A Christmas to Remember (Evergreen Hollow Christmas #3)

Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

That evening, the inn was full—not just with guests, but with all of the Stokers and their in-laws. Nora and Aiden, Caroline, Jay and Rhett, Margo, and Rhonda and Donovan were all sitting in the living room around the roaring fire, a platter of Rhonda’s homemade gingerbread cookies and mulled apple ciders in front of them.

It had the feeling of a cheery evening, but it was weighed down by the news about the roof. Margo had been filled in on the situation, and she felt the same sense of despair that everyone else seemed to. She hadn’t been home in a long time, but she knew enough to know that the inn wasn’t rolling in money, and a whole new roof was no cheap endeavor. It made her feel even more guilty about the fact that she’d come home at least partially because it was a place to stay that would make stretching her meagre savings easier.

“I talked to a couple of guys from the next town over,” Aiden said, reaching for a cookie. “I can definitely get some help. And they’re willing to do it in the time frame we need without charging rush prices. But getting the materials here fast will be an issue, so there’s that. I’ve got some of what I need, but Leon is going to have to put in an order for me, and soon.”

“I looked over the books today,” Caroline said, glancing over at Rhonda. “If we delay replacing the radiators that need it in any rooms that aren’t guest rooms, we might be able to manage it. But even so, it’s going to be tight.”

“We can’t run an inn without a roof.” Rhonda raised her hands and let them fall back into her lap. “And there isn’t any good time of year for this to happen. Summer, maybe, would have been best. But if it’s not snowing, there’s the chance of rain. We just have to figure it out.”

“There’s got to be some way to get the inn what it needs,” Nora said, biting her lip. “We always figure things out, you’re right, Mom. We can do it again. We just need to think.”

“I’m thinking about some more cider,” Rhonda said decisively. “Honey, can you help me?” She looked at Donovan, and the sisters knew the question was about more than just cider—their mother wanted a moment alone to talk this over with their father.

Margo looked around the group, feeling, as usual, a little like the odd one out. Everyone was a family now. Their parents, of course, the same rock-steady couple that they’d been for their children’s whole lives, a model of a good relationship and parents Margo was grateful to have, even if she’d put so much distance between herself and her home.

But now her sisters were all coupled up and settled down too, and it was so glaringly obvious in a setting like this. Nora and Aiden were sitting next to each other on the couch, embarrassingly loved-up for a couple that weren’t newlyweds any longer, and Nora’s baby bump was adorably visible under her red Christmas sweater.

Caroline and Rhett were sitting in wing chairs next to each other, Jay playing on the floor between them with his dinosaurs, and it was more domestic than anything Margo had ever pictured for her sister.

But Caroline looked happy. They all looked happy. And she sat there, wondering how it was that she’d had some of the biggest dreams of any of them, only to come back home feeling like she’d hit a dead end.

Slammed into it hard enough to actually break her leg. She glared down at the cast. It was really insult to injury in every possible way.

“Did you catch the hockey game?” Rhett leaned over to talk to Aiden, who turned toward his brother-in-law, eager to turn to a lighter topic. Caroline moved so that she was closer to Nora and Margo, and Nora drummed her fingers against her chin, clearly deep in thought.

“They can’t just drain every last cent,” Nora murmured to Caroline. “This house is so old. There’s always something going wrong, you know that better than anyone. It’ll always be catch-up after this. Even the smallest repairs will start feeling monumental because there won’t be enough to cover them.”

“Dad said something about a mortgage for equity.” Caroline bit her lip. “I hate it. This place is theirs free and clear. And even if the payments shouldn’t be any big deal—which they wouldn’t be—it’s just the principle of it. And what if something happens? Another slow season? I just can’t get behind it. And I know he doesn’t either. He’s just not sure what to do.”

“Of course he doesn’t want to do that.” Nora shook her head. “This inn is going to go to you eventually, we all know that. It would essentially be mortgaging your family’s future. We can’t let him feel like he needs to do that.”

“No. But what else is there?” Caroline blew out a sharp breath. “Neither of us have the extra, or we would have already offered.”

Nora pressed her fingers to her temples, letting out a slow breath. “I don’t know what to do,” she admitted. “I don’t have any solutions.”

“What about a fundraiser?” Margo spoke up before she could talk herself out of it, leaning forward a little in her seat. “Everyone is always saying that the people who live in Evergreen Hollow are all about helping each other. And the inn has been here forever. Why not try to raise the money to fix it?”

Nora looked around at Margo, startled. “You think people would donate money to the roof repair?”

Margo shrugged. “Mistletoe Inn is special to Evergreen Hollow, right? Everyone looks forward to Mom’s Christmas decorations every year. It’s the only place for tourists to stay, which also means that it supports all the other businesses that depend on the tourism. It’s a part of this place. I would think people would want to help because of that.”

Nora and Caroline glanced at each other. There was a flicker of doubt there, but Caroline finally raised her eyebrows, settling back in her chair.

“You might be on to something,” she said, and Nora nodded.

“I don’t know if it would work, but it might be at least worth trying. Aiden said time was of the essence for the roof, so we’d need to put together something pretty quickly.”

“A Christmas bake-off?” Margo suggested. “Or maybe something with the festival.”

“The festival is too far away.” Caroline shook her head. “By that time, the problem with the roof will probably have gotten a lot worse. We need something that can help sooner.”

“What about a Christmas tree decorating contest?” Nora looked at the other two women, glancing over and dropping her voice as she saw Rhonda and Donovan walking back into the room. “Everyone loves a friendly competition, and it’s perfect for this time of year.”

“That sounds like it could go over really well.” Margo looked over at Caroline, who nodded.

“Let’s see what we can come up with and give it a try,” Caroline agreed, and Margo felt a sudden, surprising swell of happiness.

She hadn’t really wanted to get involved with anything that had to do with Evergreen Hollow. Her plan had been to only come home long enough to get her head straight after the layoff, and then move on to the next thing. But this wasn’t really about Evergreen Hollow, it was about her family. And after so long away, it felt nice to have them be excited about something that she’d had a hand in.

It wouldn’t fix everything, but maybe it would repair things a little.