A Mountain Springs Christmas

Chapter 1

one

KATIE

Katie picked up a sprig of spruce and a few stems of berries and placed them in the centerpiece she was working on. “I want a guy who will serenade me. Even if he can’t sing.”

“And I want…” her roommate, best friend, and owner of this shop, Emmalee, said as she trimmed a bunch of amaryllis stems, “a guy with a sense of adventure who never gets lost.”

Katie turned the centerpiece she was working on around, checking it from all angles. “And, of course, a guy who could come up with the perfect late-night snack at a moment’s notice.”

Emmalee stopped her trimming to give Katie a flat stare. “Really. You would sit on Santa’s lap, look him straight in the eyes, and ask for a man who will make you pizza rolls at midnight.”

“I’m sure he’s heard more ridiculous requests.”

“Okay, then.” Emmalee grinned. “I want a guy who’s a gourmet chef and specializes in breakfast foods.”

It was ironic that Emmalee brought up the subject of qualities they’d like in a man, since it hadn’t even been fifteen minutes since she said she was never going to date another man again, ever. Katie, though? She was always down to have fun casual dating. That was, of course, until the right man swept her off her feet.

And she’d made it a goal to stop wanting to date a guy based on first impressions so she could up her chances of finding that man who would do the sweeping. Usually, she found out after a date or two that a guy wasn’t quite what she’d thought at first impression. Which wasn’t always bad— she’d dated quite a few guys who made for interesting dates but didn’t have a chance at being her happily ever after. But now, she was all-in on slowing down and finding out more first.

She just didn’t really believe that getting swept off her feet would happen. At least not until she was at least thirty. Six more years wasn’t that long to wait, right? Until then, she was going to keep building her videography business and helping Emmalee build her floral business.

It actually worked out well for both of them. This flower shop was barely big enough for the two of them to work in— any customers who came had to stand outside at the window to place or pick up an order. But it was adorable and was right on Main Street in their small town of Mountain Springs. Emmalee got to do what she loved, and Katie got a part-time job that worked with the crazy schedule she often had as she worked to accommodate her clients’ videography needs. Plus, it was fun to work side by side with her friend and roommate.

And okay, sometimes when there were big events, like prom, a wedding, or Valentine’s day, the flower shop wasn’t big enough, and her roommate’s business spilled into their apartment. On the plus side, though, their apartment often smelled great.

And right now, the flower shop smelled pretty incredible. Christmas floral arrangements meant a lot of poinsettias, azaleas, roses, orchids, and pine cones. Combine it with the scent of pine sprigs, and it might just be Katie’s favorite scent. Add in the Christmas music playing through a small Bluetooth speaker on the counter and their view of all the Christmas decorations that were currently going up on Main Street, and Katie was ready to dream of a white Christmas, deck the halls (or the living room) of their apartment, rock around their Christmas tree (once they got it put up) and jingle all the way to her Christmas shopping.

As well as Emmalee’s business was going, it still had its feast and famine moments. Sometimes, Emmalee could use all the help that Katie could possibly give, and at other times, there wasn’t enough business for Katie to work at all. She definitely couldn’t rely on working at the flower shop to cover her expenses.

Not that Katie wanted to ever have to rely on Emmalee’s business for the ability to pay her bills. Especially because Katie was really good at videography. It was her passion, and every client raved about the final product. Making customers happy came easy for her. In a small town, though, word of mouth only went to so many people.

Her videography business might still be a fledgling one, but she had big plans for it. And one of those was to make enough in her busier months to not only cover the less busy months but to give her a big, “I’ve got this” cushion. There was nothing scarier than thinking that maybe she couldn’t get all she needed on her own.

Katie sighed. “I’ve got to find a way to get more business. And not just soon, but on a regular basis.”

“Do you have any ideas?”

“That are cheap or free until I can build up an advertising budget? Beyond trying to convince people in Mountain Springs and Nestled Hollow that they’d benefit by having a professional videographer at more events in their lives and posting about my business on social media in neighborhood groups outside of our area, nothing yet. But if I don’t find a way to grow my business soon, then I’m going to be living out of my car.”

“You’re not going to have to live out of your car.”

“I’ll be living out of my car and eating those cheap packages of Ramen. Which might not work out so well, because I don’t exactly have a kitchenette in my car. Oh! Maybe I could get some of those Styrofoam cups of soup that you just add water to. Then maybe I could use a convenience store’s microwave or something.”

“Don’t be silly. Your bedroom is still the same as it was the day you moved out, right? You could just move back in with your parents.”

Wait. Was that why they kept it the same instead of turning it into the guest bedroom that they said they were going to? In case her business failed? “I’m not moving back home. That would mean admitting defeat or admitting that I need help.”

“And you can do neither. Okay, I’ll tell you what. If your business fails and you end up living out of your car, then I will move into my car, too, in solidarity with you. We can park next to each other, open the doors between our cars, and put a big blanket over it. It can be a fort and we can pretend we are just having a sleepover like when we were kids.”

“You’d do it out of solidarity? Or because you couldn’t pay for rent on your own?”

Emmalee shrugged. “Call it whatever.”

Katie was just putting the arrangement she’d finished in the fridge when her phone rang, lighting up the screen with a picture of her dad smiling back at her. She answered and said, “Hi, Dad. You’re on speaker phone— Emmalee is here.”

She and Emmalee always answered calls they weren’t willing to take outside in the cold on speaker phone. If the other person in this small space had to listen to one side of the conversation, it was only polite to let them hear the other half, too. Plus, it kept their hands free for working.

She grabbed a new vase as her dad said, “Hi, Sweetie. Hi, Emmalee. Okay, so you know how I’ve been working on that project to rebuild the Glaciers’ team image?”

Katie nodded. “Especially after all the damage that the Player Who Shall Not Be Named did.” For not being a huge fan of professional hockey, Katie knew a good number of random things about Denver’s team. Mostly because her dad was in charge of branding for the team. She just didn’t know much about most of the players.

“Exactly. Well, my plan to have the players spread out to help out with Christmas festivities in towns all around the state is a go. My team and I have jumped through all the hoops to get it approved and everyone on board, even the players.”

“That’s great, Dad,” Katie said as she tilted her head at the roses she had just put into the vase, seeing if it looked like enough to create the picture she had in her head.

“I think so, too. And I am calling in an official capacity for the Denver Glaciers to offer a short-term contract to you to be a videographer for one of the players.”

“Wait. For real?” The thrill of a job for her very own company with the Denver Glaciers hit at the same time as the deep-in-her-soul resistance she always had to people trying to do things for her that she could do herself. “Dad, I can’t take it. I need to build my company by getting jobs because of my own merit, not because I’m your daughter.”

“You did get this because of your own merit.”

Katie picked up a stem with a few white azalea blooms and dark green leaves but didn’t do anything with it. “I’m listening.”

“We asked the players to submit names of towns they’d like to do some Christmas outreach with. Then my team and I split the state into areas and I assigned each area to someone on my team. We want videographers local to each area we are sending players— we aren’t just doing this for our image, we’re also doing it to help out the communities who support us, which includes supporting local videographers.

“Each of my team members scoured the areas assigned to them for the best videographers. Then they brought their list to our meeting and, area by area, we voted on which videographer to ask.

“I knew you wouldn’t want me to, so I didn’t say a single thing about you. My team found you on their own and had no idea at the time that there was a relation between me and KatieVid. When the portfolios of videographers in our area came up for a vote, they chose you unanimously.”

“They chose me? For real? Without knowing who I am?”

“For real.”

She might have squealed. Or maybe it was Emmalee. It was probably both of them. “I’ll take the job!” She had filmed and edited videos for quite a few sporting events (high school games and little kids’ soccer matches) and plenty of Christmas events. Lots of weddings, milestone birthdays, concerts, recitals, performances, and the occasional family reunion.

Never anything like filming a professional hockey player doing town Christmas events, though. To be able to put the Denver Glaciers on her site as one of her clients was huge . “When do I start?”

“Likely within the next week or so, depending on the player’s schedule— I’ll get you the details as soon as I can. A lot of the players are set for different locations, but ours isn’t yet. I’ll still get you the contract to sign soon, and then we’ll get with the mayor and come up with a plan.”

After thanking her dad profusely, she hung up the phone.

“This is huge for your business,” Emmalee said.

“My website is going to look so great having the Denver Glaciers’ logo in my client’s section! I might be able to start getting business outside of the Mountain Springs area. I might be able to see some real growth.” Katie had set some major goals for her business that she had hoped to accomplish by the end of the year, and she was worried that she wouldn’t meet the goals. This would definitely help.

She and Emmalee just grinned at each other. Then Emmalee asked, “Which player do you think you’re going to get? Oh, maybe it’ll be Bradshaw.”

“Which one is he again?” Katie really should memorize the players some time. She didn’t need to know them as well as Emmalee did, but her dad had worked for the Glaciers for five years— she should know them by now. She just hadn’t really found a love for the sport yet.

“The super hot one with the dark wavy hair. The recently single super hot one. I hope it’s him. Ooo, maybe it’ll be the bad boy, Ackerman. Although, no, your dad would never assign him to you. In fact, if there isn’t a player that your dad approves of for his youngest daughter, he’ll likely assign a married player to Mountain Springs.”

Katie nodded. She was totally fine with that. “Maybe it’ll be that one guy with the adorable wife and two little kids. The one that just had a baby.”

“Davis? I’m obsessed with him and his cute family. Seriously, relationship goals there. If I was going to ever get into a relationship again, which I’m not.”

Katie patted her friend on the shoulder. “Of course, you aren’t.” She totally was. “And my dad said he asked the players where they wanted to go, so I’m sure he’ll honor their wishes first.”

“True,” Emmalee said, tapping a rose against her lips as she pondered, the top thorn getting dangerously close to her chin with each tap. “So it could be anyone. I would assign you homework to learn who all of the players are, but we both know you’re not going to do it unless someone makes you. So, as your boss in this shop, for the next two hours that you’ll be on duty, I am your teacher. I’m going to give you a rundown of all twenty-one players. By the time we finish today, you’ll be able to recognize any of them on sight. Because girl, you need to know who is on your own team.”

She really did. As someone who grew up a thirty-minute drive from Denver, the Glaciers were “her team.” As Reid Allred’s daughter, they were doubly her team. By blood. Plus, she needed to be prepared for whichever player she got assigned, so she nodded. “Let’s do this.”