Especially when she saw she had more than twenty urgent e-mails from Mike alone.
Margo was a close second in how many e-mails she’d sent.
Riley quickly fired off an e-mail to everyone on her publishing team to let them know she was back online and then e-mailed her mom letting her know it was okay to send the Christmas picture now.
Staring at her e-mail inbox, Riley’s head started to spin. There were so many e-mails she needed to read, but right now, she knew it was more important to finalize the Christmas Camp itinerary with Luke and Maryanne since their Christmas Campers would be showing up in less than twenty-four hours.
“I’ll deal with all you later,” she said to the e-mails as she closed her laptop and carried it downstairs.
Luke was standing by the fire waiting for her. “Ready?” he asked.
Riley held up her computer. “Ready. I’m waiting for my mom to send me a picture that Margo and Mike are waiting for, but we can still get started.”
“A picture of you?” Luke asked.
Riley rolled her eyes. “Yes, unfortunately. It’s of me when I was a kid with Santa.”
Luke smiled at her. “I bet that’s a cute picture.”
“I have no idea,” Riley said truthfully. “I’ve never seen it.”
Luke’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
Riley realized her mistake instantly and scrambled. “I just mean my mom has a zillion pictures, and she found some old ones that aren’t in the . . . album.”
“Well, I definitely want to see it,” Luke said.
Riley shook her head. “Trust me, you don’t.”
Luke laughed. “Well, mine will be on the Christmas Camp memory board with the rest of them.”
Riley was confused. “Memory board?”
“I’ll tell you all about it,” Luke said. “It’s actually one of the activities on our list. Should we get started? Maryanne and Caylee are waiting in the kitchen. We figured we could go over everything there. This way Maryanne can show you some of her ideas for the menu. She’s right in the middle of making the Christmas Camp Popcorn.”
Riley’s eyes lit up. “Christmas Camp Popcorn? What’s that?”
“You’ll see,” Luke said, leading the way to the kitchen. “It’s for Christmas movie night, of course.”
Riley laughed. “Of course. But I still get some even if I don’t watch Christmas movies, right?”
Luke turned and tilted his head. “What do you mean you don’t watch Christmas movies? Isn’t that a prerequisite of being Miss Christmas?”
Riley kept walking toward the kitchen. She didn’t want Luke to see how she cringed when he called her Miss Christmas. “I can’t wait to see this popcorn,” Riley said, sidestepping his Christmas-movie question.
By the end of the day, even though she’d OD’d on Christmas Camp Popcorn, Christmas Camp cookies, and all sorts of other Christmas Camp–themed food Maryanne had whipped up and insisted she try, Riley knew the Christmas Campers were going to be in great hands when it came to holiday treats.
The next thing Riley learned about was the Christmas Camp memory board that had actually been Caylee’s idea. The way it worked was everyone who had signed up for Christmas Camp was asked to bring their favorite Christmas picture from when they were growing up. Then they could put their pictures on the board so it could remind everyone of the joy and wonder they’d felt at Christmas when they were children. The memory board itself was very festive. It was lined in fresh garland and lit up with white twinkle lights.
When Riley saw that Luke, Caylee, and Maryanne had already put up their adorable Christmas pictures to get things started, she knew the memory board was going to be a huge hit. She caught herself smiling as she stared at Luke’s photo. He’d probably been around six years old when it was taken, and he was standing by a snowman looking as proud as he could be. The snowman was lopsided with a crooked hat and branches for arms, and Luke’s smile was ear to ear as he put his arm around the snowman.
“What do you think?” Luke asked, coming up behind her. “I make a pretty mean snowman, right?”
Embarrassed to be caught looking at his picture, Riley quickly turned around. “You definitely have some skills.”
“So are you going to add your picture up there with ours?” Luke asked. “I’m sure the Christmas Campers would love it.”
“I don’t know,” Riley said, because she honestly didn’t know how she felt about even seeing this picture her mom was sending, much less sharing it with the rest of the world. “But that reminds me, I need to see if my mom has sent my picture yet.”
Riley went over to where she’d left her laptop open on the table and checked her e-mail. She quickly found her mom’s e-mail with an attachment. “It’s here,” she said.
As she clicked on the attachment, she suddenly felt very nervous. She didn’t even realize Caylee had come over and was looking over her shoulder until the picture filled up her screen.
“Oh my gosh, this is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen!” Caylee exclaimed.
But Riley barely heard her as she stared at herself as a little girl sitting on Santa’s lap. For a moment, it took her breath away. She looked so . . . happy.
It all came rushing back to her. She’d been eight years old. It was the last Christmas before her dad had passed away. She was wearing a pretty, red velvet dress with a big, white satin bow with white tights and black patent leather shoes. She was smiling at Santa like he was her entire world.
She didn’t realize her eyes were filling with tears until Luke gently touched her arm.
“Riley, are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded. She couldn’t take her eyes off the picture. “I’m sorry,” she said, wiping her tears away. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“Nothing’s wrong with you,” Luke said. “Pictures always bring back so many memories, and this looks like it was
