She really wanted to write what she wanted to write, maybe freelance articles she could sell or even a book. But that sort of work wasn’t stable. It didn’t pay the bills. But if she had another job that left her plenty of time to write…
Gram interrupted her thoughts. “We’ll be together at Christmas this year; that’s all that matters. And you’ve done such a wonderful job preparing the inn for the Christmas party!”
This was it, the perfect opening for her to tell them the truth. That the party probably wasn’t going to happen. She dropped her gaze to her knees and muttered, “About that…”
“What is it?” Mom asked.
“There’s a problem. With the party. We need a special permit for the caterer to use our kitchen, and she can’t cook at home and bring the food. I already asked. The inspector is stuck in Boston. We can’t get the permit. Gram, I’m so sorry…”
Julie felt like crying. Again, her mom squeezed her shoulders, but this time it was a gentler hug.
“We’ll figure it out,” Gram said with conviction. “We can’t let all this hard work go to waste. If we need to, we’ll do all the cooking ourselves!”
Someone knocked on the door. Yawning, Kringle stretched and jumped off Gram’s lap, trotting toward the door as if he could open it and let the person in.
The knock came again, more vigorously this time.
Julie got to her feet at the same time as Gram did. Despite the way she’d sounded on the phone a few days ago, Gram was as robust as ever. She reached the door before Julie made it into the hallway.
“Ida, open up!” came the muffled voice from the other side.
Gram opened the door as Myrtle had her fist raised to knock again. Her face was flushed, her hat on askew.
“Myrtle, it’s so good to see you!”
Myrtle accepted a hug but made it brief. “No time for this now. Put your boots on and come out back. I have a solution to your catering problem.”
She must have worked a miracle, after all.
Julie and her parents, who had clustered behind her in the doorway to the hall, rushed to grab boots and coats and follow the two women into the cold outdoors. Myrtle made a motion for Julie and her parents to stay back, but when Julie saw the string of footsteps in the snow leading not to Myrtle’s car but to the tree line leading toward Barrington Lodge, she rushed around the porch to catch a closer glimpse.
Klaus stood alone at the edge of the trees, shoulders bowed, and hands stuffed into the pockets of his winter coat. Behind him, far enough away to give him privacy, stood Stan and Nolan. As she watched, Gram and Myrtle made their way toward Klaus. Myrtle stopped well back to give the pair privacy, but nearer to the inn than the others on Klaus’s side.
“What do you think they’re saying?” Mom asked as she joined Julie at the rail. She rubbed her hands together and blew on them.
“I have no idea,” Julie muttered. When she looked past the speaking pair to Nolan again, she found him watching her. He nodded, his smile visible even at this distance. She couldn’t help but smile back. She raised her hand in a wave.
No, she didn’t know what Gram and Klaus were talking about, but suddenly she had the hope that maybe, this was all going to work out fine.
She and her parents huddled by the porch rail until Gram shook hands with Klaus, turned, and made leisurely progress back toward the inn with Myrtle, the two of them laughing and smiling. The moment she came within earshot, Julie couldn’t contain herself any longer.
“Well?” she asked.
Gram cracked a smile. “We’re using the lodge kitchens for the party.”
Mom, who seemed a bit more suspicious than Gram, asked, “That’s it? The party is on, just like that?”
“Well,” Gram said, “we are going to have a few additional guests.”
Julie looked up again at the tree line, but the Millers were gone. “Guests?” she asked, hoping. She had already unofficially invited Nolan, but she hadn’t broached the subject with Gram.
“Klaus, Stan, and Nolan will be coming, too, along with all the people currently booked at Barrington Lodge.”
Myrtle really had managed to pull off a miracle. And it was a good thing Julie had made extra party favors, just in case a particularly ornery cat broke one. This was going to be a Christmas party to remember.
Chapter 33
The late-afternoon sunlight cast Julie’s room in shades of orange and gold. Downstairs in the kitchen, the serving staff were arranging things to their liking, including the enormous bowl of punch Julie and Gram had mixed up earlier that day and left to chill in the fridge. She and Gram had also worked in tandem to give the inn a quick cleaning and lay out the small white boxes containing this year’s party favors. Gram had been delighted with the work Julie had put into them, and Julie had retreated upstairs to get ready for the party with a smile wide enough that her cheeks ached.
