Riley crossed her arms. “I’m waiting.”
Caylee jumped up from the bed, ran over to the door, and cracked it open just enough so she could peer out. “And I promise to tell you,” she said. “We just don’t have time tonight, and I need to get out of here before he comes back.”
“You do know he’s going to be here for the party,” Riley said. “So Paul is going to see you.”
Caylee took a deep breath. “I know. I just freaked out for second. I’ll be fine. I just need to be prepared and ready when he does see me. I wasn’t ready.”
“I’m so confused,” Riley said.
“I’ll explain later, but tonight is your night,” Caylee said as she headed for the door. “I’ll see you guys downstairs.” She turned around and smiled. “Riley, you really do look beautiful. Any guy would be lucky to have you. Whatever guy that might be.”
Riley laughed. “Thanks, but right now, I don’t need a guy. I just need to be the best host I can be for this Christmas Camp. My entire future is riding on this.”
Caylee gave her a knowing look. “And you know what they say . . . ‘Life is what happens to you when you’re making other plans.’”
“John Lennon,” Riley said.
“Is that who said it?” Caylee asked, but she didn’t wait for an answer as she disappeared out the door.
Maryanne was right on her heels. “I need to go down and make sure the food and drinks and everything else are all set.” She was halfway out the door when an attack of nerves suddenly hit Riley.
“Maryanne?” Riley called out, her voice shaking.
Maryanne instantly turned back around. “What’s wrong?”
Riley rung her hands together. “I’m nervous.”
Maryanne smiled at her. “You have nothing to be nervous about. You’ve gone over the plan a dozen times. Everything is ready. Everyone downstairs is wonderful, and they’re all here because they’re excited to see you. Just be yourself because who you are is pretty great.”
Riley took a deep breath and gave Maryanne a grateful look. “Thank you. That’s very sweet of you to say.”
“And I mean it,” Maryanne said. “I’ll see you downstairs.”
As Riley watched Maryanne leave, Comet also head for the door. “You, too?” Riley asked. “You’re just going to leave me? What happened to you being my emotional support animal? You know that’s a real thing, right?”
Comet barked and wagged his tail, then trotted out the door.
Riley looked around her room at all the Santas staring at her. “I guess it’s just you and me, Santas.”
Paul laughed as he appeared in the doorway and snapped a candid photo of her.
Startled, she spun around and faced him. “I’m going to get photo approval of these pictures, right?”
Paul put the camera down. “Actually, Mike said he’d be doing that.”
Riley laughed, but it was the kind of laugh that held a warning. She smiled sweetly at Paul. It was too sweet. She walked over and locked eyes with him. “Paul, there’s one thing you need to do if I’m going to let you take my picture.”
Paul shifted his weight from one foot to another. “What’s that?” he asked, looking a little uncomfortable.
Riley didn’t blink. “You need to stop listening to Mike. He might have hired you, but I’m the one who hired him, so I have the final say on everything. That means photo approval of every photo before it’s posted anywhere. If you have a problem with that, then we can just shut this down right now.” She paused for a beat. “So what’s it going to be?”
Paul turned his camera around and showed her the picture he just took of her where she was talking to the Santas. She leaned in closer, saw how the picture make her look like a crazy person, and pushed “delete.”
Then she smiled back at Paul. “Glad we’re on the same page. Now tell me what you need and I’ll try to help you get some good pictures that are on brand for who I am as an author, as well as show off the lodge. This place is special, and Luke’s family and friends have worked really hard to get this ready for Christmas Camp so I want to make sure these pictures help them sell this place. Okay?”
Paul nodded “Okay. No problem. I get it.” He held up his camera. “And I’m ready if you are.”
Riley smiled. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. Let’s get started because I have a party to get to.”
She was grateful that it didn’t take long for Paul to snap a few quick pictures of her in her Santa room. He’d just wanted to show her working on her Christmas novel, so she’d set her laptop on the desk that was lined with Santa figurines and sat down. He had told her she could write anything because he wouldn’t be showing it. He just wanted to see her working. So she started writing down the first things that came to her mind . . .
Christmas Lake Christmas tree
Christmas Lake Angel
Christmas Lake cookies
Christmas Lake famous hot chocolate
Luke
Her fingers froze after she had typed Luke. Embarrassed, she quickly erased it, not wanting Paul to see it, and typed Comet in its place.
A little flustered, she looked up at Paul. “Do you have what you need yet?”
Paul checked the pictures and nodded. “We’re good. Want to see?”
“Sure,” she said. When she’d looked at the pictures and saw all the Santas lined up like some kind of Santa army watching over her as she wrote, she had to laugh. “You don’t think that looks a little Christmas crazy? All those Santas staring at me?” she asked.
Paul shook his head as he looked at the pictures. “I think it’s perfect. Those Santas look like they’re inspiring you to write your Christmas book.”
“If you say so,” Riley said, even though she wasn’t so sure.
Paul headed for the door. “I’m going to head downstairs so I can set up for your big entrance.”
“Great,” Riley said. “No pressure.”
Paul laughed. “Don’t worry. Everyone’s really excited to see you. They’ve all come for you.”
Riley playfully swatted him. “Thanks a lot. Now I feel even more nervous.”
“You’re going to kill it,” Paul said as he left the room. “I’ll see you down there soon.”
After he was gone, Riley took a deep breath and started pacing around the room. When she rubbed her palms together, they were sweaty and damp. Her stomach was twisting into a knot. This was it. This was her moment of truth.
But when she thought about the phrase moment of truth, she felt her guilt grow even more, because truth wasn’t a word she could use right now. She was being so dishonest with everyone about being Miss Christmas.
She forced herself to smile. She only had to get through one weekend.
How hard could it be? she thought. Everything’s planned. I just need to focus on the future. No one needs to know about my past.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
When Riley first opened her door to go downstairs, she heard the Christmas song “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
“On the first day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
A partridge in a pear tree . . .”
When she apprehensively looked down at her sparkling red dress, Comet came to stand by her, making her feel better. He looked even more lovable wearing his bright-red bow.
As she bent down to pet him, he gazed up at her with his adoring dark-brown eyes.
“This is it, Comet,” Riley said. “Are you ready for Christmas Camp?”
Comet wagged his tail, barked, and ran for the stairs.
“Wait for me.” Riley laughed, following him. “I’m coming.”
As she started walking down the stairs the Christmas music got louder . . .
“On the third day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Three French he
ns
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree . . .”
She heard people laughing. Everyone sounded like they were having a great time. That made her relax a little. She felt even better when she saw Luke waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.
In that instant, she forgot about everything else and kept walking toward him. He looked incredibly handsome wearing a perfectly tailored, black designer suit with a crisp white shirt and a red tie the same shade as her dress.
They were a perfect match.
When he smiled up at her, her heart beat faster. The way he was looking at her made her feel . . . beautiful.
Feeling weak in her knees, she reached out for the staircase railing as she finished her descent. When she got to the bottom, Luke held out his hand to help her down the last step. She put her hand in his, and their eyes met.
“You’re shaking,” he said in a low, rich voice.
“I am?” she asked, not recognizing her own voice. It sounded silky soft, almost like a whisper.
“Doesn’t she look amazing?” Caylee said, interrupting the moment as she rushed over to them.
“She does,” Luke agreed, never taking his eyes off Riley.
When a flash went off and Riley caught Paul taking pictures of them. She quickly let go of Luke’s hand.
“You really do look beautiful,” Luke said.
Riley smiled at him. “You clean up pretty well yourself.”
Luke laughed. “Thank you. I think?”
They shared a little laugh.
“Everyone’s waiting, Riley,” Caylee said. “Are you ready?”
Riley nodded, though she didn’t feel ready. “Uh-huh.”
Luke reached out and took her hand. “You’re going to be great. You got this. Everyone’s here to see you because they love you. Just enjoy the moment. You’ve earned this.”
Riley gave him a grateful look. “Thank you.”
“Come on!” Caylee said, nearly bursting with excitement.
As she took Riley’s hand free hand, Riley reluctantly had to let go of Luke’s hand. Caylee led her over to the fireplace where they’d set up a special display of Riley’s books surrounded by white twinkle lights.
As the flash from Paul’s camera went off, Riley blinked several times. But then everything was a blur, and she didn’t see any of faces of the people who were starting to gather around.
Riley kept her attention on one person, Luke, and the only thing she heard was the “Twelve Days of Christmas” still playing . . .
“On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Twelve drummers drumming . . .”
Luke smiled as he looked over to Riley. “You ready?” he whispered.
She nodded and smiled back at him.
“Everyone, if I can have your attention please,” Luke announced, his deep voice booming.
Like a ship seeking shelter in a storm, Riley kept her focus on Luke as she clasped and unclasped her hands together. She wasn’t usually this nervous to talk in front of people. She actually did a lot of public speaking and enjoyed it. But this was different. This time she was pretending to be something she wasn’t, and she certainly wasn’t an actress.
A potential title for her book popped into her head—The Runaway Christmas Author.
In that brief moment of panic, she would have run if she could. For years, she’d avoided all the Christmas hoopla, and now she was about to be a part of it.
“Thank you, everyone,” Luke said, interrupting her getaway plans. “First, I want to welcome you all again to Christmas Camp. I believe I’ve met all of you, but I know I’m not the one you’ve come to see . . .”
Riley smiled when she heard the laughter but kept looking at Luke. She was impressed by and a bit envious of how calm and relaxed he looked.
Luke continued, “When I was first approached to put on this Christmas Camp for an author to host at my family’s lodge, I’ll admit I thought there was no way we could pull it off with just a few weeks before Christmas. But as my mom likes to say, anything is possible at Christmas. With the help of some of our family friends, who you’ve met and will meet more of this weekend, and the community of Christmas Lake, and most of all author Riley Reynolds, we’ve put together a one-of-a-kind holiday experience that’s going to knock your Christmas socks off.”
Everyone, including Riley, laughed and clapped.
“But before I pass this over to Riley, I wanted to make sure you all had a chance to make your Christmas wish.” Luke pointed to the three-foot-tall Santa next to the fireplace.
Riley did a double take. The Santa hadn’t been there before. They must have put him out when she was upstairs getting ready.
“You should have found a little scroll and a red ribbon in your room when you checked in,” Luke continued, “There were also instructions to write your Christmas wish on the scroll and then roll it up, tie it with the red ribbon, and put it in Santa’s gift bag here.”
Luke walked over, peered in the bag, and smiled as he picked out one little scroll. “Looks like we have a lot of Christmas wishes in here. Has everyone had a chance to make their wish?”
When everyone either said yes or nodded, Luke turned to Riley and handed her a little piece of paper, a pen, and red ribbon. “So that just leaves you, Riley.”
“You want me to do it now?” she asked, trying not to look as uncomfortable as she felt. Please say no, please say no, please say no, was all that kept going through her head.
“What do you think, guys?” Luke asked the crowd.
When everyone shouted yes and clapped, Riley had no choice but to laugh along with them.
“Okay,” she said. She knew this wasn’t the time to tell everyone she didn’t believe in Christmas wishes, so instead, she turned toward the fireplace and used the mantel as a flat place to write, quickly jotting down her wish.
To write a wonderful Christmas love story.
She turned back to face everyone. “Okay, done!”
“You have to put it in Santa’s bag,” Caylee said.
“But first tie the red ribbon around it,” Maryanne added.
“That is how it works,” Luke agreed.
Everyone laughed.
Riley laughed, too, as she tied the ribbon around it and headed over to the Santa. As she was putting her wish into his bag, she did another double take when it looked like Santa winked at her. She let out a sigh of relief when she realized it was just the reflection from the Christmas lights on the mantel.
She quickly returned to Luke’s side.
“Okay,” Luke said, “without further ado, let me officially introduce the host of our Christmas Camp, best-selling author Riley Reynolds!”
As everyone clapped, Luke stepped aside so all the focus was on Riley. Paul snapped several more pictures.
The flash was making her see stars. She blinked several times as she looked around trying to take everyone in for the first time.
Riley cleared her throat. “Thank you all for being here.” She motioned to Luke. “Can we please give Luke and his family and friends a huge round of applause for making this weekend possible? I think you’ll agree that Christmas Lake and the Christmas Lake Lodge is right out of a fairy tale. Thank you for having us, Luke.”
As everyone clapped, Riley gave Luke a grateful smile. He nodded and smiled back at her.
“Is this going to be the setting for your book?” a girl standing just a few feet from Riley eagerly asked.
It was the first time Riley made eye contact with one of the Christmas Campers. For a moment she thought she was seeing double, but it was actually two identical twin sisters in their early twenties. They were wearing matching gold sequin dresses and cute, fuzzy reindeer antler headbands.
The twins grinned back at her. “I’m Carrie,
” the twin who had asked the question said.
“And I’m Terrie,” the other twin chimed in.
“We’re from Florida, and we love your books!” they said in perfect unison.
Riley laughed. “And I already love you both. Thank you!”
When there was more laugher from the group, Riley felt herself start to unwind. She smiled at the twins. “And about having Christmas Lake in my next book, that’s a really good question, one I’m hoping you’ll all can help me with as we go through the weekend. I can’t wait to hear what kind of Christmas story you want to read.”
“We love all your books, Riley,” a woman called out.
Riley smiled back at her.
The woman looked to be in her mid-sixties and was standing to the right of the twins. “My name’s Barbara, from Charlotte, North Carolina. I’m here with my husband, Larry. I love all your books, and I watch every Christmas movie every year. You can ask my husband. It drives him crazy.”
“She’s not kidding,” Larry said. “She watches every single one.”
“See, told you,” Barbara said. “And I love Christmas novels, too. I’m so glad you’re finally writing one. I’ve been hoping you would. Haven’t I, Larry?”
“Yup,” Larry said and nodded. “She has.”
“Anyway,” Barbara continued with even more enthusiasm, “I’ve been talking to everyone tonight—”
“Everyone,” Larry emphasized. “Trust me, everyone.”
People laughed.
Barbara kept going without missing a beat. “Anyway, as I was saying, I’ve been talking to everyone, and I think I can speak for all of us when I say a heartfelt thank-you to you for hosting this Christmas Camp, and to Luke and everyone and honoring this very special time of year.”
When there was more applause and cheers, Riley touched her heart. The energy in the room was already so welcoming. She felt very relieved and blessed.
She smiled back at the people who had gathered around her. “Well, I am truly looking forward to getting to know all of you this weekend.”
“Do you already know what kind of guy your heroine is going to fall in love with?” Terri asked.
“Is he going to be a Scrooge and she has to help him find his Christmas spirit?” Carrie jumped in.
Christmas Ever After Page 21
