For a moment, Luke just stared back at her, then he started walking out of the room. “Follow me,” he said, not sounding very enthusiastic.
Comet ran after him, and Riley, smiling a victorious smile, followed Comet.
There was no way she was turning in early. She had work to do. And she was hoping this special hot chocolate would put him in a better mood.
As she followed Luke and Comet toward the kitchen, her mind was going a million miles an hour. All her original ideas of how to apologize and win him over would never work now. She’d come up to the lodge thinking he’d invited her so they could talk things over. Now that she knew she was basically an uninvited and unwanted guest, she needed a whole new plan—and fast!
When they walked into the kitchen, Riley checked her cell phone. Still no signal.
Luke looked over at her. “If you’re trying to get cell service tonight you can forget it.”
Riley frowned at her phone. “Because of the snowstorm.”
“That’s certainly not helping,” Luke said as he took two reindeer mugs from the cupboard.
Riley laughed when she saw them. “So I’m starting to get the feeling that there’s a real reindeer theme around here? First Comet and now the mugs.”
When Luke nodded, Riley could almost see a smile. “My mom does pride herself on her reindeer collection.”
“Where is your mom? And for that matter, everyone else?” Riley asked. “It’s like we’re the only ones here . . .”
“Because we are,” Luke was quick to answer back.
“What?” Riley asked, amazed. “You’re saying it’s just us in this whole lodge?”
Luke opened the refrigerator and grabbed some milk. “That’s what I’m saying.”
Riley waited for him to explain, but when he didn’t, she tried again. “Where are all the guests?”
“We didn’t book December because we were hoping to have the lodge sold by now. Plus, December always books almost a year in advance. That’s why when Mike had this Christmas Camp idea at the last minute, we were able to do it.”
“And your mom and dad?” Riley asked. “Where are they?”
Luke hesitated a moment before answering. “My dad passed away, and my mom is in Florida with her sister looking for a condo. Trust me, she’d be here if she could, but she just broke her ankle and can’t travel. She was the one who was really excited about having this Christmas Camp.”
Riley watched him put a saucepan of milk on the stove and get out some of the ingredients for the hot chocolate. There was dark cocoa powder, a bar of dark chocolate, cinnamon, and nutmeg.
“So this hot chocolate looks like the real deal,” she said, impressed.” You’re making it old-school, from scratch.”
“That’s right,” Luke said proudly. “My mom wouldn’t have it any other way. Actually, this is my great-grandma’s original recipe with a few tweaks from my mom.”
“Tweaks?” Riley asked, walking over to join him. She picked up a jar of nutmeg. “What kind of tweaks are we talking about exactly?”
Luke smiled when he picked up a shiny vanilla bean. “This vanilla bean, for one. My mom puts some in every batch.”
“Really?” Riley asked, intrigued. She picked up the vanilla bean and studied it, lightly running a fingertip over it. She held it up to her nose and inhaled. “Well it certainly smells good.”
“That’s how you know it is good,” Luke said.
“Wow, pretty fancy,” Riley said.
Luke laughed. “Not really. My mom just likes the idea of every generation adding something new to the recipe, so we’re honoring an old tradition and creating a new one at the same time.”
“That’s pretty cool,” Riley said as she watched him skillfully combine all the ingredients. “So what have you added to the recipe?”
When Luke looked back at her, she was surprised by the childlike look on his face, not to mention how handsome he was when he gave a genuine smile.
“My ingredient . . . is a secret,” Luke said.
Riley laughed. “Seriously? Come on.”
Luke gave her a look that said he was dead serious.
“Really?” Riley asked. “You really have a ‘secret ingredient’?” She made air quotes when she said the words secret ingredient.
“I do,” Luke said proudly. “And no, because I know you’re going to ask, I’m not telling you.”
Riley quickly scanned all the ingredients.
“You’re not going to find it there,” Luke said.
Riley looked around the kitchen.
“Or anywhere in sight,” Luke said, laughing. “It wouldn’t be much of a secret if it was that easy to find.”
When Riley walked over and opened up a Santa cookie jar and peered inside, Luke laughed. “Boy, you really don’t give up, do you?”
Riley smiled back at him sweetly. “Never.”
She took a little brown cookie out of the jar. It had a Hershey’s Kiss on the top. “What are these?” she asked. “Another secret family recipe?”
Luke laughed.
“Well, they are a family recipe, but they aren’t a secret. We call them Christmas Lake’s Gingerbread XOXO’s. It’s another adaption of my great-grandma’s favorite gingerbread recipe. One year my mom said they were too busy to make the traditional gingerbread boys, so they created these and just put the chocolate on top to dress it up a little. The guests have really loved them. Try it.”
Riley didn’t need to be asked twice. She bit into the cookie. It was soft and chewy, and the gingerbread went perfectly with the chocolate. She happily she took another big bite. “This is good.”
“I’ll let her know you approve,” Luke said. “She makes a ton of Christmas cookies. You might be Miss Christmas, but my mom is definitely the Christmas Queen.”
Riley’s smile faltered as she put the cookie down. “About that,” she started but was interrupted when the alarm went off on Luke’s cell phone.
“Okay, just a few more minutes and this will be ready,” he said, taking the saucepan off the stove.
“Do you run the lodge with your mom?” Riley asked, changing the subject.
“No,” Luke answered quickly. “This was always my parents’ passion, not mine. I just came home to help my mom
