Next, she took the compass Brendan had given her out of her purse and walked over to give it to him.
“Brendan, you and I have had some amazing adventures together. You gave me this compass so I could always find my way back to you, but you know better than anyone, the best adventures are when you keep moving forward and exploring new things. I will always love you for helping me be brave and fearless. That’s why I can give you this compass back because you’ve already helped me find my way and the strength to go after what I really want. I know there are many more adventures just waiting for you, and I want you to find someone who will love you as fiercely as you love them.”
As Brendan studied the inscription on the compass, Riley waited for him to look up at her. When he finally did and they shared a smile, she knew Brendan would be just fine—better than fine—and that he was probably already planning his next adventure.
Lastly, Riley took the diamond star necklace and star ornament out of her purse and gave them back to Tyler.
“Tyler, you showed me a world I never thought I could be a part of. You helped me own my own power and know my worth. You say I’m your star, but honestly, you have been mine. You’ve guided me and shown me that the sky is the limit. I will always love you for teaching me to never settle for less than I should have. Now I want the same for you. I want you to find someone who can love you the way you deserve to be loved.”
During her whole speech, Tyler never broke eye contact with her. When she was done, he nodded. “So you’re not picking any of us?” he asked.
“I’m picking me,” Riley said. “I am who I am because of all of you, and for that, I am so thankful. I want you to find your own happily-ever-afters, and I know you will.”
Riley gave each of them a hug. “Now if you’ll excuse me. I need to go find—”
“Luke,” Colin cut in with an all-knowing smile.
Brendan nodded sagely. “Because he’s the one, isn’t he?”
“Luke?” Tyler asked, looking confused. “What are you talking about?”
Colin laughed. “We’ll explain it to you, buddy.”
“Riley, go,” Brendan said. “Go get your happily-ever-after.”
“I love you guys,” Riley called over her shoulder as she ran out of the room.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Riley rushed into the kitchen calling out for Luke. “Luke? Are you in here?”
Silence.
It had been the same story in the library. Apparently, everybody at the lodge was now in the ballroom because even the lobby was empty now.
She whispered to herself, “Luke, where are you?”
She was about to leave when a log on the fire cracked and popped, lighting up the face of the Christmas Wish Santa next to the fireplace.
When she looked over at the Santa, his bag of toys caught her eye, and she remembered the Christmas wish she had made on the first day of Christmas Camp. She walked over and peered inside the bag and then carefully started looking for the Christmas wish she had made. She knew she’d recognize her scroll because instead of tying the red ribbon into a pretty bow like everyone else, she had triple knotted it and left the ends hanging. It only took a second to find.
She slid the ribbon off and read her wish out loud. “To write a wonderful Christmas love story.”
She picked up a pen from the table and crossed out the word write on her original wish and replaced it with the word have.
She read her new wish out loud. “To have a wonderful Christmas love story.”
As she was putting her wish back into Santa’s bag, she caught a flash of light in the big picture window that looked out over Christmas Lake. She went over to the window to see what was happening.
Her heart stopped when she saw the Christmas Lake Christmas tree.
The lights on the tree were flickering. She had never seen them flicker before. They were usually always glowing steady and bright.
“Something’s wrong with the lights!” she said in a panic. “They can’t go out. They’ve never gone out . . .” She knew there wasn’t time to get anyone from the ballroom. If the lights went out, years of tradition, of honoring military members, would be over.
She couldn’t let that happen.
Without thinking, she ran to the closet and grabbed a random coat and threw it on. She didn’t care that it was way too big for her, almost reaching to her ankles. She also grabbed her yeti boots, slipped them on, then raced toward the lake.
It was snowing, and the path was slick. She almost fell several times, but she kept going, never taking her eyes off the Christmas Lake Christmas tree.
“Please don’t go out. Please don’t go out. Please don’t go out,” she repeated over and over again. She was moving as fast as she could, but the lights were still flickering.
When she got to the lake, she came to a screeching halt. The ice looked almost blue in the moonlight. But she didn’t see the beauty. The only thing she saw was the danger as the memory of her news van almost going through the ice flashed into her mind. She shivered, but not from the cold—from the memory that chilled her to the bone.
She took several steps back. “I can’t do this,” she said. “I can’t.”
When she saw the lights on the tree continue to blink on and off, she turned around and yelled, “Luke! Luke!”
But her cries for help were lost in the icy wind that had picked up and was now swirling around her. She looked at the ice like it was her enemy.
She brought her freezing hands up to her mouth to blow warm air into them, and the Santa charm
