Christmas Ever After

by Karen Schaler

“I know,” Caylee said. “Because I know why they’re all here.”

  Riley’s eyes grew huge. “What?! Tell me!”

  Caylee looked around and saw the twins were eagerly listening. “Not here,” she whispered. “Come on.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  A couple of minutes later, as soon as they were safely in Riley’s room, Caylee pounced.

  “Tell me everything,” Caylee demanded.

  “Wait,” Riley said. “You tell me everything. You’re the one who talked to my exes. What did they say? Why are they here?”

  Caylee, with an all-knowing smile, walked over to the desk where the Santa figurines were lined up. She picked up one of the Santas, headed for the dresser, and put the Santa down in a new spot in front of the mirror.

  Riley, baffled, threw up her hands. “Caylee, are you going to redecorate my room or tell me what’s going on?” She was losing her patience. “We need to get back downstairs. I don’t want people wondering where I’ve disappeared to.”

  “Hold on,” Caylee said as she walked back to the desk and picked up two more Santas and had them join the other Santa on the dresser. So now there were three Santas lined up, facing the mirror.

  “What are you doing?” Riley asked, exasperated.

  Caylee put her hand on top of the first Santa she’d brought over to the dresser. “Colin, the guy with the great smile . . .” She moved her hand to the next Santa. “And Brendan, the ruggedly handsome guy. Now I understand that description from your books . . .” Her hand moved to the third Santa. “And Tyler, the high-society guy who looks like something out of GQ magazine. They are all here for one reason.”

  “Let me guess. Mike invited them,” Riley said. She knew this had Mike’s fingerprints all over it.

  Caylee shook her head. “Nope. You did.”

  Riley’s eyes grew huge. When Caylee laughed, Riley looked at her like she was fruitier than a fruitcake.

  “Me? What are you talking about?” Riley asked, sounding incredulous. “I haven’t talked to Colin since college, or Brendan since we broke up more than ten years ago, or Tyler since we broke up a few years ago. I haven’t seen or talked to any of these guys, so I certainly didn’t invite them here!”

  “But they’ve all seen you,” Caylee said, moving all three Santas closer to the mirror. “In the TV interview when you talked about how your novels are inspired by your one true love. Emphasis on one . . .”

  Riley’s jaw dropped. “No,” she said, shaking her head. It was all starting to come together, and the reality was even worse than what she’d imagined.

  Caylee nodded. “Yup. They all saw the interview and thought you were talking about them as your one true love, so they’ve all come here to win you back and rewrite their happily-ever-after with you!”

  Riley collapsed on the bed and covered her face with a Santa pillow. “This can’t be happening,” she said into the pillow.

  When Caylee sat down next to her, she took the pillow away from Riley’s face. “Okay, now it’s your turn. Spill. You have to tell me all about these guys. I’m dying to know!”

  Riley sat up and gave Caylee a confused look. “Dying to know what?”

  “Which one is it?” Caylee asked, excited. “Is it Colin, Brendan, or Tyler? Which one was your one true love?”

  “All of them,” Riley answered honestly.

  “What?” Caylee asked, confused.

  “I loved them all when we dated,” Riley said.

  “Then who did you love the most?” Caylee asked, clearly not giving up.

  Riley thought about the question. What boyfriend did I love the most?

  She knew Caylee was waiting for an answer, but she also knew she couldn’t give her the clear-cut one she wanted. She had loved Colin, Brendan, and Tyler in different ways, and they each represented a different time in her life.

  Colin had been her first real true love. They had dated all through college and supported and encouraged each other. They’d made plans, and together, they’d dreamed of what they would do after graduation. She’d always felt safe dating Colin. She had known he would never hurt her and would always have her back. He was fiercely loyal and even protective of her at times, and at that time in her life, when she was basically on her own, having lost her dad and her mom moving to Florida and getting remarried. She had needed the security of Colin. He had become like her family, someone she trusted and counted on. He was reliable, the safe choice. He fit perfectly into the very specific plan she had made to create a stable future for herself.

  But after graduating, when she’d landed her first reporting job and had to leave California and move to Idaho, Colin had been crushed. He, of course, had been proud of her, but he also didn’t want to lose her. Unfortunately, to follow his career path as a movie producer, he needed to stay in Los Angeles.

  They tried doing the long-distance thing for a little while, but when neither of them had much time off and they were both barely making any money, the months between their visits grew.

  Looking back, Riley remembered how she had thrown herself into her work. She’d also quickly learned that to succeed as a TV reporter she’d have to move ever few years, going from one small market to the next, working her way up the ladder. This meant it would likely be years before she had enough experience to work where Colin lived, in Los Angeles, one of the top TV markets in the country.

  Feeling it was best for them both, she’d decided to break things off with Colin so he could go after his dreams and she could go after hers.

  It still hurt her remembering how heartbroken he’d been. He’d claimed she’d given up on them. While she’d wanted to stay friends, he’d insisted it would just be too hard. So he’d been the one to cut off all contact with her, and she hadn’t heard from him since.

  Breaking up with Colin and letting go of someone she loved so much had made her even more determined to make her sacrifice worth it by succeeding in her career.

  More than ever, she’d volunteer to work overtime and on her days off. She had put all her heart and soul into every story she did, earning her the respect of her colleges and superiors. Over the next five years, she’d won awards and moved up to bigger TV markets. While she’d dated a few people casually along the way, she’d never had the time or desire to get too involved. Remembering what had happened with Colin, she had always wanted the freedom to move to the next TV job, wherever a promotion could take her, without feeling guilty about leaving someone behind again.

  But then, about five years after dating Colin, Brendan came into her life when she was working as a reporter and anchor in Salt Lake City, Utah. She had just gotten the coveted promotion to the main anchor of the five, six, and ten o’clock news, and she was hosting a charity fundraising dance for a local ski resort when Brendan had literally swept her off her feet.

  Brendan had been the opposite of Colin in many ways. He had never was the kind of guy to play anything safe. Where Colin had been solid and dependable, Brendan had been a free spirit and a risk-taker.

  She smiled remembering how Brendan had boldly asked her to dance while she had been talking to two other men. He’d then grabbed a bottle of Champagne and two glasses from behind the bar, and had taken her outside where he wanted her to go with him and ride one of the ski gondolas up the mountain.

  When she’d told him he was crazy, pointing out the obvious that she was wearing a cocktail dress and high heels, he’d assured her the gondola was heated and they’d just ride it up and down the mountain without getting out. When she’d hesitated, he’d asked her a question she’d never forget . . .

  Are you going to always just report on other people’s adventures or have your own?

  When she had gotten on that gondola, that choice had changed her life. For the first time, she hadn’t been worried about playing it safe and following the life plan that she’d mapped out when she was
an overambitious thirteen-year-old. She had just lived in the moment. She still remembered how she felt going up that mountain. She’d felt free, free from her own expectations and pressure she’d put on herself.

  Brendan had poured them both a glass of Champagne and had made a toast . . .

  To a lifetime of adventures . . .

  When their Champagne glasses touched, their eyes had met, and she’d known in that moment that her lifetime of adventures was just starting.

  She’d dated Brendan for four years. From that first night, the spark between them had ignited something inside her that made her feel more alive than she’d ever felt in her life. Brendan was constantly challenging her, pushing her to take risks, to be daring, and to always go after what she wanted.

  After six months, they’d moved in together. They were already together 24-7 so it had just seemed like the natural thing to do. Brendan was a ski instructor, and in the off-season, he worked as an outdoor guide, doing everything from white-water rafting to hiking and fishing adventures. Their schedules had worked well together. Even though she had been anchoring three shows a day, which meant she’d go to work in the afternoon and come home around midnight, they always found a way to spend quality time together.

  Riley had always appreciated how Brendan had given her the freedom to do what she loved and never made her feel guilty for the long hours she worked. His hours had also been all over the place, and sometimes he’d be gone for several weeks as a guide on different tours.

  When she’d fought hard for the opportunity to go to Afghanistan as an embedded TV reporter with a local Army Reserve unit, Brendan had supported her decision. He’d also stood by her when her boss had initially refused to send a female reporter into a war zone, and she’d threatened to quit her job over it. After she’d finally won that battle and gone to Afghanistan for several months, Brendan had understood how emotionally and physically challenging the assignment had been and had welcomed her home with open arms.

  He had continued to support her when, after doing her first TV documentary, she decided she needed to go back to Afghanistan for a second story. This time, when her boss had refused to approve her trip, she’d made a life-changing career decision and quit her job. That’s when she’d called her mom and said she hadn’t just quit her job, she’d quit her career.

  She’d seen the way news reporting was changing, favoring the more sensational, and she hadn’t wanted to be a part of that change.

  Within a week of. her quitting, Brendan had planned a trip for them to Switzerland, where he’d been asked to guide a two-week tour in the Swiss Alps. At first she had said there was no way she could go, she had to figure out what she was going to do for work, but when Brendan had said the outfitting company he worked for was looking for a freelance writer to go along and report on the story for a national travel magazine, she’d agreed to give it a try.

  At the time, she’d only ever covered hard news stories. She’d never written a travel story, but with Brendan’s encouragement, she gave it a shot. When it turned out she not only loved it but was also really good at telling inspiring, uplifting stories, they’d started traveling the world together. She had never been happier, telling stories she loved with the person she loved. It was a dream come true. Until the dream didn’t pay the rent . . .

  While they had gotten to travel for free, living a million-dollar lifestyle with all their amazing trips, they were getting paid hardly anything. To make ends meet, she started dipping into her 401K retirement fund, which everyone warned her not to touch. When all her savings were almost gone, that’s when she came face-to-face with her financial reality.

  It’s not as if she had planned for it to happen. She was always searching for new ways to monetize her travel writing, but this was before the world of influencers and travel writers getting paid to post their content on social media. Her only outlets were print and online magazines, and they had started paying less and less, barely making it themselves.

  So where she’d started in high school always doing everything right financially, making sure she’d have a secure future, she now found herself living the life of Peter Pan, traveling the world, having an amazing time, but not acting like a real grown-up.

  When her savings had almost run out, she had known she’d come to the end of this adventure. She’d needed a new plan, and to come up with one, she had to stop traveling and put in the work. But this time, Brendan hadn’t understood or supported her decision. He’d loved their lifestyle, and he’d had no intention of giving it up. He’d kept telling her it would work out, she just had to have some faith.

  As the tension between them continued to grow, Riley no longer saw Brendan as her great adventure. Instead, she saw him as her great distraction. It had been clear that to truly move forward with her life, she would have to let him go.

  The breakup hadn’t been as hard as she’d thought it would be.

  He’d already come to the same conclusion that they no longer wanted the same things in life. But since their apartment technically had been his, she’d had nowhere to go and an empty bank account, she’d had to move in with her mom and stepdad for the summer. She had been so embarrassed to ask them for help, but they’d welcomed her without judgment.

  When she’d first gotten to her mom’s, she hadn’t had any idea what she was going to do to make a living, so she did the only thing she knew how to do . . . write.

  She’d started out by writing about her life with Brendan and all their travels because she’d found it therapeutic. She’d missed Brendan a lot. Even though she’d known they’d made the right decision, it hadn’t meant she had instantly stopped loving him.

  She still could remember the day when one of the travel magazine editors she’d freelanced for had called asking if she had any travel content to sell. Riley had joked that the only thing she’d been writing lately was her own personal story about traveling with her ex-boyfriend.

  The editor had been intrigued and asked her to send a sample. When she’d sent in a short story about one of her and Brendan’s first trips, no one had been more surprised than Riley when the editor bought it for their online magazine and wanted more.

  Looking back, Riley realized this was another one of those moments that had changed everything, where at the time she had no idea of what was to come.

  The magazine editor had like Riley’s stories so much she’d given Riley her own online column, which had led to a top New York City literary agent finding her and telling her that she needed to take the inspiration from traveling around the world with Brendan and start writing romance novels. That agent had been Margo, and this advice had led to her first publishing deal.

  But while Brendan had inspired her first novel, her next novel had been inspired by Colin, and by novel number three, she was using the inspiration and love she had received from both Colin and Brendan to create handsome, sexy, interesting men that her heroines could eventually fall in love with, after learning how to truly open their own hearts and accept love.

  This formula had won her awards until her last book, Heart of Summer, where she’d inadvertently let her last relationship with the third love of her life, Tyler, influence her writing—this time not in a good way.

  Her relationship with Tyler had started with Riley’s first trip to Manhattan to meet her new agent. They’d met at The Royal, one of New York’s hot spots for power lunches. They’d drunk ridiculously expensive wine and talked about what she’d wanted to do as an author. Riley had decided right then that if she was going to really make a run at a publishing career, she couldn’t continue living with her mom in a sleepy little Florida beach town.

  She also knew she’d still need to do some freelance writing to make ends meet, and the best place to network and pick up assignments was New York City, where all the top magazines, newspapers, and TV stations where.

  Determined to make it work, she’d gone
to New York with a positive attitude and a burning ambition to not only make her mark as an author but to find a way to make a good living. She was done with being broke and living the fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants lifestyle she’d been living with Brendan.

  Being surrounded by so many successful people in Manhattan had made Riley even more determined. She wanted power lunches at The Royal to be the norm, not the exception.

  Margo had promised that she’d introduce Riley around when she relocated to New York, and Margo had kept her word. During Riley’s first few months in Manhattan, she’d met some great guys through Margo, but when there had been no one special, she had decided the best relationship to invest in was with herself. So she focused on becoming a best-selling author.

  When one of her books, Summer Love Never Ends, caught the eye of a Hollywood producer, that’s when Margo had introduced her to Tyler, the third and last man she had ever truly loved.

  She’d been attending a charity event with Margo at a posh Manhattan penthouse when Margo had insisted that they add a sharp entertainment attorney to their team to help handle any Hollywood inquiries. Of course, Margo already knew who she wanted, and he was at the party.

  Tyler Caldwell, of the Bridgeport Caldwells, had just been featured in Manhattan Magazine as one of the “Top Forty Under Forty” New York City entertainment attorneys to watch. And people were watching, especially single women, because Tyler was as handsome as he was talented, and he quickly became one of Manhattan’s most eligible bachelors.

  When Riley had met him at the cocktail party, she’d been impressed with his professional resume, but she hadn’t been so sure about his personality. She’d always liked confident men, but Tyler took confidence to a whole new level. Still, with Margo’s urging, Riley had agreed to take a meeting with Tyler, which he’d ironically set up at The Royal.

  As she had sat across from him during their power lunch, she’d discovered that they had more in common than she’d originally thought. He’d also grown up in Oregon, had gone to college in California, and had passion for travel. He was fascinated by some of the more exotic places she had visited like Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, and Bali.