Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Nora woke up early the morning of the festival, just after the sun came up. She'd barely been able to sleep all night, caught between excitement and nerves.

After Aiden had pulled the truck out of the snowdrift the night before, she'd followed him back to town, and they'd dropped the generator off at the event center. Despite how late it was, he'd helped her hook it up and made sure it worked—and it had, perfectly. He'd come back to The Mistletoe Inn with her then, sitting up late with her and helping her go over last-minute things. It had been nice. Just the two of them with cocoa and cookies, going over all of her lists and checking them twice.

She had to admit that he and Sabrina were right. The festival was going to be amazing, and more so because of how it had ended up coming about. Doing it the way that had been suggested to her—involving the town and all of the locals—meant it had been as much about the journey to get there as the destination. Everyone had gotten to pitch in and help, and instead of it being a burden, it had only made everyone that much more excited to enjoy the final product.

Nora got up, putting on jeans and a Christmas-y red sweater, along with her trusty peacoat, scarf, and Aiden's necklace. She put on her Hunter boots instead of her ankle boots this morning, figuring she'd be doing a decent amount of walking around in the snow. She could already smell breakfast from downstairs, telling her that her mother had been just as much of an early riser today.

She grabbed an apple-cinnamon muffin and a coffee-to-go downstairs, giving her mother a quick hug and her father a smile. "I'll see you at the festival!" she said excitedly, catching Caroline's eye as her sister came in from the backyard. Caroline was always up early to take care of the animals, and today was no exception.

Rhonda and Donovan waved at her, Donovan smiling at his daughter over his morning paper. "See you soon," they both said, and Nora went into the living room, grabbing the reindeer costume that she had ordered a few days ago. Bethany had finally talked Aiden into wearing his, and she'd thought it would be fun to get one to match.

"I never thought I'd see the day," Caroline teased, walking in just as Nora was zipping it up. "My fashion-forward sister dressed as a reindeer. Love really gets in your head, doesn't it?"

Nora rolled her eyes at the good-natured teasing, choosing to ignore the last part. It made her think of what might happen between her and Aiden after the holidays were over—or rather, what might not happen, and what she actually wanted. All things she wasn't prepared to face today, of all days.

"I'll see you there," she said instead. "Don't forget the chickens!" she added, flashing Caroline a grin, and her sister shook her head, still laughing as she retreated into the kitchen.

All ready to go, Nora headed to the event center. The early morning went by in a flash, as she and Bethany and the other ladies finished all of the last-minute things needed to set up. The festival started at ten, and they had the lights on and the morning booths set up just as people started to arrive.

The excitement buzzing through the festival was palpable. Nora could feel it everywhere she went—in the townspeople manning the booths and events and the ones participating, in the tourists and visitors from the surrounding towns, all eager to see the Evergreen Snowman Festival. The space was packed, inside and out, and everyone was enthusiastic, laughing and having a good time. Nora felt the warm glow of it as she went from place to place, helping with small fixes and replenishing food platters and giving vendors a small break if they needed to run to get a snack or visit the bathroom. She couldn't remember ever having had so much fun at an event, and it made her happy to hear the talk of how much bigger the event was this year than any year before. All the talk and buzz surrounding it that they'd managed to generate had paid off.

Aiden stayed with her for most of the day, helping alongside her, and everyone who saw them loved their matching reindeer costumes. On any other day, Nora would have felt silly, but she didn't. It felt normal and fun, the kind of thing she never could have done with anyone else.

"Our past selves could never have imagined this," Aiden joked in the late afternoon, as he passed her a foam cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows. "Before you came back? Never. I would have thought you were way too cool to wear a reindeer outfit."

Nora took a grateful sip of the hot drink. Her lips were starting to feel a little numb from being outside for so long, despite how busy she'd been. "You have no idea how nerdy I can be," she teased.

"I'm looking forward to finding out." Aiden smiled at her, and her stomach fluttered. She liked the idea of that, she realized, as she looked up at him. She liked the idea of learning all of his little idiosyncrasies, and him learning hers. Of getting to know what their day to day would look like, if they were really together.

But that would only happen if they had more time together.

The thought stuck with her, as it had after Caroline's offhand comment that morning. But the day was going by in a blur, and she couldn't dwell on it too much in the midst of all of the fun and activity of the event.

"Nora!" Her mother came up to her, breathless, her cheeks pink above her scarf. She was glowing, and Nora looked at her, wondering what had gotten her so excited—beyond just the festival itself.

"What is it?"

"Your advertising campaign for the inn has worked wonders!" Rhonda smiled broadly at her daughter. "We're all booked out. The idea of centering it around the festival was perfect!"

Nora felt a warm glow, a matching smile spreading over her face. "I'm so glad." She gave her mother a quick hug, feeling happier than she would have thought possible a week ago. Everything was turning out better than she could possibly have hoped.

"We're almost out of fliers advertising it. We might be able to do some later bookings if there's still interest. Can you go over to the Gazette and print more?"

"Sure." Nora finished her cocoa, tossing the cup in the trash. "I'll be right back."

The music and festive sounds faded into the background as Nora headed over to the Gazette . She pushed the door open, heading down the hall to see about reprinting the file for the fliers. She doubted anyone was in today, but she could figure it out on her own.

She heard what sounded like soft sobs from Sabrina's office and stopped dead in her tracks.

The door was cracked open, so she couldn't help but see. To her surprise, Sabrina was sitting at her desk, tears streaming down her face. She looked miserable.

Nora didn't particularly like the woman, but she couldn't help feeling bad for her. Everyone was out having an amazing time, and for some reason, Sabrina was tucked away here, sobbing.

"What's wrong?" Nora nudged the door open, and Sabrina looked up, startled.

"I…" Her face flushed, and she looked away for a moment. "I feel so guilty."

Nora frowned, confused. "For what?"

"For endangering your life last night." The words came out quick, rushed, as if Sabrina could hardly bear to say it. But it didn't make Nora any less confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"I canceled the backup generator." Sabrina dabbed at her cheeks with a tissue. "I meddled with your plans for the festival. If I'd stayed out of it, you wouldn't have had to venture out in a snowstorm to keep the festival from falling apart. It's my fault, and?—"

"It's not your fault," Nora said gently, walking a little further into the office and stopping at the edge of the desk. "Look, I understand now that I was going overboard with the event. You were right, I was losing sight of the point of it. I understand now why you did what you did, a little better than I did before, at least. But…"

Nora hesitated. Might as well get it all out now.

"I don't understand why you seemed to have such an issue with me though," she continued. "It felt personal, not just about the festival. Even things that shouldn't have been a problem, like the generator, were still an issue. Do you just not like me?"

It was a blunt question, but it seemed to calm Sabrina down a little. She let out a long breath, wiping at her eyes, before refocusing on Nora.

"I was jealous," she admitted. "Truthfully? I always wanted to move somewhere like Boston—a big city—and level up my career the way you did. I wanted to work at a big newspaper, have all of those big career goals and meet them. But I didn't. Some of it had to do with my family, feeling like I needed to be here for them, and some of it was that I guess I just didn't have it in me. I didn't have the chance—some of it because of me, and some of it not. But I was jealous of you because you just took the leap and did it. Regardless of what anyone else thought or wanted."

Nora blinked, surprised. "I had no idea." She glanced around the office and back at Sabrina. "You do an incredible job, running this newspaper. You could do amazing things if you wanted to try and do exactly that. But?—"

She let out a breath, almost surprised at what she said next. "I wanted nothing more than to get out of here. To break free of Evergreen Hollow. Everyone knows that. But now that I'm back, I'm seeing how beautiful it all really is. And I've learned that sometimes chasing after what you think you want doesn't always lead to the fulfillment that you think it will."

Nora leaned against the desk, meeting Sabrina's eyes. "I got really caught up in that chase for something bigger and better, all the time. And I forgot to just look around and appreciate what I already had. It never felt like enough. But since I've been here, I've recognized the need to share in a victory and work together toward it. You're a big part of the community here. And you were a big part of the festival's success, whether you feel like it or not. I might not have seen all of that if you hadn't forced me to," she admitted.

Sabrina brightened a little, wiping away the last of her smudged mascara. "I'm sorry for being difficult."

"This entire Christmas season has been about resetting for me." Nora smiled encouragingly at her. "So why don't we reset and start over? I need to print some more fliers, and then let's go back to the festival and enjoy it."

Sabrina smiled. "Okay," she said, standing up and putting a hand out. "I like the sound of that."

Nora shook her hand, laughing a little. And then the two of them went to get the fliers and head back to the festival that they'd both put so much work into planning, reconciled at last.

A Christmas miracle, Nora thought wryly as they headed outside. But one that she was happy for.

It was shaping up to be the best Christmas she'd ever had.