Jody settled down with a large hot chocolate and smiled as she saw the snowfall out front of the Blue Moon’s front doors. The snow would not stop the special people that came to the Blue Moon from coming. Even without the skiing and other winter activities, they would be full. Because here was where people went when they needed a change from their lives. Whether it was to hide from the world or just step back and reassess the path their lives were taking. They could find something here at the Blue Moon that always had them leaving with the answers they needed.
Smiling, she listened to Gabriella, the owner, flutter almost magically down the hall humming a tune as she freshened the rooms for the morning. Gabriella’s husband, Donny, was puttering around in the kitchen and dining room, serving a buffet breakfast to all the guests and employees in the small dining room. Everyone was treated like family here, and if someone needed help or something, it would practically appear out of nowhere.
Right now, it was the beginning of December, and the halls had been decked out in the beautiful scent of pine and holly. There were red and gold bows, berries and baubles hidden among the greenery. Golden lights and a fire in every hearth lent the feel of coming home to cozy warmth. The scent of the ever-present hot chocolate and mulled apple cider gave Jody such comforting feelings. She couldn’t imagine working anywhere else. This was not a job at all, it was home, and the guests were just family one had yet to meet and get to know.
There was a couple just coming down the stairs for the morning. They had arrived late last night, and clearly, they needed the magic here at the Blue Moon if the expressions on their faces told Jody anything about them.
“Good morning Mister and Misses Germain. It’s a beautiful morning, and there’s a hot breakfast laid out in the dining room for your convenience. If you can’t find something, please just ask Donny, and I am sure he will happily get it for you.” Jody set her mug down and stood before she announced this to the unhappy couple.
His name was Benjamin, and his nose was stuck in his phone. Jody wondered how he didn’t trip and fall like that. Technology never worked long here at the Blue Moon. There was a joke about technology only working around there once in a blue moon.
Her name was Denise, and by the look of her perfect hair and a full face of makeup. She had been up for a long time.
Neither spouse looked at each other. She smiled at Jody to acknowledge her words, but her husband only grunted before they entered the dining room. Jody believed she heard Denise scold Ben for being rude to the help.
Jody sighed and settled back with her mug. Her mood was too good this morning to be bothered with the insult. Technically she was the help, but she wasn’t going to explain how correct the woman really was. She’d discover that later after fate and the magic of the Blue Moon had done their work on them.
Peaking at the schedule for today, there were four more check-ins, and they would be full for the week.
Mister Daniel Davis, a painter whose career was at a high a few years ago and now he was coming here. Since no one had seen anything new from him since he was probably here looking for a muse to help him reach the next step in his artistic career, Jody suspected.
April Klein was going to be here soon too, and she was a curious creature. April came here looking for something every year around this time. Though no one was sure what April was looking for, and they were sure she didn’t know either. Ms. Klein was an enigma but a personal friend of Gabriella’s, and so she was family.
Mister Eric Devlin was another first-timer here, and he was a sudden booking. Gabriella was sure that he was a little shady, as she put it, but she was convinced that he had a story to tell, and he would need help from the Blue Moon’s magic to overcome that story.
Jody had long ago learnt just to accept Gabriella’s hunches and stories. She always seemed to know what people needed and how the magic would have its way with a guest.
Finally, but not least, there was a Greta Johansen coming. She was a ghost hunter and wanted to come to explore the hauntings of Evergreen Grove’s little hamlet.
With the snow falling now, Jody had the chance to drink her hot chocolate while it was still hot. Then she’d get on to tidying the already neat lobby and assist with the dining room’s clean up. There was always something different to do around the Blue Moon. She artistically dropped a couple of brochures of local attractions on the front desk with a satisfied sigh. Shopping in the hamlet and skiing should cover the unhappy couple for the morning and afternoon.
Those checking would be later in the morning because of travel being slowed for safety. Eddie was working on fixing the pantry door again. Jody could hear him cursing the door and the bogart he insisted lived in the pantry. Eddie was the handyman around the Blue Moon and the hamlet. He’d been here forever, and he looked like it too—a big bushy beard which was just like his hair, whiter than the snow outside. Eddie could pass for Santa on vacation around here. He was a happy person for the most part, except when he was fixing something that wouldn’t stay fixed.
Donny slipped in through the entrance behind the front desk and gave Jody a smile. “Morning, little one. Everything ready for those checking in today?”
“Gabby is just finishing up the rooms, and I’ve got the front desk ready to rock. Are the hot chocolate and mulled cider ready? I’m sure they are going to be cold when the new guests get here. The snow doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon.”
“I even put the kettle on and have coffee made too. Breakfast is all out and will be for another hour or so.”
“I swear if I didn’t know any better, but I think this place could almost run itself.”
“No, that’s the magic of this place, making it feel that way. But you didn’t hear that from me.” Donny chuckled and gave a wave before returning to the kitchen to tell Eddie to keep the volume down. No one wanted to hear his salty mouth. Eddie and Donny were related somehow, but Jody never figured out how and it wasn’t polite to ask.
Jody fiddled with a few pine bows behind the front desk as she enjoyed the quiet time of the morning. She found herself picking up the tune Gabby was humming before she heard arguing coming from the dining room.
The Germains were arguing about what they were going to do today. Mister Germain wanted to hit the slopes and Misses Germain wanted to look at the town. Neither wanted to compromise, and that was Jody’s queue to step into action. She picked up the brochures, and with a smile, she entered the dining room.
“Good morning Mister and Misses Germain. I just got these in, and I thought you would find them interesting. Mister Germain, the ski shop in Evergreen, has just received a new snowboard. I’ve heard the board has some new technology, and this brochure has a discount coupon if two snowboards are purchased. Misses Germain, I really recommend the women’s ski pants. They are vastly improved from last years. They are also using a new technology that increased their warmth, and they are figure-hugging too. When you hit the slopes, the ski lodge specializes in this brochure for using the snowboarding hills. Now, if you hit the shops in…oh…an hour from now…you’ll still be able to get in a full day on the slopes, and you’ll even be able to enjoy your breakfast. Don’t forget to mention at the chalet that you are staying here when you get your lunch, all our guests get a ten percent discount.”
Jody feared she’d overstepped her bounds with Misses Germain, but the two seemed surprised by her compromise for their argument. In the end, though, she looked at her husband and saw him reading up on the new snowboards and nodding. She would get her shopping in with her husband in tow willingly, and he would get his time on the slopes with a new toy he could share with her, all at a discount.
That’s when Jody first saw a smile creep onto Misses Germain’s face, and it transformed her. Sadly, her husband didn’t see it.
