen, reaching for her coffee with her other hand. “We’re going to go on another date. We pretty much asked each other at the same time when he dropped me off.” She felt her face flush slightly at the memory.She had really thought he was going to kiss her, for just a second. Part of her was glad that he hadn’t yet, since it would have complicated her feelings even more, but the other part of her felt giddy at the idea of a first kiss with Aiden.
“Well, that all sounds like good things.” Rhonda tore off a small piece of her muffin. “Aiden is a good boy. He definitely always liked you.”
“I’m really trying not to get caught up in the what-ifs.” Nora took a sip of her coffee. “I want to just enjoy the moment, even if it doesn’t go anywhere. I always look ahead to the next thing, the next step.”
She let out a slow breath, glancing out of the window for a moment at the snow-covered yard beyond the kitchen window. It was hard to admit how she felt out loud, even to her mother. The things she’d talked about with Aiden had been things she hadn’t really admitted even to herself yet, but it had felt freeing. And he’d been understanding of it all.
“I’ve started to wonder if being so caught up in my ambitions for my life made me miss important things over the years.” Nora looked down at her planner, tapping her fingernails against her to-do list. “There were things about Rob that should have told me he wasn’t the right one for me a long time before he broke off our engagement. But I didn’t see them, because I was so focused. My job, my apartment, hitting all the right milestones in our relationship. I just kept looking forward to the next thing, the next box to check, and everything else kind of got glossed over, I guess.”
Rhonda looked at her for a long moment. “You shouldn’t be hard on yourself,” she said finally. “But if there are lessons you can learn from moving at a slower pace for a little while, then you should embrace them.”
She reached out, putting her hand gently over Nora’s. It was warm and delicate, exactly as Nora remembered when she was achild—that hand on her forehead when she was sick, or holding hers when they crossed a street. She’d pulled away from her family so much while she’d been gone, but they were happy to let her come back home. She felt a small ache in her chest, a pang of that feeling that she’d missed more than she realized, and she curled her fingers around her mother’s hand.
“I’m going to do my best to just let things be, for now,” Nora said firmly. “And just let everything play out without thinking too far ahead. Right now, I have a festival to plan.”
“You do.” Rhonda smiled, getting up from the table to go and pour herself another cup of coffee. “And the festival is going to be better for it, I’m sure.”
Nora felt a renewed vigor when she headed out for the day, a feeling of confidence. She had no idea why Sabrina felt it necessary to make things difficult, but she was determined to plan the event anyway, exactly as she and the other women had discussed. If Sabrina didn’t want to talk about what was bothering her, Nora couldn’t make her.
That feeling ebbed, just a little, as soon as she walked into the event center for the planned meeting and saw that Sabrina was there, sitting next to Bethany with a list in her lap. Everyone had been so adamant that Sabrina had too much to handle with the newspaper, and Bethany had said not to expect to see her at any more of the meetings. But she was there, her cat-eye glasses perched on her nose, and a frown on her face.
As Nora got closer, sinking into one of the chairs in the circle that had been set up, she saw that the list in Sabrina’s lap was the catering menu Nora had put together and finalized last night, after she’d gotten back from her date with Aiden. She’d been even more excited about it, after their conversation at the restaurant. His suggestions that she should lean in to how much she had always enjoyed working on catering menus had made her want to put her all into the choices for the festival, and shefelt a tight knot of apprehension in her stomach as she looked at the red pen in Sabrina’s fingers.
There were a number of slashes through items on the menu, notes made next to them. Nora bit her lip, frowning.
“What’s wrong with the choices on the menu?” Nora tried to keep her voice even. She didn’t want to be the cause of any more friction with Sabrina, but she felt a wave of disappointment, seeing the menu being butchered. “I put a lot of thought into that.”
“Well.” Sabrina looked up, her expression pinched. “I’m sure this menu is fine inBoston, but here we like things a little more down to earth. Shrimp and crème fraiche on crostini? Duck pastrami and blueberry thyme jam with goat cheese? And down here, deconstructed chicken bites with maple glaze. I’ve never heard of so much fancy nonsense.”
“Some of this we don’t even have to cater outside of town. Marie’s said they can accommodate over half this list, and then?—”
“I know you’re not familiar with the kinds of things we like,” Sabrina continued, as if Nora hadn’t even spoken, her tone slightly patronizing. “But I’d prefer if we just stick to smaller-portioned sizes of foods we already eat regularly. Maybe lasagna bites from Rockridge Grill? Deep-fried. And the maple is a nice touch, but mini pancakes instead, with syrup and local butter. We could do that with a hot cocoa bar.”
Nora bit her lip, trying to fight back the instant emotional response. She’d worked so hard, and been so proud of it, but maybe she’d gone overboard. She let out a slow breath, nodding. “Some of these things I think would still be really nice to try. The duck pastrami, and the boar sausage, the deer salami? Those things I thought would be a nice nod to the hunting that’s so popular here. Elevated versions of popular game meat…” She trailed off, seeing Sabrina’s eyes narrow. “But the bite-sizedpancakes are a fun idea,” she finished lamely. “And I love hot cocoa bars.”
“Well, that decides it.” Sabrina crossed something else out, turning to murmur something to Bethany, who caught Nora’s eye.Just go with it,her expression seemed to say, and Nora let out a sigh.
She was sure some of it could be salvaged. Sabrina probably wouldn’t be putting in the catering orders, after all. She wanted to keep the peace—but she couldn’t help but feel confused as to why on earth this woman was so put off by her involvement. It felt almost petty, some of the changes. Like she was so determined to undermine Nora that she found any excuse to find fault.
Nora found it hard to concentrate for the rest of the meeting. Afterward, she cornered Melanie as they helped clean up, eager to tell her about the date with Aiden.
“It was really nice,” she confided, as they cleared leftover cups and plates off the long table that had held snacks for the meeting. “I remembered him being sweet and friendly in high school, but he’s really grown up. And he loves Evergreen Hollow so much, it was really heartwarming to hear. It’s clear he’s put a lot of work into trying to take care of it.”
“So it was a good date?” Melanie gave her a mischievous smile, and Nora laughed, shaking her head.
“I’m not getting my hopes up,” she said firmly. “But it was fun to go on a date with someone who was so smart, and sweet, and funny. It made me realize how stale my relationship with Rob was. If nothing else, it really made me see that the end of that relationship was a blessing in disguise. Whatever happens next, I know I’ll make sure to look for someone who has more in common with me than just ambition. Someone who I can laugh with, and who really gets excited to hear about the things I’m interested in.”
“You deserve that.” Melanie pushed a piece of hair behind her ear, carrying a bag of trash to the back door. “I’m glad you’re finally starting to see it.”
