Luke laughed. “I was just going to say that I don’t think Mike’s a bad guy.”
Riley gave Luke a skeptical look.
“Hear me out,” Luke said.
Riley crossed her arms in front of her chest. She doubted there was anything Luke could say that would redeem Mike in her eyes, not after his latest stunts. “Go ahead. I’m listening.”
“Mike has always seen the best in people,” Luke said.
“What do you mean?” Riley asked.
“I mean, he sees people’s potential often before they even see it,” Luke said. “It’s like his mind jumps ahead to the future and what could be possible, and then he sets out to actually make it possible. He’s been like that since college. That’s why he makes a great publicist. He really believes in the people he’s representing. So if he’s saying your Miss Christmas, that’s likely how he sees you.”
Riley burst out laughing. “I’m sorry, but on this one, he’s way off base.”
“Then maybe he sees your potential to be Miss Christmas,” Luke said.
Riley was still laughing. “Well, I don’t know how he’s seeing that.”
“Aren’t you getting ready to write your first Christmas novel, and that’s why you’re hosting this Christmas Camp?” Luke asked.
“Yes,” Riley said slowly, being careful not to talk herself into a trap.
“Mike must think you have Miss Christmas potential, or he wouldn’t have suggested you host this camp.”
Riley didn’t even know how to answer that, so she picked her coffee back up and took another slow sip. She was waiting for the caffeine to kick in. She knew she needed her mind to be sharp to figure out how she was going to handle all this. Maybe she needed to add some more cinnamon.
Luke stood up and grabbed a glossy red folder off the counter and sat back down at the table. He put the folder down in front of her.
“What’s this?” Riley opened the folder with curiosity.
“It’s our Christmas Camp agenda—or at least what I have down so far while I was waiting to get your list.”
Riley opened the folder and fought to keep smiling when she saw all the blank spaces on the Christmas Camp calendar of scheduled events. Trying to stay positive, she pointed to some of the activities that were already scheduled.
“It looks like you have a lot of great things planned,” she said. “Christmas cookie decorating, Christmas Camp cocktail making, stargazing with s’mores, and Christmas movie watching.”
Luke nodded. “Those were the easy ones. They came from Jeff and his dad, Ben, at the Holly Peak Inn. They are the traditions they want everyone to do at every Christmas Camp, and it’s part of the franchise agreement. We even get to use the Jacoby family’s special sugar cookie recipe.”
“Well, that sounds like a delicious rule I can get behind,” Riley said.
They shared a smile.
“So if we have all these original Christmas Camp activities, then we’re all set, right?” Riley asked.
Luke laughed. “Not quite. The idea is that everyone who holds a Christmas Camp will also bring in some of their favorite traditions to share with their guests, tailoring the Christmas activities to the area so that they can be unique to that camp experience. That’s why I’ve been waiting to fill in these blanks to include some Christmas activities that would fit up here in the Rockies but that would also fit in with what you might want to include in your book.”
Riley forced a smile and nodded, telling herself not to panic.
“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
