“But I thought only one of us could get the advertising billboard.”
Irene shrugged. “We only have one spot where we put the sign that says who decorated the area, but that doesn’t mean we can’t put both your businesses on that sign.”
“Then why did you say we had to have a contest?” Kristen was getting a little exasperated. She’d fretted over this contest so much, and the whole time, she could have just combined efforts with Mason and Kent?
“I didn’t know if you wanted to work together. When Mason first came to me to apply, I didn’t know that you were even interested. Last year, no one decorated it. I know your family was still grieving then. Anyway, when you showed up, I had to think of something. I didn’t know if you were friendly. In fact, it appeared as if you didn’t even know each other, so a contest seemed like the best plan.”
“And this is okay with Mason and Kent?”
“It was his idea.” Irene looked up at her quizzically. “You mean you didn’t work on this with him?”
“No. I didn’t. But I’ll be happy to work with him on the decorating.”
Kristen smiled down at the plans. She wasn’t sure why Mason had decided to do this, but it made her feel good. And it might even solve a problem; if she wasn’t able to supply the bigger evergreens, she’d have his artificial trees to take up the space. And the fact that he’d incorporated her idea of white and silver told her that he was being inclusive and not trying to take over the design.
“That’s good.” Irene tapped her watch. “Because there’s only three days left to decorate it, so you guys better get going.”
Kristen was still confused as she drove home. Had Mason really made his plan so that they could both do the decorating? Was that why he had been acting so weird the morning of the gingerbread-house contest? Was he coming back to town, or would she be working with Kent? Her mother seemed to think Kent was a good guy, but Kristen barely knew him and wasn’t sure if she wanted to work with him that closely. But she would because it was tree farm business.
She pulled into the driveway and was still a bit dazed about the whole thing when she got out of the car. Mason’s porch looked different, but it was hard to pinpoint what was different about it since it was so loaded with decorations.
As she was looking, Mason stepped out onto the porch. He looked apprehensive. “Hey there.” He started down the steps toward her.
“Hi. I thought you were out of town.” Kristen’s gaze skipped back to his porch. Were the garland and mistletoe from her family’s tree farm?
“I came back.” Now he was standing in front of her. “Had to quit my job.”
“What? You quit your job? Why?”
“It just wasn’t suitable for me anymore. And after being here with my dad, I realized he needs me.” He shoved his hands into his pockets, his gaze drifting out to the woods. “I realized that I was tired of the city life and my stressful job. I’m going to work in the Christmas shop with my father.”
Kristen’s heart lifted. She wasn’t sure why. She barely knew Mason, but she felt they’d connected, and now there might be a chance to see if that could blossom into something more. “I know the feeling. I did the same.”
“Do you regret it?”
“Not one bit.” She hadn’t thought about the city or her old job since she’d been home. “I just came from the town hall, and Irene showed me your plans. Do you really want to work together?”
Mason’s eyes lit up. “If you want to. I hope you don’t mind that I made those plans including both of our products. I had to rush once I got back from Philadelphia and wasn’t able to talk to you about it.”
Just then, Kent came out on the porch. “Oh, hey there! I hope you like Mason’s idea for working together.”
“I do, but I’m not sure my mom—”
Dorothy came out onto her porch with George at her heels. Kristen’s attention swiveled that way, and she stopped talking in mid-sentence when she noticed the silver-tinsel tree on the porch. How had that gotten there? Her father never would’ve had an artificial tree, but she remembered her mother mentioning that her parents had had one. Hey, wait—had her mother and Kent been scheming?
“What do you think?” Dorothy gestured toward the silver tree.
“It looks nice,” Kristen said uncertainly.
“Sure does. And it’s a perfect example of how we can work together. Between both of our businesses, we have everything people want to decorate their homes for the holidays, don’t you think?” Dorothy raised a hopeful brow at Kristen.
That answered the question: her mother wanted to work together with Kent and Mason. In fact, Dorothy and Kent had probably cooked this whole thing up to show her how it could be done.
“It sure does,” Kristen said.
Apparently, even George agreed. He let out a meow and leapt off the porch, promptly disappearing into a large snowbank.
“George!” Kristen leaped for the cat, pulling him out of the snow.
