A Barley Christmas

A hidden past. A reluctant partnership. And the Christmas that could change everything. Priscilla Gomer is home from Ukraine for Christmas, trading study abroad for the warmth of the Weary Traveler Inn, her boisterous Minnesota family, and a holiday season full of cinnamon, snow, and crowded tables. Bringing polished, self-absorbed Victor Shaughnessy home for Thanksgiving may be her first mistake. Then an old metal box hidden beneath the inn' s stairs points to an unsolved local tragedy— and to the Karlsen family once at the heart of it. Rick Karlsen, the bespectacled boy Priscilla remembers as an aggravating childhood classmate, is now a thoughtful researcher with questions of his own. Together, they follow fragile clues through old records, family memories, and a painful past that refuses to stay buried. But Rick distrusts the close-knit Gomers, Priscilla cannot stop bristling at his bluntness, and Christmas is drawing near. Can she learn to see beyond appearances— and trust that truth, grace, and a faithful love can make a way forward? A heartwarming, clean romance steeped in small-town charm, family legacy, and the quiet power of second chances.