Santa Maybe (The Duchess Hotel #1)

Chapter 9

Nine

28 Days Until Christmas

Rosie stumbled into work, cursing the fact that it was still dark out. At this hour, none of the nearby coffee shops were open, so she’d been forced to brew a cup at home. If she had time later, she’d replenish it with a latte from Alma’s.

With four weeks to go until Christmas, Charlie had suggested they get started on decorating the hotel. Though no one was excited about arriving at work before sunrise, they’d all agreed to come in extra early.

Upon reaching the front desk, Rosie was pleased to see the night shift clerks had already started decorating. Clad in Santa hats, they were busy arranging twinkling lights and garlands around the check-in area, as well as setting up signs advertising the hotel’s upcoming events, including the festive weeknight happy hours and the family Saturdays.

Rosie set a tin on the counter. “Looking good. These are Mexican wedding cookies from my sister. You can tuck them behind the desk for later.”

One of the clerks smiled at her. “Thanks. Did you see the tree Charlie brought in? It’s gorgeous.”

When Rosie focused her gaze on the lobby, located just to the right of the front desk, her jaw dropped. Standing beside the inlaid tile fireplace was a stunning, eight-foot-tall tree, adorned with a rainbow of vintage glass ornaments, beaded garlands, and frosted lights.

Charlie peeked out from behind the tree. “Behold! Isn’t it glorious?”

Rosie walked over to her. “It’s amazing. This must have taken you hours to set up. I hope you didn’t spend all night here.”

Charlie laughed. “Nope. All I did was haul it over this morning, as is. My mom uses this bougie service to prep her house for the holidays. Last year, her decorator went all-in on the vintage look, but now that style is passé. I was able to grab this tree from our garage before Mom tossed it out.”

Rosie couldn’t imagine her parents swapping out their family’s Christmas decorations just because they were outdated. Among her favorites were the colorful tin ornaments that her grandparents had brought from Mexico sixty years ago.

“What’s the new style this year?” she asked.

“All the ornaments are dark blue and silver. Kind of a night sky vibe, I guess.” Charlie shrugged. “Anyway, Knox helped me bring the tree in his truck, along with a bunch of other decorations.”

Knox came through the entrance of the hotel, pushing a luggage cart laden with boxes and potted poinsettias. He parked it beside the tree. “Here’s the rest of the stuff.”

Rosie couldn’t help but grin. “Morning, Knox. I’ve never seen you here this early.”

He busied himself unloading the boxes. “Yeah, well, I figured I’d pitch in. I don’t want anyone getting canned because this place isn’t festive enough. I’m gonna make some coffee. Is the breakfast room open?”

“Not yet. The kitchen staff doesn’t start prepping until six, but you can use my key card.” Rosie handed it to him. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

“No problem,” he muttered.

As he ambled off, Rosie nudged Charlie. “Knox isn’t a morning person. There’s no way he would have done that for anyone except you.”

“Nope. He was doing it for the good of the hotel.”

Rosie smirked. “Right. You keep telling yourself that.” She went to help Selena, who had just emerged from the elevator bearing an overloaded luggage cart. “You doing okay?”

Selena scowled. “It’s 5:00 a.m. How could I possibly be okay? Remind me again why we’re decorating so early? And doing it ourselves instead of hiring professionals?”

“We wanted to set up the lobby before people came down for breakfast,” Charlie said. “This way, it’s more like a magical surprise.”

“And we didn’t hire a decorating service because our budget is so paltry,” Rosie added. Last week, she’d asked Preston if they could free up the funds to hire someone, but he hadn’t budged. Instead, he’d told her, “I’m sure you and your staff can pull something together.”

Then, when she’d invited him to join this morning’s decorating party, he’d passed, claiming he didn’t want to derail his exercise routine. Yet another response that had her wishing he’d make a little more effort.

Selena pointed to the boxes. “This is half the stuff from our storage area—mostly decorations for the breakfast room. I’m not sure if it’s all usable.”

“Do you want to take it over there and start going through it?” Rosie asked. “Knox is already brewing coffee.”

“Sounds good. Laurel should be up soon with the other boxes.”

Once Selena headed off, Rosie turned to Charlie. “What else do we need to set up?”

“There’s an antique sled and a bunch of wrapped presents in these boxes that we can put under the tree. I also bought extra paper in case we need to rewrap any of the gifts. Some of them might be torn or faded.”

As Rosie helped Charlie arrange the presents, she began perking up. Even if she hadn’t wanted to get up at four this morning, she couldn’t deny the hotel was already looking festive. Maybe now when guests walked in, they wouldn’t notice the faded carpeting or the scuffed counter at the front desk; instead, they’d focus on all the lights and the colorful tree in the lobby.

“Coming in early to decorate was a stroke of brilliance,” she said to Charlie. “Not gonna lie, I was cursing you when my alarm went off, but I’m starting to get that holiday feeling.”

“You see? All we’ve done for the past three weeks is plan, but now we get to watch it all take shape. You should enjoy it.”

“I want to, but I’m a little worried. Laurel’s marketing team is going full steam ahead, but our occupancy rate has barely risen.”

Every night, when Rosie reviewed the hotel’s numbers, her heart sank a little. She wanted so badly for their plans to succeed, but so far, they hadn’t received a lot of additional bookings for December.

Charlie set another poinsettia next to the tree. “I don’t get it. We’re trying so hard to make the Duchess sound appealing. Did you see all the content Laurel’s intern has been posting on TikTok and Instagram? It’s super creative.”

“Yeah, and her posts have gotten a ton of views. The problem is—we started this so late. Most of the people who’ll be traveling in December probably made their plans back in the fall.”

“Maybe the weekday happy hours will help. Knox put together a list of holiday-themed cocktails, and they sound so good.” Charlie rubbed her hands together in anticipation. “I can’t wait to try them.”

At six thirty, when they were almost done, Drew walked into the lobby carrying two boxes of donuts from Tim Hortons. “Good morning! I come bearing donuts.”

As tired as she was, Rosie brightened at his appearance. By now, they’d been “together” for almost four weeks, but she still lit up every time she saw him.

“Hey, there,” she said. “Isn’t it against your fitness rules to be bringing us donuts?”

“What can I say? I love a good donut as much as anyone else.” He glanced at the tree. “Whoa. You guys did an amazing job. Those old-school glass ornaments are so cool.”

“You don’t think they’re passé?” Charlie teased.

“Is that even a thing when it comes to Christmas? Not at all. They’re great.”

“Let’s dart into the breakfast room real quick,” Rosie said. “That way, we can enjoy some coffee with our donuts before we have to open the room for guests at seven.”

“Sounds good,” Drew said. “I’m gonna give the front desk clerks first pick.”

As he strolled over to the check-in area with his boxes of donuts, Charlie smirked at Rosie. “Speaking of going the extra mile, it’s sweet that your ‘boyfriend’ showed up early with treats for everyone.”

A warm flush crept up Rosie’s cheeks. “I didn’t expect it, but it’s very sweet.”

“Things are going well otherwise? With the fake dating?”

Rosie piled the empty boxes onto the luggage cart. “Really well. Every time I go to the gym, he seems pumped to see me. I flirt with him and call him adorable pet names, and sometimes we get smoothies after. Though last night, we went to Noodlebox and had a late dinner.”

“I love that place. Their kung pao box is so good.”

“It’s the best. We got into this intense discussion about the Bond movies. I still can’t believe he prefers Sean Connery when Daniel Craig is unequivocally the hottest Bond ever.” Seeing that Charlie was staring her down, she stopped. “What?”

“How can you not see how perfect Drew is? This is more than a faux romance.”

Rosie shook her head emphatically. “No, it’s not. We’re just friends, that’s all. Good friends who like the same kind of movies, and like to hang out together, and um…” She groaned. “I’m doing a crappy job convincing you, aren’t I?”

“Totally crappy. It’s okay if you like him as more than a friend. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I won’t. If anything, work’s going to get more intense once our holiday activities start on December first. All the more reason I wouldn’t want to deal with the demands of a real romantic relationship. I’d feel so guilty about neglecting him.”

Even as she said it, she knew it wasn’t quite the truth. So far, Drew hadn’t complained about her schedule. He’d just been happy to see her whenever she could fit him in. Like last week, when she’d joined him at the gym for the surprise bridal shower that the staff had thrown for Jared and Evelyn. She’d expected Drew to struggle with it, but he’d made teasing asides to her the entire time. Afterward, they’d gone out for drinks at a nearby pub and kicked ass at the pub’s weekly trivia night.

Drew walked back to them. “Should we cruise over to the breakfast room for our donut break? Rosie, I got your favorite kind—Boston Cream. Actually, I got you two. One for now, and one for later, in case you need a sugar fix.”

“Aww, that’s so thoughtful,” Charlie said. “You almost make me believe that you and Rosie are really together.”

“I know, right?” he said. “Plus, we’re having a blast doing it.”

As he headed toward the breakfast room, Charlie lowered her voice and addressed Rosie. “Too bad it’s not real.”

Too bad, indeed.