Emmie remembered how when her parents had run the center they’d always struggled during the summer months when kids were out of school and parents were counting on the community center programs to help keep kids busy and out of trouble. But summer was also the time of year when donations were down. This year Emmie had come up with the idea to also do Christmas in July, celebrating the halfway point to Christmas. This took advantage of the fact that people always loved to donate around the holidays, but often forgot about the rest of the year. This way everyone was reminded of the continued need year-round, and for her first Christmas in July, Emmie saw some real success. Running the center, she had learned that most people inherently are good and generous and want to help and donate—you just had to give them a reason, show them how, and make it easy for them.
Emmie parked her car and got out, pulling a big box of Christmas decorations out of her trunk, and the Christmas Spirit Wreath she had taken from her office door. She struggled to juggle everything as she headed for a duplex and knocked on the door.
After several knocks, the door opened just a few inches. “Who’s there?” a woman’s voice asked.
“Mrs. Meyers, it’s Emmie Sanders, the director of the Alpine Community Center.”
The door opened wider and Cindy Meyers peeked out. She looked surprised when she saw Emmie.
“Emmie, hello . . .”
“I came to bring you this,” Emmie said as she happily held up her Christmas Spirit Wreath.
When Cindy’s eyes grew wide with wonder, Emmie handed her the wreath and held up the box.
“I heard you needed some decorations for a very special Christmas homecoming for your daughter.”
Cindy’s face lit up with joy and her eyes welled up with thankful tears. “Yes, but we were told it wasn’t possible . . .”
Emmie smiled back at Cindy. “Anything is possible at Christmas.”
AS EMMIE DROVE up the winding mountain pass in the Cascades to Christmas Point, her excitement grew as she took in the breathtaking scenery. All around her it looked like a winter wonderland, the snow-covered tree branches glistening in the sun. There were jagged icicles in all shapes and sizes hanging off the rocks where you’d usually find small waterfalls in the warmer months.
She was making good time getting up the mountain and was thankful the road had been recently salted and plowed. However, she still needed to keep a close eye out for the shadowed corners that hadn’t been warmed by the sun yet, as she knew there could still be some patches of ice.
She smiled, thinking about Cindy’s reaction to the decorations—how she had been so grateful and truly touched. It reminded Emmie of why she did what she did. She loved seeing firsthand how even the smallest gift and a simple act of kindness could make such a difference in someone’s life, giving them hope when they needed it the most.
As much as it was a daily struggle to keep the community center running, with constant budget cuts and dwindling donations, days like today, helping the Meyers family, made it all worthwhile. She never for a moment regretted working all the long hours and putting her personal life on hold. The people she helped at the center were like her family. She’d learned early on that most guys who had wanted to date her couldn’t understand why she always put the community center first. They quickly tired of her canceling dates or not being able to get away for a vacation or even for the weekend. She had pretty much given up on finding someone when she had met Grant last January. He understood her dedication to the center. She felt like they were the perfect match, even if it seemed like their schedules were rarely in sync lately.
She remembered what her parents had always said, that no matter how crazy busy things got at the community center, you always had to make time for and embrace the true meaning and magic of Christmas. And that’s exactly what she planned to do with Grant on this vacation.
She turned up the volume on her Christmas music, and when she saw the road sign ahead that read Christmas Point, 15 miles, she felt like her parents were with her, cheering her on. She knew they would have loved the Christmas vacation she had planned, and she couldn’t wait to start sharing some of her Christmas traditions with Grant. She wished she could have seen his face when he opened up his first Christmas scavenger hunt clue. She just knew this very special time with Grant was going to be something they’d both remember forever. It was going to be perfect.
Chapter Eight
Always more of a morning person, Sam always tried to get up for every sunrise. The view from his condo was spectacular, and he felt like each sunrise was a gift, the start of a new day where anything was possible. For him, taking a moment to appreciate the sunrise was his own personal way to try to let go of any stress and recharge. It was one of his favorite writing rituals. He felt like nature was giving him this new treasure every morning, fueling his imagination and inspiring his stories, and he never wanted to miss this opportunity.
Now, as he sipped his second cup of coffee, looking out his window, seeing how the sun lit up the lake with a golden glow, he thought about another gift, the Christmas present from Candace that was sitting on his kitchen counter. He smiled as he put down his coffee and walked over to the little box and opened it again. He took out the scroll and reread the message:
In this Christmas Scavenger Hunt, the clues will take you to where you need to be.
Tomorrow morning, find your next clue in your lobby underneath the tallest tree.
He had been tempted to go down to the lobby last night and look for his next clue, but he didn’t want to jinx the process so he waited, like the clue had asked. But now that it was officially morning, he couldn’t wait to get started. He always loved a good mystery and a challenge. As he headed for the door, he felt like a kid at Christmas, and it had been a while since he had felt like this.
When he got down to the lobby, he was the only person there besides the doorman. He figured most people were still sleeping in on a Saturday. He noticed the reception desk had been cleared of all the Christmas packages and presents, but there was still a pile of bigger boxes stacked up waiting for their owners to pick them up. Holding his Christmas clue, Sam headed straight for the giant Christmas tree in the lobby.
Sam admired the tree and tipped his head way back so he could see the star at the top. “The clue says the tallest tree, and you’re definitely that, but now what?”
Sam laughed a little as he looked down at the dozens of presents underneath the tree. “I guess I look for one that’s wrapped like the first one?” When he saw the doorman give him a curious look, he smiled back at him. “I’m just doing a little . . . game, that’s all,” Sam said.
“Okay,” the doorman answered back and discreetly looked away.
Sam leaned down so he could get a better look at all the presents and started searching for a little present that looked like his first one, with red foil wrapping paper and a silver ribbon and bow. But after a few minutes, he’d come up empty-handed. “I thought this was an easy clue, but maybe not so much,” he said as he kept looking. Realizing he was talking to himself again, he glanced back at the doorman but thankfully saw he was occupied sorting through some mail.
When Sam stood up to stretch his back, that’s when he spotted it. An identical little scroll, just like the one he was holding, illuminated by a white twinkle light, peeking out from some tree branches.
“Yes!” He felt a surge of excitement as he carefully took the scroll off the tree, unrolled it, and read it out loud:
“In this Christmas Scavenger Hunt, to find your next clue,
Give to Santa, and Santa will give to you.
Just say the magic words, ‘I believe.’”
Sam laughed and looked impressed. “Well, aren’t you clever, Candace.” He looked around the lobby. “Okay, Santa, where are you hiding?”
The doorman overheard him and gave him a strange look. “Don’t look at me.”
Sam laughed. Then he heard a bell ringing outside. He glanced out the window and saw a Sa
nta standing there.
“Of course!” Sam said to the doorman. “The Santa we always have out front.”
Pulling out his wallet, Sam hurried outside and gave Santa some money. “Good morning, Santa.”
“Ho! Ho! Ho! Good morning.” Santa grinned back at him as he continued to ring his bell. “Thank you. Merry Christmas.”
Sam smiled back at Santa. “And a Merry Christmas to you, too.” He stared at the Santa, waiting.
Santa stared back at him.
Silence.
“Do you have something for me?” Sam finally asked him.
Santa just smiled.
Confused, Sam got out the scroll and read the second clue again:
In this Christmas Scavenger Hunt, to find your next clue,
Give to Santa, and Santa will give to you.
Just say the magic words, “I believe.”
Sam gave Santa a tentative look. “I believe?”
Santa looked into Sam’s eyes. “Do you?”
Sam laughed. “I do! I believe!”
Santa chuckled and pulled a little scroll from his pocket. It looked just like the first two scrolls with the pretty velvet ribbon. He handed it to Sam.
“Merry Christmas,” Santa said.
Sam smiled back at him. “Merry Christmas, Santa!”
Sam walked back into the lobby, eagerly untying the red ribbon and unrolling the scroll. He read out loud his next Christmas scavenger hunt clue:
“To find your next Christmas Scavenger Hunt clue,
Go to the Fir Ever Christmas tree lot on Snyder Street and ask a reindeer what to do.”
Sam laughed, perplexed. He was just at that Christmas tree lot last night, and he definitely didn’t see any reindeer running around. What was Candace thinking? Well, he knew there was only one way to find out.
A FEW HOURS later when the Fir Ever Christmas tree lot finally opened, Sam was its first customer. He’d been thinking about the clue and how it said to ask a reindeer what to do, and he was pretty sure he had this figured out. There must be some kind of reindeer decoration where he would find the scroll. But after taking a few quick laps around the Christmas tree lot, he hadn’t found any reindeer decorations. He scratched his head. Apparently this was going to be harder than he thought.
“How am I supposed to ask a reindeer what to do when there aren’t any reindeer?” He was staring down at the scroll when he turned a corner and almost ran right into a big, burly worker carrying a giant Christmas tree.
“I’m so sorry,” Sam said. “I wasn’t paying attention.” And then, through the Christmas tree branches, Sam saw the guy’s name tag. It read Rudolph. Sam gave the guy an incredulous look. “Seriously? You’re Rudolph, like in ‘Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer’? Meaning you’re a reindeer?” Sam laughed. “This is brilliant!”
But the guy, Rudolph, didn’t look as amused. He put the tree down. “Don’t bother with the reindeer jokes. I’ve already heard them all.”
Sam held up both hands. “No jokes, I promise. But I’m hoping you can help me? By any chance do you have something like this for me?” He held up his little white scroll. “I’m on a Christmas scavenger hunt and . . .”
But before Sam could finish, Rudolph pulled an identical scroll out of his pocket and handed it to Sam.
“Yes!” Sam took it and pumped his fist in victory. “I’m killing this.” As Sam started to open the scroll, he looked up and smiled at Rudolph. “Thank you for your help.”
Rudolph nodded as he walked off and then called over his shoulder. “Your tree is up front.”
“My tree?” Sam asked, confused. “Wait . . . what?” Sam hurried to catch up with Rudolph. “What do you mean, my tree?”
Rudolph gave him a look. “I’m not supposed to say anything else except your tree is up front.”
A FEW MINUTES later Rudolph helped Sam tie a spectacular seven-foot fir tree to his SUV.
Sam gave Rudolph a grateful look. “Thanks so much for your help. Are you sure I don’t owe you anything for the tree?”
Rudolph shook his head. “Nope, it’s already paid for. You know where you’re going?”
Sam looked at his new clue. “Yes, the family shelter on Fifth.”
“Exactly,” Rudolph said. “You better get going. They’re waiting for you.”
Sam held out his hand to Rudolph, and they shook. “Thanks again,” Sam said. “And just for the record, you’ve always been my favorite reindeer.”
Rudolph shook his head. “If I had a dollar for every time someone said that to me.”
Sam laughed as he got into his SUV. “Sorry, couldn’t resist. Merry Christmas.”
“Good luck,” Rudolph said.
Chapter Nine
As Emmie drove into Christmas Point, she was charmed by the wooden welcome sign that was painted with bright green and white letters with giant crisscrossing wooden candy canes at the top. The sign read:
CHRISTMAS POINT—POPULATION 720
It also had a countdown to Christmas calendar that currently read:
7 DAYS TO CHRISTMAS
Emmie’s smile grew even more when she saw the road sign for the main street through town: Candy Cane Lane. The quaint, festive street looked like something out of a Christmas storybook.
The town was just as Emmie remembered it. The last time she’d come up to Christmas Point was with her parents when she was ten. They’d still been struggling financially, so while they hadn’t had a lot of money for presents, she remembered her dad saying the best present was spending time together as a family and creating new Christmas memories. They’d come up and spent the day at Christmas Point, returning home later that night so they didn’t have to spend money on a hotel room. That day was still one of her favorite Christmas memories with her parents, and now she couldn’t wait to do some of the same things they had done together as a family with Grant.
Emmie drove slower so she could look around. She loved how all the shops were outlined in Christmas lights, and each had its own Christmas tree out front decorated in a theme that matched the shop. She still had the cute knit sweater ornament her mom had let her pick out from one of the shops she remembered had pretty scarves and Christmas sweaters. She hoped the shop was still there.
She was happy to see the Victorian-styled light poles were still decorated the same, with garland decked out in red bows and white twinkle lights, winding all the way up to the top of the black wrought-iron antique light fixtures.
Architecturally, Christmas Point had a vintage Victorian vibe, with many of the local businesses being restored Victorian homes, so you almost felt like you were living inside Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, minus the grumpy Scrooge. Because here, from what Emmie could see, everyone was smiling and laughing, walking down the street, doing some last-minute Christmas shopping while enjoying the magical setting.
As she continued to drive down Candy Cane Lane, Emmie was delighted to see Frosty’s Café was still open. She’d loved it when she had come with her parents. The outside of the café was painted red and white stripes, like a giant candy cane, and on the front window was a snowman with a sign that read: Get Your Snowman Cones Here! Emmie mentally added getting a snowman cone to the top of her to-do list.
The song “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” was playing as Emmie continued driving down the street. Emmie turned the song up louder and sang along. When she got to the end of the street she turned right, following the signs to the Christmas Point Inn.
She quickly found she didn’t have far to go. The Christmas Point Inn was only a few blocks off Candy Cane Lane, and from the moment Emmie saw the inn, she was charmed.
This was the first time she had actually been at the Christmas Point Inn, and it was even more amazing than all the pictures she had seen on the inn’s website. She had spent a lot of time researching the best place for her and Grant to stay. There were many highly rated bed-and-breakfasts and a few boutique luxury hotels in some of the surrounding larger towns, but the
Christmas Point Inn, a restored vintage Victorian, was the one that had won her heart.
To Emmie, the enchanting inn looked like something out of a Christmas dream. Of course the fact that it was painted all white with black trim and outlined with hundreds of white twinkle lights only added to the magical setting. She loved how there were giant wreaths in each of the inn’s windows, and there was one on the Christmas-red front door. The door was also trimmed with garland, and the path leading up to the door was lined with red and white poinsettias.
She was sitting in her car, soaking it all in, when the referee whistle on her app sounded off. She looked down at her phone and smiled. She was exactly on time, having arrived at the inn just as she had planned. Before getting out of the car, she quickly sent Grant a text message, wanting to make sure he was doing okay with the scavenger hunt. She figured it was a good sign that she hadn’t heard from him yet, but she wanted to be sure. If everything went as she had planned, he should be arriving right at six o’clock that night, just in time for the romantic dinner she had planned for them.
The text she sent Grant asked: Everything okay?
She got a response a few seconds later. Grant had sent a picture of himself smiling and holding up a pear to his mouth.
Emmie laughed. She had no idea why he was holding a pear, but he looked happy and relaxed. She quickly sent another text saying: Can’t wait to see you soon!
He responded: Me too!
Emmie let out a sigh of relief, knowing things were going just as she’d planned and that Grant was on his way.
As soon as she got out of her car, she inhaled deeply, breathing in the fresh mountain air. After she grabbed her one suitcase out of the trunk, she checked the temperature on her phone, which told her it was only twenty-three degrees. The temperature had dropped drastically since she’d left the city, but because the sun was out, instead of feeling cold, Emmie felt invigorated. As she walked up to the front door, her eyes went immediately to the wreath. It wasn’t quite as big as the Christmas Spirit Wreaths, but it was special because it was decorated with sprigs of green and white variegated holly and bright red holly berries. A bow was at the bottom of the wreath, not the top, and kept with the Victorian theme, being a combination of red velvet and white lace.
Finding Christmas Page 6