Page 59 of Snowed Inn For Christmas

I ignored the sting I felt in my chest and grabbed the biggest box.

“That’s forme?”Her eyes widened as she stared at it.

“Yep.Why don’t you open it and see what’s inside?”

She grinned big as she tore the paper and gasped when she saw the pink flower comforter and bedding set she had fallen in love with while she was out shopping with my parents.

“This is for me?!”

“It is.We thought you’d like to have your own room now that we’ll be living here.We got you a new bed, so we figured you’d need new bedding.”

“That’s so awesome!Thank you!”

She jumped up and wrapped her arms around my neck, squeezing tightly as her happiness returned.This was all I needed in life: my family and my daughter’s happiness.

Forty

Gage

Christmas morning hadbeen fun, but the best part was watching Daisy open her gifts.None of the adults did anything but watch her because her happiness was contagious.By the time she finished, and it was time for us to open ours, we all felt like little kids again.We tore through the wrapping paper and gave the bows to Daisy so she could make something with them, not caring about the mess we made.

After we cleaned up, I helped start dinner preparations, loving how comfortable it felt to have Julie in my kitchen.Lynn guided us through some of the things my grandmother used to do when she hosted Christmas dinner at the inn, and I found myself completely in awe of everything my grandparents did to make this place as magical as it was.

We had shared the news this morning with everyone that we were going to do some remodeling and get the inn up and running again.I had expected to hear how hard it would be and maybe some comments about how I couldn’t do it, but what I was met with instead was respect and encouragement.

Julie’s parents agreed to stay as long as we would let them so they could help out, which had Daisy beyond excited.There was talk of them selling their condo in Florida so they could move to Silver Falls and be closer to family.Daisy was their only granddaughter, and they both agreed they had missed too much of her life already to miss another day.Before I knew it, Dave was on his phone, looking up information about the abandoned cabins around us.

By the time dinner was ready, the house smelled amazing and reminded me of Christmases spent up here with my family.I smiled as I sat at the head of the table, where my grandfather used to sit, and thanked everyone for being there.

“Does this mean we’ll spend Christmas here every year?”Daisy asked as Julie scooped some mashed potatoes onto her plate.

“I don’t see why we couldn’t,” I answered, not wanting to speak for anyone else.“We’ll live here, but the invite is always open for you guys to come join us.”

“Well, I was looking at a condo in town,” Dave said.“It’s not too far from here.Maybe half an hour, if that.I was thinking about setting up time to go see it this week.”

He nodded proudly as Lynn wrapped her hand over his and gently squeezed it.