Christmas Ever After

by Karen Schaler

  Terrie waved her hands excitedly. “Or maybe she’s the Scrooge, and he has to help her embrace the magic of Christmas.”

  Riley laughed, impressed the twins had thought this out more than she had. “Honestly,” she said, “I haven’t decided yet.”

  “What about an old boyfriend who comes back into the picture to win her back?” a man asked from the very back of the room.

  Riley shrugged and smiled, looking around for the man who’d spoken. “Anything’s possible.”

  When Colin took a step forward out of the shadows, he smiled his most winning smile. “That’s good to know.”

  Riley gasped and rubbed her eyes. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

  “Colin?” she whispered. It couldn’t be, she thought, but this guy looked just like her college boyfriend.

  Before Colin could answer, another guy from the back of the room spoke up. “That is good to know,” the guy said, also stepping into the light.

  Riley’s jaw dropped. It was Brendan.

  “Very good,” another guy added, as he too stepped into the light from the back of the room.

  It was Tyler.

  Riley covered her mouth with both hands. She couldn’t even begin to process what she was seeing.

  The three men she had loved in her life—Colin, Brendan, and Tyler—where all there smiling back at her.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “Surprise!” Colin said.

  Brendan and Tyler quickly followed. “Surprise!” they said in unison.

  The twins spoke before Riley could. “Who are they?” Carrie asked her, excited, as if she were unraveling the plot of one of Riley’s novels.

  When Riley just kept staring at the guys, Terrie took over, looking back at them. “Who are you guys?” she called out to them. She gave her twin a look. “Whoever they are, they’re hot.”

  At the same time, all three guys answered, “Riley’s boyfriend.”

  The twins’ eyes grew huge, and their shocked expressions matched everyone else’s in the room. Including the three guys who were now looking at each other, sizing each other up.

  Barbara, fascinated, swatted her husband’s arm. “I told you this was going to be amazing!”

  Tyler was the first to make his way to the front of the room, but the other two guys were right on his Gucci heels.

  Riley watched everything happen in slow motion. She still couldn’t believe what was happening, even when they all stood broad shoulder to broad shoulder in front of her.

  “Riley, you look beautiful,” Colin said.

  “You really do . . .” Brendan agreed.

  “Stunning,” Tyler added.

  When the three men looked at one another, it wasn’t a friendly look.

  When Riley started laughing, it was one of those high-pitched laughs you’d hear someone let out before they totally lost it.

  “What is going on?” she asked. “How can you all be here? Did Mike set this up?” She knew she was babbling, but she couldn’t help it. She spun around to look at Paul, who was taking pictures as fast as he could.

  “Paul, did you know about this?”

  He shook his head. “No, but this is great. Can I get a picture of the four of you together?”

  Riley glared at him. “No!”

  When Riley also noticed the twins taking video, she gave them a pleading look. “Guys, can you please not post any video or pictures of this until I figure out what’s going on?”

  The twins looked disappointed but put their phones down.

  Riley looked back at Colin, Brendan, and Tyler. “I’m not sure what’s happening here,” she said to them, “but I’m right in the middle of this party. Can we all talk later?”

  “Absolutely,” Colin said.

  “Of course,” Brendan agreed.

  “Whatever you want,” Tyler added.

  Riley started to laugh again. Now she was losing it.

  Thankfully, Luke came to her rescue. “All right, everyone, you’ll have lots of time to ask Riley questions this weekend, but right now we’re going to get ready to do a special Christmas Camp toast. So if you’ll just give us a few minutes to get the bubbly flowing, we’ll continue this celebration.”

  When Riley, still in shock, looked up at Luke, he put his hand on her back and guided her toward the kitchen. Caylee and Maryanne quickly followed.

  “Just breathe,” Caylee whispered to Riley, taking her hand. “You’re as white as a ghost. Just keep breathing.”

  Riley’s head was spinning. At least she knew why she was as white as a ghost. Because she had just seen three ghosts. The ghosts of boyfriends past were all at her Christmas Camp, and she had no idea why.

  When they reached the kitchen, Maryanne hurried to bring Riley a glass of water.

  “Thank you,” Riley said, taking the glass with shaking fingers. She took a sip and a deep breath, and then looked over at Luke.

  “This had to be Mike,” she said. Her shock was starting to wear off, and it was quickly being replaced by anger. She started pacing around the kitchen like a wild animal in a cage. “This must all be a publicity stunt. I can’t believe he would go this far and humiliate me like this. I hope Paul got some great pictures because that’s obviously what Mike was banking on.”

  “I don’t think Mike did this,” Luke said.

  Riley whirled around and looked at him. “Why not? Who else would have done this? Someone had to do it. All three of my ex-boyfriends are out there. What are they doing here? Someone had to know they were coming. They didn’t just show up like . . . poof! Santa didn’t bring them. Who did this? Who knew about this?”

  Riley knew she was spiraling out of control, but she couldn’t stop herself. She needed answers, and she wanted them now.

  Caylee and Maryanne both looked at Luke.

  Riley felt like the wind was being knocked out of her. She shook her head in disbelief. “Luke? Did you do this? How—”

  “No, I didn’t do this,” Luke rushed to correct her. “How could I have done this? I don’t know these guys or your past.”

  Riley watched him loosen his tie. He looked uncomfortable. “But you knew about it, didn’t you.” It was a statement, not a question.

  Silence.

  Riley marched over to him until they were toe to toe. “Luke, did you know about this?”

  “Just tell her, Luke,” Caylee said.

  Riley spun around and faced Caylee. “And you knew, too?” Now her voice sounded more hurt than angry. When she looked over at Maryanne, Maryanne looked down at the floor.

  Riley felt like a knife was twisting in her back.

  They’d all known. They’d all been in on this.

  She’d thought these girls were her friends, and Luke . . . Well, she didn’t know what she thought about him, but she certainly didn’t think he’d ever do something like this. This was all just one big joke to them.

  When she felt tears well up in her eyes, she knew she had to get away from them before they saw her cry. She was already humiliated enough.

  With her head held high, she started to leave the kitchen.

  “Riley, wait,” Luke called after her, “I can explain. It’s not how it looks. You can’t just leave.”

  Riley froze. So that’s what he was worried about. That she was going to take off again, like she’d done during her live TV interview. He didn’t trust her to stick around, and that hurt more than she liked to admit.

  Her pride had her pulling herself together. She was here for a job, to host Christmas Camp. That was the only thing Luke cared about. She never should have let herself think otherwise. She needed to focus on what really mattered, and that was saving her career.

  She took a deep breath. She had people out there who were waiting for a Champagne toast, and she wasn’t going to let them down.

>   She turned around and walked back into the kitchen on a mission. Avoiding Luke, she grabbed a bottle of Champagne and looked at Caylee and Maryanne.

  “Well, are we doing this or not?” she asked in a voice that meant business. “We promised everyone a Champagne toast.”

  She grabbed the cork on the bottle she was holding and yanked it off. After the loud pop!, Riley held up the bottle. “So let’s give them a Champagne toast.” She turned to Luke. “You can go. We can do this.” Her voice was flat, emotionless.

  “Riley,” Luke started, but Caylee stepped between them.

  “She’s right, Luke,” Caylee said. “You go entertain the guests, and we’ll be right there with the Champagne.”

  When Luke looked at Riley, she had nothing left to say to him. She was in crisis mode. Right now, she needed to try to find a way to go back out there and face the Christmas Campers, who all thought she was Miss Christmas. She also had to face her three ex-boyfriends who had all crazily claimed they were her current boyfriend. In her wildest author imagination, she never could have made something like this up.

  After Maryanne poured the first glass of Champagne, Riley picked it up and drank it. She didn’t stop until the glass was empty. She put the glass down. “Who is ready for a party?”

  Maryanne and Caylee quickly continued to fill up Champagne flutes and put them on a silver tray.

  “We are,” Caylee said.

  “Great,” Riley said, picking up the first full tray. “Then let’s do this.”

  As Riley passed out Champagne, she introduced herself to each and every one of the Christmas Campers.

  She was surprised to see such a variety of people, of all ages who had come from all over the country and all walks of life. There were people who had come from her home state of Washington, and others from California, Maine, and Florida, and still others from Mississippi, Tennessee, North Carolina, Texas, and a lot of places in between.

  The youngest Christmas Campers were the twenty-two-year-old twins, Carrie and Terrie, from Clearwater, Florida. The eldest, Patricia, was almost ninety. She was from Dallas, Texas, and brought her daughter, Linda, and granddaughter, Renee, as a Christmas gift.

  There was a young engaged couple in their late twenties, Carolyn and John, and several couples who were retired, including the couple that Luke had recommended be invited, Debbie and Bill. There was even a group of four girls in their thirties from Tennessee, Rachel, Madison, Kara, and Julie, who were doing a Christmas Camp girls’ getaway weekend. Two of them had left husbands and babies at home, and two were single. When Riley got to Barbara and Larry, she could barely get away because Barbara wanted to keep taking pictures.

  Then there were her exes, Colin, Brendan, and Tyler. At the moment, they had all picked different places to hang out in the back of the room and were staring at their phones.

  Talk about awkward, Riley thought. She’d asked Caylee to give them their Champagne and let them each know she’d talk with them later. She just couldn’t deal with them right now. It wouldn’t be fair to her Christmas Campers.

  After they’d finished passing out the Champagne, Riley saw Luke motioning for her to join him back at the fireplace. She forced a smile as she joined him, still hurt and angry that he’d been in on this ex-boyfriend fiasco.

  “If I can have everyone’s attention for a moment,” Luke said, “we’d like to do a toast to officially start off our Christmas Camp.”

  When Riley saw the twins give each other a guilty look because they’d already drank their Champagne, she quickly grabbed a bottle and filled up their glasses.

  “Thanks,” both twins whispered to her at the same time. “You’re the best.”

  “No problem,” Riley whispered back. She then gave Caylee the Champagne bottle and then walked back to join Luke.

  “Ready?” Luke asked her.

  “Ready,” she said and smiled, but the smile was for the benefit of the Christmas Campers. When she looked to the back of the room and saw Colin, Brendan, and Tyler raise their glasses to her, she just kept smiling, even though she was thinking, Shoot me now.

  “I’m not sure if you all know this,” Luke said to the group, “but the idea of Christmas Camp was actually the creation of my friend’s dad, Ben. He owns the Holly Peak Inn in Massachusetts, and now he’s working with other places, like my family’s lodge, so we can host more Christmas Camp experiences like this one.”

  When everyone cheered, Luke smiled and then continued. “Part of the agreement to hold a Christmas Camp is to make sure we honor some of Ben’s family’s original Christmas Camp traditions like making their famous Christmas Camp cookies and doing a Christmas Camp cocktail mixology class . . .”

  “Cheers to that,” the twins said as they clinked their Champagne glasses together.

  Everyone laughed, including Riley.

  “So tonight’s cocktail party is the beginning of the Christmas Camp journey we’re all going to be taking together,” Luke went on. “I know a lot of you have traveled a long way to get here, so after this cocktail party we have a simple but delicious buffet dinner that you can eat at your leisure, either in the dining room or in your own room. This is your time to settle in and relax before we start our first full day of Christmas Camp activities tomorrow that Riley will be hosting.”

  When everyone clapped, Riley lifted her glass and smiled. “And you’ll definitely want to get your rest. We have a big day planned for you tomorrow.”

  “We can’t wait,” Carrie said.

  “We are so excited,” Terrie added.

  “And now for our first toast,” Luke said as he held up his glass. “Ben has a special toast his family always does at their Christmas Camp, and we’d like to continue that tradition and share that toast with all of you.”

  When Riley looked out at all the Christmas Campers, she saw that everyone was smiling and seemed excited. Even her exes in the back of the room had looked up from their phones.

  “So, Riley,” Luke said, turning to her, “would you like to do the toast?”

  Riley gave him a surprised look. This had not been part of their plan.

  “Oh, it’s okay,” she said. “I don’t know it by heart. You go ahead.”

  The truth was, she didn’t know the toast at all. This was the first time she was hearing about any Christmas Camp toast. Yet another surprise she wasn’t prepared for. It made her wonder what else Luke was planning to spring on her.

  When Luke looked back at her, he kept smiling. “Riley, you should do the toast. This is your Christmas Camp. Don’t you agree, everyone?”

  When Luke looked out into the group everyone started cheering.

  “Riley! Riley!” the twins started chanting.

  Luke picked up a 4x6 glossy red card from the table. “We’ve printed up a copy of the toast right here and have a copy for everyone else, too, in case they’d like to have it. So please, do us the honor of making this first toast to Christmas Camp at the Christmas Lake Lodge.”

  When everyone started clapping, Riley didn’t feel like she had much choice. She forced herself to smile as she joined Luke. He handed her the card and stepped aside.

  “Toast,” Carrie said.

  “Toast,” Terrie echoed.

  Everyone laughed.

  “Okay,” Riley said, holding up her Champagne glass in one hand and the note card in the other. “Here we go. The official Christmas Camp toast.” She took a deep breath before she started to read.

  “To our family, friends, and community . . .

  To the people we’ve lost but will never forget . . .”

  For a moment, Riley felt herself choke up as she thought about her dad, but kept going.

  “To love everlasting . . .”

  She couldn’t help looking to the back of the room where she made eye contact with each of her exes before continuing.

 
“Merry Christmas . . . To Christmas Camp.”

  Everyone repeated back to her, “To Christmas Camp!”

  Then they started clinking their Champagne glasses with their fellow Christmas Campers and wishing each other merry Christmas.

  When Luke held out his glass, he looked into her eyes. “Merry Christmas, Riley. I hope you get everything you wish for.” He looked over at her three exes as he clinked his Champagne glass to hers, making his meaning clear.

  She didn’t have time to respond because he was already heading toward the front door where Brianna the realtor had just walked in.

  Riley watched him smile as he took her coat. Riley couldn’t help but notice how happy he looked to see her or how beautiful she looked in a backless, sexy, black cocktail dress. Riley was jealous that Brianna was wearing black and looked amazing.

  She was so busy watching Luke with Brianna that she didn’t even see Caylee come up to her.

  “Wow, that’s some dress,” Caylee said, following Riley’s gaze.

  Riley nodded. “It sure is.” She turned to Caylee. “So Luke and Brianna . . .”

  “Yeah, they’ve been a thing on and off for years,” Caylee said.

  “Why on and off?” Riley asked.

  “Luke travels so much for his job, I’m guessing the long-distance thing wasn’t working for them.” Caylee shrugged.

  Riley glanced back over and saw Brianna take Luke’s hand. “Well, it looks like right now they’re back on.” Riley said. She didn’t know why it bothered her, but it did, which was crazy since she had three guys claiming to be her boyfriend.

  “Riley? Did you hear me?” Caylee asked.

  Riley quickly brought her attention back to Caylee. “Sorry, what?”

  “I was saying you really hit the jackpot with the three guys in the back of the room. They’re all hot and seem nice.” Caylee whistled as she glanced back at the three guys. “I mean, seriously, Riley, leave some for the rest of us.”

  “It’s not like that,” Riley said. “It’s not like that at all.”