“What happened?” Riley asked.
“Thomas, of course, was overjoyed,” Lisa said. “They were just about to kiss when someone came into the shop.”
“On Christmas Day?” Riley asked.
Lisa smiled. “Yes, it was someone who was passing through Christmas Lake on their way to visit family, and they stopped when they saw the angel in the window. They thought it would make a wonderful Christmas gift.”
“No!” Riley exclaimed. “Tell me they didn’t sell it?”
Lisa laughed. “Of course not, but it did give them the idea that maybe Thomas could make more angels and try to sell them.”
Riley nodded. “And of course the angels became a big hit.”
“More than anyone could have imagined, especially after the story of how the first angel was made got around. I think everyone really connected with how out of something broken, Thomas’s relationship and that piece of pottery, came something beautiful. After the story was covered in the local newspaper, people came from all over the region to buy Thomas’s special angels. He called them the Christmas Lake Angels, and he would only sell them right here in Christmas Lake. He wanted people to come and see how special it is here. These angels have become a symbol of true love and always having faith in love.”
“What an amazing story,” Riley said.
Lisa nodded. “For decades now, it has been a tradition for people to buy them and give them to the people they love most at Christmas, just like Thomas gave his first angel to Cynthia. They are only sold at around the holidays, starting on December first and ending on Christmas Eve.”
Riley walked over to the display of angels. She picked up a little framed saying that said, Give the gift of love to your one true love.
“They sell out fast. This is all I have left. If you’d like to get one, I would do it now,” Lisa offered as she joined her.
Riley shook her head. “Thanks, that’s okay. I don’t need one.”
Lisa gave her a curious look. “But in the TV interview you talked about your one true love. I thought maybe—”
“No,” Riley said. “That whole interview was taken out of context. Trust me, I have no one to give an angel like this to.”
Lisa put her arm around Riley. “Don’t worry, dear. You still have lots of time to meet ‘the one.’”
Riley laughed. “Oh, trust me, that’s the last thing I need. The only ‘one’ I care about right now is my next novel. That’s what I need to focus on and give all my love to.”
“But a book can’t love you back,” Lisa said.
Riley laughed. “I don’t know about that. I’ve felt a lot of love from some of the books I’ve read.”
They shared a smile.
“Well, I’m sure you know what you’re doing,” Lisa added. “I mean, after all, you’re the one writing best-selling love stories.”
Riley smiled, but she couldn’t help thinking that she hadn’t been writing best-selling love stories lately. She’d never thought she had to be in love to write about love. She’d always just used all the inspiration from her past relationships. But had that all finally dried up? Was she out of material? If that was the case, she was in big, big trouble.
Lisa had started walking away. “I will leave you to look around,” she said. “Enjoy yourself, and hopefully you’ll find something that speaks to you.”
As Lisa left her to browse, all Riley could think was that if anything in this store started speaking to her, she was going to run—fast.
She was just passing a wall of wreaths when one of her shopping bags hit the shelf of Christmas Lake Angels. One angel teetered back and forth, looking as if it was about to topple over. Riley quickly reached out to steady it.
“Oh, no, you don’t. You’re not going anywhere,” she said to the little angel. After making sure it was safe, she continued around the corner.
That’s when she heard Luke call out her name. “Riley? Are you still in here?”
“I’m over here,” she answered. “By the angels.”
Luke appeared quickly. “I should have known I’d find you by a good story,” he said, picking up one of the angels. “Did Lisa tell you about our Christmas Lake Angels?”
“Oh, yes, she did,” Riley said. “I heard the whole story.”
“And what did you think?”
“That it’s a brilliant marketing plan,” Riley answered.
Luke laughed as he gently set the angel back down. “And I thought you were a romance author. That’s not a very romantic way to look at it.”
Riley shrugged. “What do you think of the story?”
“I grew up hearing it,” Luke said. “It’s part of my Christmas tradition.”
Riley gave him a thoughtful look. “So, you believe in . . .”
“Love,” Luke finished for her, looking into her eyes. “I do. Don’t you? I mean, you have to, right? It’s all you write about.”
“First, it’s not all I write about,” Riley corrected.
“So your answer is?” Luke asked.
When Riley realized he wasn’t going to let her off the hook, she knew the only answer she could give him was that yes, she believed in love. What kind of romance writer would she be if she didn’t believe in love? As all these thoughts raced through her head, she couldn’t help wondering who she was trying to convince—him or herself.
She met his stare. “Yes, of course, I believe in love,” Riley said. “Happy?”
Luke kept staring at her. “Yes. Are you?”
She laughed to hide her discomfort. The way he was looking at her made her feel as if he could see right through her.
“I guess what I mean is . . . you must believe in love for other people because you write love stories about other people,” Luke said. “But what about you? Do you
