Page 31 of The Inn at Evergreen Hollow

It didn’t feel like the sort of dinner where acquaintances just sat down to catch up, that was for sure.

“I haven’t been here in so long,” Nora murmured as she picked up the wine list, echoing his thoughts from earlier. He wondered, briefly, what she would think of the selection—if she’d be disappointed. She’d probably been to plenty of restaurants in Boston fancier than this. But she seemed to spot a wine that she liked immediately, glancing at Aiden. “Do you like red or white?”

He shrugged. “I don’t drink often. I’m happy to drink whatever you pick.”

Nora laughed softly. “There’s that whole thing about red with meat and white with seafood, but I really just prefer red with anything, honestly. It’s very gauche of me, I think, but that’s what I like.”

“Get that, then.” Aiden grinned, and she gave him a mischievous smile, as if she were doing something she shouldn’t.

“A bottle of—this Malbec, please,” she said when the waitress came to their table, tapping her nail against the list. “And a water? We’ll need a minute for appetizers, I think.”

“Water for me,” Aiden added. There was something very self-possessed and elegant about her, as he watched her order, and he could see why anyone would think she was out of place back here in Evergreen Hollow. But he thought there was a little of both in her still—the small-town girl and the big city go-getter, and he privately thought that he didn’t see why they couldn’t coexist, if she wanted them to.

As the waitress left to get their drink order, Nora looked sideways at him, glancing between him and the menu in front of her. It was cream-colored stock, with fine black script listing the menu items, and he wasn’t at all sure what he might want. When he wasn’t getting takeout from Rockridge Grill, he usually cycled through the same three or four easy dinners at home.

“Have you ever gotten pushback from your family about your career choices?” The question might have seemed blunt, but he knew she was circling back to what they’d talked about on the drive over, about her own sister’s opinions.

Aiden sat back a little, considering. “A little, yeah. Most people seemed to think I should have moved to a city after I finished trade school. Better money, better opportunities, all of that. I’ve heard it from Leon before, for sure—that I’m too goodat my job to spend it all here in Evergreen Hollow, even though he says it in terms of how lucky the town is to have me here.”

He shrugged. “But I wanted to come back home. My family is here, my roots are here. How you felt about going to Boston despite what everyone else might think about that choice, that you knew it was the right thing for you—that’s how I felt about coming back home. I love this town, and I want to make sure it keeps thriving. That can only happen if people pour their hearts into it.”

“You really care about Evergreen Hollow, don’t you?” Nora had stopped looking at the menu, and was just looking at him. “You feel like it matters.”

“I know it matters. It’s a place where everyone counts on each other. Where they’ll put aside their grievances and try to understand each other, even if they’re at odds sometimes. Most of the world—no one leans on anyone else anymore. Independence is a good thing up to a point, but having people you know you can rely on in a pinch, who won’t keep a ledger of debts owed after the fact—that matters a lot. And feeling a connection to something—that matters too, I think.”

He broke off as the waitress returned, setting down the bottle of red wine and two glasses as she poured for them both. “Do you want an appetizer?” she asked, and Nora glanced at Aiden.

“The brie with pears and maple sounds good. What do you think?”

Aiden wasn’t sure he’d ever eaten brie, but he nodded. “I’ll try whatever you’re having,” he said with a grin, and Nora flashed him a return smile.

“We’ll have that, then. And then maybe a little more time before we order our meal.”

It was clear she wasn’t in any hurry to rush the dinner along, and that made him feel good. He wasn’t in any hurry either—he was enjoying her company, and it was good to see that sheseemed to feel the same. She reached for the wine, nodding a little as she took a sip.

“It’s really good.”

Aiden took a sip of his. “I don’t think I have much of a refined palate for wine,” he said with a small laugh. “But it tastes good to me.”

“It is nice, being back in Evergreen Hollow,” Nora admitted. “Everything is a lot slower. I forgot how much. I thought it would drive me crazy, but it’s honestly been relaxing, once I got past feeling guilty for liking it.” She let out a small laugh. “And it’s been a little bit of a blow to the ego, finding out everything didn’t collapse without me in Boston—but it’s also given me a little freedom to let myself enjoy being home.”

Aiden felt a small flare of hope, as Nora paused, thanking the waitress as she brought the appetizer. He could tell that the conversation was encouraging Nora to stop and think differently about Evergreen Hollow—about the things that made it important, small as it is. The smile on her face was genuine, and she looked relaxed and happy, spreading a bit of the melting cheese on a toast point with the fruit and syrup. He could picture her here easily, again. He could picture this being a more usual thing for them both.

Would she ever consider moving back here?He reached for a bit of the appetizer for himself, putting it on the small China plate in front of him. The thought fled as soon as it slipped into his mind, as he watched her take another sip of her wine.

Nora was a driven, big-city girl to her core. She had been as long as he’d known her, before she’d even had a chance to actually go and carve out a place in Boston. She might be enjoying a breather while she was home for a little while, but that didn’t mean she was going to upend her whole life.

She’d get over her breakup, and then she’d want to leave. He knew it was true, but it didn’t stop the pang he felt as she turned to him with a smile, nodding at the bite of food on his plate.

“What do you think?”

He popped the bit of cheese and pears on toast into his mouth, considering. It was creamy and rich, the earthy flavor of the cheese mingling with the sweetness of the baked fruit and maple syrup. On its own, it was fantastic—paired with the wine, it was even better. “You really know how to choose food and wine,” he said with a small laugh, and a pleased flush spread over Nora’s cheekbones.

“Catering is one of my favorite parts of being an event planner,” she admitted. “Helping people choose menus for events is always so much fun. Sometimes they want my advice and sometimes they don’t—sometimes they just go directly to the caterer, but when I get to sit in on those planning meetings, I always enjoy it.”

“Maybe you should have your own catering company, then.”

Nora laughed, shaking her head. “I likeallthe aspects of event planning. Not just that. I’d miss the other parts too. All of it is part of one big whole—taking someone’s ideas and vision and the things that are important to them and making a day that they’ll remember. But the food is a really fun part of it.”

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