Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

On Sunday afternoon, Margo and Caroline went into town to make the rounds and discuss details with everyone who had volunteered to help with the event. Caroline had suggested that maybe it would be better if she stayed home since she was still on crutches, but Margo had stubbornly assured her that she could handle it.

Evergreen Hollow was good about keeping the sidewalks and pathways clear of snow and ice, and she'd have felt even more stir crazy if she stayed in the inn for too long. She was used to being on the go, traveling from place to place, researching people and locations and wandering towns in search of the perfect shots, and now she was limited to only as far as she could go before she started getting exhausted on her crutches.

It made her feel a little like she was losing her mind. She didn't want to be grateful for a leaky roof at the inn, knowing what a stressor it was on her parents, but she also couldn't help but think that it had been a little bit of a blessing in disguise.

The project to get donations to fix the roof was beginning to bring her and her sisters closer together after all these years of being estranged, and that and her budding friendship with Spencer was really all that was keeping her sane. She felt confident that the roof would be fixed, after all, which made her feel less guilty about being glad that they had this project to work on.

It was impossible not to feel confident about it. She'd been right in thinking that everyone in town would want to help contribute, once they found out about the troubles at The Mistletoe Inn, especially since Margo and her sisters had made a holiday mini-festival out of it. A Christmas tree decorating contest was right up the alley of the things Evergreen Hollow residents loved, and the three sisters had definitely struck gold with that plan.

Everyone had something to chip in. Sabrina was running a full-page spread about it in the Gazette to build excitement, and the winner would get their picture in the paper along with a slice-of-life interview.

Leon was offering bags of his maple candy as runner-up prizes, as well as offering to run a pancake station for the morning portion of the contest. Bethany had donated a gift certificate to the pet salon as a prize, as well as offering to run the apple cider and hot cocoa stations. Jonathan was overseeing the rest of the food, catered from Rockridge Grill, and both he and the owner of Marie's were donating gift certificates for prizes.

Aidan had already promised to help with bringing in the trees, and Melanie was offering specially designed mugs from The Mellow Mug as part of the prize pool, as well as free coffee through the New Year for the winner.

The best part about all of it, Margo couldn't help but think, is that most of the ideas of what to contribute hadn't been hers or her sisters. They'd come up with the starting points, but everyone had been so eager to chip in that most of them had offered prizes and donations up front.

Her memories of Evergreen Hollow had been mostly bad for a long time, but she was beginning to realize that she'd forgotten about this part of it—how much everyone genuinely wanted to help each other. How happy they all were to chip in and support one another, without expecting anything back. They all knew that if some misfortune were to happen to them, their neighbors would have their backs in turn.

After they left Marie's, the gift certificates for the first, second, and third place winners collected, Margo let out a breath, balancing on her crutches for a moment. "I think I need a break," she admitted. "We've been running around like crazy all morning, and I need to rest for a minute. Can we go sit down somewhere?"

"I could use some coffee," Caroline said. "We'll go to The Mellow Mug and ask Melanie about those coffee cups, and get some caffeine."

"Sounds good to me."

They drove back to The Mellow Mug, and Caroline held the door for her so that she could hobble inside. She gave Caroline her coffee order, a cinnamon dolce latte with extra caramel mixed in, and sank into one of the comfortable armchairs near the back of the cafe.

Her leg was starting to ache, and she had a feeling she knew what Spencer would say if he found out she'd been hopping all over town with Caroline this morning. But honestly, she didn't mind the idea of him sternly chewing her out a little. It meant he cared, which felt nice. It felt good to feel like she mattered to someone outside of her family.

She'd loved her job, but it had meant that friendships were hard to maintain and relationships were usually surface-level at best. It was hard to have anything grow or deepen when she was gone so much of the year. Friendships made in different countries were hard to keep up once she left. Flings overseas were just that. And she'd loved all of it, always felt excited and thrilled by the impermanence of her life—but this was nice too, she found.

She knew she could count on Spencer to care. And even though this was impermanent too, and she'd be moving on once she could, it felt a little more solid than anything she'd had before. He felt more solid, more dependable.

Maybe just because he's a doctor, she thought, laughing to herself as she watched Caroline order their coffee and a snack for each of them. Caroline had gotten a piece of spinach quiche for herself, Margo saw, and an apple fritter for her.

Caroline came and sat down a moment later, pushing the fritter and steaming mug of coffee toward Margo, who picked it up and inhaled the smell of cinnamon and caramel. She loved coffee, and she couldn't deny that Melanie made some of the best lattes she'd ever had. A lot of what she'd had in Evergreen Hollow was extra good, she thought. Maybe because it was all made with genuine care and passion, instead of out of sheer necessity or with corporate profits in mind.

"It's nice to have you back," Caroline said after a moment, startling Margo.

Her sister didn't say things like that often. In fact, she was pretty sure Caroline had been the most emotionally open she'd ever known her to be since Margo had been back, and she thought she probably had Nora's return earlier to thank for that. That, and Caroline finding Rhett.

"Has it been nice for you to see everyone again?" Caroline asked after a brief pause.

"It has," Margo admitted. "I have a whole other life though," she reminded Caroline gently, even as she wondered why she felt the need to make sure she constantly followed everything up with that caveat.

She was just afraid, she guessed, that everyone would assume she was going to stay in Evergreen Hollow. That she would follow in Nora's footsteps and reunite the whole Stoker family, and they'd all be settled down in Evergreen Hollow again. She'd only planned on staying for a few days for just that reason because she hadn't wanted anyone to get any ideas. And now, she very much felt the need to make sure that everyone knew she was staying on because of the accident, not because she'd changed her mind.

"I know," Caroline said slowly. "But you don't have that job anymore. I know that must have been really hard. I always knew how much you loved it."

"I always just thought you were mad I left," Margo muttered into her coffee. "I didn't think you really knew anything about what I did, honestly."

"Mom kept up with the magazine you worked for. We read your articles and saw the photos." Caroline paused. "I was upset about you and Nora leaving, yes. You already know, just like Nora does, that I felt as if a lot of the responsibility for our family was pushed onto me, just because I was the only one who stayed. But I've reconciled that feeling."

"I didn't know you read my stuff."

Margo felt her cheeks heat a little, but deep down, she also felt a spark of happiness. She was embarrassed to have assumed that they just didn't care at all, but she was glad that they had. It meant a lot to her that her mother and Caroline had kept up with her, and she wished she'd done a better job of keeping up with them.

"We missed you," Caroline said softly. "And I know you still have one foot in that other life you keep mentioning, and that's okay. But it's also possible that something new is about to begin." She took a slow breath, continuing before Margo could cut in. "It's okay not to be sure about what's going to happen in the future, you know. I still wonder about it all the time."

Margo looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?"

"Ah, well…" Caroline glanced out of the window, taking a sip of her coffee. "Sometimes I don't feel that I'm doing a good job with Jay," she admitted, looking back at Margo. "It's hard to know where to draw the line between being too strict, and too permissive. Rhett falls on the side of the latter a lot, I think. But I don't want to be the evil stepmother who is always laying down the law."

She gave Margo a lopsided smile. "I used to think I was never going to be a mother. After a certain point, I just assumed that time had passed for me. And now here I am." Her smile drooped a little. "I just really have no idea what I'm doing, to be honest. I'm making it up as I go. And a lot of the time I don't think I'm doing it right."

"I think that's just how it is when you have kids," Margo said with a laugh. "I don't know either, of course. But that's what I've always heard. And you're doing great," she added encouragingly. "You have a husband and a stepson who love you dearly. And they think you're perfect, which is all that matters."

Margo saw Caroline's face soften as she said it, and she could tell that she'd made her sister feel a little bit better. She was glad of that. But at the same time, it highlighted a little more how empty that other life that she was clinging to, now was.

She'd had her job. That had been her everything, and now it was gone. There was no boyfriend waiting for her, no family, nothing like that even glimmering on the horizon. No gaggle of friends waiting eagerly for her to straighten herself out and return.

There was an empty apartment, and no answers to the handful of papers and magazines that she'd sent her resume out to. That was it. She couldn't help but wonder if maybe Caroline had a point.

That didn't mean she needed to stay in Evergreen Hollow. But maybe being open to something new wasn't such a bad idea.

Maybe she did need to broaden those horizons a little bit.