Finding Christmas

by Karen Schaler

  He’d had a great time ice skating and in the cookie-making class, and he was a guy who didn’t even like to cook. There was just something about Christmas Point that was breaking through all the protective barriers he’d put up. He felt safe here. Everywhere he looked, he felt as if he was in a Christmas postcard. There were more Christmas lights, Christmas wreaths, and Christmas trees than he’d ever seen in one place and he felt like it was impossible not to feel the Christmas spirit.

  He smiled as he passed a little gift shop. The ornaments on the decorated tree out front were little Christmas packages. Clearly, he could see this was a town that embraced Christmas with open arms, honoring and celebrating so many different Christmas traditions. He felt inspired and hopeful, and for that he also felt very thankful.

  If he was going to be completely honest with himself, he’d have to admit that Christmas Point wasn’t the only reason he was starting to feel something again. He knew Emmie had a lot to do with that.

  He laughed a little thinking about her crazy On Track app—how overscheduled she was. Still, from the little time he’d spent with her, he could already tell she truly cared about Christmas and had put so much time and effort in planning the perfect holiday vacation with her boyfriend.

  Sam frowned as he thought about Grant. He actually didn’t want to think about Grant at all. Grant was a constant reminder that Emmie was taken and that she already had someone in her life she obviously cared for very much. He knew it wasn’t his place to judge, but he couldn’t understand how Grant—or for that matter, any guy—could keep postponing seeing Emmie.

  He knew that if he ever was lucky enough to have someone like Emmie in his life, he wouldn’t keep canceling their plans and leave her alone when she’d planned a romantic getaway for them.

  Boyfriend or not, he was thankful he’d met Emmie. She was funny and smart, stubborn and opinionated, but above all, he believed she had a good heart. By spending time with her and doing Christmas activities with her, he’d started to remember the joy that Christmas brought, and he knew Katie would approve.

  When he got back to the inn, he met Ruby carrying a load of firewood through the front door. Dasher was right on her heels. Sam hurried over to help her.

  “Ruby, here, let me get that for you,” Sam said as he took the wood out of Ruby’s arms and held the door open for her. Dasher barked his approval. Sam smiled down at him. “Hey, Dasher, good to see you, too.”

  Ruby gave him a grateful look. “Thank you, Sam. How has your day been? Are you getting to know our little town?”

  Sam beamed back at her. “I am, and this town is great.” Sam carefully put down the firewood and started stacking it up next to the fireplace. He checked the fire and saw the logs inside were almost done burning. “Would you like me to fix the fire?”

  “That would be wonderful,” Ruby said. “Thank you, Sam. Can I get you anything to drink? Eat?”

  Sam shook his head. “I couldn’t eat a thing. Emmie and I—”

  “You were with Emmie?” Ruby asked. She smiled a knowing smile. “I wondered if you two would run into each other.”

  “Yeah, I found her this morning ice skating,” Sam said as he put another log on the fire. “Thank you for the suggestion. The rink was great.”

  Ruby nodded. “I thought you might like it.”

  Sam thought he saw a twinkle in Ruby’s eyes and wondered if she had sent him to the rink on purpose knowing Emmie was going to be there. He smiled back at her. “Then we went to Betty’s Bakery for the cookie class and ended up helping Betty decorate a bunch of cookies for the tree-lighting ceremony. It’s a long story.”

  “It sounds like it,” Ruby said. “And it sounds like you had fun.”

  Sam glanced over at her as he continued to work on the fire. “I had a blast, and that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I was wondering if you’d rented my room or not? I was thinking of maybe staying for a few more days.”

  “The room is all yours if you’d like,” Ruby said. “But I thought you had to get back to the city for work?”

  Sam jabbed a log on the fire. “That’s what my agent wants me to do, but honestly, I haven’t been having much luck writing in the city. So I’m hoping that taking a break and being up here for a few days will help give me some inspiration, maybe spark an idea. It certainly can’t hurt.”

  “I think that’s a great idea,” Ruby said. “I’m glad you’re staying.”

  That’s when Sam noticed a huge bouquet of flowers. They were long-stemmed red roses and white lilies.

  “Wow, that’s some display,” he said.

  Ruby nodded. “They came for Emmie.”

  Sam’s smile faded a little. “Apology flowers from her boyfriend, I bet.”

  “They’re very beautiful,” Ruby said.

  Sam didn’t look impressed. “They are something, all right.”

  Ruby walked over to the coffee table and held up a book.

  Sam laughed when he saw it.

  Ruby was holding up one of his more recent books, Seaside Escape. It was a bestseller.

  Sam pointed to the book. “So you’re reading the Seaside series. What do you think?”

  Ruby flipped through the book. “I hate it.”

  Sam looked surprised and concerned.

  Ruby locked eyes with him. “I hate it because I can’t stop reading it, and I’m not getting any of my work done!”

  Sam laughed and looked relieved. “For a minute there, you had me worried. So I guess what I should say is . . . I’m sorry?”

  “You should be,” Ruby said with a straight face and then laughed. “But seriously, Sam, I enjoy your writing so much. I’ve always been a fan from your first book. The only thing I hate is when I’m done, and I have to wait for your next book to come out.”

  Sam looked touched. “Thank you. That means a lot. Especially now when I’m struggling so much and starting to wonder if I even have another book in me or not.”

  Ruby gave him a look. “Of course you do. You just have to believe in yourself and take some of the pressure off yourself. Something will come to you. I think it’s a wonderful idea for you to stay up here a few more days. It sounds like you need a break.”

  “I think you’re right about the break,” Sam said. “I sure hope so.”

  Ruby smiled back at him. “I also have selfish motives for wanting you to stay a little longer.”

  Sam looked intrigued. “You do?”

  Ruby nodded. “I have all your books, and I’d love for you to sign them. No rush, whenever you can get around to it. If that’s okay?”

  Sam laughed. “Of course. That’s not a problem at all. I would be honored.”

  Ruby gave him a hug. “Thank you. I’m so glad you’re here. I know it was a mistake with the scavenger hunt, but I think it was meant to be.”

  Sam hugged her back. “I’m really glad I’m here, too.”

  Dasher barked and wagged his tail and started running circles around them.

  “Oh, Dasher, you silly dog,” Ruby said, shaking her head. “It looks like he’s excited you’re staying, too. He’s also in your fan club.”

  Sam smiled back at Dasher, then at Ruby. “I think I have the best fan club ever. Why don’t I take Dasher for a walk?”

  When Dasher heard the word walk, he started barking and racing around in circles again.

  Ruby laughed. “Well, I think you have your answer. He would love that.”

  Dasher barked again.

  “Great. Let me just run upstairs to call Candace and let her know what’s going on, and I’ll be back down.”

  Dasher barked again.

  Ruby laughed. “He’ll be waiting.”

  When Sam got upstairs, he got out his phone and hesitated a moment. He wasn’t looking forward to the call. He knew he was going to get some major pushback from Candace. He took a deep breath. “Just make the call,” he said to himself. “You’re a grown man. What is she going to do?”

  Sam had to admit he was a little
afraid of Candace. She was formidable, smart, and crafty, and always had an uncanny way of getting him to do things he didn’t want to do.

  Right now he knew she wanted him back in Seattle, so he knew he better have a good plan to convince her that staying up here at Christmas Point would be the best place for him to come up with some new ideas.

  His finger hovered over Candace’s number in his phone. He just needed to make the call and get it over with. He went over in his head several times what he was going to say. He knew he just had to keep his cool and be smart about his approach. He wasn’t ready for World War III with her.

  When things were good with Candace, she was the best friend a guy could ever have, but when things weren’t good and she wasn’t getting her way—watch out. That’s when scary Candace came out. He tried to avoid scary Candace as much as possible.

  “Just do it. Rip the Band-Aid off,” he said, trying to psych himself up. He took one more deep breath, stood up taller, squared his shoulders, and called her. When the call went straight to her voice mail, he was more than a little relieved. But when it was time for him to leave a message, he forgot everything he was going to say.

  “Hey, Candace, it’s me . . . Sam. Don’t worry, I’m working. I’ll call you later.” As soon as he hung up, he dropped his head in disgust. “So much for manning up and ripping the Band-Aid off.”

  He knew with the message he’d just left, Candace would assume he was back in Seattle, working on the outline, just like she’d demanded. He told himself it wasn’t exactly a lie. He hadn’t said he was home, and if she believed that, there was nothing he could do about it. He knew he’d bought himself a little time. This way, if she reached out with a call or an email and he didn’t respond, she’d just think he was working, because he always unplugged when he was writing. He figured he had about twenty-four hours before he’d have to deal with Candace again, and he was going to make the most of it.

  When he heard Dasher bark at his door, he smiled. “I’m coming, Dasher. Hold on.”

  FOR THE NEXT hour, Sam let Dasher show him around the trails through the woods behind the inn. Luckily, Ruby had warned him it was Dasher’s favorite stomping grounds and had lent him some snowshoes. He’d forgotten how hard it was to snowshoe when you weren’t used to it. The fresh snow was deep, so by the time they were done with their walk, his legs were definitely feeling it, and he was tired.

  But this is a good kind of tired, he thought. The kind of tired where your whole body ached but you still felt refreshed, because you’d had a chance to relax and just live in the moment.

  When Sam walked into the living room, rubbing his aching left thigh, he found Ruby sitting by the fire reading his book.

  “I’m almost done,” Ruby said, holding up Sam’s book. “Did you two have a good time?”

  Dasher came running over to her and then shook himself off, sending droplets of frozen water flying everywhere.

  “Oh no, I’m sorry,” Sam said. “I was going to ask you if there was a towel or something to dry him off with.”

  Ruby wasn’t fazed at all. “Don’t worry. I’m used to it.”

  Sam smiled when he saw Ruby get up and get a blanket out of the closet and wrap it around Dasher.

  “We do this all the time, don’t we, Dasher?” Ruby asked as she knelt down and started drying Dasher off.

  Sam was surprised to see Dasher didn’t move. He just stood there looking like he was enjoying all the love and attention. It was one of the rare times he’d seen Dasher sit still.

  He had just gone over to help Ruby dry Dasher off when Emmie walked in. Sam immediately saw she did not look happy. She looked . . . defiant.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “Wrong?” Emmie questioned. “What could be wrong?” She held up two armloads of shopping bags. “I’ve just gone on a major shopping spree. Everything’s great.” The way Emmie said great had Sam cringing.

  Ruby stood up. “Oh no, what happened?”

  Emmie sighed. “Guess.”

  “Your boyfriend’s not coming?” Sam asked, hoping his voice didn’t sound as hopeful as he felt.

  Emmie gave him an annoyed look. “No, he’s coming. Of course he’s coming, but he’s just not coming now until tomorrow morning.” Emmie collapsed on the couch with the packages all around her.

  Dasher came over and started sniffing the packages.

  “I know Grant’s just as disappointed as I am,” Emmie said. “It’s just frustrating because he was supposed to have this time off for our vacation. That’s why I was bringing him up here, to get him out of the city, so his boss couldn’t be calling and wanting him to come into the office.”

  “But that hasn’t worked?” Sam asked.

  “Apparently not,” Emmie said as she stood up and walked over to the fireplace. When she saw the fire was almost out, she picked up the fireplace poker and tried to move some logs around to get the fire going again, but she wasn’t having much luck.

  Sam and Ruby exchanged concerned looks. He felt bad for Emmie. He could see how disappointed she was. He tried to think of something to say, to try to make her feel better, but the only thing he could come up with was the fact that Grant was a fool for not being up here with her. Since he figured that was the last thing in the world she wanted to hear, he decided to just keep his mouth shut.

  When he looked over at Ruby, she just gave him a look like she didn’t know what to say, either. Even Dasher had put his head down on his paws as he watched them all.

  When Emmie threw another log onto the fire and still nothing happened, Sam could see her growing frustration.

  “Here, let me try and help,” he said as he walked over and took the fireplace poker from her.

  “Be my guest,” Emmie said as she went and sat back down on the couch. “I just don’t understand,” she said. “I try and plan the perfect getaway with my boyfriend for Christmas. I have everything covered. The perfect place to stay, the perfect restaurants to eat at, the perfect Christmas activities. Only one thing’s missing—the boyfriend!”

  As the fire finally came to life, an idea sparked Sam’s imagination. When he looked over at Emmie, he couldn’t contain his excitement.

  “I have to go,” he said, rushing to put the fireplace poker away. “I’ll see you guys later.”

  “Go where?” Emmie asked, but Sam was already out the door.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  He sure left in a hurry,” Emmie said, looking at Ruby.

  Ruby nodded. “He said he was waiting for some work calls.”

  Emmie shook her head. “Of course, he ran off to work, too.”

  “But I have something that might cheer you up,” Ruby said. “Some flowers came for you while you were gone.”

  Emmie looked surprised. “For me?”

  Ruby motioned toward the flower bouquet. “They’re very pretty.”

  When Emmie saw the flowers, she knew immediately they were from Grant. He always bought her the same thing, long-stemmed red roses and white lilies. While they were always beautiful and she always appreciated the gesture, a tiny part of her wished he had asked her what kind of flowers she liked. She much preferred something more simple and natural like wildflowers, but roses and lilies were what he always sent and she hadn’t wanted to hurt his feelings and seem unappreciative, so she’d never said anything. Besides, she thought, what kind of girl would complain about getting red roses from her boyfriend?

  She walked over to the flowers, set down her packages, took the card from the flowers, and read it to herself. It said: To keep you company until I get there. See you soon. Love, Grant.

  She smiled and told Ruby, “They’re from Grant. He always sends me roses.”

  “You’re one lucky girl,” Ruby said.

  Emmie nodded. “I am.”

  Ruby eyed all of Emmie’s packages with curiosity. “So what do you have there?”

  Emmie picked up one of the bags and held it up. It was a pretty bag with red and white stripes. “
This is what I call retail therapy.”

  Ruby laughed. “My favorite kind of therapy.”

  “Me too,” Emmie said. “I figured since Grant was going to be delayed some more I’d at least get some Christmas shopping done. I’ve hardly had any time in the city even to think about it, and Grant’s not a big shopper.”

  Ruby walked over and peered into the bag. “So what did you get?”

  Emmie took out a men’s red cable-knit sweater and held it up to show Ruby. “I got this for Grant. I couldn’t resist. I’ve always loved a fisherman’s style sweater. It’s a classic, and red looks great on Grant. I thought this was the perfect Christmas sweater. Look at how beautifully it’s made.”

  Ruby studied the sweater. “Oh, I know this handiwork. You got this at Sandy’s boutique. She does the most exquisite work. She even dyes her own yarn, so everything she makes really is one of a kind. You’re not going to find something like this in a department store.”

  Emmie nodded, looking pleased. “Exactly. That’s why I love it and know Grant will appreciate it,” Emmie said. “He always appreciates good quality.” She pulled two more things out of the bag. “And I got these.” She showed off a gorgeous red scarf with golden streaks that glittered in the light and then a lighter-weight soft baby pink scarf.

  Emmie wrapped the pink scarf around her neck. “I thought this one would be great when spring finally comes. It’s so soft and cozy. Sandy said the yarn comes from an alpaca. It’s actually made up from alpaca hairs, so it’s not wool, and that’s why it feels so silky.”

  Ruby admired the scarf. “Sandy does such marvelous work.”

  “I know,” Emmie said. “I could have spent all day in her shop. I was actually looking for a shop my mom had taken me to when I was little. I still have a little knit sweater ornament from there.”

  “Miss Simonson’s shop,” Ruby said. “We all loved that shop, but when she retired and moved to Florida, Sandy bought the shop and made it her own.”

  “So I was in the right place?” Emmie asked.

  “You were,” Ruby said. “It looks like the shop found you.”

  “I loved it,” Emmie said. “I learned so much from Sandy that I had no idea about, like about the yarn from alpaca hair. Who knew? I think anything you get in her shop would make a great gift. I always think having a story to tell when you give a gift makes it special. I even got some pictures of her and her shop to show the people I got gifts for where they came from.” Emmie cuddled the scarf. “I got this one for a friend, but I might have to go back and get one for myself, too. I’m really loving it.”