and father, but they could be something of a trial. Craig and Heather Forrester both had generous trust funds, but when he was a kid, they’d always spent their annual allowance within nine or ten months. He’d hated the way they lived off their wealthier friends the rest of the year. Luke’s grandparents on both sides had given up on them before his sister, Nicole, was born, being people who heartily disapproved of a frivolous lifestyle. He barely remembered them.
“Get my parents invited to an embassy dinner in Washington. They’ll regretfully call off their trip to Austin.”
Craig and Heather’s latest goal was getting appointed to a diplomatic post. They were effortlessly charming, so it was possible, but he doubted they understood that being in the diplomatic corps required actual effort. Work wasn’t a concept they grasped well.
“Which embassy?”
“It doesn’t matter. Just find one that’s having a party. I’ll ask my sister if she wants to come with us to California.”
“You’ll also need a tutor for the girls so they don’t get behind in school.” Tilly made a note on her pad. “Anything else?”
“Not right now, but I hope this bed-and-breakfast place has decent plumbing.”
Tilly looked smug. “If they don’t, you can fire me.”
“I’ve fired you a hundred times. You refuse to go.”
“That’s what makes me such a valuable employee... I don’t listen to a word you say.”
He smiled faintly. Tilly was more valuable to him than a thousand other employees and she knew it.
As she walked out of the office, he closed his eyes, wishing he could go back to when life had been simpler. But life never got simpler. It just got harder.
CARLIE BENTON BREEZED through the back entrance of Old City Hall. No longer a civic building, it housed the reservation hub and guest reception area for Poppy Gold Inns and Conference Center, along with various offices and other useful spaces.
“Good morning,” called a familiar voice.
Carlie grinned at her aunt. “Good morning, Aunt Polly. Wasn’t Thanksgiving terrific?”
“It was wonderful. I think we broke a record for everyone getting back home to Glimmer Creek for the holiday.”
“That’s because they wanted to see Tessa’s baby.”
Polly Murphy beamed. “I don’t think Tessa and Gabe got to hold their daughter the entire afternoon, even to change Meredith’s diapers.”
“Tessa was able to nurse Merri, that’s all.” Carlie glanced at the clock. “Oops, I’ve got to go. Busy day. See you later.”
Until sixteen months ago, Carlie had been working in the San Francisco Bay Area, only returning to her hometown for visits. Then she’d been hired as the Poppy Gold Inns’ activity director. Carlie loved it and in many ways working at the historic bed-and-breakfast facility was like attending a family reunion every day. Her cousin Tessa McKinley was the owner-manager along with her father, Liam Connor, and half the employees were related in one way or another.
If only her own father...
A hint of melancholy went through Carlie. Dad had been injured the previous summer while laying down asphalt on a road as a highway worker. An impatient driver had sped around some slow-moving cars and plowed into him, permanently damaging his leg. Mike Benton now worked as a traffic flagger at road construction sites, which he hated. But he also wouldn’t take a job at Poppy Gold, no matter how much the family cajoled him.
“I don’t want anybody’s pity,” he’d declared on more than one occasion. He didn’t understand that it wouldn’t be pity; it would be giving Poppy Gold the benefit of three decades of practical, hands-on civil engineering experience.
Carlie shook the thought away and greeted the members of her staff who’d already arrived.
“Did you hear...?” Joan Peters started to say, only to stop and blush.
“Hear what?” asked Carlie.
“Nothing,” Tracy Wade said hastily.
Tracy and Joan exchanged glances and hurriedly went back to making holiday name tags for the staff.
Carlie frowned.
She’d sensed an air of anticipation in Old City Hall after arriving, but had put it down to adrenaline. They had to hit the ground running to get ready for Christmas, so there was little time for day-after-Thanksgiving relaxation. For the next six weeks, Poppy Gold would be devoted to the Christmas and New Year celebrations. The Victorian village was ideally suited for strings of lights, electric candles in the windows, mistletoe, evergreen swags and everything else that was bright and cheerful.
“Is something going on that I should know about?” she asked.
“Uh, no. We mustn’t gossip.”
Especially here at work, Carlie added silently.
Gossip was a form of entertainment in the small town of Glimmer Creek, but it was discouraged at Poppy Gold, particularly when it came to their guests.
Carlie didn’t have time to think about anything new, regardless. The basic holiday schedule had been established long before she’d begun working as the activities director, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t be busy implementing her own ideas. Traditionally, the autumn decorations came down the morning after Thanksgiving, with Christmas arriving with a vengeance the next day. Well, it would arrive with a fervent festive spirit.
Poppy Gold Inns had guests who booked years in advance for Christmas kickoff day, as the regulars called it. Visitors didn’t have to participate, but being able to join in as part of the “work crew” was why many of them came for the extended Thanksgiving weekend, saying it got them in the mood for the holiday. Some loved decorating trees, some preferred making wreaths, while others strung evergreen garlands on fences or lampposts or worked on the public areas of a specific Victorian. There were lots of things to do for all ages.
In her office, Carlie pulled up a list of the expected Friday check-ins on the computer, her eyebrows shooting upward when she saw that the largest suite at the John Muir Cottage had been reserved for the next month by the Forrester family. Actually, for the next month and a half.
Forrester?
The name seemed familiar, but she couldn’t think why.
Carlie dialed her cousin’s number. Tessa was Poppy Gold’s manager, and if anyone knew what was going on, she was the one. After all, the John Muir Cottage was special. Poppy Gold reserved it for active service members, as well as veterans and military families who were going through a difficult period.
“Hi,” she said when Tessa answered. “I wanted to check with you about the John Muir Cottage. The Yosemite suite has been reserved through January 7. What if you get an urgent referral for someone else?”
“We’ll
