Christmas Ever After

by Karen Schaler

  “And she wanted to stop in Denver to get something yesterday, but we had to get going because of the weather,” Harry offered.

  “I get it. Don’t worry,” Luke said. “We have a shop in town where you can get some stuff. You’ll be all set.”

  Riley breathed a sigh of relief. “That would be great. Thanks.”

  “Well, I better get going,” Harry said as he headed for the door. “I have some more airport pickups this afternoon, and then I think I’m scheduled to bring several of your Christmas Campers up here on Friday. So I’ll probably see you both again in a few days.” Harry shook Luke’s hand. “Thank you again for your hospitality.”

  “It was my pleasure,” Luke said and smiled back at him. “Anytime. We’ll look forward to seeing you back here soon.”

  “Thank you again, Harry, for getting me here safely,” Riley said with a grateful smile.

  “I was happy to be of service,” Harry said, smiling back. “Good luck to you both planning your Christmas Camp.”

  “Thanks,” Riley answered quickly. “We’re going to need it.”

  “We are?” Luke asked.

  Riley scrambled to recover. “I just mean we have a lot to do.”

  “Then I better be on my way so you can get started,” Harry said. He waved as he went out the door. “Merry Christmas!”

  “Merry Christmas,” Luke called back to him.

  “Have a safe trip,” Riley said.

  Even Comet, who was still wearing the Santa hat, barked his goodbye.

  As soon as Harry left, Luke turned to Riley. “Okay, let’s get started,” he said in a no-nonsense voice.

  “With breakfast?” Riley asked hopefully.

  “We can do that, too, but I was talking about finalizing our Christmas Camp activities. Do you have a list for me?”

  Riley’s heart sank. She hadn’t been able to google anything because she couldn’t get online. She got her phone out of her pocket and held it up. Still no cell signal or Wi-Fi. She tried to think of a response beyond, Sorry, I don’t do Christmas and have no ideas.

  “I e-mailed myself the list, but I haven’t been able to get on Wi-Fi,” Riley finally said, pleased with her quick thinking.

  “It can just be finicky sometimes,” Luke said.

  “Finicky, as in not working?” Riley asked. She was almost afraid to hear the answer.

  Luke nodded. “Exactly.”

  “And let me guess,” Riley said. “This would be one of those times?”

  “Right again,” Luke said with a smile. “I think we might just need a new router.”

  “Well, we definitely need to get that fixed before the guests arrive,” Riley said.

  “About that,” Luke said. “Do you have any friends or family without a reservation who are planning to come to Christmas Camp that I need to know about?”

  Riley was walking around, holding up her phone, trying to still get a cell signal. “No one told me I could invite anyone. Was I supposed to?” She glanced up at Luke.

  For a moment, he looked confused, and then he shook his head. “No, I mean, if you wanted to you could have, but Mike didn’t say you were bringing anyone.”

  “And I’m not,” Riley said, looking back at her phone. “Hey, if we don’t have Wi-Fi and the cell service isn’t working, how do you get ahold of anyone?”

  Luke walked over to a side table and picked up the handset from the antique phone. “If you need to call anyone you can use this.”

  Riley laughed as she walked over. “Seriously? That really works? I thought that was just a decoration.”

  Luke handed her the phone. “Nope, it works just fine.”

  It all suddenly made sense. “That’s what I heard last night when the phone kept ringing! I thought that was the tone you’d set on your cell phone.”

  “No,” Luke said. “Even I’m not that old-school.”

  Riley laughed.

  “Do you need to make a call?” Luke asked.

  Riley looked doubtfully at the handset. “Yes, I do. But . . .”

  “Don’t worry. It works just fine,” Luke said. “I’ll give you some privacy. I’ll be in the kitchen. I put a fresh pot of coffee on, if you’re interested.”

  Riley’s eyes lit up. “Oh, I’m always interested in caffeine in the morning. I’ll be right there. Thanks.”

  As soon as Luke left the room, Riley studied the phone again and had to laugh a little. “This thing’s older than I am,” she said out loud to herself. For a minute, she just stared at it as she realized she had no idea what Mike’s number was. She didn’t know anyone’s number by heart.

  She quickly got out her phone, looked up Mike’s number in her contacts list, and started to dial the old-fashioned way.

  “You better work,” she said to the phone.

  She sat in the chair next to the phone because the cord didn’t reach very far.

  After three rings, Mike finally picked up. “Hello?”

  “Mike!” Riley held the phone closer to her ear so she could hear better. “It’s Riley,” she said louder, then realized she was practically shouting into the phone.

  Silence.

  “Mike?!” she said even louder, so loud that it had Comet, who was lying down by the fire, come trotting over to her. “Mike, it’s Riley.”

  “I know,” Mike said impatiently. “I heard you the first time. What phone are you calling from? I almost didn’t pick up.”

  “I’m using the phone at the lodge,” she answered quickly.

  “So you made it,” he said. “Good.”

  She held out the phone and gave it an incredulous look. “Seriously? All you have to say is good?”

  Silence.

  “Mike?” Riley held the phone closer. “Are you still there?”

  “I’m here,” Mike said. “What’s the problem?”

  Incredulous, Riley jumped up. “What’s my problem? What’s my problem?!” When she almost pulled the phone out of the wall, she quickly sat back down, now even more agitated. The problem is you didn’t tell me Luke had already canceled the Christmas Camp. You told me to come here because he wanted to talk about it so we could work things out. Imagine this guy’s surprise when I showed up.” Her voice was getting louder. “Mike, you knew he didn’t want me here. You totally threw me under the bus.”

  Comet sat down next to her and barked. He obviously could tell something was wrong.

  Riley gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry, Comet. It’s okay.”

  “Who’s Comet?” Mike asked.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Riley snapped.

  “Look,” Mike said, “you’re there now, so it’s all good.”

  “No, Mike. Everything is not all good.” She lowered her voice and looked around to make sure Luke wasn’t nearby. “You apparently also told this guy that I was Miss Christmas and that I had a list of activities that we could do for this Christmas Camp, when you know that’s just one big fat lie.”

  When Comet tilted his head and stood up, Riley lowered her voice again. “You’ve totally set me up to fail.”

  “Look, Riley, I can’t do everything for you,” Mike said. “I created this opportunity for you to help save your career. Now it’s up to you to do whatever you need to do to make that happen. It’s not like coming up with some Christmas activities is brain surgery. Bake some cookies, sing some songs, figure it out. I have another call coming in. I have to go. You’re welcome.”

  “Mike, wait—”

  But it was too late. Mike had already hung up.

  Riley stared at the phone for a good ten seconds before putting the handset back down. “Unbelievable . . .”

  Chapter Fourteen

  When Comet sat down next to her again, she started petting him and found herself talking to him to make herself feel better.

  “Mi
ke is out of control,” she told Comet. “I should fire him, but I can’t right now and he knows it. This latest stunt he’s pulled . . . this is not okay. This is so not okay.”

  Comet continued to look up at her with his compassionate dark-brown eyes, as if he were understanding every word she was saying.

  “What am I going to do?” Riley asked Comet.

  Comet got up and started heading out of the room. He stopped and looked back at her, like he was waiting for her to follow.

  She reluctantly stood up. “Okay, I’m coming.”

  I must be losing it, she thought. She was not only talking to a dog but she was also asking it for advice.

  There was one thing she knew for sure. Those Christmas miracles she’d never believed in? She was going to need one, and fast.

  When Comet barked, she walked a little faster. “I’m coming, Comet,” she said. “Take me to my miracle.”

  As she followed Comet into the kitchen, she could smell fresh coffee brewing and decided she would just take things one step at a time. She knew she needed a plan, but right now, she also desperately needed a big jolt of caffeine for inspiration.

  Luke looked up and smiled when she and Comet entered the kitchen.

  “Coffee is ready,” he said, holding up a mug. This time the mug had the face of an elf on it. The elf had pointy pink ears.

  Riley didn’t even try to hide her laugh. “Let me guess. Your mom also collects elves?”

  “No,” Luke said. “That was my dad. He loved the elves. He believed they were the ones that brought the Christmas magic. Of course, my mom always insisted it was Santa who did that. They would have quite the debate.”

  Riley was still smiling as she sat down at the kitchen table. “That had to be some debate.”

  “Oh, you have no idea,” Luke said. “When I was little, I thought they were just doing it to entertain me.”

  “But . . . ?” Riley asked.

  “Well, when the annual debate continued every Christmas, I realized they were doing it for themselves as much as they were doing it for me. Call it one of our crazy family traditions.”

  “That must be nice,” Riley said, not realizing she’d said the words out loud until Luke answered her.

  “The debates or the traditions?” he asked.

  Riley answered honestly. “Both.”

  Luke nodded. “It was. How would you like your coffee? Do you want cream or sugar?”

  “Actually,” Riley said, “I’d love some cinnamon if you have any? Or I can just take it black.”

  Luke opened the cupboard, took out some cinnamon, and held it out to her. “Your Christmas wish has just come true,” he said, smiling.

  Riley laughed. “Well, I don’t know if I’d call it a Christmas wish. It’s more like a habit I’ve had since college.”

  Luke gave her a curious look as she took the cinnamon and added a heaping spoonful of it to her coffee.

  Luke laughed. “Okay, that’s a lot of cinnamon. Why so much?”

  Riley smiled as she happily inhaled the scent and then stirred the cinnamon into her coffee until it disappeared.

  “My college roommate, Kim, was studying to be a nutritionist and said she’d read that cinnamon in your coffee is supposed to help kickstart your brain in the morning. Even the scent alone is supposed to help you concentrate more.”

  Luke gave her a doubtful look. “Cinnamon can do all that?”

  Riley laughed. “That’s what she said, so I tried it and I’ve been hooked ever since. Do you want to try it?” She held out her elf cup.

  Luke laughed. “No, I’m good. I’m a purist. I drink mine black. I feel like if the coffee’s good, you don’t need anything else.” He held his mug out to hers. “Merry Christmas.”

  Riley hesitated only a moment before clinking her cup to his.

  As she took a sip of her coffee, she thought about how Merry Christmas were two words she rarely used. Usually, if people wished her a Merry Christmas, she would answer with something like Have a great day, or You too, or something like that. But there was something about actually saying those two words, Merry Christmas, that tugged at her memories of when she was a little girl and the last time she’d celebrated Christmas with her dad. She was lost in thought when she realized Luke was talking to her.

  She gave him an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry. You were saying?”

  Luke smiled back at her. “I was just asking what some of your family Christmas traditions are. Maybe we could use some at Christmas Camp. Were you planning to put any in your book?”

  Riley instantly stiffened. Over the years, she’d always avoided the topic of Christmas traditions because whenever she’d told people she didn’t have any traditions, they always thought something was wrong with her. So early on she’d come up with an answer that she always used, and she decided to use the same one now with Luke.

  “Oh, you know,” she said, staring into her coffee, “the usual stuff like everyone else. We didn’t do anything really unique or special.”

  “Really?” Luke asked.

  Without looking up, she could sense him studying her.

  “I would have thought Miss Christmas had all kinds of interesting family traditions.”

  Riley put her coffee cup down and met Luke’s stare. “About that name,” she started.

  Luke smiled. “Miss Christmas?”

  Riley tried to smile, but it was forced. “Yeah. I think Mike has been exaggerating a little.”

  Luke laughed. “Mike? Exaggerate? Never!”

  Luke’s response had Riley relaxing a little bit. “So you know how Mike likes to—”

  “Embellish the truth,” Luke finished for her.

  “Yes,” Riley said. “That’s a nice way to put it.”

  Luke laughed. “Oh, trust me. I know Mike well. Ever since we were roommates in college, Mike has been spinning stories. I think he should have been a writer, the way he likes to make things up.”

  Riley put both hands on the kitchen table and leaned toward Luke. “That’s exactly what I always say.”

  “The thing is,” Luke continued, “I think he actually believes his own made-up stories. He just doesn’t sell other people on them, he starts believing them. That’s why he’s so insistent and just goes full speed ahead when he gets one of his ideas.”

  Riley leaned back in her chair and gave Luke an impressed look. “I think you just summed him up perfectly.”

  “In his defense,” Luke started.

  Riley held up her hands. “Wait, just when I thought we were going to agree on Mike.”

  Luke laughed. “I was just going to say that I don’t think Mike’s a bad guy.”

  Riley gave Luke a skeptical look.

  “Hear me out,” Luke said.

  Riley crossed her arms in front of her chest. She doubted there was anything Luke could say that would redeem Mike in her eyes, not after his latest stunts. “Go ahead. I’m listening.”

  “Mike has always seen the best in people,” Luke said.

  “What do you mean?” Riley asked.

  “I mean, he sees people’s potential often before they even see it,” Luke said. “It’s like his mind jumps ahead to the future and what could be possible, and then he sets out to actually make it possible. He’s been like that since college. That’s why he makes a great publicist. He really believes in the people he’s representing. So if he’s saying your Miss Christmas, that’s likely how he sees you.”

  Riley burst out laughing. “I’m sorry, but on this one, he’s way off base.”

  “Then maybe he sees your potential to be Miss Christmas,” Luke said.

  Riley was still laughing. “Well, I don’t know how he’s seeing that.”

  “Aren’t you getting ready to write your first Christmas novel, and that’s why you’re hosting this Christmas Camp?”
Luke asked.

  “Yes,” Riley said slowly, being careful not to talk herself into a trap.

  “Mike must think you have Miss Christmas potential, or he wouldn’t have suggested you host this camp.”

  Riley didn’t even know how to answer that, so she picked her coffee back up and took another slow sip. She was waiting for the caffeine to kick in. She knew she needed her mind to be sharp to figure out how she was going to handle all this. Maybe she needed to add some more cinnamon.

  Luke stood up and grabbed a glossy red folder off the counter and sat back down at the table. He put the folder down in front of her.

  “What’s this?” Riley opened the folder with curiosity.

  “It’s our Christmas Camp agenda—or at least what I have down so far while I was waiting to get your list.”

  Riley opened the folder and fought to keep smiling when she saw all the blank spaces on the Christmas Camp calendar of scheduled events. Trying to stay positive, she pointed to some of the activities that were already scheduled.

  “It looks like you have a lot of great things planned,” she said. “Christmas cookie decorating, Christmas Camp cocktail making, stargazing with s’mores, and Christmas movie watching.”

  Luke nodded. “Those were the easy ones. They came from Jeff and his dad, Ben, at the Holly Peak Inn. They are the traditions they want everyone to do at every Christmas Camp, and it’s part of the franchise agreement. We even get to use the Jacoby family’s special sugar cookie recipe.”

  “Well, that sounds like a delicious rule I can get behind,” Riley said.

  They shared a smile.

  “So if we have all these original Christmas Camp activities, then we’re all set, right?” Riley asked.

  Luke laughed. “Not quite. The idea is that everyone who holds a Christmas Camp will also bring in some of their favorite traditions to share with their guests, tailoring the Christmas activities to the area so that they can be unique to that camp experience. That’s why I’ve been waiting to fill in these blanks to include some Christmas activities that would fit up here in the Rockies but that would also fit in with what you might want to include in your book.”

  Riley forced a smile and nodded, telling herself not to panic.