Riley did a double take. None of the plans included them coming to Christmas Camp. Their surprise visit instantly made her nervous. What are they up to now? she wondered.
It didn’t take long for Mike to get through the crowd and claim the microphone. “Hello, everyone. I’m Mike Conneley, Riley’s publicist. Luke told us to go ahead and get started with the interviews because we have a dance to put on.”
Riley fought to keep smiling as everyone clapped. She didn’t understand why Luke wasn’t coming. This was his moment to get publicity for the lodge. This was why he did the Christmas Camp.
When she looked over at Margo, who was standing on the sidelines, she found Margo was focused on her phone.
Mike pointed at a female reporter in the first row. “Tammi, from National Lifestyles, go ahead with your question.”
Tammi smiled at Riley. “Riley, your boyfriends, they looked pretty handsome in the photos we all saw online. Two questions: Who is the one that got away? And are the other two still available? I’m asking for a friend.”
As everyone laughed, Riley smiled, but she wasn’t thinking about her exes. She was thinking about Luke.
A half hour of questions later, Riley was exhausted, not to mention thankful they were wrapping things up so they could start letting their guests into the ballroom for the dance.
As soon as they were done, she grabbed Mike’s arm and took him into the hallway and into a small storage room where they could talk in private. The room was filled with Christmas decorations. She shut the door behind them.
“I think that went well,” Mike said, clearly proud of himself.
Riley gave him a stunned look. “I don’t even know where to start. All those questions were about my personal life, my ex-boyfriends. We didn’t talk about Christmas Camp or the lodge or even my book. What were you doing? Why didn’t you change the line of questioning? And what are you even doing here?”
Mike laughed off her concern. “Riley, any media like this is great media for your books. You’re a romance writer. People love hearing about your love life and these mysterious three exes. We couldn’t have asked for better publicity. They’ve been eating this stuff up. You saw everyone out there. And Margo and I came because this is a huge deal. I wanted to make sure you handled the media right and didn’t take off on us again.”
Riley glared at him. She wished she had a dozen snowballs because she would have thrown them at Mike’s smug face. When she took a step back from Mike, needing to put distance between them, she accidently ran into a giant plastic Santa. She caught it just before it tipped over.
“Where’s Luke?” she asked, putting Santa back in his place. “He didn’t get a chance to talk to the press.”
Mike shrugged. “He didn’t want to do the interview. He said it would be better to stay focused on you. He thought you were going to make your big announcement about Tyler.”
Riley gave him a confused look. “About Tyler and the library foundation? I haven’t even agreed to that yet.”
“No,” Mike said. “About you and Tyler getting back together. That he’s the one.”
Riley laughed. “What are you talking about? I’m not back together with Tyler.”
“What?” Mike said, confused. “You’re sure?”
“Yeah, I think I’d know,” Riley flung back at him.
Mike looked perplexed. “Well, that’s what Luke said. Did he get the guys mixed up maybe? Are you back together with one of the other guys?”
Riley gave him an incredulous look. “No!” She shook her head, getting more upset by the second. “I’m not back with any of them.”
“Well, Luke thinks you’re getting back together with Tyler,” Mike said. “I was actually giving him a hard time because the way he kept talking about you, I thought he was into you, but he told me he never had a chance.”
Riley’s heart sank. She’d heard enough. She had to fix this. “Where is he?” she demanded.
“I don’t know,” Mike said, “but we have to get you back to the ballroom. The dance is starting, and everyone is going to want to see who you have your first dance with. I told the media that whoever you dance with first is the guy you picked for your own happily-ever-after.”
“What?!” Riley said, dumbfounded. “I told you, I’m not getting back together with one of my exes. You had no right to assume that, let alone announce it! What is wrong with you?” Riley pushed past him and out the door.
“Riley!” Mike called after her. “Where are you going?”
She picked up her pace and never looked back. When she went around the corner, she started passing her Christmas Campers as they were heading to the dance.
“I’ll be right back,” she said as she hurried by them. When she stopped seeing people coming, she took off her shoes so she could run.
She saw her mom approaching with Maryanne, but she didn’t slow down. “I’ll explain later, Mom!”
Her mom laughed. “Okay!”
She ran into the lobby, hoping Luke would be there, but instead, she found Colin, Brendan, and Tyler all on their phones.
She stopped short. “Have you seen Luke?” she asked, breathless.
Tyler shook his head. “No.” He stared down at her feet. “Why aren’t you wearing your shoes?”
“Is everything okay?” Colin asked. He looked concerned.
“No, it’s not.” She started to take off again but then stopped and turned back to the guys.
“Look, this is not the way I planned to talk to you all, but there’s a lot of confusion going on right now about who I’m dating, thanks to this media blitz my publicist devised and some misinformation from Luke,” Riley said.
“I talked to Luke,” Tyler said. “He should be all straightened out.”
“What did you say?” Riley asked, afraid to hear the answer.
“He congratulated me on us getting back together, and I thanked him for all his help. That’s all,” Tyler said.
Brendan and Colin both looked shocked.
“Wait, you two are back together?” Brendan asked. “You picked him?”
“Yes,” Tyler said, smiling like he’d just won the lottery.
“No,” Riley said at the same time.
Tyler’s smile turned into a confused frown.
Riley took a deep breath. She had to get control of this out-of-control situation.
All three of the guys sat down in silence.
Riley put her shoes back on. “Please let me say what I need to say without any interruptions and all your questions will be answered.”
“Go for it,” Brendan said.
“We’re all ears,” Colin said.
Now that Riley had their undivided attention, she knew she just needed to be honest with them, but suddenly she was nervous, very nervous. But she pressed on. “First, I can’t tell you how much it means that you’re all here,” she told them, her voice full of sincerity. “The fact that you’ve all taken time from your busy lives to see me means the world to me. I’m flattered. But mostly, I’m thankful to be reminded of how lucky I’ve been to have you all in my life.”
Riley took a moment to smile and make eye contact with each of them. “Having you here this weekend has brought back so many amazing memories,” she continued. “You’ve all taught me so much about love, and even more about myself, and because of you, I know what real love is. And I want that for each of you.”
She opened her purse and took out the red heart ornament Colin had given her on their date and walked over and handed it to him. “Colin, you gave me this saying you wanted me to know that I would always have your heart. I’m giving it back to you because someday you’re going to find someone who really deserves it.”
She looked into Colin’s eyes. “I’ll always love you, Colin. We had our great love story, and I think we know, if we’re honest with each other, that it’s time for
both of us to start a new chapter.”
When Colin took the ornament and looked at her, she could see in his kind eyes that he knew she was right, and she loved him for that.
Next, she took the compass Brendan had given her out of her purse and walked over to give it to him.
“Brendan, you and I have had some amazing adventures together. You gave me this compass so I could always find my way back to you, but you know better than anyone, the best adventures are when you keep moving forward and exploring new things. I will always love you for helping me be brave and fearless. That’s why I can give you this compass back because you’ve already helped me find my way and the strength to go after what I really want. I know there are many more adventures just waiting for you, and I want you to find someone who will love you as fiercely as you love them.”
As Brendan studied the inscription on the compass, Riley waited for him to look up at her. When he finally did and they shared a smile, she knew Brendan would be just fine—better than fine—and that he was probably already planning his next adventure.
Lastly, Riley took the diamond star necklace and star ornament out of her purse and gave them back to Tyler.
“Tyler, you showed me a world I never thought I could be a part of. You helped me own my own power and know my worth. You say I’m your star, but honestly, you have been mine. You’ve guided me and shown me that the sky is the limit. I will always love you for teaching me to never settle for less than I should have. Now I want the same for you. I want you to find someone who can love you the way you deserve to be loved.”
During her whole speech, Tyler never broke eye contact with her. When she was done, he nodded. “So you’re not picking any of us?” he asked.
“I’m picking me,” Riley said. “I am who I am because of all of you, and for that, I am so thankful. I want you to find your own happily-ever-afters, and I know you will.”
Riley gave each of them a hug. “Now if you’ll excuse me. I need to go find—”
“Luke,” Colin cut in with an all-knowing smile.
Brendan nodded sagely. “Because he’s the one, isn’t he?”
“Luke?” Tyler asked, looking confused. “What are you talking about?”
Colin laughed. “We’ll explain it to you, buddy.”
“Riley, go,” Brendan said. “Go get your happily-ever-after.”
“I love you guys,” Riley called over her shoulder as she ran out of the room.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Riley rushed into the kitchen calling out for Luke. “Luke? Are you in here?”
Silence.
It had been the same story in the library. Apparently, everybody at the lodge was now in the ballroom because even the lobby was empty now.
She whispered to herself, “Luke, where are you?”
She was about to leave when a log on the fire cracked and popped, lighting up the face of the Christmas Wish Santa next to the fireplace.
When she looked over at the Santa, his bag of toys caught her eye, and she remembered the Christmas wish she had made on the first day of Christmas Camp. She walked over and peered inside the bag and then carefully started looking for the Christmas wish she had made. She knew she’d recognize her scroll because instead of tying the red ribbon into a pretty bow like everyone else, she had triple knotted it and left the ends hanging. It only took a second to find.
She slid the ribbon off and read her wish out loud. “To write a wonderful Christmas love story.”
She picked up a pen from the table and crossed out the word write on her original wish and replaced it with the word have.
She read her new wish out loud. “To have a wonderful Christmas love story.”
As she was putting her wish back into Santa’s bag, she caught a flash of light in the big picture window that looked out over Christmas Lake. She went over to the window to see what was happening.
Her heart stopped when she saw the Christmas Lake Christmas tree.
The lights on the tree were flickering. She had never seen them flicker before. They were usually always glowing steady and bright.
“Something’s wrong with the lights!” she said in a panic. “They can’t go out. They’ve never gone out . . .” She knew there wasn’t time to get anyone from the ballroom. If the lights went out, years of tradition, of honoring military members, would be over.
She couldn’t let that happen.
Without thinking, she ran to the closet and grabbed a random coat and threw it on. She didn’t care that it was way too big for her, almost reaching to her ankles. She also grabbed her yeti boots, slipped them on, then raced toward the lake.
It was snowing, and the path was slick. She almost fell several times, but she kept going, never taking her eyes off the Christmas Lake Christmas tree.
“Please don’t go out. Please don’t go out. Please don’t go out,” she repeated over and over again. She was moving as fast as she could, but the lights were still flickering.
When she got to the lake, she came to a screeching halt. The ice looked almost blue in the moonlight. But she didn’t see the beauty. The only thing she saw was the danger as the memory of her news van almost going through the ice flashed into her mind. She shivered, but not from the cold—from the memory that chilled her to the bone.
She took several steps back. “I can’t do this,” she said. “I can’t.”
When she saw the lights on the tree continue to blink on and off, she turned around and yelled, “Luke! Luke!”
But her cries for help were lost in the icy wind that had picked up and was now swirling around her. She looked at the ice like it was her enemy.
She brought her freezing hands up to her mouth to blow warm air into them, and the Santa charm her dad had given her shone in the moonlight. That’s when she saw the inscription on the Santa. It said, Always believe.
She looked out on the lake, the Christmas tree lights continuing to flicker. She took a deep breath and stood up straighter.
I just have to believe. Luke goes out there every day. He said it was safe.
She held the Santa charm to her heart as she put her first foot on the ice. Then she took another step, and another, and pretty soon she was walking across the lake. She was at the Christmas tree in no time.
As soon as she got to the tree, she realized she didn’t even know what to look for, or how to fix it. She started by gently moving the strands of lights on the tree that were blinking.
Nothing happened. They just kept blinking.
The wind was picking up. The lights on the tree were swaying back and forth. That’s when she remembered how Luke had shown her how to wrap the lights around the branches so they wouldn’t fall off.
She did that quickly the best she could, even though her frozen hands were clumsy. She was down on her hands and knees, trying to look under the tree for the battery pack Luke had talked about when her hand touched something furry and wet.
She screamed and jumped back. Then came a familiar bark. It was Comet, and he was with Luke.
Before she could say anything, Luke scooped her up so she was no longer on her hands and knees. “What are you doing out here!” he shouted at her. He looked angry and worried.
She pointed at the tree. “The lights! There’s something wrong with the lights.”
“You need to get inside now!” he yelled over the wind as he took off his gloves and put them on her shaking hands. He also quickly put his hat and scarf on her.
“Let’s go,” he said, putting his arm around her to shield her from the wind.”
But she refused to budge. “No!” she insisted. “You need to stay and fix the lights. I’ll go. But you stay. Please, they can’t go out. They can’t go out . . .”
She took off before he could argue, but he caught up with her. He put Comet’s leash in her hand and looked down at Comet. “Go!”
he told Comet. “Take her inside.”
For the first time, Comet listened to Luke and did just what he was told. He barked and started pulling Riley toward the shore.
When Riley looked over her shoulder and saw Luke was still watching her, she tried to yell out to him but her voice almost disappeared in the wind. “Luke, go back and fix the lights! I’m okay. Go!”
Luke hesitated.
“Go! Hurry!” Riley urged.
“Get inside,” he yelled back before turning and rushing over to the Christmas tree.
Comet didn’t stop pulling her forward until they got inside the lodge.
She had just taken off her coat and was trying to warm up by the fire when Luke burst through the front door. “Are you okay?” he demanded, checking her hands. “What were you thinking going outside without any gloves or a hat? Are you trying to get frostbite?”
Riley pulled her hands away from him. “Why aren’t you out there fixing the lights?!”
Luke pointed at the window.
When Riley rushed over and saw the lights were now back to normal, glowing in all their glory, she almost cried she was so relieved.
“There was a loose cable. It’s all fixed. It’s fine,” Luke said as he picked up a blanket off the couch and wrapped it around her.
Now Riley did feel tears in her eyes—grateful tears. She touched the Santa on her charm bracelet and shut her eyes. Thank you, Dad.
“Are you okay?” Luke asked, sounding genuinely concerned. “I was in the front yard checking the lights there when the Santa from the sleigh came loose and blew down to the lake. I was running after it when I saw you. You should never have gone out there dressed like that. You could have really been in trouble.”
“I know,” Riley said. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. I panicked when I saw the lights. I was looking for you. I wanted to explain about—”
But Riley didn’t have a chance to finish when Mike stormed into the room. “There you are,” he said, pointing at Riley. “Everyone is waiting for you at the dance. This is your event, remember? All the media is here. You need to get in there, now. I’ll go tell everyone you’re coming.”
Christmas Ever After Page 32
