Carol’s directions took Lisa straight to Barbara’s Country Inn, and it didn’t disappoint.
The red two-story with white trim looked festive all dressed in twinkle lights and holiday decor. Even the garden archways at the entrance along the sidewalk were decorated with gold ornaments, poinsettias, and the tiny fairy lights.
Excited about staying in the charming inn, she parked in the last empty spot. Must be a full house. She was probably lucky to have gotten a room at the last minute. It was a good thing she’d called ahead.
A few snowflakes had started to fall as she drove over, but it was really coming down as she took her suitcase out of her car. Careful not to slip on the accumulating snow, she carried her bag, rather than rolling it, slowly stepping her way up to the house. She stomped the snow from her boots and walked inside to a glorious display of Christmas decor.
She set her suitcase down just inside the door and closed it behind her. The warmth of the fireplace in the other room flooded the foyer, giving her a chance to relax a little from the chilly temperatures outside.
A colorful Christmas village with miniature houses, a bakery, and a church filled the entire length of the mantel in the living room, and down the hall she could see the dining room table was set with festive white and gold china. A box of Christmas ornaments on the foyer table caught her eye.
She walked over and lifted one from the box. They appeared to be fine hand-blown glass, and the craftsmanship was exquisite. For the hanger, a tiny pewter tree with a hole through the star at the top had been attached to the top of the blown glass ball. That’s a nice touch. She held one between her fingers, admiring it.
“Oh, sorry. I meant to get those up.” A brunette wearing a pink shirt and wine-colored cardigan entered the room with a smile, grabbing the box. “I got side-tracked while decorating.”
“No worries. They’re gorgeous. Are they hand-blown?” Lisa placed the ornament carefully back in the box.
“Yes.” She dipped her head and looked away.
By the woman’s bashful response, Lisa had to ask. “Did you make them?”
“I did.”
Lisa wished she had that kind of talent. She staged stores like nobody’s business, but as for handcrafting or art—she didn’t have those talents. “They’re exquisite.”
“Thank you.”
“Are you Barbara?” Lisa asked.
“No. I’m her sister, Megan. I’m hosting while she’s away.”
“Nice to meet you. I have a reservation.” A woman about her own age wearing a holiday green blouse and long dark braids swept in with a laptop. “Lisa Palmer?” she asked with a bright smile.
“Yes.”
“You’ll be in Room 8. I’m Hannah, by the way.” Her bubbly personality matched her bright smile.
“As you can see,” Megan said, “it takes a team to replace my sister.”
“It’s my pleasure,” Hannah said. “Decorating and playing Christmas is not work. I’m loving every minute of it.”
“I bet. Hi, Hannah.” Lisa shook her hand. “Nice to meet you.” The front door opened behind her, and who stepped through the door – none other than Kevin. Again.
“Oh good,” Megan said. “You brought the tree.”
He wrestled the fat Fraser fir through the doorway. Lisa and Kevin’s eyes met and they both laughed out loud.
“Seriously? This is getting a little weird.” How many times could she possibly run into the same guy in one day? It might’ve worried her…if she’d been anywhere but Evergreen.
“Yeah.” His eyes twinkled when he smiled. “I don’t know who is following who.”
Megan and Hannah looked a little baffled, but Lisa wasn’t going to elaborate on her many run-ins with him.
Kevin turned to Megan. “I’ll get this tree set up for you.” He gave Lisa a smile and tipped an imaginary hat. “Ma’am.”
Amused, Lisa laid on an elegant accent. “Sir.”
Kevin hoisted the tree with ease. All three ladies watched him as he carried it into the den.
“So-oo, you’ve met Kevin already?” Hannah had that same look on her face that Carol had earlier.
“Yes. Three times today.” As strange as it was, she wasn’t sorry about it. Once Hannah gave Lisa directions to her room, Lisa climbed the stairs with her suitcase. She stopped midway, leaning over the rail to sneak another peek at Kevin.
Once she’d unpacked and was getting hungry, Lisa descended the stairs again. She paused midway, looking over the rail again to see if Kevin was still there. The tree was set up, and he was nowhere in sight. A group of guests gathered in the dining room, but Lisa had told Carol she’d come back to the diner for dinner, and really that sounded more appealing than a dinner with fancy china and silverware tonight.
Some good home cooking was exactly what she wanted.
Snow was still falling in big fat, fluffy flakes, but it had slowed significantly from earlier. She jumped in her car and revved the engine. The town was so close the car wouldn’t even have time to heat up on the short drive.
She let out an audible sigh as she turned into the town square and caught the sight of Evergreen all dolled up for the holidays at night. White lights outlined every single building, and each business and office had added their own special touches. Some had toy soldiers nearly four feet tall guarding their doorways, while others had opted for candles, snowmen, or reindeer.
She got out of her car in awe of the surrounding beauty, then rocked back on her heels as she noticed the one dark spot on the block. Daisy’s Country Store. It hadn’t always been that way. In fact, quite the opposite. Daisy used to be the first one to deck out her store for the holidays.
As Lisa’s family had been leaving Evergreen for their new home in DC all those years ago, they’d stopped here on their way out of town. It hadn’t been snowing that night, but it had been bitterly cold. Mom had let her run inside to pick up something she’d called ahead for. Daisy had handed her a basket full of all of her favorite local goodies, including the candied citrus peels that Daisy had been known for making herself. Lisa hadn’t wanted to leave the store that night.
Daisy had walked her out to the car, which had been packed with clothes and the few toys her parents hadn’t sent along with the movers. “All packed up?” Daisy had asked.
With a shiver, Lisa relived that moment—being on the verge of tears. She’d cried most of that day. Dad had lost his patience with her pouting earlier, and Mom had been doing everything she could think of to make things better. Stopping at Daisy’s had been part of that.
“Why so sad?” Daisy asked. “You’re on your way to a new home and that’s an awfully big adventure.”
“But I don’t want a new home.” She loved her room at her old house, and because they were moving, Mom and Dad hadn’t put up the tree in front of the window in the living room like they always had. It was like Christmas was skipping right over them. “How will Santa know how to find us?”
“Lisa, Santa knows how to find all boys and girls. No matter where you go, Christmas will find you.” Daisy touched her face. “Now you have a good trip, mind your parents, and come back to visit us soon, okay?”
She’d climbed into the backseat of the car feeling like everything she knew and loved was getting ready to disappear.
“Off you go.” Daisy shut the car door of Dad’s big Cadillac, and waved from the sidewalk.
From the window of the back seat, she’d watched a father and son standing in the store talking near the mailbox where she’d put her letter to Santa just the week before. She’d hoped so badly that he’d receive her letter and answer her request. And she’d silently vowed she’d come back here someday.
Lisa shook off the memory, pushing her hair behind her ear like she was known to do when stressed. She had such fond memories of Daisy’s store, and Daisy. She was always so kind. And wise. It was like Daisy always knew what was on her mind even though as a child she’d been too quiet to share.
She turned her back on those memories. Leaving had been hard, and this town still held a special spot in her heart.
The twinkling lights made this place feel magical. It was just like she’d remembered. The truth was, some merchants had probably changed, but she really only remembered Daisy’s, the gas station, and the Kringle Kitchen. Oh, and there was a veterinarian on the block too. She only recalled that because sometimes when Dad was gassing up the car, she’d go pet the animals going in or out of the vet’s office for their checkups. Dad had never let her have a pet. He said with all the moving, it wasn’t fair to the animal. Lisa had always felt it was most unfair to her.
The school where she’d gone to kindergarten shouldn’t be far from here, but she had no idea which direction it would be. She could picture the light blue color of the walls that led to her classroom, the smell of paste and those yummy rolls they made fresh in the cafeteria every morning. She had such treasured memories of Evergreen, and so many more surfaced now that she was here.
Lisa stepped up onto the sidewalk and went inside the Kringle Kitchen. Every table was covered in a red fabric tablecloth, with a white runner and green cloth napkins folded like Christmas trees.
At one of the first tables, an artist sat drawing a brilliant likeness of Santa Claus in a sketchbook—pretty enough to be a Christmas card.
“Hi, Lisa!” Carol met her halfway. “I didn’t want you to have to eat alone.” She pulled out a chair at a table near the dessert counters. Two other people were already seated at the four-topper.
“You’re so sweet.” Lisa sat down.
The woman seated across from her leaned forward with a smile. “I heard you went to elementary school here.”
“Yes. I did.”
“I’m actually the principal of the elementary school now. I’m Michelle.”
“Cool.” Small world.
“This is—” Michelle started.
“Ezra.” He extended his hand. “I’m the Mayor of Evergreen.”
“Nice to meet you,” Lisa said. “Wow. The mayor. Well, I have to tell you your little town is the dictionary definition of charming. It is really great.”
“Let’s hope we can keep it that way,” Ezra said with a snide glance toward Michelle.
Michelle cast a stern eye his way. “Ezra.”
“Why would you say that?” Lisa asked.
“Sorry, I’ve been distracted. Trying to get the country store sold has been weighing on me.” With a furrowed brow, Ezra took a sip of his water.
Carol came back to the table and cleared her throat. “Ezra, no business at the dinner table.”
The look on Ezra’s face said this wasn’t the first time they had reprimanded him for doing just that.
Carol placed leather bound menus in front of each of them. “There is no stress in the Kringle Kitchen.”
As soon as Carol walked away, Ezra started in. “Unless we get the country store sold, we could end up with a chain store. Or fast food. It would put smaller places like this out of business. Our tourism trade could dry up. But mainly, Evergreen wouldn’t be so…Evergreen.” His lips twitched.
She understood his concern. “Who owns Daisy’s store now?”
Ezra looked flustered. “I do. Daisy was my godmother.”
Lisa’s heart pinched. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
He nodded a thank-you. “Anyway, I’m looking to sell it.”
She hated the possibility of Daisy’s store being replaced by some big chain. She wasn’t all that fond of the idea of it turning into some other kind of store, either. “You know…” She pushed up from her chair, eyeing the store through the Kringle Kitchen window. She held a finger up. “Let me just take a look at something.” She walked to the other side of Ezra. That sign hanging haphazardly didn’t do much for the ambiance of the place. Bare of decorations, it stood out like a rejected part among the inviting storefronts. “It could use some good staging.”
Ezra jumped from his seat and leaned in close. “Staging?”
“It…yeah…staging. It’s like when you’re going to sell a house. You add furniture and paint a few walls just to make it look more attractive to the potential buyer.”
Ezra gave a crooked smile. “Could you do that to a store?” he asked hopefully.
“Yeah. It’s what I do.” She had the skills to help, and why not? She had some time on her hands. “I redesign stores, sometimes add or subtract certain products. We prefer to do shops that are opening to the public, but—”
Michelle rolled her eyes. “Ezra, please let Lisa enjoy her vacation.”
Lisa looked over at the store. “No, actually, I’d really like to take a look.”
Ezra’s mood lifted, making him seem a little more like one of Santa’s playful elves than a mayor. “Daisy kept it very clean, but it’s a bit of a mess inside since the snowstorm. The snow left some damage,” Ezra admitted.
“I’m sure I’ve seen much worse.” Lisa was excited to go back into the store after all these years. “Let’s go take a look.”
Michelle shook her head. “I’ll wait here.”
Lisa and Ezra walked across the street without a word, but she sensed his excitement. He took the keys from his pocket and unlocked the door. A rush of cold air stung her face as she walked inside with Ezra on her heels.
Her heart broke a little. The main components were all still there—the long wooden glass front counters, and the wood stove in the center—but it looked unloved, and that hurt.
This would take more than just a little staging. Repairs were needed too.
“During an early snowstorm, the roof practically caved in,” Ezra explained.
A hole in the wall showed exposed pipes, and a huge beam had fallen, still lying catawampus across the middle of the store. The water damage had left the floors covered in thick dry dirt that flaked as she walked across it.
She sighed. “We’d need to fix that beam.”
Lisa walked further inside, ducking under the beam to see the rest of the space. It was hard to not let her personal disappointment in the condition affect her vision for the possibilities. She needed to treat this place like any other retail store in need of help. There were some redeeming qualities. The old wooden phone was still on the wall, and a few antique pieces were scattered around too.
She turned to Ezra with a smile.
“We’d need to brighten the place up.” She waved her hand toward the front windows. “Add some Christmas decorations. There’s a lot to do if you want to sell it that quickly.” Lisa walked around taking stock of what it would take.
Ezra pointed his finger in her direction. “Quick is what we’re after. If I can’t sell by the end of the year, the store is going to go back to the bank. They’ve already said they’d repossess it.”
Lisa blew dust from the beam and coughed. “Well, I won’t lie. It’s not going to be easy, but I have seen places in worse conditions turn around on tighter schedules.” She ducked under the beam. “All right.” She walked back over to Ezra. They did a little do-si-do as she switched her innovative mind into high gear. “Tell you what I’ll do. Point me in the direction of your town’s best contractor. I’ll get this place fixed up and ready to sell by Christmas.”
Ezra grinned, then raised his eyebrows as he looked out the window past her. He placed his arm around Lisa’s shoulder and turned her toward the window. “Kevin,” he said, pointing to the man walking toward the red truck parked in front of the Kringle Kitchen, “is a contractor.”
For heaven’s sake. “Of course he is.”
“But he’s only in town for a week staying with his dad.”
“Well…” She looked over her shoulder to Ezra. “I mean…I won’t really need more than a week, I don’t think.”
“He’s good,” said Ezra. “Very precise.”
The way Ezra said precise, Lisa wasn’t entirely sure if it was a compliment or not. But she took that as reason enough to talk to Kevin about what it would take to get the store staged in the short time they had.
It wouldn’t be an easy job, but she couldn’t let Daisy’s just end like this. I can do this. She raced out of the store to catch Kevin before he left.