Christmas Camp Wedding

by Karen Schaler

  Haley laughed. “Don’t worry. He is. It’ll be fine.”

  Trisha looked back at her tablet. “Okay, who is bringing the flowers?”

  Haley and Kathy looked at each other.

  “The flowers died in the flood,” Haley said.

  “It wasn’t pretty,” Kathy added.

  Jeff walked into the kitchen. “What are you girls up to?” He headed straight for a cupboard, took out a pretty Christmas tin, opened it up, and took out one of the famous Christmas Camp sugar cookies.

  “There they are!” Haley hurried over and took one. She smiled up at Jeff as she took a bite.

  Kathy laughed. “Does Laura really hide them?”

  Jeff and Haley, still chewing their cookies, nodded.

  “I guess she would have to,” Kathy said. “Hand one over.” Kathy took a cookie. “Trisha, do you want one?”

  “She doesn’t do carbs, right?” Haley said.

  “Right,” Trisha answered. “Okay, we need to get back to work.”

  “How’s the wedding planning coming along?” Jeff asked. “Did you see Dad’s inspirational word for the day?” He pointed over to the chalkboard where Ben always did a Christmas countdown. Right now the chalkboard said 2 Days to Christmas and the inspirational word for the day was Devotion.

  “Devotion,” Trisha said. “That’s perfect because I’m devoted to making this wedding actually happen in the next twenty-four hours.” She looked back at her tablet. “So who’s bringing the flowers?” Trisha looked at Haley then at Jeff.

  “Uh, no one,” Haley said. “There wasn’t any time to get any flowers.”

  Trisha looked horrified. “You can’t have a wedding without flowers.”

  “Actually, you can,” Haley said. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

  “Well, flowers are kind of a big deal,” Kathy said.

  Haley gave her a look. “Whose side are you on?”

  Kathy laughed. “The flowers’ side?”

  Trisha looked at Jeff. He looked at Haley.

  “Flowers would be nice,” he said. “We usually have all the poinsettias my mother loved, but now we don’t have anything . . .”

  Haley felt bad.

  “Hold on. Let me see what I can do.” Trisha left the room.

  Stress eating, Haley grabbed another cookie from the tin and took a big bite.

  “What happened to that sugar detox you were doing?” Kathy asked.

  Haley laughed. “Oh, that was so last year.”

  Jeff laughed. “Thank goodness you gave that up.”

  When Trisha came back into the kitchen, she had a smug smile on her face. “Haley, we need to go.”

  “Where?” Haley asked.

  “To get you some flowers. I called the flower shop in town. They think they might be able to help us figure something out. But we have to go now.”

  “Okay, let’s go,” Kathy said.

  “Actually, Kathy, I have you going with Laura to get groceries, and Jeff, you need to work with your dad on those decorations we were talking about, and everyone needs to meet back here in two hours so we can go through the rest of the list.”

  “Decorations? What decorations?” Haley asked.

  Jeff kissed her on the cheek. “It’s a surprise. I gotta get going. I’ll see you later. Good luck.”

  “You, too,” Haley called out as he left the kitchen. She looked at Kathy. “Are you good with helping Laura?”

  “Absolutely. Whatever you need.”

  “Great, then let’s go,” Trisha said, looking at Haley. “They’re waiting for us.”

  “Wait, I have a question,” Kathy said. “What about a photographer? I think that’s even more important than flowers. The pictures you take you have for the rest of your life. The photographer we had in Boston couldn’t make the trip up here.”

  “It’s okay,” Haley said. “We can just get some pictures with our phones. My mom’s bringing up her camera. We’ll make it work.”

  “We will do better than just make it work,” Trisha said. “I’ve already found a photographer for you.”

  Haley looked amazed. “How did you do that? At the last minute. At Christmas?”

  “He’s a friend of mine,” Trisha said. “Curt’s parents have a place up here, not too far away, and he said he’d stop by on Christmas Eve and take some pictures as a favor to me. He is an excellent photographer.”

  Haley smiled at Trisha. “Thank you so much. That’s so great. I really appreciate it.”

  Trisha nodded. “I know how much Jeff and Ben love pictures.”

  “And my family does, too,” Haley said. “My mom still has pictures of her great-grandmother’s wedding.”

  “We really do need to go,” Trisha said.

  “Okay, let’s go,” Haley said. “See you in a few hours, Kathy, and make sure Laura has enough ingredients to make some more Christmas cookies. In case Jeff has found her other hiding places.”

  Kathy laughed. “I’m on it.”

  The little flower shop in town, Petal Dreams, was as cute as its name. Out front, there was a stand next to the door with pretty pink, white, and red poinsettias, and gorgeous wreaths made out of fresh tree branches, holly, and pinecones. In the window, there was a cascade of white and silver stars, in different shapes and sizes. They twinkled when they caught the light.

  Haley stopped to admire them as Trisha breezed into the shop.

  “Haley, come on,” Trisha called over her shoulder.

  Haley quickly followed Trisha inside.

  As soon as they entered, a man in his sixties, with a joyful smile, greeted them. Haley was surprised to see him give Trisha a hug.

  “Trisha, it is so good to see you,” the man said. He smiled at Haley. “Merry Christmas. You must be the bride.”

  Haley smiled back at him. “I am. Merry Christmas, and thanks again for helping us.”

  “Haley, this is Toby. Toby and his wife, Betty, have owned this flower shop for . . . how many years is it now, Toby?”

  “Forty-three years.” Toby beamed back at them. “Betty’s in the back getting what we have left ready for you to see.”

  Haley looked around in awe at all the beautiful flower arrangements. She started to get really excited. She couldn’t believe that such a tiny flower shop, tucked away up in the woods, could have so much. “Your selection here is amazing. I don’t know what half these flowers are, but I know I love them all.”

  Toby looked pleased by the compliment. He happily guided her over to the roses. “Now, I know you know what these are. Our red roses and their connection to love are always a favorite choice at Christmas, and for weddings, our white roses are always popular, as they traditionally signify new beginnings.”

  Haley nodded, intrigued. “I didn’t know that about white roses.”

  Toby continued walking her around and proudly pointed out different flowers. They all were in a deep rich Christmassy hue. “Also popular at Christmas are our dahlias, our ranunculus, and the amaranthus.”

  Haley laughed. “I can’t even say half of those, but I love them all . . .” Haley’s voice trailed off when she saw a stunning display of peonies and walked quickly toward it. “Now, these I know. I love peonies, but I’ve never seen them in this color.”

  Toby joined her. “These are called Red Charm Peonies. They’re known for their rich burgundy color.”

  Haley looked over at Trisha, who was eyeing the red roses. “Trisha, I think these peonies would be perfect for the wedding. They’re so beautiful and this color is the same color Kathy and my mom will be wearing.”

  Trisha held up a red rose. “But red roses are Jeff’s favorite.”

  Haley fought to keep the smile on her face. “I’m sure he’ll love these, too.” But when Haley turned back to Toby, she saw the regretful look on his face.

  “I’m afraid I don’t have any peonies left. Or any red roses, or any of the flowers out here,” Toby said.

  “What do you mean?” Trisha asked. “You have so many.”<
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  Toby picked up the red roses Trisha was looking at and moved them over to the counter. “Unfortunately, they’re all spoken for. We have a lot of Christmas Eve and Christmas parties and some weddings. Everyone is coming by today to pick up their orders for their big events. So everything you see here has already been sold.”

  Haley felt a crush of disappointment. “So, you don’t have any of the peonies left? What about paperwhites? They’re always so pretty at Christmas.”

  Toby shook his head. “No, I’m sorry. We hardly have any flowers left at all. We had to make an emergency run into Boston to get enough to finish one of our orders when they called last minute and ordered more table settings for a wedding. We got several last-minute rush orders that we weren’t prepared for.”

  “Like us,” Trisha said.

  “But we only need a few flowers,” Haley said. “I’m having a very small ceremony and usually there are poinsettias all around the house, but . . .”

  Toby nodded. “I know. Ben usually orders them from me, but not this year.”

  “It’s Snowball’s fault,” Haley said.

  “Snowball?” Toby looked confused.

  “The new cat,” Trisha said.

  Toby laughed. “Well, then that explains it. Gail has come in several times to get some Christmas lilies but she never mentioned Snowball. That’s a cute name.”

  “It’s a cute cat,” Haley said.

  Trisha checked the time on her phone. “We’re on a tight schedule. You said you had put some things in the back for us?”

  “Yes, come with me,” Toby said. “I’ll show you what we have.”

  Haley and Trisha followed Toby to the back room where his pretty and petite wife, Betty, was waiting with some greenery laid out on a table.

  “Trisha, you remember, Betty, my wife,” Toby said.

  “Of course I do,” Trisha said. “So good to see you, Betty. This is Jeff’s fiancée, Haley.”

  Betty looked confused. “Your old boyfriend, Jeff? Ben’s son?”

  Trisha smiled. “Yes.”

  “And you’re planning their wedding?” Betty gave Haley a surprised look.

  Haley laughed. “Trust me. This wedding has been full of surprises. I’m thankful for Trisha’s help and for yours with the flowers. Your shop is lovely. I’ll be back when I have more time to spend.”

  “Thank you.” Betty beamed back at her. “I wish we had more for you to choose from today, but I’m sure Toby told you, we’re out of almost everything. But I had an idea for you.”

  Trisha walked up to see what Betty had laid out. “We’re listening.”

  “I know you’re getting married at Ben’s place, where he does his Christmas Camps.”

  “That’s right,” Haley said.

  “I’ve heard one of the activities they have you do is to go out in nature and create ornaments out of what you find,” Betty said.

  Haley smiled. “That’s right. You are supposed to pick things that inspire you. Everyone loves that activity.”

  Betty picked up some Douglas fir branches and some holly branches from the table. “So, I thought what you might like to do for your bridal bouquet is use that inspiration and go gather things like this, from around the inn, like you do with the activity.” Betty gathered up the branches, the holly with the red berries, and some other evergreens, and held them all together. “You then just need to tie a string at the top and bottom really tight to keep everything together and use some burlap ribbon like this to cover the stems and make a bow if you like.” Betty held up her creation. It was beautiful.

  Haley held her hand to her heart. “I love it. It’s perfect. It will really mean something to everyone, and I know Jeff will love it, too.”

  “But it’s not flowers,” Trisha said, frowning.

  “But it doesn’t have to be flowers. I love that it can be anything that inspires us from nature. This way it will really mean something to us,” Haley said and turned back to Betty. “But I know we don’t have all of this at the inn—like holly.”

  Betty smiled. “We have some extra holly that we can spare. See how the holly has all the beautiful bright shiny red berries? They’ll be perfect to add that pop of red. Just be careful, it’s prickly. You only need a couple of branches to really make an impact. The main filler is Douglas fir branches, and I know you have a lot of those by the inn. You can use some other evergreens as well, like Balsam fir, if you want some variety.” Betty picked up some green floral foam and a plastic tray. “Then you can also easily make some centerpieces by covering this foam with the Douglas fir branches and adding in some holly and anything else you like. You can put it in a container or a wicker basket.”

  Trisha nodded. She was quickly writing down notes in her tablet. “We have the wicker baskets Ben always uses for the Christmas Camp when people gather ingredients for their ornaments, so we can use some of those, and I’ve made some centerpieces. So I’m sure I can pull something together.”

  “That would be great,” Haley said. “Thank you so much, everyone.”

  Betty walked over to the flower cooler and opened the door and took out one dozen perfect pristine white roses. “These are the last roses we have. We were going to use them for our own Christmas centerpiece, but we would like to give them to you for your wedding,” Betty said.

  Haley looked touched. “Oh no, I couldn’t take your roses.”

  “Please, we insist,” Toby said. “We know how much joy flowers bring. It’s why we do what we do, and we would really like you to have these for your wedding.”

  Betty came over and took one of the roses and put it in Haley’s bouquet. “See, even adding one or two roses can really make a difference, and with the white roses signifying new beginnings, I think they are perfect for your wedding.”

  Haley nodded and gave Toby and Betty a grateful look. “They are perfect. This is so kind of you. Thank you so much.”

  Toby smiled back at Haley. “It’s our pleasure. Merry Christmas.”

  Haley smelled her white roses and smiled back. “Merry Christmas.”

  Chapter Seven

  As Haley and Trisha drove up to the inn, they saw the guys taking some Christmas lights to the backyard.

  “Does this have something to do with my surprise?” Haley asked Trisha.

  Trisha just shrugged.

  Haley shivered as she got out of the car. The temperatures were really dropping, and the light snow that had started earlier was starting to pick up. When they opened the door and stepped inside, Snowball zipped by them. “I still can’t get used to seeing a cat here,” Haley said.

  “Let’s go see how Laura and Kathy did,” Trisha said. Haley followed her into the kitchen where Laura was just putting out two pizza boxes.

  “What is this?” Haley asked, laughing. “Pizza? No? We’ve never had pizza here.”

  “And we’ve also never planned a wedding in forty-eight hours,” Laura laughed. “I’m making an exception. I know everyone’s hungry, and I need time to start preparing our rehearsal dinner for tonight and making some of the hors d’oeuvres for the wedding tomorrow.” Laura opened the pizza boxes. “So we have pepperoni and sausage and Canadian bacon and pineapple.”

  “That’s Jeff’s favorite and mine,” Haley said.

  Laura nodded. “I know, and it’s your wedding, so we had to have your favorite.”

  Haley looked concerned. She came over and took Laura’s hand. “This all sounds like way too much. Honestly, we don’t need a cake or anything fancy. We could have pizza at my wedding for all I care. As long as we’re all together.”

  Laura smiled and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Now, don’t you worry about a thing. You know I’m used to making big meals every night, and this time, I have all this help coming. Your mom said she’s ready to pitch in, and so are Gail and Susie.”

  “And I’ll help,” Kathy said.

  Haley laughed. “You don’t cook! I think the best way you can help is stay out of the kitchen.”


  Kathy laughed. “Look who’s talking.”

  “I agree,” Haley said. “That’s why you won’t see me in here. I’m going to leave this to the pros or we will be ordering pizza.”

  Laura laughed. “Nobody’s going to be ordering any more pizza after today.”

  Haley gave Laura a heartfelt hug. “You really are the best. I love you.”

  “I love you, too, sweetie. Now grab a slice of pizza before the guys get in here, and it disappears.”

  Haley laughed.

  Laura went over to the refrigerator and took out a salad and gave it to Trisha. “I whipped up a quick salad for you. I know you don’t eat pizza.”

  Trisha smiled. “Thank you, Laura. That’s very sweet.”

  “Who doesn’t eat pizza?” Steve said as he, Jeff, and Ben walked into the kitchen. “Trisha, you don’t know what you’re missing.”

  Trisha held up her salad. “I’m good. I have my salad.”

  Jeff came over and put his arm around Haley. “How did the flower trip go?”

  Haley smiled a brilliant smile. “Amazing.”

  “What did you get?” Jeff asked. “Let’s see.”

  Haley shook her head. “Nope, it’s going to be a surprise. We’re going to put everything together when the rest of the gang gets here, but there is something you guys can do for me.”

  “Whatever you need,” Ben said.

  “You know the wicker baskets you use for Christmas Camp? If you would fill several of those with some Douglas fir branches that are around twelve to fourteen inches long, that would be perfect.”

  Jeff looked intrigued.

  “Consider it done,” Ben said. “We can go get some right after lunch.”

  Trisha checked the time on her phone again. “Haley, we need to wrap up here to stay on schedule.”

  Haley took a big bite of her pizza. “What’s left? I think we’ve done everything until the rest of the group gets here.”

  Trisha shook her head. “I need to see what you’re both wearing so I can tell our photographer what to expect.”

  “I brought the tux I was planning to wear and a suit. I wasn’t sure what would be best,” Jeff said.

  Trisha and Haley spoke at the same time.