My true love gave to me
A partridge in a pear tree . . .”
When she apprehensively looked down at her sparkling red dress, Comet came to stand by her, making her feel better. He looked even more lovable wearing his bright-red bow.
As she bent down to pet him, he gazed up at her with his adoring dark-brown eyes.
“This is it, Comet,” Riley said. “Are you ready for Christmas Camp?”
Comet wagged his tail, barked, and ran for the stairs.
“Wait for me.” Riley laughed, following him. “I’m coming.”
As she started walking down the stairs the Christmas music got louder . . .
“On the third day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Three French hens
Two turtle doves
And a partridge in a pear tree . . .”
She heard people laughing. Everyone sounded like they were having a great time. That made her relax a little. She felt even better when she saw Luke waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs.
In that instant, she forgot about everything else and kept walking toward him. He looked incredibly handsome wearing a perfectly tailored, black designer suit with a crisp white shirt and a red tie the same shade as her dress.
They were a perfect match.
When he smiled up at her, her heart beat faster. The way he was looking at her made her feel . . . beautiful.
Feeling weak in her knees, she reached out for the staircase railing as she finished her descent. When she got to the bottom, Luke held out his hand to help her down the last step. She put her hand in his, and their eyes met.
“You’re shaking,” he said in a low, rich voice.
“I am?” she asked, not recognizing her own voice. It sounded silky soft, almost like a whisper.
“Doesn’t she look amazing?” Caylee said, interrupting the moment as she rushed over to them.
“She does,” Luke agreed, never taking his eyes off Riley.
When a flash went off and Riley caught Paul taking pictures of them. She quickly let go of Luke’s hand.
“You really do look beautiful,” Luke said.
Riley smiled at him. “You clean up pretty well yourself.”
Luke laughed. “Thank you. I think?”
They shared a little laugh.
“Everyone’s waiting, Riley,” Caylee said. “Are you ready?”
Riley nodded, though she didn’t feel ready. “Uh-huh.”
Luke reached out and took her hand. “You’re going to be great. You got this. Everyone’s here to see you because they love you. Just enjoy the moment. You’ve earned this.”
Riley gave him a grateful look. “Thank you.”
“Come on!” Caylee said, nearly bursting with excitement.
As she took Riley’s hand free hand, Riley reluctantly had to let go of Luke’s hand. Caylee led her over to the fireplace where they’d set up a special display of Riley’s books surrounded by white twinkle lights.
As the flash from Paul’s camera went off, Riley blinked several times. But then everything was a blur, and she didn’t see any of faces of the people who were starting to gather around.
Riley kept her attention on one person, Luke, and the only thing she heard was the “Twelve Days of Christmas” still playing . . .
“On the twelfth day of Christmas
My true love gave to me
Twelve drummers drumming . . .”
Luke smiled as he looked over to Riley. “You ready?” he whispered.
She nodded and smiled back at him.
“Everyone, if I can have your attention please,” Luke announced, his deep voice booming.
Like a ship seeking shelter in a storm, Riley kept her focus on Luke as she clasped and unclasped her hands together. She wasn’t usually this nervous to talk in front of people. She actually did a lot of public speaking and enjoyed it. But this was different. This time she was pretending to be something she wasn’t, and she certainly wasn’t an actress.
A potential title for her book popped into her head—The Runaway Christmas Author.
In that brief moment of panic, she would have run if she could. For years, she’d avoided all the Christmas hoopla, and now she was about to be a part of it.
“Thank you, everyone,” Luke said, interrupting her getaway plans. “First, I want to welcome you all again to Christmas Camp. I believe I’ve met all of you, but I know I’m not the one you’ve come to see . . .”
Riley smiled when she heard the laughter but kept looking at Luke. She was impressed by and a bit envious of how calm and relaxed he looked.
Luke continued, “When I was first approached to put on this Christmas Camp for an author to host at my family’s lodge, I’ll admit I thought there was no way we could pull it off with just a few weeks before Christmas. But as my mom likes to say, anything is possible at Christmas. With the help of some of our family friends, who you’ve met and will meet more of this weekend, and the community of Christmas Lake, and most of all author Riley Reynolds, we’ve put together a one-of-a-kind holiday experience that’s going to knock your Christmas socks off.”
Everyone, including Riley, laughed and clapped.
“But before I pass this over to Riley, I wanted to make sure you all had a chance to make your Christmas wish.” Luke pointed to the three-foot-tall Santa next to the fireplace.
Riley did a double take. The Santa hadn’t been there before. They must have put him out when she was upstairs getting ready.
“You should have found a little scroll and a red ribbon in your room when you checked in,” Luke continued, “There were also instructions to write your Christmas wish on the scroll and then roll it up, tie it with the red ribbon, and put it in Santa’s gift bag here.”
Luke walked over, peered in the bag, and smiled as he picked out one little scroll. “Looks like we have a lot of Christmas wishes in here. Has everyone had a chance to make their wish?”
When everyone either said yes or nodded, Luke turned to Riley and handed her a little piece of paper,
