Page 61 of Santa Maybe
The only upside was that Preston had promised Rosie she could have all of Christmas Day off. While his offer made her feel like less of a doormat, it wasn’t as if she had any plans. Both Isabella and Jaime would be celebrating with their in-laws’ families, and her parents usually spent the day relaxing. Maybe if she visited them, she could assuage her guilt and partake in a few leftovers. She was pissed she’d missed out on her mom’s pork tamales.
Charlie stood beside her at the front desk, wearing a light-up necklace. “You have to snap out of this funk. Just for tonight. I know you’re upset about Drew, but it’s only eight o’clock, and I can’t take four more hours of watching you wallow in misery.”
“Sorry, but it’s not just Drew. It’s this whole month. Working so hard and not knowing if I’ll get to stay on next year. And then wondering if I evenwantto stay.”
Charlie sucked in a breath. “What do you mean? You love the Duchess.”
“I do, but I can’t keep up this pace. What if Preston expects this level of dedication from now on? I don’t think I could handle it.” For the first time ever, Rosie was afraid she wouldn’t be up to the challenge.
“Maybe now’s not the best time to make any huge life decisions. Not when you’re in such a fragile emotional state.”
Rosie nodded. Spiraling into anxiety wouldn’t help her get through the evening. “You’re right. It’s too soon to worry about the future. For your sake, I’ll try to stay cheery.” She put on one of the light-up necklaces. “Is this better?”
“A little. Look on the bright side—now you don’t have to come in to work tomorrow. You can sleep in and relax.”
“So can you. Don’t you have tomorrow off, too?”
“I do, but Christmas Day with my folks is hardly relaxing. It includes a fancy brunch at the yacht club and a formal dinner at my grandparents’ house. And by formal, I’m talking suit and tie for the men and dresses for the women. For once, I’d love to lounge around in my pajamas and watch holiday movies.” Charlie gave a full-body sigh. “It’s also depressing, knowing another holiday season has almost come and gone, and I haven’t done a damn thing to get closer to Knox.”
“Admitting how you feel is a good start. Maybe next year?”
“Maybe, but I refuse to let us drown in self-pity. We need to turn up the music.” Charlie adjusted the speakers, visibly brightening when “All I Want for Christmas is You” started playing. She swayed to the beat, then began singing along at full volume. With the hotel lobby empty and the cocktail lounge closed for the night, no one was around to hear them.
Rosie couldn’t resist joining her. What did it matter if they looked silly? All of tonight’s arrivals had already checked in. Over the past two hours, only one person had come down to the front desk, to ask about tomorrow’s breakfast schedule.
But as they were crooning the last verse, a group of people came through the entrance, their coats dusted with snow. There were nine of them: two middle-aged couples and five teenagers. Four of the teens parked themselves on the plush gray couches while the adults clustered around the fireplace. One of the adults—a tall, bearded man who looked to be about fifty—approached the front desk with a teenage girl beside him. She was clad in a bright pink puffer coat and an even brighter fuchsia scarf.
Charlie turned down the music before greeting them. “Good evening, and welcome to the Duchess. Is it snowing outside? I thought it was supposed to rain!”
The man gave a weary nod. “Yep. The weather threw a wrench into our travel plans. Our layover in Calgary was only meant to last an hour, but it turned into four. And then our rental place—”
“Was a total scam,” the girl said. She played with the tassels of her scarf. “Like, we got there, and it didn’t exist. Which kinda makes sense because it seemed way too cheap.”
The man turned to her. “It had eleven five-star reviews.”
“Probably fake, Dad. A bunch of bots or whatever.”
“And I’m guessing all the other hotels around here were full?” Rosie asked.
The girl shrugged. “Dunno. But my sister saw this video about the Duchess, and we told Dad wehadto stay here.”
Even if Rosie was still heartbroken about Drew, he’d done a great job as the hotel’s resident Santa. “The hot Santa video?”
“Yeah, it was hilarious.” The girl peered around the lobby. “I’m guessing he’s not here, though?”
Charlie leaned in closer, as if sharing a secret. “I wish. He’s a real cutie, isn’t he? But since it’s Christmas Eve, well…he might just be out delivering presents. On the upside, we still have rooms available for tonight. How many do you need?”
The man brightened. “That’s such a relief. Ideally, we’d like four, but if you have fewer, we’ll take those and make do. We need them for three nights. My brother and I came from Toronto to visit our parents for Christmas. We promised them we’d bring the whole brood, but our trip has been cursed so far.”
“We’ll do our best to improve it for you,” Charlie said. “Seeing as how you’ll be here through Boxing Day, you qualify for our twenty percent off special. And you’re in luck because we have just four rooms left.”
“What?” Breaking protocol, Rosie stared at her in amazement. “Are you serious?”
“I am. One hundred percent occupancy, baby!” Charlie fist-bumped her, then turned and grinned at the man. “You pushed us over the edge. Thank you.”
She assigned rooms to the group, processed the man’s payment, and handed him a stack of key cards. Meanwhile, Rosie took a photo of the computer screen as evidence the hotel was fully booked and sent it to Preston. He’d probably check his phone at some point tonight, and she wanted to make sure he knew about it.
“If you need a luggage cart, we have a few by the entrance,” Charlie said. “Would you like one of us to help you out?”
