Page 43 of A Cozy Kind of Christmas
Not yet.
She yanked the cozy layers of fleece blankets up tighter, trapping in the lingering warmth from the fireplace that had long since gone cold. Her head sank deeper into the soft down pillows, and she curled into the firm mattress like it was her own personal cocoon.
A faint hint of cedar and smoke from the bonfire still clung to her hair.
Sometime long after midnight, she had stumbled back to the cabin after the bonfire, slightly buzzed—chilled to the bone, but also relieved.
No proposal.
No shiny diamond ring or confession of undying love.
Just the heat from the fire, some laughs, lots of reminiscing, and an unexpected peace. Well, at least temporary peace.
Thank goodness for that.
Did it mean Matt had changed his mind?
Or did he have bigger plans in store?
Like proposing at his forest formal party tonight?
Her phone buzzed again, louder this time.
Whattimewas it?
Her head felt heavy. A dull ache spread from her temples across her forehead as she sat up and grabbed her phone. The blue light radiating from the screen forced her to wince.
Crap.
She shouldn’t have had that second mulled cider last night.
She needed coffee and Advil—stat.
Gam would tell her to try peppermint oil. Had she packed any?
She looked for the alarm button on her phone but realized that it was a text that had woken her, not her alarm.
A text from Connor Howard.
Why was he texting her?
She yawned and blinked hard, concentrating on the screen.
Is Johanna with you?
What was happening at work?
Yesterday, Johanna had been acting weird. And all those texts.
Was something going down?
Layoffs?
Was she about to be out of a job? In some ways, it wouldn’t be a bad thing—it would force the issue, but she needed her ESPN paycheck to cover rent, and there was the glaring issue of health insurance.
Gam would say that sometimes, the Universe nudges us on our path of purpose, and sometimes, it pushes us straight off a ledge.
This could be one of those times.
