“So what are you thinking for Christmas activities?” Luke asked.
As she shut the Christmas Camp folder, she saw Comet was staring at her. No pressure.
Riley knew this was the moment of truth. This was her chance to come clean and tell Luke that not only did she not have any Christmas activities to offer up, but that she was the last person he should be asking because she didn’t even celebrate Christmas. She knew she could blame the whole misunderstanding on Mike. Clearly, Luke knew how Mike was.
But she also knew that as soon as she told Luke that she didn’t have a Christmas clue he would see her differently. What kind of person didn’t celebrate Christmas? People had judged her before, and it had never gone well. She had learned her lesson in the past, and that’s why she never talked about how she really felt about Christmas anymore. She didn’t want Luke or anyone else judging her or, worse, feeling sorry for her. Christmas was part of her past, a past she was perfectly happy never to think or talk about again. So she decided to do what she always did—pretend and deflect as much as she could.
She looked up at Luke with a new confident smile. “You know, now that I’m here, I think that the best way to start would be to get ideas from you. This is your family’s lodge. You know what would work best here.”
Luke looked surprised. “You’d be okay with that? With me picking some of the activities? I mean, you could have veto power, of course.”
“Of course,” Riley said, relieved her plan appeared to be working.
Luke smiled back at her. “Thank you. That would be great. I do have some ideas I’d love to run by you. Some things I think that would work really well here at the lodge.”
“Great,” Riley smiled back at him. “Go ahead. I’m all ears.”
“Well, actually, it would be easier to show you,” Luke said.
Riley gave him a curious look. “Okay . . .”
Luke held out her chair. “But we have to change.”
Riley looked down at her outfit and frowned. “Really, I’m fine wearing this. It’s comfortable . . .”
“We’re going outside,” Luke said. He pointed at her three-inch heels. “And you’re not going to get very far in those shoes,”
“I have some riding boots I can put on,” Riley offered.
Luke laughed. “We have about a foot of fresh snow out there. The only boots that are going to work are snow boots. What size are you? A seven?”
Riley gave him a surprised look. “Good guess. Seven and a half.”
“Perfect. My mom is about that size, and she has several pair you can try on. I’m sure one will fit. She also has some ski gear—hats, gloves, the works—whatever you need. Come on.”
Luke was already heading out of the kitchen.
Riley stood up but hesitated. “Luke, I can’t wear your mom’s clothes. Can’t we just run into town and I can buy something there?”
“You’re not even going to make it out the door in those shoes you’re wearing. I’ll just grab you some stuff of my mom’s. You wouldn’t believe how much stuff she has, and she loans it out to the guests all the time. It’s like her own store of winter clothes. She would insist, and so do I. I can’t have you going out in that,” he said, pointing at her outfit, “and breaking your neck or getting frostbite. Then who would host the Christmas Camp?”
When Comet barked and wagged his tail, she saw that she was outnumbered.
“Okay,” she said reluctantly. “But I’m only going to borrow the boots. I’m fine with this outfit to get us to town.”
Luke shook his head. “You’re going to need a good coat, hat, and gloves, at least. Trust me. I know what I’m talking about.”
As he started to leave the kitchen, Riley doubted she would ever trust him. She wasn’t exactly the trusting type. She preferred to rely on herself.
He turned around and saw her still standing there. “You coming?”
She took a deep breath. “Coming.”
Chapter Fifteen
A few minutes later, wearing Luke’s mom’s borrowed winter gear, Riley stood in her room, staring at herself in the mirror.
“You’ve got to be kidding me . . .” was all she could say.
When she looked over at Comet, who had followed her into her room, even he appeared to be laughing at her.
He was lying down on the floor by the fireplace and had covered his face with his paws.
“Even you can’t look at me,” she said, exasperated.
When she turned back to the mirror, her mind tried to process what she was seeing.
Luke had brought her a box of his mom’s clothes and two pairs of boots to choose from.
Riley had been stunned to find that the items inside the box looked like his mom had raided a Christmas-themed store. Every single thing she had to choose from screamed Christmas.
She took everything out and decided there wasn’t one thing she could possibly wear. She was putting everything back inside the box to give back to Luke when he knocked on her door.
“Everything okay in there?” he asked.
Riley had no words . . . “Uh, I’m fine.”
Fine. She laughed at her own words. Fine if she were in a Christmas insane asylum. Fine if she were ten years old in a Christmas play. Fine if she were in an episode of Christmas Horror Stories. She didn’t know if Christmas Horror Stories was a real thing, but if it was, she was sure she could star in the show.
“Is there anything else you need?” Luke asked, interrupting her pity party. “My mom has everything.”
“I can see that.” Riley cringed as she picked up a red scarf that had snowmen on it. “Does she have anything that’s not Christmas themed?” she asked hopefully.
She could hear Luke’s deep, rich laugh though the door.
“Christmas Camp is Christmas-themed, so you want to look the part, right?”
“Right,” Riley said as she picked up a Christmas sweater that would have won any ugly sweater contest. It had a giant reindeer face on it. Its antlers had long tufts of fur sticking out of them and the reindeer’s pink tongue moved from side to side. The rest of the sweater was covered in reindeer tails that were hanging off the front, the back, and even the sleeves.
“Okay, great,” Luke said. “I’ll go start the truck so it’s warmed up when you’re ready.”
“Thanks,” Riley said, realizing she was no closer to deciding what to wear.
She picked up a red-and-white stocking cap that had elf ears attached to it and whispered to herself, “Kill me now.”
When Comet barked at her, she quickly put the hat down. “I agree,” she said. “We’re definitely not wearing this one. So what’s it’s going to be? What won’t get me arrested for looking Christmas crazy?”
Comet put his nose in the box and came out with a red hat in his mouth. He dropped it at her feet.
“This is your pick?” she asked Comet, laughing.
She grabbed the hat and checked it out. Actually, she thought, it wasn’t that bad. It was a red knit hat with a white faux-fur snowball on the top. The snowball was pretty huge, but thankfully, there were no elf ears.
She gave Comet an appreciative look. “Okay. What else ya got?”
Comet trotted over to an emerald-green sweater that had fallen to the floor, grabbed it, and brought it over to her.
Riley laughed as she gently took the sweater from him. It had a Santa Claus on the front who was going down a chimney with a bag of toys. A teddy bear and a tiny toy soldier were dangling from the bag.
Riley laughed. It was another contender for the ugly sweater contest, but at least it wasn’t covered in reindeer tails. She didn’t even want to know what the little brown specks were underneath all the reindeer tails.
“You’re right, Comet,” Riley said, holding the sweater up. “This appears to be the best of the worst.”
/> When Comet barked his approval, Riley knew she had a winner.
“Now, which boots?” she asked.
She modeled her left foot, where she was wearing all-white, furry, knee-high boot that looked like it belonged to the Abominable Snowman.
Comet barked.
“Or this one?” she asked. This time she held up her right foot, where she was wearing another knee-high snow boot, only this one was all black and looked suspiciously like something Santa would wear—a stylish Santa because it had a white fur trim and sparkling gold, crisscrossing shoelaces that had big, white. furry snowball puffs at the end of them.
Comet barked again.
She gave Comet a look. “Seriously? A tie? You’re no help at all.” When she looked around the room and saw all the Santa’s staring at her, she grabbed the other Abominable Snowman–looking boot and pulled off the Santa boot.
“I’ve had enough of Santa Claus. This one will have to do.”
When she looked out her window and saw Luke pacing around waiting for her, she picked up her pace.
“Okay,” she said. “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”
Comet barked again when she quickly grabbed her own black scarf and black leather jacket and zipped out the bedroom door.
By the time she got outside, Luke was shoveling all the fresh snow off the walkway to the lodge.
“Sorry,” she said. “It took me a few minutes to figure out what would . . . fit.”
She stopped in her tracks when she saw the one lone Christmas tree in the middle of the lake still had all its lights turned on, even though it was daylight. Scanning the edge of the lake, she noticed it was the only tree that was still lit up.
She turned to Luke. “What’s with that one tree? Why are the lights still on?”
“They’re always on.” Luke followed her gaze. “I’ll show you around down by the lake later. It’s always a favorite place for our guests.”
Riley held up one foot and wiggled it, all the white fur from the Abominable Snowman boot swaying back and forth. “Okay, I’m ready. I’m wearing your mom’s boots, even though I’m pretty sure a yeti called and wants his feet back.”
Luke laughed for a moment but then looked at what else she was wearing and frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Riley asked, checking out her outfit.
“The boots are great, but where’s your coat? Why didn’t you wear one of my mom’s?”
Riley tried to think fast. How could she tell him that the only thing worse than the ugly sweater and the yeti boots were his mom’s huge puffy coats that were way too big on her? She figured her leather coat would be just fine for a quick trip into town where she could buy herself a winter coat that didn’t make her feel like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
“I’m good,” was all she came up with to say. “Let’s go.”
As she made her way to the truck, she had to laugh. This wasn’t just any ordinary truck. The vintage pickup truck was painted bright red and had a huge wreath on the front grill that matched the wreaths on the house. There were even blinking, white LED lights on the dashboard.
“Wow, you guys really go all-out at Christmas here,” Riley said before climbing into the truck.
Luke headed back to the lodge. “I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” she said. She was thankful the truck was running because her hands were freezing. As she tried to warm her hands by the dashboard heat vents, she accidently knocked down a strand of twinkling Christmas lights.
“Oops,” she muttered as she quickly bent over to pick the lights up. One end got tangled around the gear stick, its lights still blinking. She had just gotten the one end free when the other end got wrapped around one of her boots. When she tried to lift up her boot in the limited space, it only made things worse. Now the lights were caught up in her other boot and getting stuck in all the fur.
She was still struggling to free herself from the stubborn Christmas lights when Luke returned.
He laughed loudly. “Well, what happened here?”
Riley gave him a frustrated look. “Seriously, help me out here. Every time I move, I get more tangled up in these lights. They’re grabbing on to my boots and not letting go.”
Luke laughed again. “You make it sound like they’re out to get you.”
“Aren’t they?” Riley asked, sounding serious.
“They’re Christmas lights,” Luke said as he got in and tried to help her lift up one boot. “They’re supposed to make you happy.”
Riley laughed. “Well, I’ll be happy when I’m not in Christmas-light jail anymore.”
As Luke continued to help with her boot, she fell back onto the seat, sending her one boot sticking straight up in the air.
It was not a dignified position.
Embarrassed, she tried to sit up but only made things worse when she accidently smacked Luke’s shoulder with her sky-high boot.
“Oh no!” Riley gasped. “I am so sorry . . .”
Luckily, Luke just laughed. He seemed completely amused by her whole tangled mess.
Finally, Riley gave in to the sheer ridiculousness of the situation and started laughing, too. “I give up,” she said. “These crazy lights win. I should have worn the Santa boots.”
“Okay, don’t move. I got this,” Luke said as he leaned down to get a closer look at her boots. They were both now back on the floor. A second later, he sat back up, holding the string of lights above his head victoriously. “Ta-da!” He chuckled. “You just needed to have the right touch.”
“No way!” Riley gave the lights an incredulous look. “How did you do that?”
“Christmas magic,” Luke said as he tossed the lights back onto the dashboard.
“Of course.” Riley laughed.
As Luke started to pull out of the long driveway, Riley glanced around the vintage truck. Hanging from the rearview mirror was a collection of dangling silver stars.
“You even decorate your truck,” she said.
Luke smiled back at her. “Oh, no. This little beauty is my mom’s, not mine. She uses this truck all year long. She says it’s one of the ways she likes to keep the Christmas spirit alive.”
Even in the summer?” Riley asked, her voice filled with disbelief.
“Especially in the summer. Haven’t you heard of Christmas in July?”
“You’re kidding me,” Riley said, convinced he was just messing with her.
“No way. Christmas in July is a thing,” Luke said.
“If you say so,” she said. “So how far is it to town?”
“Only about two miles,” Luke said. “It’s so close you can cross-country ski or snowshoe into town.”
Luke pulled the truck over.
“Why are we stopping?” Riley asked, confused.
Luke opened his door and pulled some snowshoes out of the back of the truck. “You wanted to get to town.” He held up the snowshoes.
Riley’s eyes grew huge. She looked at him like he was nuts. “You can’t be serious?”
“As serious as Santa’s sleigh,” he said before shutting his door.
“Why do people keep saying that?” Riley shook her head. “That’s not a real thing, you know.”
“Are you sure about that?” Luke asked with a twinkle in his eyes. He opened her door for her. “Coming?” He held up the pair of snowshoes.
“We don’t have time for this,” Riley insisted. “Don’t the Christmas Campers start showing up the day after tomorrow? We still have so much to do, don’t we?”
“Are you asking me or telling me?” Luke asked, laughing.
“I guess I’m asking,” Riley said.
“Well, then the answer is we have time,” Luke said. “Don’t worry. I have people coming in to help. We’ll make it work. You just have to have a little faith.”
“I�
��m trying,” Riley said and meant it.
“Okay, great,” Luke said. “Then let’s go.”
Riley didn’t budge. “I can’t,” she said stubbornly. “I don’t have snowshoes.”
Luke waved the snowshoes at her. “Yes, you do. Right here. They’re my mom’s, and they work great with those boots.”
Riley’s eyes shot down to her borrowed yeti boots. It was like they were mocking her.
When a cold blast of air blew into the truck, she shivered and pulled her leather jacket around her tighter. “And,” she said, almost cheerfully, “I’m not dressed to go snowshoeing. I didn’t wear the right coat, or gloves, or anything.”
Luke pulled a bag out of the back of the truck. “Then lucky for you, I brought all you need,” he said. “That’s why I went back into the lodge. You’d apparently forgotten a few things.” He gave her coat a pathetic look. “That might work great for high fashion, but it’s not going to work in this mile-high winter weather.”
Riley rolled her eyes. “Dare I ask what will?”
Luke whipped out one of his mom’s huge puffy coats from the bag and tossed it to Riley. It was made of red patches of down and had a white-fur collar and matching white fur around the sleeves.”
Riley could only shake her head in disbelief. “Why is someone bound and determined that I dress up like Santa Claus?”
“Well, you are in the Santa room,” Luke offered with a grin.
“Seriously?” Riley shot back.
When Luke laughed again, it looked like he was enjoying this way too much.
Another gust of icy wind had her entire body shivering.
“So what’s it going to be?” Luke asked.
Riley locked eyes with him. She knew this was a test. She just didn’t know if she was going to pass it, but one thing she did know was that she was going to freeze if she didn’t put on some warmer clothes.
“Did you put some ski pants in there?” she asked, already knowing he had because he apparently thought of everything. “Because I can’t go out there in these pants.”
“That’s what I tried to tell you,” Luke said. “And yes, there are some ski pants, along with some good gloves, a hat, and a better scarf—everything you need.”
Christmas Ever After Page 11