I cringed, shaking my head. “No. I’m sitting at about fifty-percent right now. I’m hoping to push more advertising and get filled up. I want to go full Christmas. I want tinsel and balls and all the trimmings. I want the guests getting the total winter wonderland experience.”
Cori started clapping. “I love Christmas! I love the lights and the shiny baubles. You could put in a little shop for guests to do last-minute shopping at. You could sell ornaments and snow globes with the name of the resort.”
“We have a gift shop in the lobby,” I told her. “But nothing for the holidays.”
“You could do a pop-up shop,” Cori said with way more enthusiasm than I felt.
“What’s that?”
“Oh, they are all the rage,” she said. “They are there one day and gone the next. It creates a frenzied need. People worry it will be gone and they buy up the stuff. When you limit supply, the demand is going to be there. It would be a great way to market the resort. People could make it a family tradition. Every year, they get their ornament from the resort.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” I said, truly impressed.
“It’s a very good idea,” our father chimed in. “You need to make the resort a family destination, something that will become a yearly tradition. That’s the way you secure the future of the place.”
“I would like to do that.”
Cori couldn’t contain her excitement at the idea. “We could have an incentive for guests that reserve their room early. They get a free ornament or something like that. It will cost you next to nothing.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Since when did you talk shop? You never cared before.”
“I’ll help you. I’ll go to Vail and get it all set up. I’ve been craving the snow anyway.”
I thought about it and realized she could be a big help and it would help get her mind off the failed relationship. “All right. I’ll set you up in one of the cottages on the grounds.”
She was smiling big. “Yes! This is going to be so awesome.”
“I think it will be great to have the two of you working together,” my father commented.
“We need to set some ground rules,” I said, holding up my fork.
She rolled her eyes. “You are not actually my big brother.”
“Five minutes says I am.”
“You are not the boss of me.”
“Five minutes and the CEO after my name says I am.”
She groaned, rolling her eyes. “You better not let all this power go to your head. Remember, I know all your dirty little secrets and I will not hesitate to use them.”
“No boyfriends. No men. No messy relationships.”
She raised her brows at me. “You don’t get to dictate that.”
“Cori, when you’re in a relationship, things are great, but when they end—and they have a tendency to do that—you fall apart.”
“I do not.”
“Cori, dear, he has a point,” our mother said. “Why don’t you let this little project occupy your time? It will be a good distraction and give you some time to get over, um, whatever his name was.”
I had to hide my smile at the fact she didn’t know his name either. We rarely took the time to learn the names. We learned “the one” was a very loose term for Cori. I hoped she did find the one eventually, but I was in agreement with my mother. She needed to take some time and just get to know herself a little better.
“Mom, you know what his name was.”
She waved a hand, dismissing the topic altogether. “Your father and I are so proud of both of you. We know you’ll both do great.”
“There are bound to be lots of eligible men running through there,” Cori said.
“No,” I said. “You love them and leave them faster than any of us can keep up. And the aftermath is usually rather explosive. I just built the place.”
She slapped a hand to her chest and gasped with feigned shock. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Fine, no dating, but that goes for you too.”
“Me?”
“Don’t bring any of those floozies around.”
“Cori!” my mother scolded.
My father laughed. “She’s got a point.”
“They aren’t floozies,” I argued.
Cori rolled her eyes. “Let’s agree to disagree. We’ll both do the single thing. No men for me and no women for you. It will be all about the resort. We don’t need the distractions, right?”
“You’re a pain in my a—”
“Chase,” my mother said in her warning tone.
“Backside. Fine, I’ll leave the ladies alone. We’ll