Page 2 of The Inn at Evergreen Hollow

“Just another day on the job,” she murmured, closing the door silently and reaching for the small earpiece tucked into her ear. “That’s why they come to Metropolitan Events, isn’t it?” she cooed to the dog, walking a few more feet away from the ballroom. “Where else can you get a wedding planner and an animal-catcher all in one?”

The dog let out another sharp bark, nearly squirming out of the crook of Nora’s arm, and she pressed her earpiece to call the caterer. “I’ve got a dog here in need of a treat,” she said, cradlingit against her blouse as she scratched between its ears. “Can you bring me a piece of bacon, maybe? Something it might like.”

“Of course. Give me just a minute.” The tinny voice of one of the caterers responded almost immediately, and Nora walked to one of the benches lining the lobby, sinking down as she held the small dog in her lap. She’d never admit it out loud, but the opportunity to sit was actually one she was grateful for. Her feet were starting to ache.

Maybe I should go and get a pedicure tomorrow,she thought, craning her neck this way and that as she waited on the caterer.Maybe a full massage too. An early Christmas present to myself.

One of the caterers swept around the corner, a blonde woman with her hair caught up in a net, dressed in the same crisp black and white they’d all opted for. There was a small dish in her hand, and Nora gratefully took it. “Thank you.” She fished a small piece of bacon out of it. It was sticky, and she smelled the faint scent of maple. “This ought to keep the little guy happy for a minute.”

“No problem.” The caterer smiled at her, disappearing back the way she’d come, and Nora fished another piece of bacon out of the dish.

“How’s this?” She nibbled at one of the pieces herself as the dog ate. It had been hours since she’d had a quick breakfast of black coffee and an apple-cinnamon muffin from the grocery-store bakery, and she let out a soft sigh of pleasure at the taste. It was smoky and sweet all at once, with just a hint of saltiness, and Nora wondered what it was actually meant for. Whatever it was, she hoped she’d get a chance to try it at the reception—although as busy as she stayed during these events, she rarely got a chance to eat until afterward.

The dog scarfed down the bite, and then another, curling onto Nora’s lap as she fed it one small treat after another. Theweight of the small animal was soothing, and she felt a small pang of nostalgia for the days when she used to have a childhood pet.

She’d thought about getting a pet now and again. Something lower-maintenance than a dog. As much as she loved them, she worked too many hours to make dog ownership feasible. A cat, maybe, although even they needed attention from time to time, and when she wasn’t working, she was usually with Rob.

He was firmly against the idea of getting any kind of pet too, and since they’d be living together soon, that made it all pretty much a moot point. His arguments were sound too. They worked too much, he didn’t want what little time they had together taken up with caring for an animal, it was expensive, it would prevent them from vacationing as easily as they otherwise would.

Not that we’ve gone on many vacations,Nora thought as she stroked the small dog’s back.

They both worked constantly. The last time they’d gone away together was three years ago, on a little cabin getaway that had left them both itching for Internet access to check their email. The isolation had made them grouchy and irritable, and they hadn’t planned another vacation since.

From a lack of time,she told herself again and again.Nothing more.

From the ballroom, she could hear the music picking up again, a clear sign that the happy couple were about to exit as man and wife. Nora fed the last of the sticky bacon bits to the dog, her earpiece crackling as the staff began passing instructions back and forth for pictures and the cocktail hour, and she stood just as she saw the dog’s owner hurrying in her direction.

The bridesmaid had her gold skirt in one hand, rushing over with an expression on her face that was both chagrined and grateful all at once.

“Thank yousomuch,” she gushed, reaching for the dog. “You really saved the day. Smoky didn’t mean to be noisy, did you, baby? No, you didn’t.” She cooed at the dog, giving Nora another grateful smile.

“All in a day’s work.” Nora smiled in return, and she meant it. It had been worrisome and a little frustrating, but in the end, it didn’t matter. The crisis was averted, and nothing had marred the perfect day that she’d helped to arrange.

By the time midnight rolled around, the bride and groom leaving the venue in a shower of sparklers, Nora was both exhausted and utterly pleased. There had been a few other small mishaps—a forgotten card for one of the cameras, an appetizer that had only two pieces per guest available instead of three—but each time, she’d managed to find a workaround. She watched as the guests started to file out toward the valet, making her way to the ballroom to ensure that cleanup had started. The venue would need to be cleared out by two a.m., but she didn’t need to stick around that long, just ensure that everyone who would be doing the job was present and already working.

Once that was finished, she fetched her heavy wool coat from the coat check as she prepared to leave, winding a cashmere scarf around her neck and reaching for her valet ticket. She stepped outside into the frigid night air, only to stop in utter surprise at the sight in front of her.

“Rob?” Nora’s eyes widened as she saw her fiancé, Rob Smith, standing on the curb. He looked as handsome as ever, his brown hair ruffled in the cold Boston wind, cheeks flushed from it, wrapped up in a cashmere peacoat and slim designer jeans. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d already be on the way to the airport for your business trip.”

Since long before they’d met, Rob had worked as a sales executive for a moped manufacturer. It wasn’t the most interesting of jobs, exactly—she often felt her eyelids start todroop when he started talking about spreadsheets and quarterly sales—but she knew he didn’t particularly love hearing her go on about floral arrangements and themed menus either. He traveled often, and she’d been expecting a week alone while he was in Chicago for meetings. They’d said goodbye that morning before she left for the wedding, and Nora had thought he would be gone by the time she got home.

But he was standing there, unexpectedly, and her heart fluttered. There was a time when him going out of his way to surprise her with something sweet and romantic—like flowers or an unexpected kiss goodbye on his way to his flight—wouldn’t have been unusual. It made her feel warm all over to think that he might have made the effort to do something like that for her again.

The past few months had been so devoid of romance, with how busy their schedules had been. They’d been like ships passing in the night, Nora had often thought, with date nights becoming fewer and fewer, and nights in together skipped in favor of early bedtimes or long nights for Rob at the office. Some of her friends had started to question if it was normal for things to wane so much, with a wedding on the horizon. Shouldn’t they be evenmoreexcited and eager to spend time with one another?

Nora had reassured them, and herself, that it was fine. Everything was perfect. Yes, they hadn’t quite settled on where they’d be living after the wedding yet, and yes, Rob got frustrated every time she brought up wedding plans, telling her it was her job to do it perfectly, so she might as well make all the choices. But everythingelsewas perfect. Everything since college had been right on track, every box on the list checked, right down to meeting a handsome man with a good job who always said all the right things to her friends, remembered birthdays and anniversaries, and brought his mother flowersand wine when they went home to visit. He wasn’t exciting, but he was what she wanted.

Excitement wore off. Stability and companionship were more important than anything else. But Nora couldn’t help relishing the flutter of excitement she felt as her pace quickened and she walked toward Rob, eager for him to pull her in for a kiss and whisper something sweet in her ear, the kind of thing she’d been missing.

But he wasn’t smiling. She could see that as she got closer. His face looked tense and serious. Grave, even, as if something had happened. The excited fluttering in her stomach curdled, turning to a crawling sensation of unease. Rob rarely looked like that. She couldn’t really remember the last time.

“I’m headed that way.” His voice was eerily flat. “But I had something I needed to talk to you about, first.”

The sound of his voice made her stomach twist. He never spoke to her like that, without any inflection, as if he were reciting a grocery list instead of talking to the woman he loved.

“What’s up?” She tried to keep her tone light, to not let on how the knot in her stomach was tightening. She’d been with Rob for nearly five years. It was impossible to be with someone for so long, and not know them nearly as well as she knew herself. Something was wrong. She braced herself for him to say that he was going to see his parents, that one of them was ill, or that something had happened with his job.

“I’ve been thinking about it for some time.” Rob scuffed the toe of his designer boot against the curb, a nervous gesture that made Nora feel faintly sick. Rob was fastidious about his clothing. A careless gesture like that wasn’t like him at all. “Nora…”

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