Page 35 of OMG Christmas Tree
Nick sat back. “It’s loud in here. Want to step outside?”
“Sure.”
Outside, the Checkers parking lot offered a glimpse of the glowing downtown Crystal Cove lights, like lanterns set at the edge of a dark room. In the other direction, the road disappeared into inky black. Our boots crunched over crisp, hardened snow.
“I want to leave Crystal Cove,” Nick said.
My intake of breath hit sharp from the cold. I waited for him to say more.
“And my mom is sick. So you’ve heard.” He rocked back on his heels. “I leave, and I’m a bad son. I don’t leave, and I’m stuck here with my life mapped out.”
“What would you do? If you left?”
He hung his head back, looking at the sky. “The stars are so bright here. I’d miss that in the city, right?”
“Where, Chicago?”
He nodded. “I look at advertising and marketing jobs every day. Then I did something stupid.”
“What?”
“I applied for one.”
“Let me guess. They called you back.”
His gaze went back to the sky. “The literal day Mom got the diagnosis.”
My heart tugged. “I’m sorry. What—” I almost askedwhat did your mom say, but of course he hadn’t told her. “How long ago?”
“About six weeks. I still look at the job listings. I asked around with some friends I graduated with. I got a call last week from a distillery in Madison who wants a regional sales rep. The job would take me all over the Midwest.”
“That sounds exciting. A chance to travel. What did you tell them?”
“I agreed to an interview.”
He stated this with all the exuberance of a twice-annual dental cleaning. “Gee. You soundthrilled.”
He rubbed at his beard scruff. “I guess it doesn’t feel big enough. The guy even told me I wouldn’t have to move. I could stay right here in Crystal Cove and pretend to go other places.”
“Come on. You’d be traveling. I’m sure that part was true.”
“And I’d come right back here. Same as always.”
“To holiday splendor.” I flashed jazz hands and did a little feet-in-place-but-I’m-supposed-to-be-dancing jig.
Nick laughed. Success.
I let my hands fall to my sides. “You know, there’s a lot to be said about following your dreams. Whatever that means for you.”
“Oh? What’s to be said?” His eyes had a teasing light to them. He stood closer now, our coat sleeves touching.
“You never know until you do it.” Open fields behind the restaurant mocked me. Living my best life-giving advice outside a townie bar in Crystal Cove? Who was I to giveanybodyadvice? “I started with a dream. I guess I don’t know what happened along the way.” I ground my boot over the hard-packed snow. “I dropped out of college and moved to Chicago. My mom was furious.”
“Why did you quit?”
“I didn’t care. At all. I enrolled at community college near my house in the suburbs. It felt like high school all over again except without the fun parts—friends, basketball games, yearbook. The classes were basics to prep for going to another college I didn’t care about.”
“So, college wasn’t the right fit.”
