Christmas Camp

by Karen Schaler

“I’m fine,” Jeff said. He tried to laugh off Laura’s concern, but she wasn’t buying it. Looking him in the eye, she held out her hand for the drill. He hesitated a moment, then sighed, and reluctantly gave it to her. He never could fool her. Not when he was a kid and not now.

  “So, what’s really going on?” she asked, setting the drill down on the counter. “I’ve known you since you were a kid, and whenever something was wrong, you’d always try to fix something. So, what is it this time?”

  Jeff ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath. “My dad. I’m worried about him.”

  “How so?”

  “This inn, the Christmas Camp, he can’t keep doing it all alone, and he’s losing money . . .”

  “Have you talked to him about it?” Laura asked.

  Jeff dragged his fingers through his hair. “I’ve tried. I just tried again a few minutes ago, but he never wants to talk about it.” He looked around the kitchen at the aging refrigerator and stove. “This place is getting older and so is he. He’s using his savings to keep this place going, and at his age, he should be putting money away for retirement. I found him a great condo in the city, in my neighborhood, so we could be closer, and I could spend more time with him, but he won’t even talk to me about moving.”

  “Because he loves it here,” Laura said.

  “I know,” Jeff said. “But he could love it in Boston, too, if he’d just give it a chance. Everything changed when my mom died, but he’s still trying to live their dream. He won’t accept reality. We have to sell this place . . .” He stopped talking when he saw how sad Laura looked. He realized selling the place didn’t just impact his family; it would impact her family as well. She’d worked at the inn for as long as he could remember. He reached out and took her hand. “Laura, I’m sorry. Here I am talking about selling the place, and I know this is your home, too.”

  “It’s okay, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. The truth is, my husband has been wanting me to retire for the last five years. He wants to move somewhere warm like Florida or Arizona. He’s tired of our cold, snowy winters. I haven’t wanted to go because I didn’t want to leave your mom and dad. You are all like family to me . . .”

  “And you know, we’ve always felt the same way about you,” Jeff said. “And I’m so grateful you stayed on after my mom passed away. My dad couldn’t have kept this place running without you.”

  “I wanted to help in any way I could. Your mom was like my sister. I miss her every day, but especially at this time of year.” Laura touched her heart. “This time of year I feel even closer to her. I’m sure your dad would have a hard time leaving. All his memories are here. I’m sure what you’ve found for him in Boston is very nice, but . . .”

  “But?” Jeff asked.

  “I just can’t imagine him anywhere but here. I’m sorry, that’s probably not what you want to hear . . .”

  Jeff put his arm around her. “I always appreciate your honesty. You know I’d hate giving this place up, too, but I have to look after my dad’s future and make sure he’s going to be okay, and I can do that better if he’s in Boston. I’ve already found a buyer for the inn, and it’s a good offer, but he needs to make a decision before the end of the year.”

  Laura shook her head. “You don’t have a lot of time.”

  “I know.” Jeff picked up the drill again. “That’s the problem.”

  Laura looked at the drill. The worry was back in her eyes.

  “Don’t worry.” Jeff laughed. “I’m putting it away. Your kitchen is safe.”

  “For now.” Laura looked relieved. She gave him an affectionate pat on the back. “You’re a good son. Your dad loves you very much, and I know he’s so glad you’re here.”

  Jeff smiled at her. “I’m glad I’m here, too. There’s a lot of activities coming up this next week, and I’m going to make sure everything goes as planned. Dad always works so hard on putting these Christmas Camps together, and if I can convince him to move to Boston, this will be the last one, so I want it to be really special for him. Nothing can go wrong.”

  “What could go wrong?” Laura asked, surprised. “I think your dad has everything under control.”

  “But he can’t control the guests and what they do,” Jeff answered. He looked worried.

  “Ah, don’t you mean one guest in particular?” Laura gave him a knowing smile. “I saw you outside walking with Haley and Max. Is there a problem?”

  Jeff opened a drawer and shut it again, making sure it was working smoothly. Laura put her hand over his. “Jeff?”

  Jeff shut the drawer. “I don’t know. I just know she’s not here for the right reasons, and I don’t want her attitude to impact the other guests or upset my dad. Does that make sense?”

  Laura nodded. “You’re trying to protect your dad, like you always do, but are you sure you need to in this case? Haley doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would ruin Christmas Camp.”

  “She might not mean to,” Jeff said. “But I don’t know. I just don’t know.” He sounded stressed.

  Laura went over and picked up a plate of the special Christmas Camp cookies and held it out to Jeff. He took a cookie and gave her a grateful look.

  “Do you know what I think?” Laura asked. “I think everyone’s here for their own reasons. It doesn’t really matter why Haley’s here. It’s Christmas and Christmas Camp is for anyone and everyone. Maybe she needs to be here more than anyone else, and it’s our job to help make sure the time she does spend here is special. So, I’d say if you really want to help your dad, then you’ll help Haley in any way you can, just like you’d help the other guests. You know he gets his happiness from seeing his guests happy.”

  Jeff nodded. Laura was the voice of reason. Maybe he had been too quick to judge. There was just something about Haley that made him uncomfortable. He was usually really good at reading people, but he couldn’t figure her out and that made him nervous.

  “You’re right,” he told Laura. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”

  Laura gave him a sharp look.

  “I mean I’ll keep an eye on her to see if I can help her in any way. She said she needs to learn about Christmas traditions for this project she’s working on, and we certainly have a lot of Christmas traditions around here.”

  “We certainly do.”

  “So I’ll see what I can do for Haley and the other guests. I just want to help my dad over this next week in any way I can.”

  “You just being here is a blessing and that’s helped already,” Laura said. “He’s been so excited about spending time with you and doing this Christmas Camp together. It’s going to be a good week. I just know it. Try to relax and enjoy this time with your dad. I know that’s what he wants more than anything. And if you ever need to talk to anyone, you know I’m always here for you.”

  “Thank you. That means more than you know.”

  Laura gave his hand a little squeeze. “And be nice to my kitchen. I don’t want to come back here and find the refrigerator torn apart.”

  Jeff laughed. “Oh, come on now, that was one time a long time ago. You’re never going to let me live that one down, are you?”

  “Not a chance.” Laura was still smiling as she left the kitchen. “And don’t eat all the cookies,” she called over her shoulder.

  It was too late. Jeff already had a second cookie in his mouth.

  Chapter 12

  As the sun rose over the spectacular snow-covered mountain ridge, it cast a golden glow on the Holly Peak Inn. Some of that sunlight was streaming through the blinds of Haley’s bedroom window, but she didn’t see it. She was snuggled deep beneath her covers, sleeping soundly until she was jarred awake by Max’s bark. She quickly shut her eyes and dove back down under her duvet only to be interrupted again by another bark. “Please make him go away, please make him go away . . .” she whispered.

  But Max barked again.

  Haley groaned and with her eyes still shut reached around until she found her phon
e on the nightstand and brought it with her underneath the covers. She opened one eye and saw it was only six thirty.

  Max barked twice.

  “Seriously?” Frustrated, she threw off her covers, jumped out of bed, and yanked her door open to find Max staring up at her with loving eyes. In his mouth was his leash. He dropped it at her feet.

  “Come on! It’s six thirty in the morning!”

  Max barked again.

  “Shhh! You’re going to wake everyone up!”

  When Max looked like he was about to bark again, she stopped him by opening the door even further. “Okay, come in, but just stop barking . . .”

  Max grabbed his leash and happily trotted in.

  Haley was not so happy. She grabbed her bathrobe and put it on. “What am I going to do with you?” She stared down at Max.

  For an answer, he dropped his leash at her feet again.

  Haley sighed and headed for the closet, where she quickly threw on some black pants and a pretty pink silk blouse, not even bothering to button it all the way. She put on her boots and grabbed her coat. When she caught her reflection in the mirror, she cringed. Her hair was sticking up all over the place. She ran a quick comb through it, but it didn’t do much good. As she headed for the door, she grabbed the scarf Jeff had loaned her and wrapped it around her head and neck.

  As she headed down the hallway Haley didn’t hear anyone else up yet. “Of course they’re not up,” she whispered to Max. “Everyone else is sleeping, like I should be.”

  Max wagged his tail.

  When they got to the front door, Haley attached Max’s leash to his collar. “Okay, we’re going to make this fast,” she told him. But when she opened the front door, she took a quick step back. “Whoa! Where did all this snow come from?”

  The front walkway, which was usually clear, was covered in almost three inches of snow. In fact, there was snow everywhere. Haley looked down at her boots. They were stylish black leather riding boots, but there was no way they could handle all this snow. She gave Max an apologetic look. “Sorry. I’d never make it out there in these.”

  But Max wasn’t giving up. He ran over to a pair of winter snow boots that were lined up by the door, grabbed one, and dragged it over to Haley.

  “Hey, what are you doing?! You can’t just steal those.”

  Max barked.

  “Shhh! Okay, fine. I guess I can borrow them for a second.”

  Max spun around in circles, wagging his tail.

  Haley quickly slipped off her boots and put on the snow boot Max had brought her. It was several sizes too big. She gave Max a look. “Hey, pal, if you’re going to steal boots for me, next time find some my size?” She put on the other boot and felt like she was walking in snowshoes. They were huge and awkward, but she figured they would at least keep her feet dry. This time when she opened the door, she was ready for the snow but was completely caught off guard by an icy gust of wind that almost took her breath away.

  “Max, you so owe me for this. Let’s make it quick.” Shutting the door behind her, Haley saw the life-size elf figurine grinning back at her. “I don’t know what you’re grinning about because it’s freezing out here.” She barely had time to zip her coat all the way up before Max took off in a run, plowing through the snow, pulling the unsuspecting Haley along with him.

  “Whoa. Wait. Hold on!” she yelled after him, but Max was running full speed now. He was clearly excited to be playing in the fresh snow. “Max, wait!” Haley couldn’t believe it when he actually listened to her and stopped. She finally caught her breath, but only for a second before she saw that Max was running back toward her. Her eyes grew huge. “Oh no! No, no, no, no, no . . .” She frantically tried to back away but stumbled over her too-big boots and fell backward into the snow, landing on her butt just as Max ran up and started licking her face. “Eww! Stop that.” She tried to cover her face but ended up falling flat on her back. Max looked like he was loving all of this. He was standing over her, panting and wagging his tail.

  “Everything okay down there?”

  Haley looked up, but Jeff blocked her view of the sky. He was laughing. Embarrassed, she struggled to get up but began to slip again until he grabbed her around the waist. They were so close you could see the cold vapor of their breath mingle. When Haley realized she had grabbed Jeff’s arms to steady herself, she quickly let go.

  “Sorry, thanks for . . .”

  “Saving you?” Jeff laughed.

  “Yeah.” She held up one foot. “I blame it on the boots. I’m not usually so klutzy.”

  “You did grow up in Boston, right? Aren’t you used to the snow?”

  Haley laughed. “You’d think I would be, but I’ve lived in the city for the last ten years. I pretty much just go from my apartment to work and don’t have to deal with all this . . .”

  “Snow?”

  “Exactly. I should have packed a little better. I didn’t have a lot of time. I guess I wasn’t thinking. I just threw in a pair of jeans, a couple of shirts and sweaters, but nothing that could really handle this kind of cold or being outside for very long. I should have brought a hat, gloves, and obviously some better boots.”

  “Well, at least you have a scarf.” Jeff smiled at her.

  Haley touched the scarf and laughed. “You mean your scarf.” She quickly started taking it off. “Here, let me give it back to you.”

  Jeff reached out and put his hand over hers. “No, keep it. You need it more than I do.”

  The touch of Jeff’s hand sent a warm jolt through her. Their eyes locked. They both looked a little confused. When he took his hand away, Haley fumbled with his scarf. “Are you sure? I don’t want to steal your scarf.”

  “Well, you’ve already stolen my boots, so why not?” Jeff teased.

  Haley’s eyes flew to her boots. “These are yours?! I’m sorry. It’s Max’s fault . . .”

  Jeff’s eyebrows rose. “Really?”

  Haley nodded, totally serious. “He saw them and brought them over to me, because I wasn’t going to take him out in my boots.”

  “So, you’re blaming Max?”

  Haley’s chin shot up. “Trust me, he’s not as innocent as he looks.”

  Jeff laughed. “Oh, I know. He can be quite clever.”

  “Exactly!”

  When they both looked at Max, he innocently wagged his tail.

  “So, I’m guessing it’s also his fault that you’re out here so early?” Jeff asked.

  “It is!” Haley’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Max. “He wouldn’t stop barking, and I didn’t want him to wake everyone up. I figured he had to go out, if you know what I mean, and when you gotta go, you gotta go.”

  Jeff laughed. “I actually took him out a half hour ago.”

  Haley stared down at Max. “Really?”

  “Getting people to take him for walks is his favorite trick.”

  “And apparently, I’ve been tricked twice now.” She handed Jeff Max’s leash. “Well, here you go. You can have him. I’m gonna head back in and get warmed up.”

  “Good idea, because we’re leaving at nine sharp for our next activity. We’re all meeting out front.”

  “Got it,” Haley said as she walked away. But unfortunately, she didn’t get very far before she realized that walking anywhere in Jeff’s boots was going to be challenging.

  “Watch your step, the snow’s pretty slick,” he warned.

  Too late. Haley had already slipped again and had just barely caught herself before going down. “I’m good. I got it,” she yelled back over her shoulder, trying to hide her embarrassment.

  When she finally made it to the front door, she looked at the grinning life-size elf again. “Just be thankful you’re up here and not out there in the snow,” she said as she opened the door and hurried inside. She slipped off Jeff’s boots but found the melted snow from them was already causing a puddle on the floor. “Oh no, what a mess.” She took off for the kitchen.

  As she hurried into the kitc
hen, she found Ben at the chalkboard changing the Christmas countdown to thirteen days to Christmas. He looked surprised to see her. “You’re up early.” Then he noticed she was only wearing thin nylon socks. “You know we have slippers for you in the room.”

  “Oh, I know. Thank you. I was just outside, and I borrowed Jeff’s boots. I just came in bringing a bunch of snow. It’s all melting. I’m looking for something to clean it up. Do you have any paper towels or a rag? Oh, and this whole thing is Max’s fault.” Haley was talking a mile a minute.

  Ben tried to hide a smile. “Max’s fault?”

  “Oh yeah, it’s all on him.”

  Ben nodded. “Okay, I’ll take your word for it, but don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything. It’ll only take a second to clean up. We actually have some towels in the front closet by the door. But what were you doing wearing Jeff’s boots? They have to be way too big for you.”

  “Oh, they are. That’s why I’m covered in snow.” When Haley held out her arms, more snow fell from her coat. She was literally dripping, and another puddle formed on the floor. “But really, I can clean up my own mess . . .”

  Ben was already grabbing some paper towels. “No, what you need to do is go upstairs, take a warm bath or a shower, get warmed up, and come down here and have breakfast. You have a big day ahead of you.”

  Haley looked confused. “I thought we were decorating a tree today.”

  “You are.”

  “Oh, good. For a minute there, I thought we were doing something hard.”

  Ben chuckled. “Go on up. I’ll take care of everything else.”

  Haley gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you! A shower actually sounds great.” As she headed out of the kitchen, she noticed the word for the day on the chalkboard was “joy,” and couldn’t help thinking about how joyful it would be to be sitting on a nice warm sunny beach in the Caribbean, wiggling her toes in the sand instead of in her soggy socks.

  A HALF HOUR later, after a long hot shower, Haley felt like a new person. While she was blow-drying her hair, she heard a knock on her bedroom door.

  “Max, if that’s you, I’m not falling for any more of your tricks!” she shouted at the door.