Rosie set a tin on the counter. “Looking good. These are Mexican wedding cookies from my sister. You can tuck them behind the desk for later.”
One of the clerks smiled at her. “Thanks. Did you see the tree Charlie brought in? It’s gorgeous.”
When Rosie focused her gaze on the lobby, located just to the right of the front desk, her jaw dropped. Standing beside the inlaid tile fireplace was a stunning, eight-foot-tall tree, adorned with a rainbow of vintage glass ornaments, beaded garlands, and frosted lights.
Charlie peeked out from behind the tree. “Behold! Isn’t it glorious?”
Rosie walked over to her. “It’s amazing. This must have taken you hours to set up. I hope you didn’t spend all night here.”
Charlie laughed. “Nope. All I did was haul it over this morning, as is. My mom uses this bougie service to prep her house for the holidays. Last year, her decorator went all-in on the vintage look, but now that style is passé. I was able to grab this tree from our garage before Mom tossed it out.”
Rosie couldn’t imagine her parents swapping out their family’s Christmas decorations just because they were outdated. Among her favorites were the colorful tin ornaments that her grandparents had brought from Mexico sixty years ago.
“What’s the new style this year?” she asked.
“All the ornaments are dark blue and silver. Kind of a night sky vibe, I guess.” Charlie shrugged. “Anyway, Knox helped me bring the tree in his truck, along with a bunch of other decorations.”
Knox came through the entrance of the hotel, pushing a luggage cart laden with boxes and potted poinsettias. He parked it beside the tree. “Here’s the rest of the stuff.”
Rosie couldn’t help but grin. “Morning, Knox. I’ve never seen you here this early.”
He busied himself unloading the boxes. “Yeah, well, I figured I’d pitch in. I don’t want anyone getting canned because this place isn’t festive enough. I’m gonna make some coffee. Is the breakfast room open?”
“Not yet. The kitchen staff doesn’t start prepping until six, but you can use my key card.” Rosie handed it to him. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“No problem,” he muttered.
As he ambled off, Rosie nudged Charlie. “Knox isn’t a morning person. There’s no way he would have done that for anyoneexcept you.”
“Nope. He was doing it for the good of the hotel.”
Rosie smirked. “Right. You keep telling yourself that.” She went to help Selena, who had just emerged from the elevator bearing an overloaded luggage cart. “You doing okay?”
Selena scowled. “It’s 5:00 a.m. How could I possibly be okay? Remind me again why we’re decorating so early? And doing it ourselves instead of hiring professionals?”
“We wanted to set up the lobby before people came down for breakfast,” Charlie said. “This way, it’s more like a magical surprise.”
“And we didn’t hire a decorating service because our budget is so paltry,” Rosie added. Last week, she’d asked Preston if they could free up the funds to hire someone, but he hadn’t budged. Instead, he’d told her, “I’m sure you and your staff can pull something together.”
Then, when she’d invited him to join this morning’s decorating party, he’d passed, claiming he didn’t want to derail his exercise routine. Yet another response that had her wishing he’d make a little more effort.
Selena pointed to the boxes. “This is half the stuff from our storage area—mostly decorations for the breakfast room. I’m not sure if it’s all usable.”
“Do you want to take it over there and start going through it?” Rosie asked. “Knox is already brewing coffee.”
“Sounds good. Laurel should be up soon with the other boxes.”
Once Selena headed off, Rosie turned to Charlie. “What else do we need to set up?”
“There’s an antique sled and a bunch of wrapped presents in these boxes that we can put under the tree. I also bought extra paper in case we need to rewrap any of the gifts. Some of them might be torn or faded.”
As Rosie helped Charlie arrange the presents, she began perking up. Even if she hadn’t wanted to get up at four this morning, she couldn’t deny the hotel was already looking festive. Maybe now when guests walked in, they wouldn’t notice the faded carpeting or the scuffed counter at the front desk; instead, they’d focus on all the lights and the colorful tree in the lobby.
“Coming in early to decorate was a stroke of brilliance,” she said to Charlie. “Not gonna lie, I was cursing you when my alarm went off, but I’m starting to get that holiday feeling.”
“You see? All we’ve done for the past three weeks is plan, but now we get to watch it all take shape. You should enjoy it.”
“I want to, but I’m a little worried. Laurel’s marketing team is going full steam ahead, but our occupancy rate has barely risen.”
