Page 60 of Healing Hearts at the Christmas Inn
"For offering to work during our vacation!" Holly looked genuinely distressed. "I know we're supposed to be relaxing, spending time with Trinity. And here I am, planning to spend hours restoring furniture." She shook her head. "I didn't even think about how that would affect you and Trinity. Oh no." Her eyes widened with realization. "You're going to be stuck entertaining Trinity alone while I work. I'm sorry. I'll move things around. I can't have you not enjoying your holiday."
"Holly, it's okay," Charlie said firmly. "Actually, I'm helping the Christmas family too."
Holly's eyes widened. "What?"
Charlie glanced around, making sure no one was close enough to overhear. She lowered her voice. "The inn is being foreclosed on. There's a development company trying to force them out. Logan asked me to look at the legal documents, and I agreed to help."
She explained about the meeting that morning, the questions she'd asked Jack, and the research she needed to do. Holly listened, her expression shifting from surprise to relief to frustration.
"So we're both working during our vacation," Holly said when Charlie finished. She laughed, but it was edged withexasperation. "Neither of us can leave work alone for even a few days, can we?"
Charlie was quiet for a moment, watching Trinity and Maddy on the carousel. Their faces were bright with joy, completely unselfconscious in their happiness. When was the last time she'd felt that free?
She turned back to Holly. "This isn't work."
Holly frowned. "What do you mean?"
"What we're doing for the inn. It's not work. Not really." Charlie looked at her older sister.
"We're literally doing our jobs," Holly pointed out. "You're doing legal work, I'm doing restoration work."
"But we're not doing it because we have to," Charlie said slowly, working through the realization as she spoke. "We're doing it because we want to. Because in just a few days, we've come to care deeply about this place. About this magical inn and the family that runs it." Her voice grew more certain. "So it's not work. We're helping out. We're being part of something. Contributing to something that matters." She paused. "When's the last time work felt like that for you?"
Holly was quiet, processing. Finally, she nodded slowly. "You're right. Every piece I've restored for Julie Jane over the years, I felt connected to. Like they were calling to me somehow. Now I know why." Her voice softened. "They were waiting to come home. And I was preparing them."
They turned as Trinity and Maddy came walking back, laughing and talking over each other about the carousel and debating which ride to try next.
"That was so fun! Can we go on the Ferris wheel?" Trinity asked, her face flushed with excitement.
Charlie and Holly stood, smiling at their enthusiasm. Holly glanced at Charlie, then at Trinity, really seeing the happiness on her granddaughter's face.
"Have you ever seen her this happy?" Charlie asked quietly.
Holly shook her head, her eyes glistening slightly. "Not since before Gabe deployed. Not since before..." She didn't finish, but Charlie understood. Not since before the divorce, before the world turned upside down.
"Even Trinity is doing something for the inn," Charlie pointed out. "Helping Jane with the ballroom. Making friends. Finding purpose. We all needed this place. Maybe more than we knew."
Holly nodded, squeezing Charlie's hand. "Maybe the inn needed us too."
They spent another hour at the fair. Charlie and Holly rode the Ferris wheel with the girls. The four of them squeezed into one carriage, laughing as it swung gently at the top with a view of the historic city spread below them. They played games at the booths, Trinity winning a stuffed reindeer that she immediately declared would go to Jane for the ballroom.
As they finally headed back to the car, cotton candy in hand and faces flushed from the cold and excitement, Charlie felt something settle in her chest. The guilt about working during vacation was gone, replaced by certainty that she was exactly where she needed to be, doing exactly what she needed to do.
Even if it terrified her. Even if Logan Miller and his impossible electric touch complicated everything. Even if she had no idea what happened next.
The drive back to the inn was filled with the girls' chatter about their plans for the ballroom. Holly asked questions, offering suggestions, clearly already mentally cataloging which pieces in the inn would work best for the space. Charlie listened, letting the conversation wash over her, feeling more settled than she had all day.
Until they pulled into the inn's parking lot, and her heart rate picked up again.
Logan was here somewhere. In this building. And at some point, she was going to have to face him.
Face what had happened between them in that hallway.
They climbed out of the car, and the girls raced ahead toward the entrance, eager to get started on their decorating project. Holly and Charlie followed at a more leisurely pace, both of them comfortable in the silence.
The inn's lobby was quiet when they entered, afternoon sun slanting through the tall windows and painting everything in shades of gold. Julie stood behind the front desk, her face lighting up when she saw them.
"Did you have a lovely time in the city?" she asked warmly.
