When Jeff walked into the library, he was still trying to thaw out from his walk with Max. The temperature had dropped below ten degrees, and the wind had picked up, making it feel even colder. When he saw his dad in the corner moving around some big boxes that were marked as Christmas decorations, he hurried over to help.
“Here, Dad, I got it.” Jeff took a box from Ben, accidentally brushing his hand.
“Your hands are freezing,” Ben said.
Jeff put the box down and began rubbing his hands together. “I know. I went outside for a minute but then ran into Haley. She was walking Max.”
Ben chuckled. “So, Max is up to his old tricks?”
“Apparently.”
“He always knows how to pick a softie.”
Jeff laughed. “I’m not so sure I’d call Haley a softie.”
“Really. Why not?”
Jeff shrugged. “I don’t know. She doesn’t strike me as someone who can be easily persuaded to do something she doesn’t want to do. You know she’s only here because her boss made her come.”
Ben nodded. “I know.”
Jeff looked surprised. “You do?”
“Yes. Larry, Haley’s boss, talked to me about it. He’s a good man. He’s been up before with his family. He sent Haley here to try to help her—”
“Yeah, to win some big toy account. Trust me, she takes the term ‘workaholic’ to a whole new level. Work is all she cares about.”
“Sounds like you’re making a pretty big assumption about someone you hardly know,” Ben said as he picked up another box of decorations.
“No, she told me herself. I’m not assuming anything,” Jeff said. “She said she was married to her job and seemed pretty happy about it.”
“Well, you’re working all the time, too,” Ben said. “You’re always telling me you’re not dating because you don’t have any time. Does that mean you only care about work?”
Jeff gave his dad a look. “No, of course not. You know I care about you. I care about a lot of things.”
“Well, there you go. I’m sure Haley cares about a lot of other things, too. You shouldn’t be so quick to judge.” Ben walked over to the window and looked out. “The wind is really picking up. I’m going to go outside and check on the decorations and make sure they don’t blow over.”
Jeff stopped his dad as he was heading toward the door. “Dad, I’ll go. Trust me. It’s brutal out there, and I already have my stuff out.”
“Well, you need some better gloves.”
“I’ll go grab some.” Jeff watched as his dad went back to the window. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure everything’s fine.”
“Hey, come look.” Ben waved Jeff over. “It’s snowing. There’s nothing better than having one of our Christmas Camps when it’s snowing.”
Jeff joined his dad at the window. Ben smiled at him. “I love the snow.”
“I know you do.”
“Your mom used to always say that each snowflake was—”
“A Christmas kiss,” Jeff finished for him. He smiled, remembering. “So, she always said that the more snow we had . . .”
“The more love we had.” Ben put his arm around Jeff. “So, bring on the snow.”
Jeff affectionately put his arm around his dad. “Bring on the snow.”
As they stood side by side, father and son, watching the snow fall, the scene outside was magical. Delicate snowflakes danced in the wind, swirling around tree branches that were sparkling with snow, swaying back and forth like a winter wonderland orchestra being conducted by a maestro.
“I miss her,” Ben said softly. He was still watching the snow.
“I do, too,” Jeff said. When he watched his dad, he didn’t know what was harder: missing his mom or watching his dad miss his mom. It just all hurt. A lot. He turned away from the window, needing to think about something else, anything else. So, when he saw a pile of boxes in the corner, he walked over to get a closer look.
“What are all these boxes for?” he asked.
Ben turned around. “They’re all the decorations for the Christmas trees. I’m getting them ready for tomorrow. I know there are more, I just can’t remember where we put them. I thought they were in the attic, but I can’t find them.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what’s wrong with my memory these days . . .”
“It’s probably because you’re exhausted from doing so much,” Jeff said. He looked worried. “After I check on the reindeer outside, I’ll go look for the other boxes. You just need to take a break. You’ve been going nonstop.”
Ben was already walking toward the door. “Son, I’m fine. I’m going to look again right after I check in on Ian and Susie. One of the snowman lights in their room isn’t working.”
Jeff met Ben at the door. “But I can do that, too, Dad. Really, please, let me help. That’s why I’m here.”
Ben gave Jeff an affectionate pat on the back. “You’re here so we can spend time together. I have everything under control. Don’t you worry about a thing.”
“But I do worry,” Jeff said. “You used to have Mom help you and now you’re trying to do everything alone. It’s too much. This is why you really need to move to Boston . . .”
Ben’s smiled faded a little. “We agreed not to talk about that right now.”
“But, Dad . . .”
Ben held up his hand to stop him, frustrating Jeff.
“We have to talk about this sometime,” Jeff said. “You can’t avoid it forever.”
“I didn’t say forever. I just said not right now.”
Before Jeff could say anything more, Ben left the room.
Discouraged, Jeff walked back over to the window and looked at the snow, missing his mom more than ever. After he walked back to the boxes of Christmas decorations, he opened one up and pulled out a beautiful string of silver stars. For a moment he shut his eyes, and he could see his mom and dad working together hanging the stars on their Christmas tree. He didn’t want to open his eyes. He wanted to keep living in that memory forever. If it hadn’t been for a gust of snow blowing up against the windowpane, he wasn’t sure how long he would have stood there remembering, but instead he headed out to do what he’d promised his dad. He needed to go check on the reindeer.
Twenty minutes later, he carried one of the reindeer into the kitchen. “Don’t worry. I’ll fix you up in no time,” he said to the reindeer, who had a crooked leg. “The wind really did a number on you, but it’s nothing I can’t fix.”
He disappeared, and when he returned a few minutes later, he had his toolbox with him. It took him only a few seconds to straighten out the reindeer’s leg. Standing the reindeer up on the counter, he made one more adjustment and stood back to admire his work. “Perfect.”
Then he grabbed a screwdriver out of his toolbox and started going around checking cupboard doors until he found one that was a little loose. He went to work fixing it and was just putting the screwdriver back and reaching for the drill when Laura walked in.
Her eyes grew wide when she saw him with the drill. “Do we have a problem here?”
Jeff smiled back at her. “I just found some loose cupboard doors that needed tightening.” Before he could attack the door with the drill, Laura touched his arm gently.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“Just fixing the door,” Jeff said as he powered up the drill again.
Laura gave him a look. “The door is fine. You’re not. What is it? What’s wrong?”
“I’m fine,” Jeff said. He tried to laugh off Laura’s concern, but she wasn’t buying it. Looking him in the eye, she held out her hand for the drill. He hesitated a moment, then sighed, and reluctantly gave it to her. He never could fool her. Not when he was a kid and not now.
“So, what’s really going on?” she asked, setting the drill down on the counter. “I’ve known you since you were a kid, and whenever something was wrong, you’d always try to fix something. So, what is it this time?”
Jeff ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath. “My dad. I’m worried about him.”
“How so?”
“This inn, the Christmas Camp, he can’t keep doing it all alone, and he’s losing money . . .”
“Have you talked to him about it?” Laura asked.
Jeff dragged his fingers through his hair. “I’ve tried. I just tried again a few minutes ago, but he never wants to talk about it.” He looked around the kitchen at the aging refrigerator and stove. “This place is getting older and so is he. He’s using his savings to keep this place going, and at his age, he should be putting money away for retirement. I found him a great condo in the city, in my neighborhood, so we could be closer, and I could spend more time with him, but he won’t even talk to me about moving.”
“Because he loves it here,” Laura said.
“I know,” Jeff said. “But he could love it in Boston, too, if he’d just give it a chance. Everything changed when my mom died, but he’s still trying to live their dream. He won’t accept reality. We have to sell this place . . .” He stopped talking when he saw how sad Laura looked. He realized selling the place didn’t just impact his family; it would impact her family as well. She’d worked at the inn for as long as he could remember. He reached out and took her hand. “Laura, I’m sorry. Here I am talking about selling the place, and I know this is your home, too.”
“It’s okay, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. The truth is, my husband has been wanting me to retire for the last five years. He wants to move somewhere warm like Florida or Arizona. He’s tired of our cold, snowy winters. I haven’t wanted to go because I didn’t want to leave your mom and dad. You are all like family to me . . .”
“And you know, we’ve always felt the same way about you,” Jeff said. “And I’m so grateful you stayed on after my mom passed away. My dad couldn’t have kept this place running without you.”
“I wanted to help in any way I could. Your mom was like my sister. I miss her every day, but especially at this time of year.” Laura touched her heart. “This time of year I feel even closer to her. I’m sure your dad would have a hard time leaving. All his memories are here. I’m sure what you’ve found for him in Boston is very nice, but . . .”
“But?” Jeff asked.
“I just can’t imagine him anywhere but here. I’m sorry, that’s probably not what you want to hear . . .”
Jeff put his arm around her. “I always appreciate your honesty. You know I’d hate giving this place up, too, but I have to look after my dad’s future and make sure he’s going to be okay, and I can do that better if he’s in Boston. I’ve already found a buyer for the inn, and it’s a good offer, but he needs to make a decision before the end of the year.”
Laura shook her head. “You don’t have a lot of time.”
“I know.” Jeff picked up the drill again. “That’s the problem.”
Laura looked at the drill. The worry was back in her eyes.
“Don’t worry.” Jeff laughed. “I’m putting it away. Your kitchen is safe.”
“For now.” Laura looked relieved. She gave him an affectionate pat on the back. “You’re a good son. Your dad loves you very much, and I know he’s so glad you’re here.”
Jeff smiled at her. “I’m glad I’m here, too. There’s a lot of activities coming up this next week, and I’m going to make sure everything goes as planned. Dad always works so hard on putting these Christmas Camps together, and if I can convince him to move to Boston, this will be the last one, so I want it to be really special for him. Nothing can go wrong.”
“What could go wrong?” Laura asked, surprised. “I think your dad has everything under control.”
“But he can’t control the guests and what they do,” Jeff answered. He looked worried.
“Ah, don’t you mean one guest in particular?” Laura gave him a knowing smile. “I saw you outside walking with Haley and Max. Is there a problem?”
Jeff opened a drawer and shut it again, making sure it was working smoothly. Laura put her hand over his. “Jeff?”
Jeff shut the drawer. “I don’t know. I just know she’s not here for the right reasons, and I don’t want her attitude to impact the other guests or upset my dad. Does that make sense?”
Laura nodded. “You’re trying to protect your dad, like you always do, but are you sure you need to in this case? Haley doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would ruin Christmas Camp.”
“She might not mean to,” Jeff said. “But I don’t know. I just don’t know.” He sounded stressed.
Laura went over and picked up a plate of the special Christmas Camp cookies and held it out to Jeff. He took a cookie and gave her a grateful look.
“Do you know what I think?” Laura asked. “I think everyone’s here for their own reasons. It doesn’t really matter why Haley’s here. It’s Christmas and Christmas Camp is for anyone and everyone. Maybe she needs to be here more than anyone else, and it’s our job to help make sure the time she does spend here is special. So, I’d say if you really want to help your dad, then you’ll help Haley in any way you can, just like you’d help the other guests. You know he gets his happiness from seeing his guests happy.”
Jeff nodded. Laura was the voice of reason. Maybe he had been too quick to judge. There was just something about Haley that made him uncomfortable. He was usually really good at reading people, but he couldn’t figure her out and that made him nervous.
“You’re right,” he told Laura. “I’ll keep an eye on her.”
Laura gave him a sharp look.
“I mean I’ll keep an eye on her to see if I can help her in any way. She said she needs to learn about Christmas traditions for this project she’s working on, and we certainly have a lot of Christmas traditions around here.”
“We certainly do.”
“So I’ll see what I can do for Haley and the other guests. I just want to help my dad over this next week in any way I can.”
“You just being here is a blessing and that’s helped already,” Laura said. “He’s been so excited about spending time with you and doing this Christmas Camp together. It’s going to be a good week. I just know it. Try to relax and enjoy this time with your dad. I know that’s what he wants more than anything. And if you ever need to talk to anyone, you know I’m always here for you.”
“Thank you. That means more than you know.”
Laura gave his hand a little squeeze. “And be nice to my kitchen. I don’t want to come back here and find the refrigerator torn apart.”
Jeff laughed. “Oh, come on now, that was one time a long time ago. You’re never going to let me live that one down, are you?”
“Not a chance.” Laura was still smiling as she left the kitchen. “And don’t eat all the cookies,” she called over her shoulder.
It was too late. Jeff already had a second cookie in his mouth.