As everyone clapped, she looked out into the crowd. In the front row stood her mom, looking as proud as could be, and beside her were Caylee and Maryanne, who were clapping the loudest. Also in the front row were her Christmas Camper twins, Carrie and Terrie. They were taking pictures. When they waved at Riley, she smiled and waved back.
As she continued to look around the ballroom, her smile grew. All her Christmas Campers were intermingling with people from the Christmas Lake community. Everyone looked happy and relaxed. Except Margo, who was laser-focused on her phone. When she looked in the back of the room, she saw Colin, Brendan, and Tyler. They all held up their Champagne glasses to her in a joint toast. It was the best gift they could have given her, showing her that they would all be okay. She gave them a grateful smile.
But when she looked around the room, the one person she didn’t see was Luke.
She took a deep breath and looked down at her speech again. When she looked back up, that’s when she saw Luke standing in the doorway. She stood up straighter and felt more confident as she put her speech back in her purse and smiled at everyone.
“First, I want to thank all of you for being a part of this very special Christmas Camp event,” Riley said. “I know a lot of you, especially the press, have seen pictures online and have heard all kinds of different stories about my three ex-boyfriends showing up here to surprise me, so I’m here to tell you what’s really going on, the truth.”
When Riley looked at her mom, her mom solemnly nodded.
“Starting with the fact that I’m not Miss Christmas—far from it,” Riley said. She saw Margo’s head jerk up from her phone, and Mike suddenly looked very nervous. She smiled at them both.
They both gave her a warning look.
She ignored it.
“The truth is,” she continued, “I haven’t celebrated Christmas since I was eight years old.”
Whispers began among the crowd.
“That’s right. It’s true. You can ask my mom, she’s right here in the front row. After we lost my dad, we stopped celebrating and spent Christmas at the beach in Hawaii. We didn’t do any Christmas activities because I didn’t want to. It was so much easier to forget than to remember everything we’d lost when my dad passed away. So imagine my surprise when I found out I had to write a Christmas novel and host this Christmas Camp.”
Riley had everyone’s attention now. When she saw how confused her Christmas Campers looked, she kept going. She owed them the truth.
“I thought I could just come up here and fake it,” Riley admitted. “I was just going to pretend I was like everyone else who celebrated Christmas, especially since my publicist, Mike over here, was marketing me as ‘Miss Christmas.’”
When another murmur went through the crowd, Riley saw that people weren’t smiling anymore. They looked upset, but she knew she couldn’t stop now.
“Then things got really complicated when my ex-boyfriends showed up.” Riley laughed, but no one laughed with her. “Everything that happened here during Christmas Camp, I didn’t expect. I didn’t expect the Christmas Lake Lodge to be so magical. I didn’t expect to meet people like Luke, whose family owns this amazing lodge, and Caylee and Maryanne, who have worked around the clock to make sure everyone at Christmas Camp had the best time. I also didn’t expect to have so many genuine connections with all of you Christmas Campers, who have come here to support me and have brought so much joy and love. Everyone here has changed me.”
Riley smiled at the Christmas Campers.
“So, yes, the truth is, I did fall in love here at Christmas Camp . . .”
Everyone was staring at her, hanging on her every word.
“This weekend I’ve been reminded of how special Christmas really is and that what matters most are family, friends, faith, your community, spending time with the people you love, honoring old traditions, and creating new ones. I’ve fallen in love with Christmas again. It has opened by my heart, and now, as they say at Christmas, anything is possible.”
Riley looked back at Luke, but she couldn’t read his expression.
“I want to thank you again for being here and taking this journey with me. I hope you can forgive me for how this story started. Please know how thankful I am, and that with your help, I’ve finally remembered the true meaning and magic of Christmas.”
She looked out at the audience and smiled a heartfelt smile. “Merry Christmas, everyone.” They were two words she hadn’t said in a very long time, and it felt wonderful. “Merry Christmas!”
As Riley started walking away from the mic, everyone started clapping and cheering. The applause got even louder when she went over and hugged her mom.
“I’m proud of you, honey,” her mom said. “And Dad would be proud of you, too.”
“I love you, Mom. Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas,” her mom said and then looked into her eyes. “Now, go get your happy ending.” She looked over at Luke.
Riley, nervous, wrung her hands together. “I don’t know, Mom . . .”
“Yes, you do,” Riley’s mom said, giving her a nudge. “Just trust your heart and trust Christmas.”
As Riley walked to the back of the ballroom, she could feel everyone’s eyes watching her.
She walked up to Colin, and an excited murmur swept through the crowd. “Merry Christmas, Colin,” Riley said as she hugged him. “Thank you for loving me.”
“Merry Christmas, Riley,” Colin said, smiling back at her.
She did the same thing with Brendan and Tyler, completely confusing the crowd.
It wasn’t until she walked toward Luke that the crowd grew completely quiet. You could have heard a piece of tinsel drop.
Like the rest of the crowd, Luke looked confused when Riley stopped in front of him.
“What are you doing?”
