Anya's smile was starting to strain as it had stayed frozen in place for the last fifteen minutes but she didn't dare let it falter.

She had managed at last to get the Christensen family upstairs and into their rooms but it had taken a large amount of coaxing and reassurance, along with two mild apologies where Anya made sure she didn't take actual responsibility for the miscommunication.

That still landed firmly on their shoulders and Anya could tell Luke's father recognized his mistake as soon as Anya managed to explain the situation.

It had taken several moments to even get to that point. It took Gloria appearing as if out of thin air, dragging her little brother by the elbow into the kitchen and out of the middle of an already sticky situation. Anya didn't have a chance to shoot her a thankful glance as Mrs. Christensen was demanding exactly what was going on and how her son knew her name.

It took an expertly managed evasive answer on Luke's part to slide past that little fact and get his mother refocused on the real problem at hand. He didn't have Anya's name tag as an excuse as it was currently sitting on her bedroom dresser. Mrs. Christensen was talking down to Anya about their promised third room within seconds.

"The view's not the worst."

Luke's older sister was standing in front of the bay windows that look out onto the drive beneath their room and the extended landscape that stretched out beyond that. Anya knew this view to be the best in the entire inn, as they had requested the best rooms available.

The small town of Holly was visible, it's neat antique buildings and the old church spire creating a picturesque scene down in the valley below. It was Anya's favorite view in the whole inn but Luke's older sister seemed barely impressed.

His mother had taken to inspecting every inch of every surface in the room. She had finished in the one she shared with her husband and had migrated over to the one her children would be sharing.

Anya knew not a single speck of dust existed on the mantle of the fireplace but that didn't keep Mrs. Christensen from wiping a finger along its edge.

Anya caught her eye as she tried to rub imaginary dust from her fingertip. Mrs. Christensen covered up her scowl with a smile that matched the sincerity of Anya's.

Anya turned to Luke's older sister, who had come to join her mother, scowling as she looked over the room around her.

"Well, Mrs-"

"Please. Call me Jeanette. I can't be more than four years older than you. I don't want to spend my holiday feeling like a grandma."

Anya nodded to Jeanette's request, gliding past her interruption.

"Of course. Well, is there anything else I can assist you with?"

"When's lunch?"

All three men turned to look at Anya. It hadn't escaped Anya's noticed that not a single one of them had said anything, Luke's silence the loudest out of the three of them.

"Lunch will be served in forty-five minutes down in our in-house restaurant. Our chef has a special holiday menu prepared for the next three days. She's an excellent chef, having previously worked with-"

"Perfect. I'm starving."

Anya didn't even bother to expand upon Gloria's many notable achievements that made her one of the best chefs in the Northeast after Mrs. Christensen cut her off. Luke was the only even bothering to look in her general direction. The rest were slowly allowing themselves to settle in and Anya saw her chance to escape.

"Well. If there is nothing else..."

Anya let her words drag behind her as she made her way to the door. She heard footsteps follow her but it was Mrs. Christensen's voice that made Anya turn around.

"Luke, darling, don't forget the tip."

Anya paused outside the room, Luke pausing just inside, the door jam perfectly framed between them. Luke blushed a familiar shade of pink that Anya had seen many times before as he reached for his wallet. He pulled out a twenty and tried to hand it to Anya.

"Here. I'm sorry."

Anya wasn't sure what he was trying to apologize for and didn't want to ask. A shower and a new set of clothes were calling her name. Anya grabbed the money before another word could be said between them. Moving down the hallway, she left the Christensen to their holiday, noting that it took an extra moment for the door to shut behind Luke.

"Nice family."

Anya finally looked up from the thick carpet that lined the hallway but didn't stop when she found Manny leaning against the wall, his arms crossed in front of his chest, wearing a smirk he was working hard to keep from taking over his face.

"Here. You can have this."

Anya passed him the twenty-dollar bill, wanting to wash her hands with lots of soap after having had to take it.

"Cool. Thanks!"

He had to hurry a few extra steps to catch up to her, his stride soon matching hers.

"So. Where are you off to?"

"A shower and a change of clothes."

"Why? What's wrong with your clothes?"

Anya didn't need to look down to remember her current state, muddy farm boots and all.

"What do you want, Manny?"

He nearly ran into as she came to an abrupt stop right outside her bedroom.

"What? I'm home for Christmas! What the big deal about that?"

"So you decided to just show up at my inn, out of the blue, just to say 'hey, how's it going'. Yeah. I'm not buying it."

"I've here to see Gloria and all the kids! That can't be enough?"

"It's been five years, Manny. No, it can't."

"Fine. Whatever. I guess I'll make sure to stay out of your way. I'm just here to see my family. That's it. I can't stay at Gloria's, there's too many of them now. She said I could stay here. I thought you might be happy to see me!"

"Maybe. If this was high school. But it's not."

"I know that."

Anya shook her head, knowing that she didn't have the time to argue. He was here for the holidays and she didn't have the time or energy to try and make him leave.

"I have to go. I need to make sure everything's set for lunch."

She made it halfway into her room before Manny called out to her.

"Anie-"

The history tied to his favorite nickname for her kept her from slamming the door in his face.

"What?"

Her tone was softer than she expected but than again, this was Manny.

"It's really nice to see you."

Anya gave him a tight-lipped smile and a quick nod as her response, making sure to let her door shut on with its natural swing, going against her desire to slam the door right in his face.

It was as if the inn's crew could tell the very second Anya was available and ready to get back to work. She was just finishing buttoning the last button on her blouse when a voice broke the silence in her room with a static call for help coming through on her walkie-talkie. It was one of those rare days when she wanted to throw the damned thing out into the snow.

"Anya, Rachel's called in sick. We need an extra hand down in the restaurant for the lunch hour."

Anya grabbed it without a second thought as she headed out her room, "On my way."

Looking more like an actual employee of such a prestigious establishment instead of one of its farmhands, Anya descended the main stairs to rejoin the fray. The lounge was nearly empty and Anya was sure she would find every guest ready to eat in the restaurant.

Michaela was still fixed behind the front desk. She stood up straighter as her eyes caught Anya's, her eyebrows raised in expectation of a job or a task, her posture signifying that she was ready for whatever.

"Relax. There's lunch ready for the crew in the kitchen. Gloria will make sure you get food. The front desk can wait for a while."

Michaela's smile softened at the news.

"Got it. Thanks, Cuz."

Michaela left as Anya made her way towards the center of activity, grabbing an extra apron from behind the bar and a handful of menus. One of the servers paused on her way to a table to catch Anya's attention.

"Room 6 just came down and needs menus."

Anya followed the direction she sent her nod and found Luke and his family waiting at the entrance. Anya allowed a light sigh to escape her lips as she squared her shoulders and moved towards where they stood waiting.

"Hi again. If you care to follow me, I'll be happy to show you to your table."

"Oh! You're a waitress too! That's so cute. You just do everything around here, don't you?"

Anya smiled in reply to Mrs. Christensen's comment and lead Luke and the rest of her family to their assigned table. She passed them their menus, taking drink orders as they started to read over their options.

"All I'm saying, Mom, is that we could get the exact same thing at the Ritz. I still don't understand why we had to leave the city."

"It's good to get away every now and again. Your firm will be fine without you, Jeanette, at least for the holidays. Besides, everything here is so quaint and rustic. Don't you find it charming?"

Anya caught Jeanette roll her eyes before returning her attention to her menu, answering her mother's question under her breath.

"Not really."

Anya left them to decide what it was they wanted for lunch, the largest sigh of the day flying out with ease. It was going to be a long holiday season.