Page 14 of The Inn at Evergreen Hollow

“I still have some packed away from previous festivals, and Bethany does too. No reason to let them go to waste. But I know Valerie’s daughter is looking to be a florist. Maybe she can make some of the arrangements. Blake can get us a fresh tree. We’ll set that up in the middle of the event center, like always. And there are some garlands from the Winter Wonderland dance.”

“We’ll have the grill do the catering,” Bethany added. “Jonathan is working on the menu. He’s a little behind on it, with how busy things have been at the restaurant, but he’ll pull it together marvelously. He always does.”

“For music, the school band will play like they always do. It’s such a nice opportunity for the kids,” Meg added. “And as far as booths, we’re looking through all the applications now.”

Nora tried to keep the expression on her face blank, picking at her casserole. Her mind was already spinning, going throughall the things thatshewould do if she were handling the event planning.

It was a nice idea to let Valerie’s daughter practice floral arrangements, but if they didn’t come out the way the others wanted, it would be too late to have a professional do it without an outrageous cost. Recycling decorations was a nice idea in theory, but she couldn’t help thinking that it was a part of the reason the festival always seemed a little outdated and tacky, and the catering made her wince.

She’d only needed to go to the grill once to know that while it was a good place to eat, it didn’t have the staff to handle an event of this size. Marie’s would have been a better choice, since it didn’t stay as busy as Rockridge Grill, but even they probably weren’t as equipped as they should be. Getting anactualcatering service would have made more sense to her, and been more efficient, with no chance of running out of items or missing anything for the big day.

There was a reason why there were professional services for this kind of thing, Nora thought. Yes, they were more expensive, and they didn’t have the rustic touch of everyone in the town chipping in, but it made sure that everything ran smoothly, that everyone got exactly what they wanted, and the vision of the organizers was created flawlessly.

But this wasn’t her festival, and she hadn’t been put in charge. So she politely kept quiet instead, taking another bite of her casserole as she listened.

“Getting the grill to cater this year wasmyidea.” Sabrina Burns spoke up then, pushing her glasses up her nose. Nora recognized her as the owner of the newspaper in town, theEvergreen Hollow Gazette. Nora remembered her as someone with a lot of opinions, and she usually didn’t like having them argued with. She was nice enough, but Nora remembered that she also liked to pick things apart until they were to her liking.

Probably for the best, then, that she’d decided not to speak up.

“And recycling the decorations. Good for the planet, and all of that.” Sabrina beamed. “I think we’ll have the best festival yet. I intend to make sure of it.”

Nora smiled as a couple of the women glanced her way, nodding along. No one had asked for her opinion, so she thought it was probably better if she didn’t give it. But she saw Bethany glance over as well, her face brightening as if she’d suddenly remembered something.

“Nora works in event planning,” Bethany said, sitting up a little straighter and leaning forward. “I imagine she must have some great ideas. What do you think of the planning so far, Nora?”

Oh no. I’m not getting dragged into this.She had thoughts, but they were all going to be stonewalled by the fact that a festival in Evergreen Hollow was never going to be like an event in Boston. She was here on vacation, not work, and especially not to work on something that would resist any kind of change.

“I think it’s all great,” she said, as gently and sincerely as she could manage. But from the looks that flickered over a few faces, she thought she might not have concealed her reservations as well as she thought she had.

Sabrina sniffed, looking slightly annoyed. “Are you sure?” She looked at Nora, raising an eyebrow. “Is it up to the Boston standard?”

It was clear that she was trying to sound playful, but Nora could hear the offense in her voice. Maybe it was because she heard it so often in Caroline’s, but she knew she wasn’t mistaking it. Sabrina had clearly come up with a lot of what was being planned, and she clearly didn’t appreciate Nora not being as enthusiastic as the others.

It was easier to shrug off than Caroline’s disapproval though. She didn’t know Sabrina all that well, and it was easier not to take to heart. Nora just smiled, taking another bite of her casserole, and stayed quiet. It only took a moment for Sabrina to go back to the conversation, although her tone was still slightly peeved.

Nora stayed quiet for the rest of the meeting, trying to just enjoy being around the other women she used to know. She found herself relaxing a little, the friendly atmosphere reminding her of the parts of living here that she had liked. It could be suffocating sometimes, with everyone knowing each other and so much about everyone else’s business, but there were good parts too.

She just didn’t think she could ever do it again. She’d always felt on the outside, looking in, and nothing about that had changed.

Coming home for the holidays was one thing. Staying was entirely another. And by the time the meeting was finished and she went to get her coat, she was ready to retreat back to the inn.

The festival would go off exactly as the residents of Evergreen Hollow planned it. And, since she was no longer one of those residents, Nora saw no reason to involve herself in the planning more than necessary.

It wasn’t as if they really needed her anyway.

CHAPTER EIGHT

Aiden set his hammer down for a moment, cracking his knuckles as he looked around the nearly-finished roof. It was past eight on a Saturday, the town mostly quiet except for the sounds of a live band drifting over from Rockridge Grill, and he was still up on the roof. He reckoned he could have come in and finished up in the morning, instead of being out in the evening cold, but they were too close to being finished for him to reconcile it. Better to finish up that evening, since Blake had been willing to stay, and get a full day off tomorrow.

Blake shielded his eyes from the floodlights as he came around, carefully making his way across the roof toward Aiden. “The place looks great.” He crouched down, fishing out a handful of nails to start on a few more of the shingles. “Really pulled this together in hardly any time at all.”

“Couldn’t have done it without such good help.” Aiden grinned at his friend. Blake Monroe had been working with him since he’d returned to Evergreen Heights from Albany, and they’d picked back up as if no time had passed at all. It was good to have friends like that, he thought, as he started back in on the shingles as well. Friends who just picked up and carried on, and kept the closeness that you’d had before, regardless of howlong you’d been gone. But Evergreen Hollow was good at that. The slow pace and tendency to hold onto the past was viewed as a bad thing by some, but he always saw it as a means to hold onto what mattered. A little time at the trade school in New York hadn’t changed anything.

He’d been able to come right back home with no problem at all. Everything had effortlessly felt just like it always had, and there was a real comfort in that.

“I think you were right. We’ll finish it up tonight and be good to go.” Blake had a satisfied look on his face as he surveyed the rooftop. “Bethany will be happy about that.”

“She will.” Aiden rubbed a hand over his chin. “The ladies will be able to move all their loot for the festival planning inside in the next day or so. They’ll really be able to get the ball rolling then.”

---