Mabel smiled to herself as she remembered their wedding this past summer. It had been everything a small-town wedding should be—intimate and simple and heartfelt, with the whole town taking part and celebrating Jackson and Vanessa’s love story. They’d held the ceremony in the park under a huge elm with the backdrop of beech trees and mountains, fairy lights strung in the branches and what seemed to be all of Fir Tree Grove in attendance.
Vanessa had been gorgeous in a simple white lace gown that she and Mabel had picked out together, and she’d worn Mabel’s treasured pearl necklace and earrings. She’d carried wildflowers that they’d picked from George’s farm, and it had been so beautiful that just remembering it made Mabel’s eyes go misty. It had been a perfect wedding, with the couple so in love that everyone had felt it.
They’d held the reception at the Snowdrift Diner afterward, with Jackson’s famous comfort food served family-style and dancing that had gone on until well past midnight, the celebration spilling out of the diner and into the courtyard outside with tents and a dance floor set up. Mabel had watched her granddaughter laugh and spin in her husband’s arms, and she’d felt like the night was the absolute pinnacle of happiness. She and George had danced all night too, like they were in their twenties again, and gone home far too late.
It was funny how life could surprise you, even when you thought you had it all figured out, she mused as she carried the bags out to the back and came back inside to straighten up the back room of the shop. Two years ago, she’d had friends in Fir Tree Grove but no family left, her shop to keep her company but no romantic partner. She’d been a widow who had felt that part of her life was over, and she’d been all right with it.
Now she had Vanessa back in her life, a wonderful grandson-in-law who helped to fill the void from having lost her own son years ago, and—most surprising of all—a romance of her own that still made her feel like a giddy teenager sometimes.
She bit her lip, feeling her cheeks pinken a little and her lips turn up in a smile at the thought of George Lowery. If someone had told her even a little over a year ago that she’d be head over heels for the grumpy owner of Merry Pines Christmas Tree Farm, she’d have laughed them out of the shop. Regardless of the fact that the town had been betting on them getting together for years, she’d seen him as a friend and nothing more, someone she could tease and chat with and annoy with gradually more and more creative pranks that he returned in kind.
She still hadn’t entirely forgiven him for the garland of fake chickens, honestly, and hestillbrought up the tree-elves.
But her little kitten, Rascal—who wasnota kitten any longer and yet still somehow just a mischievous—had changed all ofthat. Somewhere between George letting himself be talked into kitten-sitting for her during the day and her going to pick Rascal up in the evenings, they’d finally admitted that there was something there.
More than just something, she knew now, after a year of being together. What she had with George was something special, something she never thought she’d find again at her age, and she was endlessly grateful for it.
Her stomach fluttered with the kind of butterflies that she’d thought she was long past as she thought about seeing him that night. She was supposed to be leaving any minute to drive over to the Christmas tree farm and meet up with him to go caroling with a group of friends. The thought made her chuckle. Even six or so months ago, agreeing to something like that would have been entirely unlike him. But George had loosened up little by little the longer they were together, and the caroling, while not his idea, had been something he’d agreed to remarkably quickly.
“You seem to be in a hurry,” Vanessa remarked as Mabel popped out of the back room. “Hot date tonight?”
“Actually—” Mabel grinned at her granddaughter. “We’re going caroling tonight with some friends of ours.”
“Caroling?” Vanessa raised an eyebrow, a teasing smirk instantly appearing on her face. “George Lowery is going caroling? The George who plays the same five Christmas oldies in his office and refuses to entertain anything else as a possibility?”
“The very same,” Mabel said with a grin. “Amazing, isn’t it?”
“You must be irresistible to him,” Vanessa teased. “I haven’t even known him as long as you and I thought I’d never see the day.”
Mabel started to go over the day’s bank deposit, but when she glanced at her watch again, she realized she was going to be late if she didn’t leave right then. “Vanessa?” She looked up to see hergranddaughter reading something on her phone. “Do you think you could finish up the closing duties? I’m going to be late if I don’t head out now.”
Vanessa glanced up from her phone, her brow slightly creased between her eyes. “What? Oh—of course. I can handle it no problem. Go have fun.”
Mabel frowned. It wasn’t like Vanessa at all to be on her phone at work, even though Mabel could have cared less if she sent a text now and then. Especially when she knew Vanessa probably wanted to get home as much as Mabel wanted to head out, and whatever she was looking at was only slowing her down. “Is everything okay?” she asked, a little worried. Vanessa still had that frown between her eyes.
Vanessa shoved her phone back into her pocket. “Yeah, everything is fine,” she said quickly. “It’s nothing serious. I’m just talking to Jackson about the decorating situation with our house?”
“A situation?” Mabel raised an eyebrow. “Not enough outlets?”
Vanessa and Jackson had bought a gorgeous Victorian over on Birch Street, closing on it just after the wedding. It was in great shape, already mostly renovated, but Mable could see how an old home like that might pose some challenges when it came to Christmas decor.
“Well—” Vanessa tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You know I love our house. And our street, and our neighbors—all of it. But the thing is, I didn’t realize when we bought it thateveryoneon Birch Street competes in a yearly house decorating contest for Christmas. Apparently it’s a pretty big deal—the whole neighborhood goes all out with lights and displays and everything.”
That was no surprise to Mabel. She’d lived in Fir Tree Grove for a long time, after all, and she knew how popular Birch Streetwas when it came to their decorations. All of Fir Tree Grove had a tendency to go all-out for the holidays; the businesses all over town competed with each other every year to see who could have the grandest, most over-the-top display, and it turned the town into a winter wonderland every year. But out of the residential streets, Birch always took it the most seriously. Every year, it drew visitors from neighboring towns who came to drive through and admire the displays.
“I didn’t realize that you didn’t know,” Mabel said, a bit sheepishly. “We used to go walk Birch Street with your parents when you were little at Christmastime. I thought you’d remember,” she added carefully, knowing talking about Vanessa’s late parents was a tender subject. It was for her too, but she’d learned to deal with her grief much sooner than Vanessa had, and sometimes she knew it was still difficult for Vanessa to talk about them. “I would have warned you if I’d realized you weren’t aware.”
“It’s okay.” Vanessa ran a hand through her hair. “Jackson just isn’t taking it seriously. Which honestly surprised me, given all the work he puts into the Snowdrift Diner display every year, but he said that’s just part of running a successful business here. He brought home some string lights for the house and thought that would be fine.” She chewed her lower lip. “He wants a tree, of course, but I guess he didn’t go over-the-top on his old house. Just focused on the diner. So it didn’t occur to him that we’d go all-out for our house.”
“Well, just talk to him,” Mabel said firmly. “I’m sure he’ll understand. He loves Christmas.”
“I know he does. I guess he just thinks that home is supposed to be simpler for the holidays. But wejustmoved in a few months ago. I want to fit in with the neighborhood. Everyone thought I was this stuffy city girl when I first came to visit, like I didn’t belong here. I want our house to look like it belongs. Someof the other houses are already putting up crazy stuff. Some of it is over the top, and some of it is really gorgeous, and ours is just… there.” Vanessa sighed, looking at her grandmother. “I guess this is our first marital conflict. Not bad, as they go,” she added with a small laugh, but Mabel could tell that Vanessa was having a difficult time.
“Sweetheart,” she said, moving to place a gentle hand on Vanessa’s shoulder, “you already belong here. You’ve proven that over and over again. The whole town adores both you and Jackson. He’s a fixture in the town, and you’re his wife and my granddaughter, but even if you weren’t, it wouldn’t matter. No one is going to judge you.”
“I know, I just—” Vanessa blew out a breath. “I want our first Christmas in our new house, as a married couple, to be magical too. I want to be a part of our neighborhood, not the one house on the block that looks like they didn’t participate.”
“You’ll figure it out, I promise,” Mabel said encouragingly. “You have time. Figure out what feels right foryourhouse, what fits you and Jackson and how you love to celebrate, and it will all come together. Maybe you just need to come up with some ideas, and he’ll jump on one of them.”
