Mistletoe and Memories (Evergreen Hollow Christmas #4)

Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

On Saturday afternoon, Margo was busy at The Evergreen Hollow Gazette , working on some of the articles she needed to finish before Monday. She’d gotten a little behind over the week, and she didn’t want to miss any of her deadlines. The local newspaper was small, but she knew Sabrina still took things seriously.

It had been an adjustment over the last year. She’d been thrilled to be offered a job after being laid off at the magazine she’d worked for in New Jersey, right before last Christmas. And after coming back home as a result for the first time in years, and meeting her now-boyfriend, Dr. Spencer Thorpe, unexpectedly—she’d been happy for a reason to stay in Evergreen Hollow, with a job ready and waiting for her.

But it was difficult, sometimes. She’d worked as a photojournalist since graduating college, for a fairly large magazine, traveling all over the world. She was used to being in a different country every couple of months, exploring and wandering, and making a kaleidoscope of new friends. She was used to rarely being home, living out of suitcases, trying new foods for every meal and staying moderately fluent in a handful of different languages so she could order a meal and get a taxi no matter where she went.

And now, she was just… home.

She liked home. Loved it, even. She loved her family and Spencer, and it wasn’t that she wanted to leave, but the predictability of it all was starting to wear on her. It was such a stark contrast that sometimes it felt confining, as she was reminded that the same day-in-day-out routine wasn’t just a momentary lull in her schedule, but her life now. She had thought she would have adjusted by now, but she was still having a difficult time.

She ran a hand through her hair, staring at her computer screen as the photos she needed to upload moved at a glacial pace. The Wi-Fi in Evergreen Hollow wasn’t the best, and compared to what she was used to, it was excruciatingly slow. It made her want to pull her hair out a lot of the time. On top of that, the printer was jammed, as it frequently seemed to be, and nothing she did seemed to fix it for long. At the moment, it didn’t seem to be fixing it at all.

The door opened as she popped a panel off it, and she looked up to see Spencer walking in. He had a bag in his hand that she thought might be lunch, considering the time, and she felt her stomach rumble as she sank back into her chair, managing a smile.

Spencer came around to the other side of her desk, setting the bag down as he leaned in for a kiss.

“Do you need help?” he asked, glancing at the printer that she’d started to take apart, and Margo looked at him sideways.

“You’re a doctor,” she said grumpily. “Not an office equipment professional.”

“I’m a small-town doctor now,” Spencer replied, his voice as cheerful as hers was irritable. “I’ve had to fix my fair share of jammed printers and cantankerous office equipment. Let me take a look at it.”

He came around to the other side, poking at it for a minute, taking the paper out and adjusting a few things as Margo watched. A moment later, he stepped back, and as she hit print again, this time her documents slid through easily.

“We’ll see how long it lasts,” she said. “But thank you.”

“How are things going, besides that?” Spencer asked, going to open the bag that she was now sure contained food, based on the delicious smell wafting from it. “Anything new and interesting to share? Any new scoops?”

Margo chuckled, taking the wrapped sandwich he handed her. “The same old, same old. As always. What’s this?”

“The special for the day, from Rockridge Grill. They’re calling it the “Post-Thanksgiving-Sandwich,” Spencer said. “Turkey breast, cranberry sauce, and cream cheese on a homemade dinner roll,”

“That sounds good.” Margo set it down on the desk, glancing out of the window just in time to see Rhonda walking down the stone path that led to the front door of the newspaper office. “Actually…” She hesitated. “As much as I’d like to sit here and eat with you, you bringing me a sandwich from Rockridge Grill reminded me of some very important business that I need to handle… and it just so happens that the person I need to talk to about it is about to walk in the front door right now.”

“That’s enigmatic.” Spencer laughed, rolling the bag up instead of taking his sandwich out. “But far be it from me to keep you from a very important scoop. I’ll see you at home.” He leaned in, dropping a kiss on her cheek. “Good luck.”

The door opened just then, Rhonda stepping in, and Spencer waved as he walked past her, saying hello. Margo unwrapped her sandwich, smiling at her mother as Rhonda came to sit down in one of the soft chairs on the other side of the desk.

“How is the vacation planning going?” Margo asked, taking a bite out of her sandwich. It really was delicious, maybe her favorite special so far from Rockridge Grill, she thought. It was rich and sweet and salty, the cream cheese really adding an extra bit of deliciousness to an otherwise classic sandwich. She made a mental note to ask Spencer to grab another for lunch tomorrow, if he happened to have time. “You’ve got to be excited to go somewhere warm, with all of the snow lately.”

Rhonda laughed. “I am,” she admitted. “I love winter and the holidays, but a little sunshine and sand wouldn’t go amiss. And I haven’t been on vacation in so long, especially not with your father, just the two of us. We took a couple of family vacations, back in the day, but I don’t think we’ve been somewhere just us two since Caroline was born.”

“Wow.” Margo set down her sandwich. “So what were some of the things you guys did when you were dating, ‘back in the day’,” she said teasingly, as Rhonda rolled her eyes. “How did Dad win you over?”

“Well…” Rhonda smiled fondly, clearly thinking back. “The day he proposed to me, he set up a scavenger hunt all over Evergreen Hollow. It led all the way to the house that he and Leon had built for us. I’d wondered about that house, I thought it was so pretty, but the whole time your father told me that the house was being built for someone from out of town, who hadn’t moved yet. I had no idea.”

Margo’s phone buzzed, and she glanced at it, intending to silence the call. She wanted to know what her mother was going to say next. But she saw it was Spencer, and she held up a finger with an apologetic look toward her mother, taking the call. She’d told Spencer she had some investigating to do, so there was no way he’d call unless it was important.

“Hello?” she asked uncertainly.

“Margo. I just got back to the office, and your father is here. I thought you might want to know. It seems like it might have something to do with his heart.”

Margo felt hers drop, instantly. “Okay, we’ll be right there,” she said, hanging up. “Dad is at the clinic,” she told her mother, getting up and grabbing her purse. “Spencer said something with his heart is bothering him.”

Rhonda leapt up too, looking alarmed.

“I’ll drive,” Margo said, leading her mother out to her car and hopping in. Her heart was racing—all she could think was that she had just moved home not that long ago, after spending so much time away from her family. She wasn’t ready to run out of time with her father yet. She wanted more of it with all of her family, together, now that she was finally back home.

They parked and hurried into the office just in time to see Caroline and Nora hurrying in as well. Nora was holding Madison, who was red-faced and letting out intermittent, frustrated cries as Nora bounced her back and forth in her arms.

“She got woken up from her nap,” Nora said apologetically, and Margo saw that her sister had dark circles under her eyes, her hair messier than Margo had ever seen it.

Nora had always been the most put-together of the three sisters. Caroline was the one who did her hair the same way and wore basically the same outfit every day, choosing comfort and function over fashion, and Margo liked to dress more creatively, buying clothing with interesting patterns and incorporating things that she’d bought in other countries while she was visiting.

But Nora had always been sleek and elegant, wearing designer clothes and expensive shoes, her hair always perfectly blown out and her makeup flawless. She’d told Margo that she’d let a lot of that go since she moved back, opting for more casual clothing and a makeup-free look most of the time, but she still wore nice, flattering versions of the more casual clothing she chose, and went to Providence to get her hair done every six weeks.

Margo had honestly never thought she’d see the day when her older sister was in leggings and a loose t-shirt that had a stain on it that might be spit-up, her hair in a messy bun and her feet shoved into a pair of old sneakers.

Spencer stepped out into the waiting room, motioning for Margo and the others to follow him. They all trooped back to the exam room, where Donovan was sitting on a table with a grumpy expression on his flushed face.

“I’m fine,” he said, the moment he looked up and saw his wife and daughters walking into the room. “I was just a little short of breath and in the neighborhood, and I thought I’d drop in and ask Dr. Thorpe about it. I don’t need a bunch of hens clucking over me.” He shook his head, getting down off the table. “I feel fine now.”

Spencer and Rhonda exchanged a glance, and then Spencer looked back at Donovan. “Well,” he said calmly, “it’s good that you came by to ask. I’d advise you to go easy on the exercise for a few days and try to eat lean meals. It’s the holiday season, of course, but maybe go easy on the butter and sugar.” Spencer smiled at Rhonda. “As difficult as I’m sure that is, with a wife who’s such a good cook.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere,” Rhonda said with an affectionate smile, crossing the room to her husband. “Is it all right if I take him home?”

Spencer nodded. “I’d like you to come in next week for a checkup, if that’s all right. But you’re fine for now.”

“I’ll drive you both home,” Margo volunteered. “And then I’ll bring Caroline back to pick up your car.”

Rhonda smiled at her daughter. “That would be great, thanks,” she said, a hand on her husband’s back as they walked out of the room. Margo hung back as Nora and Caroline walked out, glancing at Spencer.

“Is it really not that serious?” she asked worriedly, and Spencer sighed.

“Things like this are to be expected, at his age. I want to keep an eye on it. But right now, it doesn’t appear to be terribly alarming.”

“Okay. Thank you for taking care of him.” Margo went up on her tiptoes, kissing Spencer lightly on the cheek. He reached for her waist, turning her to steal a full kiss before letting her go.

“I’ll call you later,” he said. “Let me know how Donovan gets settled, back at the house.”

“I will,” Margo promised. She followed the others out, digging her keys out of her pocket. If Spencer said there was nothing to worry about, she told herself, it would be fine.

But she still felt a lingering worry, and she couldn’t shake it, all the way home.