Riley nodded. “Mike, can you hear me? I’m about to lose you. I’ll call you when I get to the lodge.”
“I need to tell you—” Mike started, but then the call dropped.
“Mike? Are you there? Hello?” She held up her phone trying to get a signal back but didn’t have any luck.
“Is everything okay?” Harry asked.
Riley shrugged. “I hope so. He said he needed to tell me something, but then again, Mike always needs to tell me something. It will just have to wait until I get there.”
Riley stared out the window. All the whirling snow was making her sleepy. She’d only gotten a few hours of sleep the night before, and she could never sleep on a plane or in a car. The last thing she remembered was letting her head fall back against the cool leather seat and thinking she would just rest her eyes for a few minutes . . .
“Miss Reynolds? Miss Reynolds?”
Riley heard her name faintly, as if it were coming from far, far away. Until it got louder and sounded closer.
“Miss Reynolds?”
Riley awoke with a start, sitting straight up. She couldn’t believe she’d actually fallen asleep.
“What? I mean, yes?” She rubbed her blurry eyes.
Harry turned around in his seat and smiled at her. “We’ve arrived.”
Chapter Eight
Still groggy, Riley looked out of the frosted SUV’s window and blinked several times. She rubbed her eyes again as if not believing what she was seeing. For a second, she actually wondered if she were still asleep and dreaming because what she saw in front of her looked like a Christmas fairy tale.
It was that special time, right before dark, that everyone called “magic hour” and tonight the magic was turning the Colorado winter sky different shades of violet that were reflecting on what Riley guessed was Christmas Lake. The pristine frozen lake was covered with fresh snow and tucked up against the majestic mountains. All along the water’s edge there were spectacular evergreens decorated with white twinkling Christmas lights.
But what really caught Riley’s attention was the one beautiful Christmas tree standing all alone right in the middle of the lake. It was the only tree that had multicolored lights of bright red, green, gold, and silver.
“Welcome to Christmas Lake Lodge,” Harry said proudly, as if he owned the lodge himself.
“Wow,” Riley said softly. “Now I see why they call it Christmas Lake.”
“It’s really something,” Harry said, smiling. “This lodge always reminds me of what Christmas should be like.”
Riley gave Harry a curious look. “How’s that?” she asked.
“You’ll see,” Harry said cheerfully as he got out of the car and went to open her door.
Riley was still taking it all in as she stepped out of the SUV.
Immediately, the lodge itself had her full attention. It was even more magical than the video she’d seen during her interview. The entire lodge was outlined in white Christmas lights, giving it a whimsical charm like something straight out of a Christmas fairy tale. It was two stories, and there was garland with more white lights draped all along a wraparound balcony. In every window there was a gorgeous giant wreath with a huge red velvet bow. The same style wreath, with an even bigger bow, hung on the front door.
It all looked so . . . welcoming.
This was a home that knew love. She could already feel it.
“You go on into the lodge,” Harry said, bringing her back to reality. “Get out of the snow. I’ll bring in your luggage.”
“Thank you,” she called back to him as she looked up at the sky and could only see a blur of whirling snowflakes all around her. “And thank you for getting us here safely. Are you’re going to be able to get back down the mountain tonight? It looks like this snow isn’t letting up anytime soon.”
“This isn’t anything to worry about,” Harry said with a chuckle as he continued to get her luggage out of the trunk. “I’ve been in a lot worse.” He held up her small carry-on suitcase and garment bag. “This is all you have?” he asked, sounding impressed. “I wish you’d teach my wife how to pack.”
Riley laughed. “I do a lot of author events, so I’ve gotten pretty good at planning my professional attire for these things and keeping it simple.”
Harry paused. “Professional attire? You need professional attire for a Christmas Camp?”
“Of course,” Riley said as she made her way down the walkway to the lodge’s front door. She inhaled, enjoying the fragrant Douglas firs that lined the path. Each tree had its own set of white twinkle lights.
She was almost to the front door when she passed an impressive five-foot-tall wood carving of a bear. As soon as she did, music started playing.
“We wish you a BEARy Christmas . . .
We wish you a BEARy Christmas . . .
We wish you a BEARy Christmas . . .
And a happy BEAR year!”
She jumped back, startled.
The music stopped.
When she started walking again, it started back up.
“We wish you a BEARy Christmas . . .”
She froze and looked around, but there was no one.
“Okay, who is messing with me?” she asked out loud.
Silence.
She suspiciously eyed the bear. She took a step toward it.
Silence.
She took another step.
Nothing.
Relieved, she continued toward the front door. Instantly, the song came back on.
“We wish you a BEARy Christmas . . .
We wish you a BEARy Christmas . . .
And a happy BEAR year!”
A little freaked out, she ran the rest of the way and yanked the door open and dashed inside, shutting the door quickly behind her.
She looked out the window at the bear. She laughed to herself. “Okay, that was just weird.”
When a dog barked, she whirled around.
Directly in front of her, staring up at her with dark-brown soulful eyes, was a Bernese Mountain Dog who stood almost three feet tall. Riley guessed he looked like he
