A Mountain Springs Christmas

Chapter 10

ten

KATIE

Things Katie did yesterday : worked most of the day at Emmalee’s flower shop, where they watched Christmas movies as they put together so many arrangements for people’s Christmas tables.

Saw several ads from the Glaciers with footage that she knew came from other videographers, and then stressed about the fact that she didn’t even have all of hers filmed yet and had sent in exactly zero clips so far.

Stopped by a shop in Mountain Springs to get a present for her brother-in-law, since she never got anything after Connor knocked into her at that department store in Denver.

Texted Connor several times about random things, including a picture she took of a life-size gingerbread man costume she saw at The Crafty One, suggesting that next year, he try it instead of an elf costume if he visits any schools.

Spent an hour editing the footage she’d gotten from the gingerbread house judging last night.

Spent way too much time replaying the parts where Connor talked about the creative details on the gingerbread houses that should be recognized and his advice to the five-year-old and twelve-year-old boys about hockey.

Went to the Waldrop home to film their big extended family Christmas party, where she caught their Aunt Martha accidentally setting her festive hat on fire with a candle, while their Uncle Bob dozed off and snored loudly into the microphone during karaoke.

Wondered how Connor was doing and how his flight was.

Looked up the score for his game. Several times. In between thinking about yesterday and how great it was to just chat with him for so long afterward.

Stayed up way too late editing more footage from the gingerbread house judging until she had something (but not everything) to send to the Glaciers, answered some emails, and worked on editing as much of her own family’s Christmas video footage as she could.

Things Katie had done so far today : laid in bed, thinking about how tired she was and how she wished she hadn’t stayed up so late last night. Although she wouldn’t have changed anything about how many times she re-watched the parts where he smiled at the camera and she wasn’t sure if it was an “I want to kiss you” smile or not. (She came to the conclusion… okay, strong suspicion , that it was, in fact, an “I want to kiss you” smile.)

And she thought about what she needed to do today— work a half day with Emmalee, edit a lot more footage, and then go on a hay ride with her family and one incredibly good-looking hockey player who also happened to be a great conversationalist.

The second she tossed off the covers and got out of bed, she wanted to get back in. Why was it so cold? Once in the hallway, she saw that Emmalee’s bedroom door was open and she wasn’t in there. Same with the bathroom. That was unusual. She walked toward the kitchen and living room area, where it only got colder.

As soon as she turned the corner to the living room, she saw an explosion of red, white, and yellow flowers and winter greenery. Flowers spilled out of boxes and containers, and greenery was spread across their coffee table and couch. Vases, pots, and containers were stacked up in the corner and in front of their TV. Rolls of satin ribbons, floral tape, and bags of cranberries were overflowing from a box onto the floor. Every available surface from their front door all the way through the living room and half of the kitchen table was swathed in blossoms and leaves.

Emmalee hurried over from where she’d been getting something out of the fridge. “I’m so sorry for taking up all the space! And sorry about it being so cold in here. All this really should be in a fridge, so I had to open the windows.”

“Emmalee, what— ” She noticed for the first time that Emmalee looked ready to walk out the door. She quickly looked at her watch— they weren’t usually at work for another hour and a half— before she met her friend’s eyes again. “How did this happen?”

“I know. I’m such a sucker. I said I wasn’t going to take any more orders, but then a friend who’s a florist in Nestled Hollow Facetimed me from the hospital. She’s getting an emergency appendectomy, but she was supposed to do the flowers for a wedding tomorrow. She and the bride were desperate, so what was I supposed to do? They didn’t have other options. So, I told her she could send everything here. I, uh, really wasn’t expecting it to be quite this much.”

Katie ran her hands through her hair and just kept them there, holding her hair away from her face, taking in the sheer mass of flowers— while trying not to shiver to death. “How are we going to do all this?”

Emmalee shook her head. “No, this is not on you. I am the one who said yes to this. You’ve got your own massive deadlines to worry about.”

Yeah, this was Emmalee’s problem, but Katie was her employee and her roommate and her best friend. She had a responsibility to help her, so this felt like her task, too. “But seriously, Emmalee, how is this possibly going to get done by tomorrow?”

“I don’t know. I’m going in to work now to get started on all the regular orders we still need to fulfill there. Plus, lots of people are going to be picking up orders all day. Then I’ll have to find a way to do this after work and just… not sleep?” She grimaced. “Energy drinks for the win!”

“Okay,” Katie said, “I’ll hurry to get ready so I can start on it. Will I be more help working here or at the shop?”

“No, you can’t. You have your own crazy deadlines today.”

Katie shook her head. “I had already planned on working a half day. I’ll help out for as long as I can.” Maybe she could edit faster. Or stay up longer. Emmalee was going to need as many hours of her assistance as she could spare.

Emmalee let out a huge breath of relief. “You are a godsend. Working here would be better. I’ll email you the list— it also has pictures of what the centerpieces and bridesmaid bouquets and boutonnieres and a few other things are supposed to look like.” She pulled out her phone and forwarded Katie the email as she headed back into the kitchen, and Katie followed.

“I’ll get right on it,” Katie said as Emmalee sliced a bagel in half and started spreading cream cheese on it.

“Before I go, you have to tell me how things are going with Connor Greene. Was the gingerbread judging event any better?”

Katie leaned against the counter. “Last night was amazing. I even got that feeling of buzzing in my mind. You know the one where there’s that excitement of possibilities and, I don’t know, endorphins or whatever it is that makes you happy and hopeful and kind of swoony. I might have gotten some flutters with guys lately, but it’s been so long since I’ve had the buzzing in my mind.”

“Oh, wow— you’re falling for him! I figured you’d get a crush because the guy seems super crush-worthy in every way, but wow!”

“I know. Is it crazy? I mean, I might only see him until the day after Christmas.”

“Then you make sure to enjoy every moment of the next four days.” She squealed, gave Katie a hands-free hug where she just squeezed with her arms since her hands each held half a bagel, and then said, “I’ve got to run. Call me with any questions, okay?”

And then she was out the door, not taking the cold with her, sadly.

Normally, Emmalee’s advice to enjoy the next four days would be speaking Katie’s language, because she was always up for dating someone who was going to make life more fun. But she wasn’t sure she could be so casual with Connor. She’d been waiting for someone to come along who would just kind of grab her by the heart, and Connor felt like that someone. And when someone had your heart and just left, that leaving wasn’t painless.

It took nearly an hour just to get everything organized and to figure out which flowers went with which arrangements, which bases to use, what ribbon, and to get it arranged in an accessible location. It took another thirty minutes to figure out how many flowers went in each centerpiece, boutonniere, corsage, and bridesmaid bouquet, and which ones to put aside for the floral swags.

It didn’t help that the place was so crowded that she could barely move through the forest of flowers, or that she was wearing a coat, gloves, sweat pants, and a knit hat like she was outside in the winter. Which she practically was.

She was sitting at the table, working on one of the mothers’ corsages when she got a text on her phone and leaned over to look at it.

Connor: What should I wear tonight?

She smiled and picked up her phone.

Katie: Well, we’ll be outside, so I would probably suggest wearing something warm over, say, flip-flops and swim trunks.

Connor: Bummer, because I have new flip-flop socks I was hoping to show off. So, an outfit like this would be more appropriate?

Then he texted a selfie at an angle where it got most of his body, and she could see that he was wearing the hockey gear he must practice in, with the edge of the rink in the background.

Katie: That’s perfect. I’m a little unsure about the skates, though. Can you go up porch steps with those? I’d hate to see Glacier’s prized new player break an ankle.

Connor: True. We’re going to be on actual hay, right? Maybe I’ll ditch the skates and wear my farmer boots instead. I think they’ll go pretty well with these padded pants and shin guards.

She sent the laughing emoji in response.

Katie: So are you starting practice right now or just finishing?

Connor: Finishing, and about to head in to work out. Maybe get a massage.

Katie: Ahh. The life of a famous hockey star.

Connor: Yep. Nothing but massages, treatments, and food. Lots of food. What are you up to today?

Instead of responding with words, she sent a picture of the floral tornado surrounding her, making sure to get as much of it as possible in the picture.

Connor: Is that your apartment or the backstage of a flower show?

Katie: My apartment. Does it look cold? It’s a giant fridge in here. My roommate owns a little flower shop on Main Street, and a floral emergency landed in her lap. I had plans to edit footage today, but until the hay ride tonight, I think this is all I’ll be doing. She needs all the help I can give her.

Connor: Oof. Best of luck to you both.

A little over an hour later, as she was working on one of twenty— yes, twenty!— boutonnieres, a knock sounded at her door. She extricated herself from the mess of buds, greenery, floral tape, and ribbon that was on the table and her lap and went over to the door. She opened it to see Connor, holding a paper bag, smiling. She just blinked a few times, not registering how and why Connor was there, at her apartment.

“Hungry?” he asked, holding up the bag. “I brought lunch.”