Christmas in Evergreen Tidings of Joy - Nancy Naigle Page 0,70
on top of the mug to allow the tea to steep held a giant shortbread cookie in the shape of a star. “I thought you might enjoy one of those. It’s one of the cookies you and Katie made from my old recipe.”
“I see that.” He’d recognized the shape from the big copper cookie cutter immediately. A smile spread across his face. There was nothing subtle about his grandmother. He’d remember the fun they’d had making cookies together forever. “Thank you, Nan. You really do always think of everything.”
“You get that from me too.” She patted the desk. “Chase that dream.”
He wasn’t entirely sure if she meant the job interview or Katie, but he had every intention of putting all of his attention on both.
For the next three days, he spent his time working on articles. He interviewed Ezra before he left for Boston, and Thomas about his logging camps and what had made him decide to set up shop in Evergreen for his headquarters. After choir practice, he accidentally ended up interviewing Hannah, who, thank goodness, didn’t seem upset by the unscheduled intrusion.
“You know,” Hannah said to Ben. “You bring up Katie quite a bit. I don’t mind at all, but I thought I might point it out. You know, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m that transparent, huh?”
“Oh, yeah. Don’t let her get away. She’s the real deal.” Hannah clapped her hands together, then pushed them to her knees. “I’m so in love, I can’t wait for everyone in the world to feel it too.”
“On that note, I think I have all I need from you. Thanks for letting me interview you for my article. You’re the best.” Ben got up and marked her off his list of interviews for the day. Next stop, Daisy’s Country Store.
He spent the rest of the afternoon stocking shelves with Lisa at Daisy’s Country Store and hearing her tell of her fancy Boston business and buying trips to faraway places, followed by her transition to Evergreen.
He and Carol spent a whole day alongside Joe in Kringle Kitchen, making those ever-famous kringles and shipping them out to customers who couldn’t make it through the holiday without one, even though their plans wouldn’t allow another holiday vacation to Evergreen.
And Michelle, the first woman mayor, not only had an interesting story to share about how she’d transitioned from being a kid who’d grown up here and come back after college, but also one about her big transition from education to public service.
He knew the stories, but hearing them retold from their own perspectives, their point of view, brought new facts to light, and as he was going through his notes, the angle for the story he wanted to tell about Evergreen became perfectly clear.
He worked on the article until he’d polished it to perfection. Then read it out loud and made a final pass of tweaks. Finally satisfied, he hand-delivered it to the editor and owner of the Evergreen Mirror, who read it on the spot.
The editor nodded as he read the pages, then stood and paced, even laughing once. He shook his head, rubbed his chin, then sat back down behind his desk. “I’m running this on the front page,” he said.
All of Ben’s nervous energy came out in a laugh. “Really?”
“Absolutely, and your timing couldn’t be more perfect. It’ll be in tomorrow’s paper.”
That was a stroke of luck, because Ben hadn’t even considered that the local paper only came out every other week. “Wow.”
“I wondered when you’d get back around to writing again. You were always such a talent. I’m glad you shared this with me first.”
Ben couldn’t believe how good it felt, and now he’d have something new to take along to that interview in the city.
He walked over to the skating rink. The heft and craftsmanship of this bridge had always been such a wonder to him. He’d have loved to have seen it constructed. There weren’t many people on the ice this afternoon, just a couple of speed skaters racing around in circles, their scarves drifting in the wind behind them.
The last time he’d stood here overlooking the ice, he’d been with Katie. He pulled out his phone and flipped through the pictures. They’d packed in quite a bit of fun in her visit.
Picture by picture, he relived their time together. The silly antics between them…and to think it had all begun with a clumsy misstep on the Evergreen Express that had landed her practically in his