Read Online Eggnog and Candy Canes: A Blueberry Springs Christmas Novella by Jean Oram - Free Book Online

hadn’t burned down the forest. Oh, and Amber—daughter of one of Benny’s long-standing waitresses, Gloria—had a new boyfriend who was away a suspicious amount of time. Not that Amber, who was gaga for the guy, seemed to see anything odd in that.
    “You know how you were talking outside your parents’ place last night about—”
    Katie leaped on him, finger pressed to his lips. “Shh!” She glanced up and down the hall, then dragged Nash off, seeking somewhere more private.
    More private, more private…where was that? The place was dead, but there was nowhere exactly private. Staff room? Amy could walk in. Operating room? Trey was cleaning it. ER? Someone might come in needing medical help. There was nowhere. Nowhere inside. She hip-checked the ER’s side door and pushed, using it like a plow. The snow had piled up so much that even with the entry’s mini overhang the drifts were blocking the way.
    “You don’t think people will be suspicious of us out in a snowstorm?” Nash shouted, above the wind howling through the doorway.
    Shards of ice and snow stung her cheeks. Wow! When had all this blown in? Not too long ago there had been beautiful, fat flakes blocking out the midday sun. Now it was a raging midafternoon blizzard.
    Katie pushed Nash back indoors. Well, mostly she hurtled back to his side, seeing as he’d been too smart to come out in the first place. He brushed the snow from her shoulders and smoothed her hair. “Cold enough for you?”
    “Shut up,” she muttered. “This is as private as it is going to get.”
    He sighed, his posture sagging in defeat. “Fine. I was talking to my friend Monica.” He lowered his voice as Katie shushed him. “And she says you can intern for her in Dakota. However long you need to figure out decorating. She does residential as well as businesses. Homes, hotels, building lobbies, you name it.”
    “You called her on Christmas Day?” Who was this woman to him?
    “Yes.”
    “Did you at least wish her a wonderful Christmas before asking a favor?”
    “She’s Jewish.”
    “I can’t really afford to be an intern, but thank you for asking her.”
    “She would pay you well.”
    Katie couldn’t meet his eyes. She hadn’t shared her dream with anyone because she knew they’d then expect her to seize the day, make it happen, then skip off into the tastefully decorated sunset. All the while adding commentary on why she wasn’t doing this, that or the other thing faster and better. Everyone would become an expert on her life, her career. But how could she make a living, picking out the right curtains to make a space feel homey? Who would pay for that sort of thing in Blueberry Springs? She’d have to leave everything: her hometown, her friends, her family, as well as a perfectly okay job.
    All she wanted was to be happy. Was that too much to ask?
    It probably wasn’t, seeing as Nash was here to lift her onto the stepping stone between where she was and where she wanted to be.
    The problem was, something like this would change her entire life.
    “You could stay with me, or Monica, until you found a place. Take your time and add some experience, build a client base and then go out on your own.”
    “Quit pushing me,” she whispered. This was just like with Beth. Nash had tried to make her into something she wasn’t. And now he was trying to change Katie—make her become a decorator. And even though it was her dream to change careers, there were a lot of good reasons why Katie hadn’t made that change on her own—and finding a place to intern wasn’t one of them. Nash only saw the end result and not the hitches along the way. If she followed the path to decorating she would change herself as well as her entire life, and, frankly, she wasn’t sure she was ready for that.
    “I’m sorry.” Nash pulled her close, hugging her with one arm. “I took it too far, too fast, didn’t I? Grabbed your idea and ran with it, forgetting it was yours.”
    She nodded