“No problem,” Riley said cheerfully. “I bought some new clothes in town.”
“At Merry and Bright?” Maryanne asked.
Riley nodded. “I found some really great things.”
“Did Lisa tell you about the Christmas Lake Angels?” Maryanne asked.
“Oh yes,” Riley said. “I got the full story.”
“Isn’t it an amazing love story?” Maryanne asked. “Even though I haven’t met my own Prince Charming yet, but I still have hope someone will give me a Christmas Lake Angel someday.”
“Or you’ll give them one,” Riley said.
Maryanne smiled at her. “Exactly!”
When a timer went off in the kitchen, Maryanne headed that way. “Ah, that’s my cue. You two have fun!”
“We will!” Riley said. “Ready for that walk?”
Comet barked and ran to the front of the door.
Less than five minutes later, after Riley had taken Maryanne’s advice and bundled up in some of her new winter gear, Comet was leading her down a snow-covered path to the lake.
The snow had stopped falling, but there was still an icy chill in the air that made her thankful she’d also bought some silk long johns at Lisa’s insistence.
As she followed Comet, she had to navigate several inches of fresh powder. She was thankful for her yeti boots.
When they’d first left the lodge, she’d thought she spotted Luke down by the Christmas trees along the lakefront. He’d looked like he was stringing some new Christmas lights—or taking some down, it was hard to tell—but as she’d gotten closer, he’d disappeared.
“Where did Luke go?” she asked Comet.
Comet picked up his pace and pulled on the leash so hard she almost had to run to keep up with him. By the time she got down to the lake, she was breathless and laughing. That’s when she finally saw Luke. He was actually on the lake, out in the middle where the one Christmas tree was lit up.
“Good boy,” she praised Comet. “You found him.”
She walked to the edge of the lake and stopped. The only time she’d been on a frozen lake was when she’d worked as a news reporter in Minnesota and was sent to cover a story of a car that had gone partially through the ice.
Her not-so-brilliant cameraman had decided to drive their super heavy live van out on the lake so they could get closer for the best video. Even though she’d told him it wasn’t a good idea, he’d insisted he’d grown up on frozen lakes and knew what he was doing. He hadn’t, and when the van’s front wheel had broken through a layer of ice and she had heard the cracking of ice all around her, she had never been more afraid in her life. They’d called for help, and luckily, a rescue crew had gotten them safely off the ice.
She shuddered just thinking about it.
When Comet trotted out onto the lake, Riley let his leash go taut. He turned around and gave her a look.
“Sorry, Comet,” she said, eyeing the lake. “I’m not going out there.”
When Comet barked his displeasure, Luke looked over and waved.
Riley shouted out to him. “Luke, I need to talk to you!”
Luke motioned for her to join him.
She shook her head. There was no way she was going out on that ice. Giving up, she turned around and started walking away from the lake. When she saw a wooden bench over by the Christmas trees, she headed that way and sat down.
Comet sat down next to her and barked.
“Sorry, Comet. No can do,” she said.
Soon, she saw Luke walking their way. “Here he comes,” she said happily to Comet. While she waited, she inhaled a deep cleansing breath, enjoying the scent of the evergreens. For a moment, she shut her eyes and let herself relax.
The only things she could hear were Comet panting and a few birds chirping. When she heard the crunch of boots on the fresh snow, she opened her eyes and saw Luke heading straight for them. He was smiling.
“It looks like you two found one of my favorite spots,” Luke said.
Riley stood up as he approached. “I can see why,” she said, smiling back. “It’s beautiful here. This is a million-dollar view.”
“Don’t say that too loud,” Luke said. “The developers who built the big Skyline Resort over in the next town have already been sniffing around.”
“But I thought you wanted to sell the place, so that should be good, right?” Riley asked.
Luke shook his head. “Not exactly. It’s complicated.”
She sat back down on the bench and motioned to the seat next to her. “Why?”
Luke laughed a little as he sat down. “If you’re looking for something for your Christmas story, this won’t be it. Unless you plan to have a Scrooge in your book.”
“And in this case the Scrooge would be . . . ?” Riley asked.
Luke looked out over the lake. “The big developers who just want to cut down all these trees and build huge buildings. There was even talk of filling in the lake.”
Riley’s jaw dropped. “They could do that?
Luke nodded. “It would be incredibly expensive, but if they bought the land, they could do whatever they wanted. So I need to make sure that doesn’t happen. I promised my dad I would make sure the property stays as it is. Christmas Lake is part of my family’s history, not to mention the town’s.”
Riley shook her head. “I can’t believe anyone would do that. I mean, the town is called Christmas Lake. What would Christmas Lake be without the lake?”
“They’d probably just try to rename the town,” Luke said.
Riley’s eyes grew wide. “They could do that, too?”
He nodded. “With enough money, you can do anything.” Luke stood up. “You know what, let’s not talk about it. Right now, I’m just taking it one day at a time and trying to concentrate on making this Christmas Camp special for our guests. So what are you two doing down here?”
“Actually, looking for you,” Riley answered.
Luke held out his hand to take Comet’s leash. “Here, I’ll take him.”
“Okay.” Riley handed over Comet.
“So what do you need?”
