Page 58 of Snowed Inn For Christmas

Thirty-Nine

Julie

Christmas Morning

Soft music played inthe living room as Daisy sat in the middle of it, surrounded by a mountain of gifts.Her eyes lit up in pure delight as she stared at them, unsure of where to start.The house was filled with the sweet smell of the cookies we had baked yesterday so we had some ready for when Santa came last night.

Gage had stayed up with me after everyone went to sleep so we could drink the milk and eat the cookie.My dad had written a letter to Daisy from Santa the day that she went missing.That was the reason they hadn’t gone into town with us.He had almost forgotten to give it to her until last night, when he suddenly had to check the mail.Her little face was filled with shock and excitement as he read it out loud to her and showed her Santa’s signature.That same excitement spilled over into this morning as she practically glowed with happiness.

My mother sat on the couch, watching her as she sipped her coffee beside my dad.Gage and Patrick were on the floor, ready with their tools to free all of her toys from their packaging, and a stack of batteries lined up.I giggled when I saw how serious they were about it, but then I realized that they didn’t joke when it came to their love for Daisy.

I had been delayed in getting my shopping done after everything happened with Joel and was starting to stress over it.But I quickly learned that I needed to put one foot in front of the other and focus on small steps, which meant that I agreed to let my parents and Patrick take Daisy into town to do some shopping while Gage and I went off on our own so I could do mine.It wasn’t that I didn’t trust them to watch her; I was still traumatized over her being taken the first time.

Money didn’t feel like an issue anymore, mainly because Gage refused to allow me to pay anything toward the inn or toward the expenses of living there.It would have to be a fight for another day because right now, my focus was on making this the best Christmas ever.

I had bought the most perfect gifts for everyone and couldn’t wait for them to open them.I knew that Daisy would love the stuff she got, but I was most excited about the bedroom set Gage and I had picked out for her.The plan was to turn the room she and I had been staying in into her bedroom.They were the only two rooms on that side of the inn, which meant she would always be close to us and not mixed in with the other guests once we started having them.

Daisy ripped open package after package, her excitement growing with each toy she found inside.But when she got to the one with the baby doll she so desperately wanted, that excitement seemed to fade, replaced by sadness.

I leaned forward and set my coffee cup on the table, studying her.

“What’s wrong?”I asked, wondering if we somehow picked the wrong doll after all the hassle we went through trying to find the right one in the first place.

“Nothing.”She shook her head and kept staring at the baby doll.

“Honey, it’s okay.You can tell me.Do you not like her anymore?”

“No.It’s not that.”

“Is it the wrong one?”Gage asked, rubbing her back soothingly.

“It’s the right one.I just remember her being the baby you worked so hard to find before I walked off and left with Joel.”

“Oh, baby.It’s okay,” I assured her as I scooted off the couch and got up to wrap my arms around her.“You don’t need to feel bad about that.Everything is okay.”

“I know.But I still feel really bad about it.It’s all my fault that—”

“No,” I replied sternly, moving in front of her as I gently held her chin between my fingers so she would look at me.“None of what happened was your fault.Joel was a very bad man.That had nothing to do with you, sweetie.”

She nodded, but I could tell she didn’t feel the same happiness she felt a few minutes ago, and I hated that.

“Do you want to open one of my gifts?”I asked, hoping to change her mood as I raised my eyebrows and grinned.

“Okay,” she said with a forced smile.