Free Eggnog and Candy Canes: A Blueberry Springs Christmas Novella by Jean Oram Page B

their butt in for a full day of work. Well, no, actually. They would have kicked Mary Alice out, but quite frankly, Katie didn’t think she had it in her.
    She glanced at the clock. Time for a little bit of Christmas cheer. Not carols over the PA, that was too Angelica Reiter and she wasn’t going down that road. But Katie had a box of Christmas cookies from Mandy that she could share with the six or so patients who were in their rooms, and then the five continuing-care patients who hadn’t gone home to their families for the holiday.
    Katie pulled the lid off the tin and inhaled the buttery sweetness of the shortbread cookies. Too tempting. She stole a small square and popped it in her mouth. What was it about Mandy that made her so awesome at baking? No wonder her restaurant was doing so well, her desserts were devilishly divine. Katie sneaked a second cookie, savoring the way it melted in her mouth. Nothing better in the world. And likely nothing better for adding girth to her hips. She tucked a third cookie in her mouth and smiled.
    Who cared? She was single. May as well enjoy the perks.
    She walked through the double doors to the continuing care nursing home attached to the hospital as Elsie Nagorski trudged by, her long grey hair swept up in a high bun.
    “Still not dancing?” Katie asked, following the woman into her room. It had been months since Elsie had stopped dancing her way to and fro through the continuing care area, but it still felt odd.
    “I will never dance again. All the good celebrities are dying. It makes me feel old . All my contemporaries are knocking off, calling it a day, pushing up daisies from six feet under.”
    “Right.” Depressing. But not a lot she could do on that one. “So? What are you up to today? Anything good on TV?”
    Elsie’s eyes lit up and she clasped her hands together in front of her flowered housedress. “Yes! You know Hailey Summer, the girl I told you about from Muskoka?”
    “Yes. Right. I met her once.”
    “Well, she’s with a movie star now. I told my sister, Wilma Star, that it really was Hailey with him last summer. Didn’t I? I did.” She gave a decisive nod. “She still owes me five dollars. She’s as cheap as the day is long. In Alaska. During the summer equinox. That cheap.” Another nod.
    “I’ll remind her if I see her.” Katie moved to the figurine shelf where Elsie had princesses on display. One was out of line and she straightened it, positioning it with the rest.
    “Thanks, dear. That one has been bothering me, but with this shoulder…”
    “Do you need anything?”
    “No,” Elsie gave a dejected sigh and took her spot in front of her aging television. “Commercials are over.”
    “Is that Hailey?” Katie asked, peering at the screen. The woman was beaming from the TV, wrapped in the embrace of a movie star. Finian Alexander. My, he was an eyeful of yum.
    “It is. They are doing a charity thing. It’s very cute. They’re fixing Finian’s old neighbourhood.” Elsie wiped a tear from a damp eye. “You need to find yourself a man like that and save the world, Katie. It needs it so much.”
    “I think your dancing problems are solved. Dance for Mr. Alexander here.” Katie resisted fanning herself. “I’m going to continue my rounds. Buzz me if you need anything, Mrs. Nagorski. Dinner in the common area at six.”
    “It always is.”
    “I asked Leif from Benny’s to bring you a nice slice of roast beef.”
    “Oh, Katie. You are such a dear. You really are the best. Just like your father says.”
    “He doesn’t say that when I argue with him.”
    She left Elsie and turned into Beth’s grandmother’s room, inhaling the scent of her powdery, floral perfume Love Chloé that hung in the air, expecting the suite to be empty.
    “Gran! I thought Beth was taking you home?”
    “Oz needed her to run an errand, and she didn’t want to leave me waiting in the cold car. Said she’d be back later, but now there’s a blizzard.”