Kristen frowned at the item her mother was knitting. Was that a scarf? It was hard to tell with the way it zigged and zagged. Weren’t scarves supposed to be straight? “Great. Things are really moving along. The blue spruces are very …umm… blue.”
The needles stopped clacking, and her mother looked up at her. Even George could tell she was trying to avoid the truth. He stopped batting at the yarn and shot her a reproachful look.
Dorothy sighed. “I thought as much. The trees are still in trouble, aren’t they?”
Kristen sighed. “Okay, I can’t lie. Ethan says they’ll be fine though.”
“Uh huh.”
Kristen kissed her mom on the top of the head on her way to the den. “Don’t worry. We still have time. I’m going to go finalize that skating-pond design. It’s due tomorrow.”
In the den, Kristen turned the TV to a Christmas movie for background noise and laid her project out on the coffee table. Her father had always included their tallest balsams, but maybe she should change things up this year. She could put up some of the Scotch pines and blue spruces and use the smaller trees, since those seemed to be in better health. If she focused on the simplicity of her design and used lots of lights on the trees and bare branches of the maples and oaks, maybe people wouldn’t notice there were no tall balsams.
Soon, she was absorbed in her work, placing trees here and there and making a list of items she would need. She could hear her mother out on the porch. Was she adding more decorations? She’d already gone a little bit overboard in her competition with Kent across the street. But Kristen was too busy to get up and see what her mother was doing, and if Dorothy was having fun, that was all that mattered.
Chapter 26
Mason arrived home late in the afternoon the next day and was too stressed and exhausted to even notice the pretty country scenery, the fresh blanket of snow, or even what new decorative additions his father might have wedged onto the already-full porch. He hopped out of the limo—at least Brad had still provided that even though he’d quit—and went into the house through the garage.
“How was your trip?” Kent was in the kitchen, making a cup of coffee. “I wasn’t expecting you home yet.”
Mason hesitated. His father had encouraged him to quit his job and move here to Pinecone Falls, but Mason didn’t think he’d meant right now.
What if his father was just trying to be nice and didn’t really want him to move here? What if his father would be disappointed that he’d quit his job without having another one lined up? What if it turned out he didn’t like living in a small town after all?
He might as well just blurt it out. “Things didn’t go very well. It turns out my boss wanted me to engage in some corporate intrigue to find out what the competition was up to. He even mentioned sabotaging their booth at the trade show.”
Kent looked taken aback. “He did? What did you say?”
“I quit.”
His father stared at him for a few beats, then his face cracked into a wide smile. “That’s my boy! Son, I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks, Dad, but it might have been a knee-jerk reaction. Maybe I should have thought it out more. I still have bills and now no job.”
“Don’t be silly. You can come work at the store with me.”
“But you’re just starting out, and you probably don’t make enough to support both of us.”
“I’ve got a five-year plan. Two salaries are built into that. I was going to hire a manager anyway.”
“You were?” His father had never mentioned that.
“Yes. I hadn’t discussed it with you yet because, well, to tell you the truth, I was kind of hoping you would leave your job and come here and work with me. Didn’t you notice I’ve been hinting?”
Mason laughed. “Okay, well, I guess I did notice. But I don’t know about moving here. I mean, I’d have to see about subletting my apartment and…”
“Of course. You need to take time to think about it. But I’d be pleased if you came on board.” Kent smiled. “We can go over the financials and my plan when you’re ready.”
Mason felt as if a huge weight had been lifted. “Okay. That’s a lot to think about. And I guess if I do come on board, that means that now more than ever, we need to advertise and build our customer base. The holiday season is short, and we’ll need to make most of our money during that time. Decorating the skating pond and having that big sign about our business will help.” Mason thought about the plans he’d dropped off with Irene before he left. Would they be good enough?
“I don’t know, I think things are going pretty well as it is. I mean, this town is all about Christmas, and they have events all year to bring people in, so we’ll make money at other times of the year too. I’m kind of surprised they never had a Christmas store here before.” Kent paused and looked off into the distance. “It’s almost as if it was meant to be. But anyway, sometimes money isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I think you’ve learned that at your job this week.”
“Maybe. But this is different. We’re not going to do anything shady to win the decorating contest.”
Mason glanced out the window at the house across the street. Was Kristen in there? And now that he was staying in town, could they continue their friendship? Could he hope for more? Maybe not if he won the skating-pond-decorating contest. Especially not if her family was having a problem with the trees. Taking that decorating job away from her might really hurt them.
“One thing though: I really don’t want to hurt the Woodward Christmas tree farm. I think they might be having some trouble with the trees. When we had the wreath contest, I noticed some of the pine needles were dry.”
