a successful private-equity firm. And that somehow, it still wasn’t enough.
Georgie was shaking her head now. “I don’t want to celebrate Christmas in Chicago. I want to stay here.”
“What about the museums we were going to visit?” he asked. Technically, his assistant usually took her to the museums because work pulled him away, but he didn’t see the point in highlighting that just now.
“I’m bored of museums,” she reminded him, giving a dramatic pout.
He couldn’t argue with her there. They’d bored him as a kid too, but his parents had still dragged him along—well, with the nanny. Now, he understood why they had done it. Education was important to him. Always had been. It was what set him up in life, for a good job, for a steady income, for success.
Where had it all gotten him, he wondered now, looking at his daughter, thinking of what Michelle had told him the day she’d ended their marriage. All he cared about was work, she’d said. And it had cost him his family.
Only this year, maybe it didn’t have to. His staff was back at the office; they’d be working right up to the holiday, of course. He had his computer, his cell, and he could set up a home office from the dining room that obviously saw no other real use. It would be good training for the months and years ahead when he’d be setting up their European office, communicating remotely with the main branch in Chicago. But he wasn’t in the mindset of taking time off work—not even for Christmas.
And that was something that his ex had never let him forget.
“Okay, if your mom agrees with it, we can stay here. But only until Christmas Day,” he warned, barely believing the words that were coming out of his mouth. Good grief, was he really going to do this? Normally he’d be back at work the day after Thanksgiving. If he was being honest with himself, he was usually at the office on Thanksgiving.
His hands felt clammy when he considered his decision. Four weeks was a long time away from the office, with the days he had already missed. But four weeks as a single parent was an even bigger challenge. It might be easier here in Blue Harbor, really. His other game plan was to bring Georgie into the office most days, teach her about business, maybe have his assistant take her skating or shopping or to look at the store windows on Michigan Avenue. At least here she could play outside, build a snowman. Do all the simple things that could only be found in this town.
Georgie whooped in excitement and stood up to fling her arms around his neck. “Oh, thank you, Daddy. This is going to be the best Christmas ever.”
The best Christmas ever, huh? He certainly didn’t know how to fulfill such a giant expectation, but he’d committed, and for now, at least, Georgie was happy. He knew that Michelle wouldn’t protest—if anything, she’d be surprised that he was willing to take the time away from the office. He could hear it now, and his lip curled at the imaginary conversation. But he had the time off—even if he rarely took a day in the past, not even for Georgie’s Kindergarten graduation, which had been the breaking point in their marriage.
And if he wanted to get his grandparents’ properties cleaned up and ready for an easy sale, he’d have to put in some time and effort.
And something told him that despite her friendly disposition, Cora over at the Christmas shop wasn’t going to make this easy for him in the slightest.
3
It was a tradition in the Conway family growing up that the day after Thanksgiving, they would trek into town to pick out a tree fresh from the lot—usually accompanied by an argument over which one was best.
Now that they were older, and each running their own businesses, that tradition had to be pushed off to Sunday afternoon, since Amelia closed Firefly Café early each Sunday and Maddie had followed suit when she opened the bakery.
Harbor Holidays was still open on Sunday—this was her biggest sales weekend of the year, after all—and Cora checked the clock now to see that she was finally going to be able to turn the sign on the door in ten minutes. Even with Natalie’s help, she hadn’t sat down all day, or stopped for lunch, and the promise of warm hot chocolate, buttery cookies, and leftover turkey and cranberry