Snowbound for the Holidays

Cassidy Evergreen works for Evergreen Hotels and wants to become the company's vice president of operations. Her mother, Joanne, appreciates Cassidy's intelligence but thinks she is too sentimental and too focused on personalized guest experiences to handle the corporate side of the business. When a pipe bursts at another property and Joanne is called away, Cassidy volunteers to assess Linden Lodge in Ridgeford Valley, even though she hates cold weather and does not ski. Linden Lodge is owned by Sam Linden and his son-in-law, Trey Sanderson. The historic ski lodge is facing aging equipment, an unreliable generator, an outdated check-in system, and an expensive lease renewal for the ski hills. Real-estate tycoon Dave Asherton wants to buy the lodge and expand his neighboring resort, but Trey refuses to sell because the property represents his family, his late wife's memory, and the community's history. Cassidy arrives, mistakes Trey for a bellhop after a hot-cocoa mishap, and is eventually introduced as the business expert Joanne has sent to evaluate the lodge. Trey initially resists Cassidy's attempts to improve the lodge, but she sees opportunities everywhere. She reorganizes the Christmas Fest schedule, creates a social-media page, helps Lilly sell Christmas wish lanterns for the local food bank, promotes personalized hot cocoa, and assists with decorating. Her ideas clash with Trey's analog methods and reluctance to change, yet they discover that they share a belief in thoughtful hospitality. Cassidy also helps Trey develop new activities, including snow tubing, while Trey introduces her to the pleasures of the snowy hills. Cassidy and Trey grow closer as they work on the festival and reveal their personal frustrations. Trey explains that the lodge became his family after his wife's death, while Cassidy admits that Joanne often ignores her ideas and measures her worth through promotion and business success. Cassidy's social-media mistake brings out-of-town visitors to the lodge a day early, but the event succeeds and generates new bookings. The lantern ceremony becomes the festival's biggest ever, with Lilly selling 276 lanterns, and Cassidy begins to feel genuinely connected to the lodge. When the unreliable generator causes the check-in system to crash just as guests arrive, Cassidy cancels her departure and stays to help Trey manage the crisis. Cassidy visits Asherton's resort for business reconnaissance and discovers that he is using an extravagant competing Christmas festival to influence the mayor and pull power from the local grid. Believing she has found a way to save Linden Lodge, she proposes that Evergreen Hotels purchase the lodge and ski hill. However, she presents the idea to the mayor before properly consulting Trey, making him feel that she is taking over his business just like Asherton. Trey rejects the proposal and prepares to make a decision about Asherton's offer, while the approaching lease deadline and a city tax change make the lodge's financial situation more desperate. Joanne recognizes that Cassidy has learned to value people and community over pure profit, so she offers Cassidy the vice president position and tells her to resolve her unfinished business with Trey. With Lilly's help, Cassidy learns to ski and chases Trey down the hill, comically crashing into him before he can accept Asherton's deal. Cassidy then reframes her plan as a partnership rather than an acquisition: Evergreen provides the capital to purchase the ski hill and upgrade the lodge, while the Linden family retains control of daily operations and the property's character. The mayor approves the arrangement, Asherton loses control of the situation, and Linden Lodge remains the home of Christmas Fest. Cassidy stays for the celebration, and she and Trey acknowledge their romantic feelings in the final scene, although no kiss is shown.