Haley numbly left the group and walked over to the front door. When she opened it, a blast of wind and snow hit her full force, but she didn’t flinch. She just kept staring out into the bleakness. She couldn’t see more than a few inches in front of her, but that didn’t stop her from taking a few more steps outside. “Why is this happening?” she whispered as more blinding snow hit her in the face.
Jeff quickly joined her, grabbed her hand, and pulled her back inside and shut the door. “Haley, come on. You can’t go out there.”
Haley laughed. It was the kind of laugh you heard right before someone lost it. “I can’t go outside. I can’t have my wedding. What else can’t I do? I can’t do anything. We can’t do anything. This is . . .”
When Jeff took her into his arms, she finally calmed down, but with the calm came more pain. When she looked up, there were tears in her eyes. “I just wanted to marry you. This shouldn’t be that hard . . .”
Jeff nodded. “I know.”
“So, what do we do now?” Haley asked. “We were supposed to get married tomorrow, Christmas Eve . . .”
“We find another time,” Jeff said. “We reschedule.”
Haley looked brokenhearted. “But it meant so much to us, to all of us, to get married at Christmas, when we first met and fell in love . . .”
“Are you saying you want to wait until next Christmas?” Jeff asked.
“No. I mean, I don’t know.” Haley looked confused. “I don’t know about any of this.”
“Let’s not make any decisions right now,” Jeff said. “We should be grateful no one’s stuck in this storm. Everyone’s home safe. We’re all here together. It’s almost Christmas. Let’s make the best of it.”
Haley nodded. It was just another reason she loved Jeff so much. He was always looking at the positive side of things and didn’t usually let stress get to him.
When there was a loud knock on the door, they both looked startled. Jeff immediately opened it and found Gail standing there covered in snow.
“Merry Christmas,” she said, brushing snow off her.
Jeff pulled her quickly inside. “What are you doing here? How did you get here? Are you okay? Dad, Gail’s here.”
Ben came rushing over and gave her a hug. “I was so worried about you. I’ve been calling and calling but no answer. I knew you weren’t going to leave Boston until later, and I left you a message about the storm, but when I couldn’t reach you I got worried.”
Gail kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry I worried you. I wanted to surprise you all, so I left really early this morning and luckily I was almost here when the snow really hit. They closed the road behind me.”
Haley gave Gail a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Jeff hugged her, too. “We all are.”
Snowball came running over to her. Gail picked her up and cuddled her. “There’s my little Snowball.” She handed Snowball to Ben. “But right now I’d just really like to get out of these wet clothes.” She headed for the stairs. “I’ll be back down soon.”
“I’ll make you some hot chocolate,” Ben said.
“That sounds perfect,” Gail said, smiling back at him.
A half hour later, they were all gathered in the kitchen. Haley watched as Gail helped Ben make the hot chocolate. They were so cute together. You could see how much they cared for each other. Haley looked over and saw that Jeff was watching them, too, and he was smiling. When Gail went to get out the mugs, she only took out the Santa mugs. Haley watched her exchange a look with Ben and saw that Jeff saw the look, too.
Jeff walked over to Gail and gave her another hug. “I’m so glad you’re here.” He reached up into the cupboard and took out one of Gail’s new snowman mugs. “I’d like to try one of these mugs. Seems perfect on a snowy day like this.”
Gail touched Jeff’s hand. “Are you sure? The Santa mugs are a tradition.”
Jeff nodded. “And I say it’s time we start making a new tradition with these snowmen.”
Haley walked over and joined them and took out a snowman mug, too. “I agree.”
Gail looked touched. “Thank you.”
Haley knew Gail was thanking them for much more than just using the mugs.
Jeff smiled back at her. “You’re welcome.”
Just as they clinked snowman mugs together, the lights went out.
Haley laughed. “Seriously?”
Kathy laughed, too, and looked over at Haley. “What did you say to jinx us this time?”
Haley shook her head. “I swear I didn’t say anything.”
Ben tried the light switch but got nothing. “The power’s out. It must be the storm.” He opened a drawer and took out some flashlights and passed them around. “I’m going to go check on the generator. I don’t hear it kicking in.”
“I’ll come with you,” Jeff said.
A few minutes later when the guys returned Ben had a smile on his face. “So I have some good news and some bad news. What do you want first?”
“The bad news,” Haley said.
“The bad news is the generator isn’t working.”
“And the good news?” Haley asked.
Ben grinned back at them all. “Now we can play Christmas Camp Charades.”
Everyone laughed.
“Nice try, Dad,” Jeff said.
Ben smiled back at him. “I’m serious. Who wants to play?”
“I do!” Kathy said. “I love games.”
“Me, too,” Steve chimed in. “But exactly what is this?”
Haley laughed at their enthusiasm. “It’s something Ben does at all the Christmas Camps. It’s like charades, only we play using Christmas songs, and you split into two teams. Each team gets a different song, and you compete at the same time. The first team to guess right, wins. It’s hilarious.”
Gail laughed. “Especially when you’re wearing the crazy Christmas sweaters.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Haley said. “How could I forget that part? Luckily, we don’t have the sweaters this year.”
Ben’s smile grew. “Want to bet?”
And a few minutes later everyone was wearing one of Ben’s crazy Christmas sweaters, because of course, he had a collection of them, and they were playing Christmas Camp Charades. There was a lot of joking around and laughter, and once again, Haley ruled, winning her round against Jeff. The song she had gotten was Dean Martin’s Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow. For her clue, she had run outside and scooped up a bunch of snow and brought it in and dumped it on Jeff’s head. By the time the game was over, Haley had laughed so much her stomach hurt. The crazy Christmas Camp Charades was exactly what she had needed to take her mind off of having to cancel her wedding for the second time.
After charades, Ben had another game for them to play that was all about how to make dinner without the groceries Haley’s parents were bringing and without any electricity. It became a scavenger hunt through the kitchen where anyone who found something that could work would put it on the counter. Haley was rummaging through the pantry when Steve joined her.
He picked up a box of crackers. “How about these?” he asked.
“Sure,” Haley said. “I saw some different cheeses and things in the refrigerator that Laura was going to use to make appetizers, so we can always do cheese and crackers.”
“I’m pretty good at whipping things together,” Steve said. “I’ll go take a look at what we have.”
Steve was about to leave when Haley stopped him. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something.”
“Sure,” Steve said. “What about?”
“Kathy.”
Steve nodded, laughed a little. “Okay.”
Haley chose her words carefully. “I’ve noticed you two hanging out a lot and you seem to be getting along well.”
“We are. She’s really great.”
“She is,” Haley said. “Look, I’m just going to say it. Jeff told me you traveled a lot. You’re not one to really stay in one place for very long . . .”
“That’s true,” Steve said.
“So, how does that work with your relationships?”
“You mean, how would that work with Kathy.”
“Yes,” Haley said. “That’s exactly what I mean. I just don’t want to see her get hurt. I’m not saying you would do that intentionally. She just seems to really like you . . .”
“She’s great. We’re talking about maybe hanging out for Christmas Eve while I’m in town and then I guess we’ll see.”
Haley nodded. “Sorry if I seem a little overprotective . . .”
“You just care about your friend,” Steve said. “I get it. All I can tell you right now is that Kathy is someone I want to get to know better and I’m not leading her on or anything like that. I would never do that.”
“And now I see why you’re Jeff’s best friend,” Haley said. She smiled. “Thanks for this little talk.”
“Anytime.” Steve grinned back at her. “But now I better go see what Laura has in the refrigerator to make us something to eat and I’m going to put as much as I can into the freezer. Even with the power out the freezer will keep things cold for forty-eight hours if you don’t open it again.”
Later that night everyone was gathered around the fire, staying warm, with blankets wrapped around them. The electricity was still off, so the room was only lit by the fireplace and candles. It looked beautiful and romantic.
Haley was standing over by the fire. Jeff joined her. “Not exactly the rehearsal dinner we were planning,” Jeff said. “But, I have to admit, Steve, you did a great job with what we had. How did you know that about the freezer and when did you learn how to cook? The only thing you used to make in college was mac and cheese from the box.”
Steve laughed. “Luckily, I’ve picked up a thing or two in all my travels.”
Kathy was sitting next to Steve on the couch. She looked impressed. “Those goat cheese balls you made with the chopped walnuts and parsley were great.”
“And so were those hummus cucumber rolls,” Gail said.
Steve held out his hands. “I take tips.”
Everyone laughed.
“But I can’t really take the credit. The appetizer recipes were Laura’s,” Steve said. “She calls the goat cheese balls her Christmas Camp Goat Cheese Delights, and I agree, they’re great and so easy to make, luckily. And I have to give credit to Trisha and Gail for putting together a great spinach apple salad. I think we all pitched in and made a great team.”
Gail laughed. “Using flashlights and candles to see with.”
“I have to get you some of those electric lanterns for emergencies like this,” Jeff said.
“It’s a good idea,” Ben agreed. “We’ve just so rarely ever had the power go out up here. We’ve been spoiled. And speaking of spoiled . . .” Ben picked up a platter of Christmas cookies and started passing them around. “Who wants dessert?”
“Me!” Jeff said as he took a cookie and got one for Haley, too. “Always my favorite part.”
“So, what’s on the agenda for tomorrow?” Steve asked.
Everyone looked at Trisha. She was sitting in a chair, trying to get her tablet to work but not having any luck. “So far, nothing. It looks like the power on my tablet died, and I can’t recharge without any electricity. Not that it matters, because we’re not planning a wedding anymore.”
Haley gave Jeff a sad look. He kissed her on the cheek. “At least not for Christmas Eve. But we’re definitely getting married.”
“Someday,” Haley said.
Trisha stood up. “I think I’m going to go upstairs and turn in for the night. Ben, is it okay if I take one of these candles with me?”
Ben shook his head. “It’s going to get really cold tonight without any heat. We should all stay down here by the fire.” He walked over to a stack of rolled-up sleeping bags. “I got these out for everyone. You’ll be toasty warm.” He tossed one to Trisha. She looked at it like she’d never slept in a sleeping bag before. When Ben tossed one to Kathy, she, on the other hand, looked excited.
“Fun, just like camping!” Kathy said.
“When have you ever gone camping?” Haley asked her.
Kathy smiled. “I’ve seen it in the movies. I’ve always wanted to go.”
“I’ve camped all over the world, and I love it,” Steve said. “Fire one of those bags over here, Ben.”
Ben laughed as he threw one over to Steve.
Jeff went over and helped his dad hand out the rest. When he tossed a bag to Haley, he winked at her. “I told you this would be an adventure.”
Haley couldn’t help but laugh.
Hours later, Haley woke not knowing where she was. When she abruptly sat up in her sleeping bag, she realized she was in the sitting room with the rest of the group, sleeping on the floor by the fire. Max was by her side. He was awake, as well. She looked over at Jeff on the other side of her. He was sleeping peacefully. Looking at him, she felt a rush of pure undeniable love. She gently kissed his cheek.
She saw Ben sleeping on one couch, and Gail sleeping on the other. Trisha was sleeping in a chair. Kathy and Steve were also sleeping next to the fire and next to each other. Even Snowball the cat had come out of hiding and was curled up on the couch with Ben.
Haley shivered. It was getting cold. The fire was almost out. Carefully, quietly, she got up and put several more logs on the fire, and it roared back to life. She quickly ran back over to her sleeping bag and snuggled up inside. She looked over at Max, who was watching her. When he put his head down on her chest, she cuddled up with him before closing her eyes and falling back to sleep.