Christmas Camp

by Karen Schaler

  “Done,” she said as she petted Max. “I did it. It might have taken me until the very last minute, but I finally came up with a campaign that I know Tyler Toys will love, and now I can just spend this last day relaxing and enjoying whatever happens at Christmas Camp.”

  She picked up her phone and texted Kathy: Sorry it’s late. See if you can work a Christmas miracle.

  The only response she got back was the shocked emoji.

  Haley laughed. She knew Ben would be proud of her. She was finally able to give one hundred percent to her last day at Christmas Camp.

  “Max, let’s go get some breakfast,” she said. Max jumped up and ran to her door. He waited for her, and when she was ready, they walked down the hall together.

  When they entered the kitchen the first thing Haley noticed was the chalkboard. The Christmas countdown now said nine days to Christmas, and the word for the day was “inspiration.”

  “Well, I’m inspired to find something to eat. What about you?” she asked Max.

  He barked his approval.

  She looked around and finally found his treats inside—what else?—a cookie jar that looked just like Max, only this dog was wearing a Santa hat. She was just giving Max his treat when Laura walked in.

  “Good morning, Haley and Max,” Laura said in her most cheerful voice. “Have you two come in to volunteer to help me make breakfast?”

  Haley looked at Max, and they both looked at Laura. “I don’t know about making breakfast, but we’re both hungry, so I thought we’d get a little snack.”

  Laura went to the refrigerator, took out a carton of eggs, and handed them to Haley. “The sooner we make breakfast, the sooner you two can eat. How does that sound?”

  Max answered with a bark.

  “Max has spoken,” Laura said. She gave him another treat. “So, let’s get going.”

  A few minutes later, when Jeff walked in, Haley was whipping up eggs like a pro. When she looked up at him she had a proud look on her face.

  Jeff looked impressed. “Wow, first Christmas cookies, then soup, and now breakfast. Who knew you were such a whiz in the kitchen.”

  “Certainly not me.” Haley laughed. “But when you have an excellent teacher like Laura, it’s hard not to learn something. Still, you might want to hold off on the compliments until after you taste it.”

  Jeff walked over and peeked into Haley’s bowl to see how she was doing. “I have faith in you. I’m sure it will be great.”

  Instead of making one of her usual jokes, Haley decided to just take the compliment with a smile.

  When Jeff went to grab a cinnamon roll that Laura had just frosted, she batted his hand away and gave him an apple.

  Instead of arguing with her, he took a big bite. “So, Haley, I heard from the contractor I recommended for your parents, and he said things are going really well.”

  Haley smiled back at him. “Yes, thank you so much. They emailed me the same thing this morning. We’re all truly grateful.”

  “I’m really glad it’s working out,” Jeff said.

  “It actually might be working out too well.”

  “What do you mean?” he asked, taking another bite of his apple.

  “Well, now that my parents have found a contractor they can trust, they want to do even more renovations.”

  “And that’s a bad thing?”

  “That’s an expensive thing,” Haley answered. “And I haven’t gotten my promotion yet. It’s also a lot of time and work.”

  “The best things usually are,” Jeff said as he met and held her gaze.

  For a moment Haley forgot what she was doing and whipped her eggs too hard, sending some of the mixture flying out of the bowl. “Whoa!” She snapped back to attention and scrambled to clean up the mess. “Sorry about that. Obviously, I’m still a rookie here. I don’t think the Cooking Channel will be calling me anytime soon.”

  “Lucky you have a job you love, right?” Jeff asked.

  “Right,” Haley agreed. “And I finally finished my Christmas toy campaign pitch. I can’t wait to get back to Boston and show my boss. He’s going to love it.”

  “Then this should get you your promotion, which I’m guessing is your Christmas wish.”

  Since it was a statement not a question, Haley decided not to answer. Then she remembered she’d never written down a Christmas wish to put in her stocking. It had been their first activity at Christmas Camp, and she hadn’t done it. Now she knew she needed to.

  She walked over to Jeff and handed him the bowl of whipped eggs. “I’m deputizing you to be Laura’s new assistant. I think we’ll have a much better chance of actually getting breakfast made before dinner if you help her.”

  “Wait, what?” Jeff looked from Haley to Laura.

  “Oh, wait, and you’ll need this.” Haley took off her apron and put it around his neck. When their eyes met she smiled and he smiled back. It was a moment that gave her heart hope. She put both of her hands on his chest to smooth the apron out and fought hard not to show the jolt of attraction that went through her when she touched him. As she stepped back, she saw Laura was watching them. She had the same smile on her face that Gail always had, that all-knowing smile, and seeing it made Haley even more self-conscious.

  “So just like that you’re outta here? Leaving me with this?” Jeff looked down at his apron.

  Haley laughed. “Yup, just like that.” She snagged a cinnamon roll.

  “Hey!” he called out. “How come she can have one?”

  Laura laughed. “Because she’s our guest.”

  Jeff held up his hands. “And what am I?”

  Laura went over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “You’re family. Now help me get breakfast ready.”

  Haley laughed as she left the kitchen. She was heading up to her room when she heard the teenagers outside. When she opened the door to see what was going on, she saw Madison, Blake, and John making a snowman. John waved her over. “Haley, come help us.”

  Grinning, Haley grabbed her coat, hat, mittens, and boots and joined them a minute later.

  “So, what do you think of our snowman, Haley?” Madison asked proudly. “Isn’t he the coolest snowman you’ve ever seen?”

  “Well, I don’t know about that . . .” Haley said, pretending to be serious. “I’m going to have to check it out.” As she started to walk slowly around the snowman, she caught John’s eye and winked. What she saw was pretty impressive, but she wasn’t about to admit it to the kids yet.

  The snowman stood about five feet tall. He had four sections to his body instead of the traditional three. The head was perfectly shaped and had two round eyes made out of rocks and a mouth made out of smaller rocks. He was grinning ear to ear, literally, as they had also added ears, making them out of leaves. For his arms, there were tree branches—one pointing up and one pointing down—making him look like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. Haley kept a poker face as she completed her circle around the snowman. “Hmm . . .” she said as she looked closer at the eyes.

  “We’re not done with it yet,” Blake said. “We’re still going to do eyebrows.”

  Haley fought to keep from laughing. “I think eyebrows would definitely add something.”

  John walked over to Blake. “And you know what else it needs?”

  “What?” Blake asked.

  John took Blake’s hands and pulled off his gloves.

  “Hey! I need those!” Blake tried to grab them back from his dad but it was too late. John was already putting them on the snowman’s branch arms.

  Madison was cracking up until John came over and stole her scarf.

  “Wait, not my scarf!”

  “Yup,” John said, and then put the scarf on the snowman. He was looking pretty pleased with himself until Haley snuck up behind him and stole his hat.

  “Wait, what!” John tried to stop her but it was too late. I need that!”

  Haley laughed as she twirled the hat around her finger.

  “Hey, it�
�s important to wear a hat when you’re out in the cold,” John said in his very doctorlike voice.

  “Is that so, Dr. John?” Haley asked in a voice that had both teenagers cracking up. “That’s really good to know, because it’s even more reason why our snowman needs a hat.”

  Haley tossed the hat to Blake, who quickly put it on the snowman.

  “It’s perfect,” Madison said.

  “So cool,” Blake agreed.

  Everyone was laughing when Laura opened the front door. “Who’s ready for waffles?”

  Both teenagers took off like a shot and were inside before Haley could even answer. She looked over at John. “Wow, they must really love waffles!”

  John laughed. “Oh, they do, and they’ve already told me how much they’re going to miss all of Laura’s great cooking.” He gave Laura an appreciative look. “It really has been great, Laura. Thank you. My idea for breakfast is usually cereal or frozen waffles. You have definitely spoiled them.”

  Laura smiled back at him. “I’m glad they like my cooking, but I think what they really like the most about being here is spending time with you.”

  “I agree,” Haley said. “When they first got here, remember how upset they were about getting their phones and computers taken away, and now here you all are making a snowman. Not many teenagers do that anymore, and it looked like they were really having fun.”

  John nodded. “I think they have been having fun. They’ve even made their own activities list, like the one we have here, that they want to do at home. This trip has really showed me how fast they’re growing up and how we need to spend as much time together as a family as we can. I feel like the time has just gone by so fast, and I’ve already missed so much.”

  “I’ve been starting to feel that way, too,” Haley said.

  “Well, it’s never too late to make a change,” Laura said.

  “Actually, about that,” John said, looking at Laura. “I was going to ask you if you could maybe give me a few quick cooking lessons?”

  Laura smiled warmly at him. “So you can make waffles?”

  “That and mashed potatoes so I can make the kids their favorite things on Christmas, or at least a few of the things.”

  “I would love to help you,” Laura said.

  Chapter 28

  At breakfast Haley gave Blake and Madison a run for their money on how many waffles they could eat. After everyone was done Ben got the entire group, including Max and Laura, to meet outside.

  Blake immediately went over to the big snowman and added some more snow to his big belly.

  Madison laughed. “What, did he have too many waffles, too?”

  Blake laughed with her. “Good one.”

  Ben laughed, too, as he held up a pretty wicker basket that had a plush red velvet bow on top. “Okay, everyone, let’s get started,” he said. “Jeff and Laura and I are all going to be handing out these baskets. I know you’ve all seen the theme for today is inspiration . . .”

  “I love that theme,” Susie said.

  “Me too,” Gail chimed in.

  Ben smiled at them both. “I’m glad, because this is our last day together and I want everyone to use their inspiration for our final activity here at Christmas Camp.”

  Haley felt her smile fade. She knew she should be excited. This is what she’d waited for, to finally be done with Christmas Camp, but as she looked around at the rest of the group she saw that everyone felt the same way she did. Sad.

  When Ben noticed their expressions he stopped passing out baskets. “Everyone, there’s no need to be sad . . .”

  “But we’ve really loved it here,” Susie said, taking Ian’s hand.

  “We really have,” Ian agreed.

  “And that’s why we need to celebrate and make the most of our last day together,” Ben said. “So, who is ready to celebrate?” He held up a basket.

  “I am.” Madison ran up and took the basket.

  “I am, too,” Gail said, and took another basket.

  “Me too,” Haley said as she took her basket.

  After everyone had a basket and was smiling again, Ben continued. “So, for our last activity together, I want you to walk around and explore. You can go on a little hike or stay close to the inn, whatever you’d like to do, but your assignment is to gather up some things from nature that inspire you.”

  “Because today’s word is ‘inspiration,’” Susie chimed in.

  “Exactly.” Ben smiled back at her. He then picked a pinecone up off the ground, put it in Haley’s basket, and gave her a little wink. “Find things that means something to you. That connects with a memory or something that you like that you might want to make a new memory with. Just take your time and explore outside. You can also go inside the inn, and see what speaks to you . . .”

  Haley whispered to Jeff, “It must run in your family—you guys speaking to nature. First the Christmas trees, now this.”

  Jeff laughed. “Careful, spend more time here, and things will start speaking to you, too.”

  “Oh no. I’m not going to let that happen.” Haley laughed. “One of us here has to stay sane.”

  “So, what are we going to do with everything after we find stuff?” Madison asked.

  “We’re all going to make Christmas-tree ornaments out of what we’ve found that inspires us.”

  Blake looked confused. “But we already decorated our trees,” he said.

  Ben pointed over to where a new six-foot Christmas tree was leaning against the side of the inn.

  “We have one more Christmas tree to do . . . together.”

  “Another tree?” Blake asked. “Where are we going to put it? I don’t think there’s any more room.”

  When Ben gave the teenager a look of disbelief, Jeff laughed.

  “Oh, there’s always room for more Christmas, right, Dad?”

  Ben nodded, smiling at Blake. “When you all leave tomorrow, we’re taking your trees to the community center. But this tree that we’ll all be decorating together will stay here. So after you’re all gone, we will still have something to remember you all by.”

  Gail looked genuinely touched. “That’s so nice.” She shared a smile with Ben.

  “It really is,” Susie said. “I love this last activity!”

  “You love everything about Christmas!” Haley, Ian, and John all said at the same time. Everyone laughed when Susie just held out both hands.

  “And what’s wrong with that?”

  Ian kissed her on the cheek. “Nothing, honey, absolutely nothing.”

  Susie grinned at him. “I’m glad you’re finally coming around to see it my way.”

  There was more laughter.

  “Okay, everyone, we better get started,” Ben said. “Laura’s going to put some decorating supplies out in the dining room for you, so you should have everything you need to create your ornaments.”

  Haley looked a little nervous. “What if you’re not very . . . crafty?”

  Ben gave her a reassuring look. “Don’t worry, Haley. Whatever you do doesn’t need to be perfect; it just needs to come from your heart and mean something to you.”

  Haley looked over at Susie, who was already picking up pine needles off the ground, and then walked over to Gail. “I have no idea what I’m going to make, do you?” she asked.

  Gail shook her head. “Not yet, but I’m just going to walk around and see what speaks to me.”

  “Oh no.” Haley laughed. “Now it’s rubbing off on you, too. The whole nature-speaking-to-you thing.”

  Gail gave her a wise smile. “Well, maybe you should try it.”

  “Try what?” Haley asked.

  “Listening to what nature says to you.”

  Jeff joined them. “But that would mean she would have to stop talking first.”

  While Haley pretended to be offended, Gail struggled to hide a laugh. Max chose that moment to trot over and bark, making them all laugh.

  “Well, Max is speaking to me, but I’m not sure how I�
��m going to make him into an ornament.”

  Max barked again.

  SEVERAL HOURS LATER Haley walked into the dining room to find Blake and Madison sitting at the table working on their ornaments. She quickly saw that Ben hadn’t been kidding. Laura had pulled out all the stops covering the table with all kinds of decorating materials. There were bowls of popcorn, cranberries, and lots of colored paper, scissors, tape, glue, and glitter.

  When Blake and Madison both grabbed the popcorn bowl at the same time there was a brief tug-of-war.

  “I need the popcorn,” Madison said, pulling the bowl her way.

  “I had it first,” Blake said, pulling it back his way.

  After some popcorn spilled out of the bowl, Haley stepped in to referee. “Okay, guys, hold on. I’m sure there’s enough popcorn for everyone.”

  “No, there’s not,” Madison said stubbornly. “For what I’m making, I’m going to need this whole bowl. And now there’s hardly any left . . .”

  “That’s because you ate it all,” Blake said, pulling the bowl toward him.

  Haley took the bowl away from them. “Okay, I’ll tell you what. I’ll go make you some more popcorn. Just hang tight.”

  When she got to the kitchen she headed straight for the pantry, figuring that was her best bet for finding the popcorn, but when she looked around on the shelf, she found everything but popcorn. There was flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and a big box of dog biscuits. When she moved the box of biscuits, Max barked, startling her. She whipped around and found him sitting in the doorway. “Let me guess,” she said. “You want a treat?”

  When he barked again, Haley laughed, picked up the dog biscuit box, and gave him a treat. That’s when she saw the bag of popcorn that was behind the box. “And look, you helped me find the popcorn. You’re a good, dog, Max.” He wagged his tail even more when she tossed him another treat. “Now, how are you at making popcorn?”

  She looked skeptical as she picked up a bag of popcorn kernels. The only popcorn she’d ever made was the microwave kind. Still, reading the instructions, she didn’t think it sounded too hard. “So I just need a pan and some oil. How hard can it be?”