Page 21 of Snowed Inn For Christmas

“It’s okay,” I assured her quickly, holding my hands in front of me.“It’s a good surprise.I promise.”

She nodded her head, but I could see that she was still holding her breath as she waited for me to open the door.I leaned up and looked through the peephole, just to be sure.

“It’s freezing balls out here, you asshole.Open the door,” Patrick muttered on the other side.

I rolled my eyes, somewhat relieved that he seemed back to his old self instead of the person who was insistent on kicking my ass the last time I saw him.

I slowly pulled the door open and stepped back, allowing them to enter.

“Merry Christmas!”Patrick said, coming inside and pushing his suitcase to the side as Daisy squealed and went running to him.

He dropped to his knees and opened his arms, locking her in a tight hug.

“Oh my gosh!”Julie exclaimed, walking over right as I opened the door further to reveal her parents.

“Mom!Dad!What are you guys doing here?”Julie rushed over and pulled both of her parents into a hug as I pushed the door closed behind them to keep the snow and cold air from coming inside.

“I told you that we wanted to spend Christmas together,” Patrick said as he set Daisy down, who was already jumping into the arms of her grandparents.“Merry Christmas, Jules.”

Julie wiped at the tears on her face as she stepped to the side and hugged her brother.My heart felt like it was going to burst from all of the emotions surrounding me, especially when I knew how long it had been since they’d spent Christmas together.

“I can’t believe you guys are here,” Julie said as she stepped back, continuing to wipe her eyes.“This is just...It’s so....Oh my God, I can’t even speak right now.”

She shook her head and turned into Patrick’s shoulder as he squeezed her comfortingly.

“The house looks wonderful,” Lynn, her mother, said as she stepped inside and let Daisy show her the tree.“It reminds me so much of the time we spent up here during the holidays with your grandparents.Your grandmother would have loved this.Thank you so much for inviting us, it’s so good to see you again.”She smiled warmly at me and patted my shoulder, but it had been far too long since I’d seen her, so I pulled her in for a hug I hadn’t realized just how bad I needed.She squeezed me tightly, both of us not saying the things we wanted to say while Daisy waited impatiently for her so she could continue her tour.

“I’m going to go see what we have for dinner,” Julie said, happily looking around the room at her family.

“Sounds good.I’ll help you in a few.Why don’t I show you guys the bedroom options, and we can get everyone settled in?”I offered, glancing between Patrick and his parents.

“Can we have a sleepover in your bedroom tonight?”Daisy asked Lynn, pulling at her arm as she pleaded with her eyes.

“Of course, my love.I would love nothing more,” Lynn responded before looking at me.“Is there any chance you still have the bedroom with three beds in it?”

“I do.”I grinned and nodded my head for them to follow me after I grabbed their luggage and started down the hallway.

While we had the entire upstairs available, I hadn’t had a chance to go through any of those rooms yet and felt better having Julie’s family close to me, just in case they needed anything.