Page 43 of The Inn at Evergreen Hollow

She leaned across the table, her hand on his cheek as she kissed him. He felt his heart swell in his chest, a warm glow settling there.

What a Christmas it was turning out to be.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Evergreen Hollow was buzzing with activity the day before the festival. It was less than a week and a half before Christmas, and the festival was the week before Christmas Eve. Everyone involved was hard at work getting things ready, and Nora could feel an excited energy humming through the town that told her she’d been right to listen to Aiden and Caroline’s advice. The enthusiasm among the locals was palpable.

She’d made her way over to the event center first thing, meeting with Jonathan, Marie, Leon, Aiden, and some of the others who were helping with a variety of tasks. She couldn’t help but feel incredibly grateful—they’d all come together and pulled out all the stops to make sure that the festival would be amazing even at this late hour. She’d laid out all her original ideas, and they’d brainstormed to find ways to make it work on a more local scale. Everything was coming together perfectly despite all her fears, and she was glad she hadn’t given up.

She should have known though. Back in Boston, she’d always told new coworkers not to judge a vendor by how expensive it was, but by how good it was. That money and cost weren’t the only markers of worth. That advice had always served her well—both in saving money for clients and finding gems in the city thatshe wouldn’t have otherwise if she’d only focused on the most expensive option.

She’d forgotten that, while she was home. But now, thanks to the collaborative efforts of Evergreen Hollow, she’d been reminded once again.

Caroline was sitting at one of the tables, discussing arranging a small petting zoo with a few other residents who owned small livestock. She’d agreed to bring a couple of their friendlier hens, along with a neighbor who had pygmy goats, and when Nora glanced over at her sister she saw an unusual smile on Caroline’s face. It had been good for her to take a little time away from the inn—Rhonda had immediately encouraged Caroline to help when Nora had suggested the petting zoo, insisting that she could handle the inn for a few days on her own with Donovan’s help. And it had certainly brightened her sister up a bit, getting out and about with the others.

Aiden walked in just then, dusting the snow off of his boots. “Blake and I finished getting the lights hung,” he said. “We should probably test them though, just in case anything needs replacing.”

One thing that no one had challenged Nora on was the elaborate light display that she’d laid out for the exterior of the event center and the festival grounds. She’d asked Leon if he could order in enough lights, and sure enough, he’d been able to. Aiden and Blake had been hard at work for two days getting all of them up, in between jobs.

“Sure thing.” Nora set down her planner. “Let’s go check out the generator.”

She saw the grin on Aiden’s face as he nodded, following her to the back room. She was pretty sure that he knew it was mostly an excuse to get him alone for a moment—she could flip a switch on a generator on her own. But with all the work that neededto be done for the festival, they hadn’t really had a moment to themselves since they’d made up.

His arms slid around her waist as they stepped into the back room, pulling her close. She breathed in the scent of his shaving cream and shampoo, enjoying the moment of closeness with him. It made her feel happy, having him here with her, and she tried not to worry about what that might mean for the future. To just enjoy the moment of being there with him now, rather than worrying about what would come later.

“It’s going to be so romantic being surrounded by all those pretty lights,” she murmured, and felt him brush his lips against her hair.

“I’m so glad you’re here for Christmas.” Aiden’s grip on her tightened for a moment, and Nora let out a happy sigh.

“I am too.”

She reached out, flipping the switch on the generator, and?—

Nothing.

Nora frowned, flipping it back off and on again. “Oh no,” she said softly, disentangling herself from Aiden’s embrace to peer at it more closely. “Can you take a look at this?”

It only took a moment for Aiden to tell her what she had already been fairly sure of—the generator was busted.

Nora pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers. “We’re going to need another generator.” She let out a huff of frustration.

“Didn’t you say something a couple weeks ago about ordering a backup?”

Nora’s lips thinned. “I was going to. But Sabrina canceled the order and said it wasn’t necessary. I didn’t get a chance to try to override that with the committee before.”

She flapped a hand uselessly, indicating the arguments that had broken out before everything had been smoothed over.

“I’ll have to go pick one up in Bronston. The hardware store there should have one.” It was common to go to the next town over for emergency supplies that anyone in town couldn’t wait for Leon to order in, and she felt sure they’d have what she needed.

“I’ll go with you,” Aiden offered immediately, but Nora shook her head.

“You and Blake still need to finish building the space for the temporary petting zoo. And we still need some more signs.” She let out a sigh, giving him a faint smile. “I’ll just go. It’s no big deal.”

“You’re not used to driving a truck. Especially on country roads in the snow.” Aiden looked worried, and Nora gave him a reassuring smile.

“I’ll be fine,” she promised.

She took off shortly after filling everyone in on what was going on, borrowing Donovan’s truck to make the drive, a tarp thrown in the back to cover the new generator with. She found a station on the radio with cheery Christmas music, not finding it grating any longer, the way she had when Melanie first picked her up from the airport. She’d managed to thoroughly get into the holiday spirit over the past few weeks.

---