Page 57 of All I Want For Christmas Is You

Probably the lyrics to the song he sang. Maybe he’d looked them up on his phone and written them down. Oh, well.

Moving on.

She dumped the scraps into a big black garbage bag and continued cleaning up the room.

Margot shut her bedroom door, kicked off her sneakers, and fell face-first onto the mattress. It had been one hell of a long day. She was exhausted but strangely wired.

Something crinkled in the pocket of her jeans, and she groaned into her pillow.

She couldn’t believe she’d dug through the garbage to save Beau’s pieces of paper. What kind of sap does that? How pathetic am I?

Closing her eyes, she pictured taking a hot bath, drinking some of the special tea she used to buy from Mariage des Freres, and pampering herself with luxury skincare products.

But she didn’t have a bathtub, and she could no longer afford fancy tea or anything but the lodge’s complimentary lotion. So, she’d settle for a quick shower and brushing her teeth.

She stood, stripping out of her jeans. Before tossing them into the hamper, she emptied the pockets. As she dumped the notes onto her nightstand, she noticed he’d scratched out sentences. She opened one.

I don’t want to leave you, but—

Wait, is this… is this a note to me?

I don’t know what it is about you—

If I walk out that door, I know I’ll never see you again, and maybe—

Maybe what? Oh, my God, finish your thought.

A gentle knock on her door had her snatching her robe off the bed. “Who is it?”

“It’s Carla.”

What on earth is she doing here this late at night? “Just a second.” She tied the belt around her waist and opened the door. The front desk manager held a vase overflowing with deep red roses. “Is that for me?”

“Yeah. A guy dropped them off last night with instructions to be delivered today, but with all the craziness, I guess they were forgotten. I was just clocking out when I saw them.” Handing them over, the young woman gave her a weary smile. “Have a good night.”

“You, too. Thank you so much.” She closed the door and breathed in the scent.

They’d come last night? So, not from Beau then. Who would send her flowers? She supposed one of her kids could’ve done it.

She set the vase on her desk and pulled out the card.

Dear Margot,

Meeting you changed me.

Beau

Adrenaline crashed her system. The flowers, the crumpled notes… She’d had it all wrong.

Tearing off the robe, she threw on a fresh T-shirt and pajama bottoms and shoved her feet into her slippers. And then, she was out the door. Only when she stood alone in the quiet hallway did she realize she didn’t know his room number.

God, she was so frustrated with herself. She’d known how he felt about her. He’d made it abundantly clear. Still, thanks to her insecurities, she’d gone and wasted an entire day when she could’ve been with him.

She had to find him.

She took off to the check-in desk, got the information from the night manager, and then, she raced up the grand staircase. She had to get to him, had to apologize, explain… She just had to be with him.

Outside his door, she took a moment to catch her breath. Exhausted from the long day, smelling like the candy cane she’d found in her hair earlier that evening from playing Santa, she must look a mess. But she didn’t care. More importantly, he wouldn’t care.

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