Christmas Camp

by Karen Schaler

  As Haley walked along one bookcase, she saw all kinds of books, from glossy new hardcovers to vintage classics and paperbacks. In the corner, there was a little table with a half-finished puzzle on it. The puzzle was of a beautiful Christmas tree set up in a quaint town square. Looking at it, she felt like she’d been there before. It had that timeless, could-be-anywhere feeling about it.

  As she walked past the back bookshelf, she gently ran her hand across the books. Reading had always been one of her favorite things, but she couldn’t even remember the last book she’d read. She knew she’d downloaded several recently that her clients had written, but she’d had her intern read them for her and give her a quick synopsis.

  As she pulled an old well-loved book off the shelf, she took a moment to feel its weight before opening it up, shutting her eyes, and inhaling deeply. She’d always thought there was nothing like the smell of an old book. To her, this one smelled a little like vanilla with a musky hint of coffee. It triggered memories of all the hours she had spent at the library growing up, because money had been so tight her parents could rarely afford to buy her books. Her life changed the day her father gave her her first library card. The library had opened up the whole world to her. It was the one place where it didn’t matter how much money you had; you could travel anywhere, be anyone, and learn anything. Books became her escape, and the library, her happy place. She inhaled one more time . . .

  “So, this is what they mean when they say someone always has their nose in a book.”

  Haley spun around as Jeff walked into the room. Embarrassed, she quickly put the book back.

  “Please, by all means, continue with what you were doing,” he said. “The books are here to be enjoyed. Have you found one that you want to read?”

  Haley spun around. “Not yet. There are so many to choose from. I can’t believe how many you have, and some of these look really old.”

  Jeff joined her, carefully took one of the older books off the shelf, and opened it to the copyright page. “They are. Like this one was written in 1936. I found it at one of the renovations I was doing. That’s actually where a lot of these books came from. You’d be surprised how many people just leave them behind . . .”

  Haley frowned as she studied a group of old books. “Really? That seems so . . .”

  “Sad . . .”

  Haley looked back at him. “Yes. Sad. I feel like books are a part of your history, your story, they help make you who you are, so to just leave them behind doesn’t seem right somehow.”

  “I agree and that’s why I always bring them back here, so they’ll have a new home. Guests enjoy them, and you never know what you’re going to find.”

  Haley smiled as she watched Jeff rearrange some books on the shelf and thought, first he saves old homes and now he saves abandoned books, it was almost impossible not to like this guy. But then she shook herself mentally. She was getting distracted again. She needed to find something and move on. When she wandered over to a stack of colorful books on the desk, Jeff joined her and picked one up. “These are just some from our Christmas collection,” he said.

  Haley’s eyebrows rose. “You actually have a Christmas collection.”

  “Of course. You can’t come to Christmas Camp and not read a Christmas book.”

  Haley immediately snapped to attention. “Wait, is this one of our activities? How many do we have to read?”

  Jeff laughed at her seriousness. “Don’t worry. It’s not one of the activities on the list. I was just saying most people enjoy reading them while they’re here. It helps them get into the Christmas spirit. But maybe we should add it to the list. It’s not a bad idea.”

  Haley’s eyebrows rose. “Well, just wait until next year. I think that list is long enough already.”

  Jeff handed her a book. “Just in case you find the time. I think you might like this one.”

  Haley looked down at it and laughed. “An Angel’s Christmas? Seriously, you’re giving me another angel. I’m on angel overload right now . . .”

  “You can never have too many angels,” Jeff said.

  “I think that’s a matter of opinion.” Haley smiled. “Let’s just say I have more than I can handle at the moment.” She picked another book off the pile. It was a beautiful Christmas decorating book. She flipped through the pages, admiring the photographs of gorgeous homes and beautiful settings for Christmas parties. “Actually, I might be able to use something like this for research for my Christmas campaign.”

  “Is that what you’re working on? A Christmas campaign?”

  Haley’s eyes instantly lit up when she started talking about work. “It’s a Christmas toy campaign for the Tyler Toys company. They’re about to expand internationally, so it would be a huge account, and I’m trying to land them as a new client.”

  “You work in advertising?”

  “I do. I’m a brand specialist.”

  Jeff arched an eyebrow.

  “That means I work with companies and brands to help strategize the best ways to present themselves to their customers. I help them get their message out about who they really are, to really connect with their customers. That’s what makes a successful business.”

  “You sound like you love what you do.”

  Haley nodded, smiling. “I really do. It’s an honor and a huge responsibility to take people’s dreams, the companies they’ve worked hard to create, and help them be successful. And if I can get this Tyler Toys company to come on board at our agency, my boss will make me a partner.”

  Jeff looked impressed. “Wow, that’s really something.”

  Haley looked into his eyes and saw he was being completely genuine. There was no judgment. “Thank you. That means a lot. It has been a long journey. I started off representing small mom-and-pop businesses, which I loved because I could see how I was really making a difference . . .”

  “And now?”

  “Now I’ve moved up, and I’m representing some of the largest companies in the country. I usually specialize in travel and hospitality.”

  “But now you’re trying to work with a toy company?”

  “I know it’s a little out of my lane, but my boss said I needed to land one more huge account and this would be it. So that’s why I’m here. Tyler Toys is all about Christmas tradition, so bring on the inspiration.”

  “Then Christmas Camp should be the perfect place for you.”

  Haley laughed. “And now you sound like my boss. But I hope you’re both right, because I only have about a week to put this Christmas campaign together, and my entire career is riding on it.”

  “Well, I’ve been doing a traditional Christmas my whole life, so let me know if you have any questions. You might call me a bit of an expert,” Jeff joked. “And I’m happy to help.”

  “Thank you.” Haley gave him a grateful look. “I might take you up on that.”

  Jeff went through the pile of books and picked out four, stacked them up, and handed them to her. “Here, I think these might help in your research.”

  Haley laughed when she saw the book on top was A Christmas Angel. “So, you’re not giving up with this angel book, huh?”

  “I don’t give up easily.”

  When he looked into her eyes, they shared a smile, and Haley realized she was doing it again, getting distracted, so she quickly headed for the door. “I better get to work. I’ll see you at dinner.”

  BACK IN HER room, as she was getting ready for dinner, Haley looked at herself in the mirror and cracked up. She was wearing the Santa Christmas sweater Larry had given her, and it was on a whole new level of ridiculous. It was so ugly, it was pretty amazing. If there was an ugly-Christmas-sweater contest tonight, she’d be winning it.

  She looked around at the angel pictures on the wall and modeled her sweater. “No judging or laughing, any of you, or you’ll all end up in the closet.” She glanced over at the angel book Jeff had given her to read. “And that goes for you, too!”

  “Okay, let’s
do this.” She headed for the door, and when she opened it, she almost tripped over Max, who was sitting there waiting for her. “Whoa, sorry,” she said as she grabbed the wall to keep from falling. When she looked at Max closer, she burst out laughing. “Wow! What happened to you?”

  Max was wearing his own Christmas sweater, which featured a bunch of crazy cats wearing Santa hats. He barked when Haley couldn’t stop laughing.

  “I’m sorry,” she told him. But when she looked at him again, she couldn’t stop laughing. “Okay, you win,” she said. “Your sweater is worse than mine. Cats with Santa hats, you poor thing.”

  Max turned around in a circle, like he was modeling his sweater for her. He then trotted off down the hall. She was still giggling as she followed him. When he reached the dining room, he sat and waited for her to catch up. “What?” she asked, looking down at him. “Oh, I know. You’re too embarrassed wearing that to go to dinner alone? You need some reinforcements?”

  Max wagged his tail.

  “Okay, let’s do this. Maybe no one will notice me if they’re too busy checking out your crazy Santa cats.”

  Unfortunately for Haley, that wasn’t the case, because as soon as she walked into the dining room, everyone stopped talking and then started laughing. The loudest laugh came from Jeff.

  “Hey! Come on now,” she shot back at them all. “Don’t laugh at me. Look at Max. He’s wearing cats! Santa cats, or cats in Santa hats, whatever. I almost look normal compared to that.”

  Everyone just laughed louder when Max barked. Even Haley couldn’t help but join in as she took the last seat at the table, sitting between Jeff and his dad.

  “Your sweater is the sickest thing I’ve ever seen,” Madison said. She was still laughing.

  “Madison,” her dad said in a stern voice. He gave her a warning look.

  “What? That’s a good thing,” Madison said. “Right, Haley?”

  Haley threw up her hands. “Yeah, it means I have the best worst sweater here . . . I think?”

  Everyone laughed again. She gave Jeff a grateful look when he handed her a glass of wine.

  “You might need this,” he said in a teasing voice.

  “Ya think?” She laughed and took a sip. “But what about poor Max. I mean, come on, Ben, how could you do that to the poor guy? Cats? Really?”

  Ben held up his hands in mock innocence. “It wasn’t me.”

  Laura smiled as she went around the table and poured more wine. “It was me. I’m the guilty one. But Max loves it, don’t you, Max? He always likes to be included.”

  Max barked.

  When Haley looked at Laura’s sweater, she started laughing again. Her stomach was starting to hurt from laughing so much. “Wow, Laura, your sweater is so perfect for you.”

  “Thank you.” Laura held up her arms and turned around slowly so everyone could see. There was no denying her sweater was perfect—perfectly adorable. It had a giant gingerbread boy and gingerbread girl on the front. They were holding hands and were elaborately decorated with all kinds of colorful buttons, ribbon, and glitter.

  When everyone clapped, Laura took a little bow. “Wow, thank you again.” She laughed. “I actually made it myself. I make a new one every year.”

  “Every year?” Haley asked incredulously. “Why do you need a new one every year?”

  “Because we have a lot of repeat guests that come to our Christmas Camp weeks, and they look forward to seeing what I’ll come up with next.”

  “And she even takes requests,” Ben said proudly.

  Haley was about to take another sip of her wine but froze. “Requests?”

  Gail was fascinated as well. “What do you mean, requests?” she asked. Her own sweater was pretty spectacular. It had a giant penguin wearing a Santa hat, and the Santa hat lit up.

  Laura pointed at the gingerbread boy on her sweater. “This year’s sweater, for example, was a request. One of our guests last year, a little ten-year-old boy, Tommy, asked me if I could make a gingerbread sweater like the gingerbread cookies I made him when he celebrated his birthday with us. I told him I would make one for next year, and he could come back and see it.”

  “Did he?” Haley asked.

  “He sure did,” Ben answered for her. “They were here just a couple of weeks ago, and you should have seen little Tommy’s face when he saw Laura’s sweater. He was so excited.”

  “He was even more excited when he found out she made him one, too,” Jeff added.

  Haley looked at Laura like she was a superhero. “Wow, that’s really cool.”

  “So cool,” Madison agreed.

  “That’s really wonderful,” Gail joined in. A second later Gail’s penguin’s Santa hat lit up.

  Ben looked at Laura with pride. “That’s what we try to do here, help people create special memories.”

  “Okay, enough about me. Please, everyone, eat your dinner before it gets cold.” Laura sat down next to Madison. “I hope you like it. We have Ben’s favorite honey-baked ham, a roasted baby-beet salad, garlic mashed potatoes, roasted spring vegetables, and fresh-baked buttermilk biscuits.”

  “And be sure to save room for dessert,” Ben said. “Laura makes the best pies.”

  Laura smiled. “We have several you can choose from: berry, pumpkin, pecan.”

  Haley’s eyes were huge as she took in all the food. “This all looks amazing. So much better than the vending machine dinners I’ve been eating.”

  Madison looked fascinated. “You can get dinner out of a vending machine?”

  “If you call a granola bar dinner, yes,” Haley answered. She looked at Madison’s sweater and laughed. “Now, that’s one creative sweater you’re wearing.”

  Madison’s face lit up. Her sweater was brilliant in its simplicity. It was all white with a big red velvet bow attached. “I figured I’m the Christmas gift. I’m a big present.”

  Blake laughed. “One I would return.”

  Madison glared at him. “Better than yours; whatever it is, at least you nailed the ugly part.”

  Blake grinned as he looked down at his sweater. It was black with a red-and-white-striped pole on the front and the word “north.” “My North Pole sweater is dope.”

  “You’re a dope,” Madison shot back at him.

  “Guys, come on. It’s Christmas,” John said. He gave them a hopeful look. “Can you try to be nice to each other?” His own sweater had a giant reindeer on the front whose antlers stuck out about six inches.

  “We are being nice,” Madison said. She took another helping of beet salad.

  “We’re just kidding around, Dad. It’s what we do,” Blake said as he piled more mashed potatoes onto his plate.

  When John, pretending to be frustrated, dropped his head into his hands, his forehead hit his antlers, and everyone laughed. Jeff’s laugh was still one of the loudest, so Haley looked him up and down and just shook her head as she buttered another biscuit.

  “I don’t know if I’d be laughing so much if I were you, elf boy,” she said as she pointed at Jeff’s sweater. On the front of it there was a hilarious-looking long-haired elf whose hair was hanging off the sweater. “Let me guess,” Haley said. “That’s Harry the elf.”

  Jeff puffed out his chest proudly. “It sure is! And this is one of my favorite sweaters.”

  Laura laughed as she passed more ham to Ben. “It really is. We keep trying to get him to buy something new. . .”

  “But he won’t,” Ben added. “He’s very loyal.”

  Jeff smiled smugly. “And that’s a good thing. And, Dad, I wouldn’t talk if I were you. You’ve been wearing that sweater for—I don’t know, how many years?”

  Ben smiled proudly. “It was your mom’s favorite.” He passed the ham to Jeff.

  Jeff laughed. “Oh, I know. She’s the one that got it for you, along with the rest of the outfit.

  Haley covered her mouth to keep from laughing as she looked at Ben’s sweater. It basically looked like Santa’s suit. It was red with a blac
k belt around the middle and white fur trim, and clearly, it had been well worn and well loved.

  “I can go get the hat and beard out if you want,” Ben offered.

  Jeff waved his hands and laughed. “No, no, this is fine.”

  Haley looked over at Ian and Susie. So far they were the only ones who had escaped the teasing. They were busy enjoying their meal and laughing at everyone else. They wore sweaters that matched. Susie was wearing a girl moose that had ornaments hanging from its antlers, and Ian was wearing the boy moose, on whose head was a Santa hat, and both sweaters said MERRY MOOSE-MAS!

  “So, what’s with the moose?” Haley asked them.

  Ian rolled his eyes. “She’s from Maine,” he answered, as if that explained everything.

  Susie gave him a look. “So, what would you want us wearing? A sweater with a giant cactus on it because you spend Christmas in Arizona?”

  “No,” Ian said. “I wouldn’t want us wearing sweaters like this at all. We’d be in Arizona wearing bathing suits for Christmas.”

  Susie looked at Ian like he’d said they should be wearing straitjackets. “And now you can see why we needed to come here.” She looked at the rest of the group. “We’re going to need a Christmas miracle to figure out a compromise.”

  “Well, you’ve come to the right place,” Ben said, smiling at them.

  “So, who wins the ugly-Christmas-sweater contest?” Madison asked. “I’m voting for Haley’s.”

  “Thanks. I think,” Haley said. “I’m voting for Max. I mean, come on. He has Santa cats.”

  Max barked. He clearly looked excited to be in on the competition.

  “Actually, here at the Christmas Camp the whole idea of wearing the sweaters is just to have some fun, be a little silly, and laugh. I think we all did that, don’t you?” Ben asked Madison.

  Madison smiled. “I know I laughed. A lot.”

  “Me too,” Haley said. “I don’t know when I’ve laughed so hard.”

  “Then it was a success,” Ben said. He looked pleased as he got up and started clearing away the dishes. Jeff joined him.