Eggnog and Candy Canes: A Blueberry Springs Christmas Novella Read online

  “Is it warm in here?” she asked, briskly moving to the thermostat at the bottom of the stairs. Nope. Right on target.

  “I think half the town is here,” he whispered.

  “Told you it was nuts. If I hadn’t been working today I would have been here cooking at 5:00 a.m.”

  “The kitchen smells amazing. Rosemary and oregano with a bit of brown sugar.”

  “Be careful, my mom will think you’re trying to scope out her secret recipe.”

  “The one for her stuffing? I already got it.” He grinned as he flashed a recipe card covered in her mother’s tight handwriting.

  “She hasn’t even shared it with me!” Katie made a grab for the card, just about knocking over an inflatable Santa propped near the staircase, but Nash, with a quick smile, flicked it out of reach.

  “I have spent years winning over this town with my discretion and—”

  “And inability to let it slip who took a pregnancy test or is knocking on death’s door.”

  “Katie!” called her mother from the kitchen. The carol “Little Drummer Boy” began on the stereo and Oz’s voice drifted out of the living room.

  Katie slipped behind Nash, hoping to remain invisible for a few more moments. She’d already spent her weekend baking enough cookies to feed the entire town, or at least the massive crowd bursting out of her parents’ living room. In fact, clusters of guests were drifting to the small corner where she and Nash were hiding, signaling that it was almost time to play mini hostess for her mother.

  “That used to bother me quite a bit,” Nash was saying, in regards to the fact that most of Blueberry Springs’s medical staff didn’t keep patient health matters particularly confidential. “In fact, while I know you and I never saw eye to eye on some things, I always appreciated your professionalism and quiet candor.”

  “Thank you.” Katie placed a hand on his chest, aiming to redirect him so they could avoid Mary Alice. Electricity shot up her arm and Nash rested his hand over hers, his eyes bright. Everything in her body told her it had been too long since a man had gazed at her like that.

  Wow.

  “Now I know why you came back, you sly dog.” Mary Alice’s eyes crinkled with delight as she elbowed her way between the two of them.

  “Because I missed you, of course,” Nash answered, placing a chaste kiss on the older woman’s cheek. “Lovely to see you, even though you haven’t listened to your doctor’s orders and quit smoking.”

  Mary Alice gave him a bashful smile that caused Katie’s jaw to drop in shock. “I only smoke when I am stressed and missing my little Nashikins.” She patted his cheek affectionately.

  “All the time, then?” he replied.

  “Not coming to my house for dinner? How about tomorrow?”

  What in the name of all things holy had transpired between these two? Katie wondered. Mary Alice had practically run him out of town years ago and now the two of them were kind of gross, even if it was merely a platonic weirdness going on between them. “Mary Alice?”

  The gossip blinked as though coming to, and took a giant step back, landing against Angelica Reiter and her tray of bacon-wrapped delicacies. They scattered across the floor, leaving snail-like grease trails.

  Katie’s mother gazed at Mary Alice in disbelief, then the two women dived for the appetizers, muttering about a thirty-second rule.

  Nash and Katie shared a glance.

  “Want a rum and eggnog?” she asked.

  “I’ve heard about your mom’s potent eggnog, so yes,” he said quietly. “I think that would be in order.”

  Katie pushed him to the left, skirting the room that contained Beth and Oz. Ignoring her mother’s hints about someone getting a cloth to wipe the floor, she ducked into the kitchen. If she started helping now, she wouldn’t finish for days.

  “There’s my girl! The best nurse in town!” her father said, bursting in through the back door. “And hanging out with Dr. Leham.”

  Harvey gave her a wink, and she rolled her eyes. “He was spending the evening alone, Dad.”

  “Not what I heard, but lovely to have you choose our home tonight, Dr. Leham.”

  “Nash, please,” the doctor insisted, shaking the man’s hand.

  Harvey leaned in to give Katie a kiss on the cheek. “Don’t you look lovely. And I noticed your festive scrubs earlier. Good call, Angelica, dear!” he said loudly. He held a palm against his gut and winced. “Stay away from the cabbage rolls.”

  “They’re fine. You’re just eating too much,” Angelica said from the doorway. Her curled bangs had stuck to her forehead and her necklace was off-kilter, but she was smiling.

  “I need an extension cord,” her husband said.

  “What for?”

  “Frankie, Devon, and I are placing Benny’s star up on the roof.”

  “There’s one in the car.”

  Her father stomped back out into the cold and Nash muttered, “The night shift might be looking at more sutures for the boys.”

  Katie smiled and adjusted her mom’s pendant, then stepped back, bumping into the open fridge door. Beth Reiter, her sister-in-law and best friend, appeared as the door closed. She was also the ex-fiancée of the man who had gently rested a hand on Katie’s waist so she wouldn’t back into him. A warm hand that fell from her waist, leaving her feeling cold.

  “Beth, you look lovely.” Nash was around Katie in a flash, his lips on Beth’s cheek, which was turned up in offering.

  “She glows,” Katie said, clearing her throat, still unable to believe just how beautiful Beth was, four and a half months pregnant with her and Oz’s second child. Her skin looked healthier than any commercial Katie had ever seen, and her hair had a glossy sheen that no amount of product or expert hands had ever been able to produce on Katie’s own locks. “She should be on the cover of a pregnancy magazine.”

  Beth blushed and waved the compliment away. Oz came up behind his wife, nuzzled her neck and clenched her in a careful bear hug before looking up at Nash. “Hey.”

  “Seriously, Oz. Where are your manners?” Katie scolded. “Don’t be so primal. You already pissed on her, dragged her back to your cave and forced her to carry your offspring. Twice. Try saying hello nicely.”

  “There wasn’t much resistance,” Oz said, his eyes on Nash.

  “All right. Who wants eggnog?” Katie began sloshing the drink into cups, handing them out and hoping her mother hadn’t skimped on the rum—which she had done the year after Oz ended up in the drunk tank due to indulging in a bit too much in hopes of soothing his broken heart, courtesy of the two ex-lovers standing mere feet apart.

  Thank goodness Will had just up and left Katie. It made for a clean break. A fresh start. Sort of inspiring and exciting, if she thought about it, actually.

  Hmm. Shouldn’t she feel more heartbroken?

  Nah, probably not. Anyway, it was hard to mourn when you still had hope. Hope that your man would come back for you. Then Will and Nash could fight over her, Neanderthal-style, as Nash had over Beth. Total turn-on.

  Katie almost laughed. Nash would fight with her, yes. Over her, no. Her mind was running away without its good friend, logic.

  “You okay?” Beth asked, pulling her aside.

  “Of course. What makes you think I’m not?”

  “You gave me spiked eggnog.”

  “Really, Beth. A little alcohol won’t hurt…” Katie scrunched her eyes, fighting off the desperate feeling that was washing over her. Envy. She wanted what her best friend had.

  She switched Beth’s cup for one from the unspiked bowl, then herded her friend, her sibling, and Nash into the dining room, where her mother had begun ordering people to serve themselves.

  A massive turkey dinner with all the trimmings was laid out, along with egg rolls, cabbage rolls and so many other dishes Katie didn’t know where to start. She picked up a pile of wreath-patterned paper plates and began passing them out, to help keep the buffet line moving.

  “I’m surprised y
ou didn’t buy more of these holiday-themed fold-up chairs,” she joked to her mother as she whisked one forward for Beth’s grandmother. The chair backs were printed with Elvis Presleys dressed as Santa.

  “That was all they had.” Her mother wrung her hands and frowned, the line between her eyes deepening as she calculated the number of chairs and people needing them. Katie felt a pang of compassion for the woman. She understood wanting everything to be perfect, and if this had been her own shindig, she’d be two sheets to the wind by now in order to try and combat the stress of it all.

  “It’s fine, Mom. You’ve done well. People can sit on the stairs and floor. They won’t mind.”

  “I need to check on the pies.” Her mother hurried off and Katie turned to find Nash and Oz glowering at each other from across the room.

  The front door banged shut and Katie stepped around the corner to greet her father. “You look pale,” she said, taking his coat. “You feeling all right?”

  “Just about fell off that roof, is all.”

  “Dad!”

  “What? It’s nothing. I’m here, aren’t I? And the star is in place. Where’s the food?”

  Katie pointed to the mob surrounding the table. Her mother had checked on her pies and was now scolding her nephew, Justin, about how he’d made Katie work the holiday. Katie gave her cousin a small shake of the head, letting him know she’d knee him in the chestnuts roasting over his personal fire if he so much as let on that she had more to do with her taking those shifts than he did.

  To her left, she overheard someone asking Nash why he didn’t fight harder for a nice woman like Beth, when he had all those fancy things to offer. A pang of guilt hit Katie and she moved through the crowd to edge him somewhere safe.

  Justin’s smile tightened as Katie gave him an extra glower for good measure before reaching Nash. Her cousin turned away slightly, code for “Message received. Like my nuts. Will not rat you out.”

  She owed him one. And she owed Nash, too. But how would she ever repay him? She still barely even liked him.

  * * *

  “I am so sorry, Nash.” Katie settled herself next to the doctor near the backyard fire pit. She’d managed to carve out the drift the small bench was hiding in, and set them up with a cozy little blanket-lined niche to enjoy their meal away from all the hubbub and nosy questions. Gentle flakes drifted down to rest on their coats, melting slowly in the fire’s heat.

  “Sorry for what?” he asked.

  “For that.” Katie waved a hand toward the house, where the windows were fogged, lights and merriment giving it a contented glow.

  “I knew what I’d be facing by coming back.”

  “Then why did you do it?”

  “I was starting to feel as though I’d left something important behind.” He used a stick to poke at the fire. “Like I had overlooked something good. I figured the best way to sort it all out was to come visit.” He tossed the stick in the flames. “And what better excuse than filling in for Dr. Nesbit?”

  Katie swallowed. Why did it feel as though he was talking about leaving her behind? Had being on the rebound finally kicked in with its steel-toed boots, causing her to lust after the first man who came along? Because why would Nash come back for her, of all people? She’d never once given him an inkling of hope that they could be anything more than fire and water.

  “Plus,” he continued, “I owed Dr. Nesbit a favor for helping me once. The least I could do was help him out during the giving season. Because despite what you might think, I’m not all evil, Katie.”

  The crackling of a log broke the silence.

  “I wouldn’t be sitting here if I thought you were evil,” Katie said quietly.

  “Thanks. And for making sure I wasn’t alone tonight. Or being pumped by Mary Alice.” He smiled.

  “But what about tomorrow? It’s Christmas. Where will you be?”

  “I’m working.”

  “So am I. Our shifts don’t last all day, unfortunately.”

  “I’m not inviting myself to family events.”

  “You’re at this one.”

  “Hardly family.” Setting his plate aside, he gestured to the stuffed house.

  “Blueberry Springs is family, and you used to live here, so you don’t get a free pass into spending Christmas alone.”

  He gave her a soft smile and she felt herself getting too comfortable.

  “You and your stupid budgets,” Katie went on. “You know how much crap I got on my fingers when you decided we could save a thousand dollars a year on toilet paper in order to help fund that new MRI machine?” She held up a mittened hand. “Way too freaking much!”

  He was close to her, his eyes a perfect blue. Mesmerizing. Intelligent.

  She sniffed and turned away. Those eyes were part of the man who used to infuriate her, and she was in trouble right now because she couldn’t find that fury. She couldn’t even dig into that anger behind the long-ago TP injustice. All she could think about was how his MRI machine had saved her nephew.

  Nash had edged closer. She didn’t know whether to lean in or stand up.

  “The MRI machine helped save little Benji when he fell off the change table at Benny’s restaurant a few months ago,” she finally said.

  “Beth’s son?”

  “Yeah. My brother’s little guy.”

  Nash kissed her. He leaned in, his lips against hers. And while she loved the warmth of his wet tongue against her cold lips, all she could think was that he wanted to be kissing her best friend, Beth, not her.

  “Are you happy, Katie?” he asked, so close she got lost in the clouds of their warm breaths.

  “Happy?” she squeaked.

  He’d said her name. He knew who he was kissing.

  Her.

  And suddenly that felt important, and so did his question. When had anyone asked if she was happy?

  How about never.

  “What’s happy?” She placed her mitts on either side of his mouth and drew him closer, kissing away the cold freshness on his lips.

  “I used to wonder the same,” he murmured.

  And then he’d found Beth. Lost her. Was likely here to try and get her back.

  Katie needed to distract him. She pulled him close, giving him her best kiss, hoping to steal his mind, his thoughts. Maybe even save her brother and his hard-won marriage.

  When Nash pulled back from her kiss, his blue eyes were clear and dreamy. “Katie Reiter, I had no idea you could kiss like that.” He cozied up to her again and for a second she wondered whether this really was about her and not Beth.

  Was it Katie’s turn? Her competitive edge sharpened like a blade.

  “I think there are a lot of things about me you don’t know, Dr. Leham.”

  “Dr. Leham. Now you’re calling me that.” He shook his head in amusement.

  Again that softer, teasing side she hadn’t expected. Had he really changed? Or was this the side that Beth had always seen and ultimately loved? The same side that had lured her friend into becoming his project—a project to turn Beth, a country gal who wanted nothing more than a family and comfy pair of jeans, into a sophisticated career woman?

  “I think calling me something a little less formal might be more fitting.” He tucked a strand of hair behind Katie’s ear.

  “What game are we playing?”

  “Is this a game?” He drew her chin up so he could match his lips to hers.

  Katie gently pushed him away. “I don’t know. I’m on the rebound and you’re…”

  “What?”

  “You’re you.” Divorced. Jilted groom. Former know-it-all jerk, possibly; the jury was still out on whether this new persona was for real or not. Best friend’s ex… Those were just a few things that popped to mind.

  “What does that mean?”

  She faced the fire, arms crossed.

  “Katie?” He slipped his gloved hand into her mittened one.

  “You like things a certain way. Your way.”

  “S
o do you.”

  “And you are my best friend’s ex.”

  He withdrew his hand. “Right.”

  They sat in silence, the warmth of the fire battling the air’s chill.

  “What happened with you and Will?”

  Katie didn’t answer.

  “Did he finally drive you around the bend?”

  It was a serious question, not meant to offend, but it hit a mark within her. “Excuse me?”

  Nash draped an arm around her, keeping her close. “You are neat, organized, know what you want and won’t let anything stand in your way. Will is a lot like your father—good with numbers, but content to sit back and let you lead. No matter how strong we are, sometimes we all need someone else to pull the wagon for a while.” Nash paused as though collecting his thoughts. “Katie, you need someone by your side who can help kick the hurdles out of your way. Not doing it for you. Not watching you do it. You need a wingman.” He turned her face to him again, eyes meeting hers. “You need me. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  Nash was really laying down the cards. He was cocky. Confident. Sure of himself and so incredibly correct in terms of what she needed in a man. And they would be an amazing team. They’d get stuff done. He’d understand where she was coming from.

  But while he made a good argument, was he really the missing piece?

  She stood. “I’m not sure we can do this.”

  “Is it the long-distance thing?”

  “Best friend thing.”

  “Becoming best friends takes time.”

  “I meant Beth,” Katie snapped.

  “I can talk to her.”

  “No, I can.”

  “She and I are still friends,” he said.

  “Yeah, and so are we.”

  “Are we going to fight over who knows Beth best?”

  “This is my hurdle, Nash.”

  “Then it is all yours.”

  Katie sat, fighting a smile. This? Yeah, okay, this could work. “Fine. But what are we actually doing? What are we asking her?”

  She watched Nash’s expression as he contemplated his answer, loving that she could talk so openly and bluntly with a man.

  But this one? Oh, heavens. What was she thinking? This wouldn’t last one second. And they were moving so fast it was ridiculous. This was what had happened with Beth. He’d come in, told her what she needed to hear and swept her away just like that.