Back in her room at the inn, Haley was just about to tackle her ornament project when there was a soft knock on her door. She opened it to find Gail standing there.
“Hi,” she said. “What’s up?”
Gail held up her basket. “I was hoping you could help me with my ornament. I need another set of hands.”
Haley opened her door wide. “Absolutely, come on in.” When they sat down on the bed, she turned to Gail. “So, what can I do to help?”
Gail pulled some twigs out of her basket and some tinfoil. “I was hoping you could hold these twigs for me while I wrap them in tinfoil.”
“Sure, that’s easy.”
Gail started wrapping up the twigs. “So, I saw you and Jeff making snow angels several days ago.”
Haley laughed. “Yeah, that was crazy. I haven’t done that in—forever.”
“It looked like you were having fun together,” Gail said, and her knowing look was back.
Haley shook her head. “You have to stop with the look. It’s not like that. I mean, he’s a great guy. Look how much he loves his dad, and he’s smart and funny and kind and—”
“And you like him,” Gail finished for her.
Haley groaned and fell back onto her bed. “And I like him. Now what am I going to do. This was not part of the plan.”
“You know what they say, life is what happens when you’re making other plans.”
Haley sat back up. “But I don’t have a life beyond work, and that’s really been okay . . .”
“Until now?” Gail asked.
Haley nodded. “I mean, honestly, I don’t know what I mean. I’m just confused. You know I’m really good at my job. I’m confident about that. But when it comes to a relationship—that’s a whole different story.”
“Maybe you’re overthinking it. You just need to trust your feelings.” Gail gave her hand a little squeeze. “Just let yourself feel what you feel without trying to figure it all out right now.”
“So, you’re basically saying to just slow down and feel. That’s exactly what Ben said I needed to do about being here at Christmas Camp, so I could find my Christmas spirit.”
“And has it worked?”
Haley nodded, looking thankful. “I think so . . .”
Gail put her arm around her. “I think so, too.”
ABOUT AN HOUR later everyone gathered at the dining room table. Haley sat between Gail and Jeff. Everyone had their baskets in front of them with their ornaments inside. When Jeff tried to lift Haley’s red napkin to peek at her ornament, she playfully swatted his hand away. “It’s a surprise.”
Ben overheard her and laughed as he stood up. “So, is everyone ready to reveal what they’ve made? I know Haley’s been keeping hers a big secret.”
Madison jumped up. “I’ll show mine!”
“Great,” Ben said as he sat back down. “Okay, Madison, show us what you’ve made and tell us what inspired you.”
Madison gave her brother a grateful look when she held up her ornament. It was about the size of a tennis ball, made of popcorn and cranberries. “I wanted to make a Christmas ornament that could go outside, for all the birds, so they can have a Christmas meal, too.”
Susie clapped her hands. “I love that!”
“So do I,” Gail said. “I want one of those for my house.”
John looked at Madison with such pride and love. “That’s really beautiful, honey, the ornament and the idea. Great job.”
Madison was beaming from all the praise. “Blake helped.”
John looked surprised. “Really? You two worked together on it?”
“It was her idea, I just helped with the glue.”
“So it was a true team effort,” Ben said. “Now that’s the Christmas spirit. Nice job.” He turned to Susie and Ian. “Okay, Susie what do you have?”
Susie smiled at her husband. “Well, Ian and I also worked on our ornament together.”
“I wanted something natural,” Ian said.
“And of course, I wanted a little bling,” Susie added.
“Of course,” Ben said.
Everyone laughed.
Ian kissed Susie on the cheek. “But we found a way to compromise and not just on making the ornament.”
Susie smiled back at him. “Being here this last week really showed us that now that we’re married, we need to have our own Christmas traditions. We, of course, want to respect our family traditions, as different as they are, but we now know it’s all about having balance.”
“And compromising,” Ian added.
“And compromising,” Susie agreed.
“I have faith that you two will find a way to honor all your traditions, old and new, this Christmas,” Ben said.
“Thanks to you and this Christmas Camp.” Susie smiled back at Ben. “So, here’s our ornament. It will always be a reminder of our first Christmas together.”
When she held up their beautiful ornament everyone could see that it was a pinecone covered with gold glitter.
“A little bit of nature,” Ian said.
“And a little bit of bling,” Susie added.
Ian kissed her on the cheek.
“Very nice!” Ben said.
“I want one of those at my house, too,” Gail chimed in. “It’s beautiful.”
“Okay; so, Gail, you’re up next. Show us your ornament,” Ben said.
Gail smiled as she held up a lovely little star made out of twigs and tinfoil. She looked over at Ben. “Thank you for inspiring me, Ben, and for putting me in the star room and sharing how special stars are in our life. It’s a true gift you’ve given me, one I’ll never forget, and I’m very grateful.”
Haley took it all in. When she saw how Gail’s heartfelt words touched Ben, she knew there was the potential for something very special between them. She glanced over to Jeff and saw he was smiling and watching them, too.
“Okay, Dad, it’s your turn,” Blake said. “What did you make?”
All eyes turned to John. He looked a little embarrassed. “You know I’m not great with arts and crafts . . .”
“But you made something, right?” Madison asked, looking concerned.
John nodded. “Ben said to make something from your heart, that inspired you, so that’s what I did, or at least tried to do.”
When he held up his ornament, there was a collective “Awww . . .” It was a paper heart. On one side, there was a picture of Blake, and on the other side a picture of Madison. Madison and Blake looked touched.
“Where did you get our pictures?” Madison asked.
“I always carry them in my wallet,” John answered. “You guys are always with me, even when we’re not together. I love you both so much. I hope you always know that. And I promise this is a new start for us. I’m going to spend less time at work and more time with you—”
Before he could finish, Madison gave him a hug.
“I love you, Dad.” Her voice cracked with emotion.
Blake high-fived his dad. “That’s cool, Dad. Thanks.”
Ben looked over at Haley. “Okay, we saved you until last, Haley. Show us the ornament you made and tell us what inspired you.”
Haley laughed nervously. “Well, mine’s pretty basic compared to all of yours.”
“Come on, show us what you’ve got,” Jeff said in a teasing voice.
Max barked. He was sitting at Haley’s feet looking up at her.
“See, even Max wants to see!” Madison said.
Everyone laughed.
“Okay, okay . . .” Haley slowly took off the red napkin that had been hiding her ornament and held up a long red velvet ribbon that had dog biscuits tied to it. When one fell off, Max gobbled it up.
“Merry Christmas, Max.” When Haley laughed, everyone laughed with her.
Ben watched Haley closely. “And what inspired you to make this for Max?” he asked.
As she looked down at Max and petted him, all of a sudden she felt a flood of emotion. “I guess what inspired me was that Max never gave up on me even though I tried to ignore him when I first got here, because I’ve never really been around dogs.”
“But he wouldn’t let you ignore him,” Jeff said.
“No, he wouldn’t. No matter what I did, he just kept showing up.”
“That’s kind of how Ian was with me,” Susie said. “He wouldn’t take no for an answer and just kept showing up.”
Ian’s eyes grew wide. “Are you calling me a . . . dog?”
Everyone laughed again.
Susie kissed him. “No, I’m calling you the love of my life. Someone who I know, no matter what, will always show up.”
Haley continued to pet Max. “And I get it now. Why people love their dogs so much. Because they love you back no matter what, right, Max?” Max licked her hand. She whispered to him, “I’m going to miss you.”
But Jeff heard her and whispered back to her, “He’s going to miss you, too.” When Haley looked into his eyes, she saw only kindness and understanding, and it made her care for him even more. She didn’t even want to think about how much she was going to miss him.
“Okay, time to move into the siting room,” Ben said, getting everyone’s attention. “We have a Christmas tree to decorate.”
As the group gathered around the tree, Blake looked impressed. “Wow, the tree looks even bigger in here,” he said. “And we only have a few ornaments . . .”
“Oh, we’re not just decorating with the ones we’ve made,” Ben said, pointing to three boxes in the corner. “Those are ornaments our other guests have made over the years. So, we always put them up, too, so every year we get more and more.”
“You’re going to need another tree,” Madison said.
“Oh, please, don’t give him any ideas,” Jeff said with a laugh.
“I think it’s a wonderful tradition,” Gail said. She smiled at Ben. “I can’t wait to be part of it.”
When Haley looked over at Jeff, their eyes met and held for a moment before she got out her ornament and looked for a place on the tree to put it.
“Then let’s get started,” Ben said. “I’ll go put on some Christmas music.”
As Haley walked around the tree looking for the perfect spot for her ornament, Jeff joined her.
“How about I help you with that,” he said, taking her ornament and putting it up on a high branch. “This way your new friend, Max, won’t be able to get it. You wouldn’t believe how resourceful he is.”
Haley laughed. “Oh, I would believe it. Thank you. That’s perfect.”
“Your ornament is pretty perfect, too,” Jeff said. “I know Max thinks so.”
They looked over and saw Max lounging by the fireplace, watching them.
“Even though I know you didn’t want to be here, I’m really glad you came,” Jeff said.
When Haley looked into his eyes, she forgot to feel guarded and scared. She just felt happy. “I’m really glad I came, too.” Jeff moved closer to her, never taking his eyes off of her, and her heart beat faster.
“You know, we both live in Boston,” he said. “And when my dad moves there, he’ll have Max, so you should really come and visit the two of them. I know they’d like that.”
“And what about you?” Haley asked boldly. “Would you like it?” She couldn’t believe she’d asked exactly what she was wondering out loud, but at the moment she felt hopeful, like anything was possible.
Jeff smiled a slow, sexy smile. “I would. Very much.”
Ben interrupted the moment with another announcement. “And now it’s time for the presents,” he said, getting everyone’s attention.
“Presents? I didn’t know we were doing presents?” Susie said, looking concerned. “I don’t have anything for anyone. Ian, you should have let me go shopping.”
“It’s okay,” Ben interrupted her. “We’re not exchanging presents This is just a little something I have for all of you. Another tradition. I’ll go grab them. They’re in the library.”
“I can get them for you, Dad,” Jeff said.
“Great, thank you, son. They’re in a box on my desk. Just bring in the whole box.”
“I’m on it,” Jeff said. “I’ll be right back.” When he smiled at Haley, her heart raced faster. She hugged herself a little and couldn’t stop smiling. She already felt like she’d just been given the best gift in the world.