“I don’t know,” Riley answered, feeling flustered.
“Well, if you want to have your own Christmas love story, I’d definitely try to figure it out sooner than later, if I were you,” Caylee said.
Before Riley could respond, Colin came up to them holding two glasses of Champagne. He handed them each one. “Riley, can I talk to you for a moment?”
Riley looked back at Caylee.
“Go ahead,” Caylee said. “We still have plenty of time, and Riley, weren’t you just saying you were looking for something with Colin?”
When Riley shot Caylee a warning look, Caylee just smiled back at her. “You two kids have fun,” she said before walking away.
Riley took a sip of her Champagne and smiled at Colin. “What did you want to talk about?”
“Us,” Colin said. “I really want to talk about us.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Riley recognized the look on Colin’s face. It was the look he always used to get when he wanted about to talk about something serious.
“I thought we could do a toast before everything gets going tonight,” Colin said.
Riley held up her glass. “Okay, but then you’re going to need some Champagne. When she saw Maryanne passing out Champagne, she quickly walked over and took a glass.
“For Colin,” Riley explained to Maryanne.
“Good luck,” Maryanne said with a wink.
“Thanks,” Riley said before taking the glass back to Colin.
When Colin took the glass, he smiled back at her, but then when they both spotted Paul hovering nearby with his camera, Colin turned to her. “Let’s go in the library for a little privacy.”
Riley smiled. “You read my mind.”
But as they were turning to go, Paul stopped her. “Riley, I have that picture you wanted.” He walked over and handed her a printout of her childhood photo with Santa. “Does this work?”
Riley nodded, looking at the picture. “It works great. Thank you, Paul.”
Colin smiled when he saw that picture. “That’s a classic. You’re so cute. Looks like I have some serious competition with the Big Guy there.”
Riley laughed as they headed into the library and was relieved to see they were alone. She slipped the photo into her cocktail purse.
“This is turning out to be quite the night,” Colin said. “You should be really proud of all that you’ve done here at Christmas Camp. People seem to really love it—and you, though that’s not surprising. You’re very loveable.”
Riley laughed. “And you’re very sweet and great for a girl’s ego.
Colin held up his Champagne. “A toast to Christmas surprises and finding a way back to each other.”
Riley hesitated a moment before clinking her glass to his. Looking at Colin, she knew that she’d always love him, but she didn’t know if she could see herself in love with him.
Caylee’s voice was in her head talking about the importance of having that spark . . .
She knew what she needed to do.
She stepped closer to Colin and kissed him.
He was surprised for a moment, but then he kissed her back, putting his arm around her, drawing her in closer. As they kissed, she waited for the spark.
It never happened.
She slowly pulled away and looked into Colin’s eyes. She saw so much love and kindness there. It would be so easy to start a relationship with him again. He would always be the safe choice, someone to protect her, who she could count on.
But she had grown over all these years and was a strong person herself. She didn’t need the safe choice anymore. She wanted someone who would challenge her, help her grow. So as much as she loved Colin, she didn’t see herself loving him the way he should be loved, and she knew they both deserved more than that.
She was about to tell Colin how she felt when Brendan walked in. He was carrying two glasses of Champagne. “Hey, sorry to interrupt,” Brendan said, “but can I steal Riley away?”
For one surreal moment, Riley actually felt like she was on an episode of The Bachelorette where the contestants were always cutting in on others’ one-on-one time.
“We had just started talking,” Riley said to Brendan.
Colin took Riley’s hand, looked into her eyes, and smiled a confident smile. “It’s okay. We can talk later.”
“Are you sure?” Riley asked.
“Absolutely,” Colin said and turned to Brendan. “She’s all yours.”
After Colin disappeared, Brendan handed Riley a fresh glass of Champagne. “I hope I wasn’t interrupting something.”
Riley gave him shrewd look. “Yes, you do.”
Brendan laughed. “That’s what I always love about you, Riley. You don’t pull any punches. But seriously, I wanted to show you something.”
“Okay,” Riley said, giving him a curious look.
“It’s in my room,” Brendan said.
Riley laughed. “You really think that line’s going to work on me?”
Brendan laughed loudly. “It’s not like that. You know me better than that.”
When he held out his hand to her, she took it. “This better be good.”
“Don’t worry,” Brendan said. “It is.”
When they got to his room, he set down both of their glasses and walked over to the dresser and picked up an impressive-looking antique globe. It was about a foot tall.
“I wanted you to see this,” Brendan said, placing the globe on the table in front of her. “I found it in town, and I thought it would make the perfect Christmas present for you.”
“It’s very nice, but you already got me that beautiful compass,” Riley said.
Brendan smiled back at her. “This is different.” He picked up a white envelope from the table and handed it to her. “Open it.”
When Riley opened the envelope, she was even more confused. She took out a voucher for a plane ticket, but there was no destination or date.
“What is this?” she asked, checking both sides of the voucher.
“Spin the globe,” Brendan said, excited. “Pick any spot you want, and wherever it is, we’ll go there together. It will be our next trip—the start of a whole new
