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Nothing changes here. Not even the people.
To everyone in Evergreen Hollow, that was thepoint. The appeal. The familiarity of it, the friendliness, the knowledge that things would always be the way they had always been. A rhythm to life that Nora had always found suffocating. Her ambition had always felt out of place. Her desire for a certain lifestyle felt like she was spoiled, here. In Boston, it just felt like she fit in.
Melanie waved excitedly, skidding through the snow as she came to a halt in front of Nora—with a steaming cup in her hand, exactly as Nora had thought. She thrust it into Nora’s, reaching for one of the bags.
“Here, I’ll help you with this. I can grab two, actually. I added weights to my routine, did I tell you? I don’t think I did. Not like—alotbut a couple of times a week—I think I’m getting some muscle!” Melanie lifted one arm, flexing it playfully as she grabbed two of Nora’s suitcases in exchange for the latte.
“I can see it.” Nora appreciatively lifted the latte to her lips, breathing in the minty chocolate steam, grateful for the caffeine. “How on earth did you manage to keep this warm? It’s two hours from the cafe.”
Melanie grinned, hoisting the bags into the back of her Jeep and tapping a finger against the edge of the mug Nora held, her eyes bright. “They’re insulated travel mugs. I’ve been selling them in the shop and they’ve beenflyingoff the shelves—they’re freaking magic. They’ll keep literally anything hot or cold for up to eight hours. Everyone loves them.”
“I’m so happy you discovered them.” Nora clutched the mug tighter, taking another sip. “I knew you’d sense it if I drank airport coffee, so I’ve been hanging on by a thread.”
“Only the best for you!” Melanie swung into the Jeep and Nora followed, sinking back into the passenger side as Melanie started the engine. The instant the truck came on, Christmas music flooded the cab, and Nora instantly felt herself react. She very nearly reached out and switched it off.
For all the holiday cheer she’d had the day of her last event before leaving, she felt as if she’d turned thoroughly into the Grinch. The breakup had shattered her holiday spirit, but Nora clenched her hands around the mug, forcing herself not to turn it off. She knew it would ruin the mood in the car, and she didn’t want to do that. Not when Melanie had so eagerly gone out of her way to pick Nora up, insisting that she couldn’t get an Uber, that there probably wouldn’t evenbean Uber. Maybe a bad taxi, and she couldn’t allow that. Not when Nora was finally coming back to visit.
Nora caught the sympathetic glance Melanie immediately shot her way. The flinch at the music hadn’t been missed, and Nora instantly felt guilty.
“I’m really happy you’re back.” Melanie took her eyes off the road to look at Nora for just a moment before returning themto the highway. “I hope this is going to be good for you. Wipe all that bad stuff away. How long has it been anyway? I’ve lost count.”
It wasn’t meant to make her feel guilty, Nora knew, but she felt a small stab anyway. “A really long time,” she admitted, taking another sip of the coffee. Her family and Melanie had been to visit her in Boston over the years, but she hadn’t returned the favor. No matter how many times she told herself she would, she kept putting it off. “There was that one time, right after graduation. So, like, twelve years? A little more?”
That one time had been enough to make her keep pushing off a return, again and again. She’d felt so stifled as soon as she’d come back, trapped within the town limits like a bird in a cage. No one had understood why she’d gotten a degree in event planning or why anyone would spend tens of thousands of dollars on throwing a party instead of using a perfectly good rec center or church hall.
It didn’t make sense why Nora’s clients would hire Michelin-starred chefs instead of having family cater their graduation or reunion or even a wedding reception. Why flowers cost as much as an entire car for some of the residents in Evergreen Hollow. It felt to Nora like they were all judging her for having dedicated her life to something that to them, seemed shallow and wasteful and spoiled. And she felt like they didn’t understand how happy it made her, to turn all that extravagance into something beautiful and elegant and memorable.
I wonder if I’ll feel the same way now.Nora bit her lip, looking out at the snowy expanse stretching out on either side of the road, studded with maples. That worry that it might have been a mistake to come crept in again, but Melanie glanced over at her, seemingly picking up on her friend’s worry.
“Was it too hard to get off work? I know the holidays must be busy.”
“Not as much as you might think. Mostly winter weddings, and New Year’s Eve parties. But I managed to get my work covered.” It hadn’t beenaseasy as Nora made it sound. Her years of never taking off work had created an expectation that her boss hadn’t been thrilled to see change. But she’d had the paid time off, and in the end, she’d been there long enough that she had the ability to put her foot down, just a little. “January is always a slow month, so I can catch up when I get back on any of the busy work that might pile up.”
And not think about my canceled wedding.She shoved the thought out of her head, hard. She’d had January penciled in for months as the time she’d use to really dig into wedding planning, come up with all the options and lay them out for Rob so he could just tell her what he liked best and help her narrow it all down. She’d even considered trying to arrange a little getaway for them, something less remote this time. Maybe even a tropical vacation where they could both get a tan and work on the wedding planning with a drink in hand.
The whole time she’d been dreaming about that, he’d been thinking of his escape route from their relationship.
“Tell me about busy work.” Melanie shook her head. “I’ve got a few employees home on Christmas break from college, but I feel like every day there’s more to do. And taxes coming up—it’s always something. I feel like I can never entirely get through my to-do list.”
Nora felt a smile spreading across her lips, the first she’d managed in a while. “I love lists. Maybe I can help.”
Melanie swatted her, the Jeep swerving a little. “You’re onvacation. I know that’s a foreign word to you, but you’re going to learn it while you’re here. I didn’t ask you to visit so I could put you to work.”
Nora threw up her hands. “I’m just saying. I love paperwork.”
“I know you do.”
Nora felt herself relax a little, bit by bit, as they approached Evergreen Hollow. For all her worries, it was good to see her friend in person again. To laugh and tease each other, the way they used to. It had beenyearssince she’d seen Melanie, years that had slid by so quickly she would have sworn it hadn’t been all that long—but now that she was here, she realized just how much time really had gone by.
Too much.
This, at least, was a very good reason to have come back to visit.
Still, Nora felt that nervous clench in her stomach again as the town started to come into view. Another wave of nostalgia hit her—she recognized it all. All of the snow-topped roofs and rustic storefronts and the one black-and-cream stone restaurant that served as the place for a fancy night out in Evergreen Hollow, Marie’s. They’d gone there for dinner when she’d come back after graduation, and she had spent the entire night mentally comparing it to her favorite three-star haunt in Boston. Another swell of guilt gripped her at the memory.
Melanie kept driving through town toward The Mistletoe Inn—the small bed and breakfast that Nora’s parents had owned and run since before she was born. Her sister Caroline helped run it now, and Nora felt another quiver of unease at the thought of Caroline. She knew very well that Caroline was going to be the hardest sell on her brief return home. Caroline wasn’t going to just let her wave away her absence for the last several years.
As Melanie pulled into the driveway, Nora saw the inn, exactly as she remembered it. It was quaint and homey, a large log cabin-style building with a gabled shingle roof and a large wrap-around porch. Snow was built up on the sides of the pathway leading to the porch steps, where it had been shoveled out of the way.
