“No reason,” Luke said.
But by the look on his face, Riley felt like he was hiding something.
“Well,” she said, “I actually do like outdoor sports, but I’ve been living in Arizona. So my idea of outdoor sports is more like running, hiking, swimming, kayaking, and boating. You know, things like that.”
Luke nodded. “So snowshoeing isn’t on your list?”
“Nope. But I’m game to try,” Riley said, moving closer to the snowshoes.
“Great. I was thinking for the Christmas Campers, we could just do some of the trails right outside the lodge and down by the lake, or maybe I could give some guided walks and offer some different times, like at sunrise or sunset. What do you think?”
Riley was impressed by this enthusiasm. “I think that sounds great. So just pretend I’m one of the Christmas Campers and give me a quick lesson.”
“Done!” Luke held up one of the snowshoes. “Lesson number one: how to get into the bindings.” When he put the snowshoe back down in the powder-soft snow, he motioned for her to come toward him. He picked up some trekking poles and handed them to her. “Use these for balance. They should already be adjusted for your height.”
Riley tried the poles out. “Perfect.”
“Now just put your foot right here,” Luke said, holding the snowshoe for her. But when she went to put her furry boot into the binding, some of the fur got caught and she lost her balance.
“Whoa!” As she started to fall, she reached out for Luke and grabbed his arm.
He was caught off guard, and they both fell at the same time, landing practically on top of each other.
“Are you okay?” he asked, sounding genuinely worried.
She was covered in snow. For a moment, she just lay there and then . . .
She started laughing.
It was the kind of laugh that once you started, you couldn’t stop.
When Luke also joined in, they both lay back on the snow and looked up at the sky. They looked at each other, they just laughed louder.
“It was the boots again,” Riley said. “I swear it’s revenge of the yeti.”
This had Luke cracking up even more. “You and those boots.”
Riley was about to sit up when Luke stopped her. “Wait,” he said. “Don’t get up. We’re not done.”
“We’re not?” Riley gave him an incredulous look. “What now?”
“Uh, snow angels, of course,” Luke said and started moving his arms and legs, making a snow angel.
Riley threw some snow at him. “You’re nuts,” she said. But as she began to sit up, he took her hand and pulled her back down.
“Hey,” she said. “That’s not very angel-like of you.”
“You can’t get up without making your snow angel,” Luke said.
“Is that some kind of Christmas Lake rule?” Riley asked.
“No,” Luke said, smiling back at her. “It’s one of my rules.” He watched her and waited. “Go ahead. You act like you’ve never made a snow angel before.”
Riley wasn’t about to tell him that he was exactly right. There had been no snow angels in her past, not one.
When she realized she was still holding Luke’s hand, she let go, embarrassed, and quickly started moving her arms and legs as Luke had done.
“There you go,” he said. “You’re an angel expert.”
“Hardly,’ Riley said but couldn’t help but smile as she continued flapping her arms. Satisfied, she looked up at Luke, who was already standing. “How do I get up without wrecking the angel?” she asked.
Luke held out his hand. She hesitated a moment but then took it, and he instantly pulled her up. This time she let go of his hand right away.
“Thanks,” she said. When she turned around her, face lit up when she saw the snow angel she’d just made.
“I did it,” she said, excited. “I really did it. That’s so cool. It really looks like an angel.”
“And our wings are touching,” Luke said, pointing at his angel right next to hers. Sure enough, their angel wings were, in fact, touching.
“Does that mean something?” Riley asked.
“You’re the romance author, you tell me.”
“So it has to mean something romantic?” she teased.
Luke gave her a look. “Uh, yeah. Come on. It’s Christmastime, there are two angels, and their wings are touching. It has to mean something special.”
“Well, when I figure it out, I’ll be sure to let you know,” Riley said.
“Does that mean I’ll be reading about this in your next book?” Luke asked.
“The snow angels or us?” Riley started brushing the snow off her.
Luke caught and kept her gaze. “Both.”
For a second, Riley forgot everything else except how blue Luke’s eyes were.
He looked away first and then up into the sky. It was starting to snow. “We better get going,” he said.
Riley stretched out her arms and shook out her legs. “I’m ready to try again. Let’s go.” Her voice was full of determination.
“Snowshoeing is going to have to wait,” Luke said. “I don’t trust this weather. Let’s just drive into town.”
He was already grabbing the snowshoes and putting them in the truck. “We can try again tomorrow, but right now we need to get moving.”
Disappointed, she followed him to the truck. Who knew she’d like snowshoeing so much? Or at least trying to snowshoe.
But deep down, she knew it wasn’t the snowshoeing she liked as much as the company. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so hard or had so much fun. Luke was turning out to really surprise her in more ways than one.
As they drove into town, the first thing Riley saw was a charming hand-painted wooden Christmas Lake welcome sign in the shape of a Christmas tree alongside the road. The next thing she noticed was that there was only one main road, Lake Street, and it was lined with about a dozen mom-and-pop shops and businesses that had gone all-out to decorate for the holidays.
There was garland with big red velvet bows wrapped around all the antique black streetlights. In front of every business there was a lit-up and decorated Christmas tree
